Show what you tow!

I believe Casita is built in TX so it would be closer to you. I personally didn't buy one for weight and price reasons. But it would be nice to see new ones in person.

The EggCamper we bought for $19500 tax, title and plates. That has a/c, front bath, awning. We passed on the cushions and bought a mattress from Ikea. It is an all electric model.

Jason

How does your Golf like towing that kind of weight? What kind of trailer brake system do you have?

bigred177 said:

Anyone know of any toy hauler travel trailers that would be light enough...

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Look up T@B or Tab trailers...


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bigred177 said:

How does your Golf like towing that kind of weight? What kind of trailer brake system do you have?

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I have a PD with RC 1+ and it pulled through Appalachia without slowing much. The worst is getting caught "flat footed" when a car cuts you off going up a nasty hill. Usually means stuck behind a semi lugging up the hill about 35-40 waiting for a hole in the car traffic going 65+. The car won't win a drag race going uphill with a camper. But on mild/moderate hills and flat ground it will easily get the rig over 70+. I find 55-60 the sweet spot for MPG, though.

The brakes are a little large for the trailer. I have an old Kelsey Hayes mechanical brake controller (NOS). My combination will lock the trailer tyres up at any speed, if I jump on them too fast. I think a brake resistor to balance the brakes to the load will fix the locking up. The combination almost feels like it stops faster than the car alone. A modern brake controller will probably be easier to setup and work even better.

I just noticed a sticker with VIN and cargo capacity - the gross for EggCamper is only 2500lbs. But the axles are rated at 3500lbs.

Jason

Hi there.

After reading about all of these things towed behind VWs here it peaked my curiosity for towing behind my Jetta. I currently have a 09 Jetta Sportwagen with a 6 speed manual transmission and the Curt hitch on it that I tow a little 8ft flatbed trailer from Harbor Freight around town on.

Now, I was wondering what would be the feasibility of flat-towing a NA Miata behind my car cross country from Wisconsin to, say, eastern Tennessee into the Smokey Mountains? The Miata weighs 2,100lbs and it would be almost all traveling on the interstate. I am just curious to see if it was possible or if I am crazy and stupid for even thinking of such a thing.

^^ not crazy..

There are several of us that tow other cars with a tow dolly.. I see no reason why you couldn't flat tow another car with a tow bar or whatever...

Chris9611 said:

Now, I was wondering what would be the feasibility of flat-towing a NA Miata behind my car cross country from Wisconsin to, say, eastern Tennessee into the Smokey Mountains? The Miata weighs 2,100lbs and it would be almost all traveling on the interstate. I am just curious to see if it was possible or if I am crazy and stupid for even thinking of such a thing.

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Remember that you MUST disconnect the propellershaft on the Miata if you flat tow it. The gear oil is distributed via the input gearing which is located in the lower part of the transmission case. Don't forget to mark the flanges before you disconnect the propshaft from the differential. Secure the propshaft to the Power Plant Frame so it won't fall out of the transmission. If you DO remove the propshaft from the transmission, make sure you install Mazda Special Service Tool 49 0259 440 to prevent oil leakage. Note this from the workshop manual for my 1990; check to see if the same tool will work on the rest of the NA years.

Chris9611 said:

Hi there.

After reading about all of these things towed behind VWs here it peaked my curiosity for towing behind my Jetta. I currently have a 09 Jetta Sportwagen with a 6 speed manual transmission and the Curt hitch on it that I tow a little 8ft flatbed trailer from Harbor Freight around town on.

Now, I was wondering what would be the feasibility of flat-towing a NA Miata behind my car cross country from Wisconsin to, say, eastern Tennessee into the Smokey Mountains? The Miata weighs 2,100lbs and it would be almost all traveling on the interstate. I am just curious to see if it was possible or if I am crazy and stupid for even thinking of such a thing.

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Personally, I would rather tow the car on a trailer but then you will probably need a trailer brake set up. Much less hassle to drive the car onto the trailer and secure it.

A 4-up trailer would add close to 1800 lbs to the weight of the miata. Doing it with a tow dolly is a much more reasonable trailer, only about 500 lbs or so. I just personally hate those things, more trouble than they are worth because you can't control how they are loaded.

tow dolly is pretty straightforward.. I hate them too but it's about the easiest way to tow something without a truck unless you already have a tow bar setup on the vehicle that needs to be pulled.

I'm not sure I'd want to pull a car trailer for more than a mile or two with mine.. the tongue weight is a little heavy for my truck so I'm sure the mk4 wouldn't be too happy with it..

Flat towing a car you don't get brakes without spending buku bucks on a brake actuator. At least with a tow dolly you usually get surge brakes.

I'd say not a big deal for a barely 2k miata, but potentially a bigger deal through the mountains with a bigger car.

