Ecohitch

I have been looking off/on for a hitch for our 2013 passat. I didn't like the curt hitch since it hangs off the bumper rebar.

I found the ecohitch http://torkliftcentral.com/2015-volkswagen-passat-ecohitch . It mounts to the body "frame" holes and then you mount the bumper rebar on top of it.

You have an option of a 2" or 1.25" receiver.

They have a youtube video that shortly shows the actual hitch. https://youtu.be/VGO9DAiLw8U?t=111

The Touareg hitch is almost the exact same thing. A Touareg hitch weighs 50+lbs.

Has anyone installed one of these on a Passat? I see posts on the Jetta Sportwagen.

Nice - haven't seen this one before. I like it very much.

I wasn't aware these were available for the Passat. I will have to keep that in mind for future reference...

THANK YOU for finding this. I didn't care for the other hitch types, even though they are probably adequate for the Passat 1000 lb towing limit.

I see that the 1.25 inch unit weighs 26 lbs and the 2 inch unit weighs 37 lbs.

http://torkliftcentral.com/rving-an...swagen/passat/2015-volkswagen-passat-ecohitch

I find it interesting that the hitch is rated to 2000 lbs. Has anyone actually used a Passat to tow more than the 1000 lbs it's rated for?

atc98002 said:

I find it interesting that the hitch is rated to 2000 lbs. Has anyone actually used a Passat to tow more than the 1000 lbs it's rated for?

Click to expand...

All NMS Passat hitches on etrailer are rated for 200 pound tongue weight and 2000 pound towing. Seems to be a class 1 thing.

The 1000lbs tow rating seems to be VW boiler plate for most of their cars.

unixb0y said:

All NMS Passat hitches on etrailer are rated for 200 pound tongue weight and 2000 pound towing. Seems to be a class 1 thing.
The 1000lbs tow rating seems to be VW boiler plate for most of their cars.

Click to expand...

That's what happens when specs are written by lawyers instead of engineers...

I ordered the 2" hitch and picked it up on Saturday. The hitch seems to be very well constructed. I don't plan on towing anything crazy. I will feel more confident towing things with this hitch.

I will try to get detailed pictures of the hitch up soon.

I don't have access to a heated garage, so it will likely be a couple of months before I install the hitch.

I just installed the 1 1/4" version. A couple of comments...

It was supposed to be 25 lbs but is actually 29 lbs.

The torque for attaching the hitch is only 18 ft-lbs which seems a bit light to me, but I did follow that instruction. Maybe the nuts in the body are not very strong.

The instruction said to cut a 4 1/2" by 5" section out of the plastic bumper. Perhaps this is true of the 2" receiver, but just by looking at mine it seemed excessive. I cut a piece 3 1/2" by 3 1/2" out and there is plenty of clearance. I also radiused the corners to make it less likely to tear there.

When putting your bumper back on, BE SURE TO INSERT THE BUMPER UNDER THE TABS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE TRUNK OPENING. I neglected this and it didn't quite look right and I finally figured it out, so I had to re-do the attachment to the car.

Mine just shipped, also got the 1 1/4" version. Thanks for the tip.

Sent from my XT1575 using Tapatalk

More progress, more notes.

Got a smaller hitch pin for the 1 1/4 receiver. The ball mount is a Reese. It had a VERY sloppy fit in the receiver, don't know if the receiver or ball mount is at fault. I made a device similar to the ones you can buy to remove the rattle, using a stainless U-bolt with 2.2" spread between the legs. It's only 1/4" in diameter though, I will have to see how it holds up. There seems to be a lot fewer accessories available for class 1 receivers.

I got my trailer light module in the mail, a Curt 59236. I took the flooring out of the trunk and tried to figure it out. Each tail light unit has 3 wires coming in, one of them ground (brown). I opened the tail lights to figure it out. The middle wire in the connectors is the ground, the top wire controls brake, tail and turn signal (only a single filament is in this unit), and the bottom wire goes only to a side marker light that is independent of the other circuit, and is apparently an LED as there seems to be no way to replace it. Again, this is independent of the actual tail light. So, it seems this is a "PWM-STT", that is, a pulse width modulation controlling all 3 items (in one filament), stop, tail and turn signal. That information is needed to correctly wire this trailer light module.

BTW the connector hooking up to the tail light units was hard to figure out. You need to pull the little red device back, and then the connector can be removed. They don't give you much slack... Maybe I should try to get a picture to post here.

More to come tomorrow.

I'm going to make a pigtail adapter. This way I won't have to molest the harness in the car.

This is what I ordered:
2x 7N0972704 $4.97 each (Plug)
3x 000979025EA $21.39 each (repair wire)

2x 3AA972714 $9.36 each (Plug)
3x 000979020EAQ $12.91 each (repair wire)

I have some posilock connectors that I will use for this too.

The trailer wiring kit I ordered is https://www.etrailer.com/Custom-Fit-Vehicle-Wiring/Tow-Ready/119190KIT.html

I will probably run the trailer wiring to the fuse box. This way I can keep the wiring inside the car. I may run another wire to the trunk area for the 12V outlet or maybe a USB outlet too.

I took an 18-guage wire and connected it to the inside of the tail light as shown here. The only fussy thing is to hold the soldering iron on long enough for the solder to flow from the wire onto the bar, but not so long that the plastic welds holding the bar in place will melt. Then I used a cable tie to tie the wire down with the wires going to the side marker light. Make sure you solder to the correct bar, the one going to the center contact on the light bulb (which is not present in this photo).

The three bars also have what look like test points going to the outside, but they are not large enough to clip on a wire lead, so soldering is the only alternative.

Oh, I just recalled that getting this cover off was a bit difficult, because you have to bend back 4 plastic tabs without breaking the plastic. I managed OK but I wish VW had made the tabs a bit more flexible.





This is what it looks like from the other side, with the cover back in place. Be sure to make the wire long enough to reach the floor of the trunk with extra to spare.


This photo just shows where I put the module, under the left rear cover, where the little storage bin is. There is just enough room under there to slide it in, where it will be out of the way. The wires from the tail lights can be fished down behind that grey material to make the connections. The ground lug is there right where you need it. Red, white and brown were all grounded in a single crimp lug, when I was done.


The reason I went this route is that I hate using those little clips that bite through the wiring. They always seemed like a half-assed solution to me. This method leaves the wiring harness unmolested, and costs nothing.

I put a battery in the trunk to test this, and everything works as planned. Last item is now to make the permanent connection to the battery. I don't like leaving the power on all the time, I may search for a bus switched by the ignition switch.

Thanks for the photos!

I finished up. I looked at running the power under the car but without ramps it was a no go for me; anyway running it inside looked easier. I tucked the wire under the leftside trim going toward the front, then around the right side of the dead pedal, then into the fuse box. I found a couple of unused switched fuse spots in the panel and plugged into that, so when turning off the car I am turning off the trailer lighting too. I didn't want that load on the battery when the car was off. For the trailer connector, it's just inside the trunk and I flip it out when I have a trailer and close the trunk lid on it.

I like the idea of tapping into the existing circuit, but I wonder if there wasn't a less permenant way of doing so.

I think if you had used a spade terminal adapter like this:



or this:



you could have accomplished the same thing without soldering or melting anything.

That would only work if there was a spade terminal to begin with. There is none. The spade terminals inside the light are for the side-marker light, not for the tail/brake/turn light.

Really, I don't think there is TOO much risk here. I saw no problem. One just has to take a bit of care with the heat.

As to it being permanent, I'm not sure I get your meaning. If you wanted to get rid of it, just clip the wire off?

Oooohhhhhh...

I saw the spade terminal and thought they were for the brake light circuit. I completely spaced on the side market circuit.

carry on...

I managed to get the hitch installed today. The weather warmed up enough and the kids were out of the house.

I'm now looking for a Ball/Mount combo that will work.

I don't own a trailer but the research I did seems to indicate that trailers are usually at a height of 17". The ecohitch comes in at 11.25" on the passat. So I need to get to 16.25" or so.

Adjustable ball mounts are super expensive.

I think I'm going to get a Resse 4" rise (p/n 21794) and a Curt 2" ball with a 1" rise (p/n 40033).

I'd go down to your local auto parts store and ask if they'll let you try a couple out, although trailer heights are all over the place. I've seen from 14" to 20". You might want to wait until you pick out a trailer.

Look in your owner's manual and at least in my JSW manuals although the towing is Zero there is a picture that calls out the specifications at around 18" IIRC.

Got the trailer lights setup today. Ran two wires from the fuse box. Used the clock fuse (5 AMP) with an add a fuse.

One wire will be for 12v trunk outlets and the other will be for the trailer lights.

I had to fish the wire past the hood release handle. I couldn't figure out how to remove the handle and panel behind it.

I ended up using posi-taps http://www.posi-products.com/posiplug.html