A tow bar gives you NO extra weight on the rear of the tow vehicle either and that can cause serious handling issues. Both times I've used a tow dolly I was towing a midsize vehicle with a fullsize truck and had near-misses on snowy roads. I won't use one again in the winter months without extra weight on the rear tires. With a light car, I'd be nervous in the rain. The front tires on the towed vehicle make it not act like a normal trailer. They resist tracking the tow vehicle AND resist straightening out as well. .


Tapatalking in traffic

You almost never get surge brakes with a dolly.. Personally I don't think I'd flat tow with my Jetta, although I've pulled some pretty big stuff with a dolly.. Remember a MK4 weighs almost as much as an S-10 Blazer, and about the same as a 2wd S-10 pickup..

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?...42443007182.2088500.1421922484&type=1&theater
not towing, but hauling stuff nonetheless... someone somewhere once told me "diesels are only good for work vehicles"... i think ive proved my point with this one... it was a bail of hay i saw on the freeway, so i pulled over, filled the trunk, and decided to see if i could get the entire bail in my car... so far the hardest part of this ordeal had been getting the bail of hay completely OUT of my car

Just came across this on you tube. Wonder if that would work with the wife's Golf?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56XL0TysIn0

I've always wanted to put a 5th wheel or gooseneck on the top of one of my cars..

kjclow said:

Just came across this on you tube. Wonder if that would work with the wife's Golf?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56XL0TysIn0

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Haha my girlfriend found that a while ago, and I still haven't ruled it out on my golf

kjclow said:

Just came across this on you tube. Wonder if that would work with the wife's Golf?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56XL0TysIn0

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That's pretty hilarious and pretty awesome at the same time. Backing up? No problem...

domboy said:

That's pretty hilarious and pretty awesome at the same time. Backing up? No problem...

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That was my favorite part. Just drive it into the camping space.

Quick shot of us returning from a week of camping. Trailer weighed in about 1400 pounds.
Wife and I, 2 kids and a little doggie.

Nearly flooded.
Not really.

Nasty looking boat ramp.

The '03 has no problem towing my 5x9 enclosed (6' interior height) Neo...actually drove it 1500 kilometers a few weeks ago. Tried my fathers 06 Rav4 V6 as a comparison, & felt more comfortable (better stability & sweet spot in the RPM's) in the TDI pulling on the highway.

Quanger said:

Nearly flooded.
Not really.

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I do this with my vanagon, need to get a hitch for the TDi... My trailer holds two jetskis...

this weekend I drove 1500 km with my trailer it pulled fine but going 120, 130 km/h it ate up fuel like I've never seen before, I averaged 28 mpg. (around 600 km on one tank)

I'll post up a pic up of the trailer sometime today

PapaBare said:

The mud is weightless.

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Deliriously incorrect.

CNDTDI said:

this weekend I drove 1500 km with my trailer it pulled fine but going 120, 130 km/h it ate up fuel like I've never seen before, I averaged 28 mpg. (around 600 km on one tank)

I'll post up a pic up of the trailer sometime today

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so you exceeded the mpg's of nearly every suv(empty/unladen) on the market towing a trailer and...ah...moving rather rapidly? sounds rotten
i wish my wife would 'get' that but she'd rather have a high vantage point/driving position.

geoman said:

so you exceeded the mpg's of nearly every suv(empty/unladen) on the market towing a trailer and...ah...moving rather rapidly? sounds rotten
i wish my wife would 'get' that but she'd rather have a high vantage point/driving position.

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This is why I'm selling my truck - I never drive it.

Get your wife a booster seat

graeme20 said:

The '03 has no problem towing my 5x9 enclosed (6' interior height) Neo...actually drove it 1500 kilometers a few weeks ago. Tried my fathers 06 Rav4 V6 as a comparison, & felt more comfortable (better stability & sweet spot in the RPM's) in the TDI pulling on the highway.

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What kind of weight did you have in that trailler? What speeds? Any major mods to the 03 wagon?

I'm contemplating dragging an empty 6x12 with 5 ft interior height behind my 03 wagon this weekend.

CNDTDI said:

this weekend I drove 1500 km with my trailer it pulled fine but going 120, 130 km/h it ate up fuel like I've never seen before, I averaged 28 mpg. (around 600 km on one tank)

I'll post up a pic up of the trailer sometime today

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That's about the drop in mileage I see when towing too. It seems to just be the wind resistance since there is little difference in mileage with the trailer empty or loaded. Still better than my GMC Canyon. It will hit that on the open road with study cruising but not with a trailer.

Fix_Until_Broke said:

Towed a ~2200lb unit this weekend (went across the scale at 6260lb gross) - gave the Jetta it's first good workout since the rebuild a little over a year ago. Sustained EGT's over 1100F, peak of ~1450F. Like others have said, the car runs so much better after a good hard run like this (250 miles).

Also, took this trailer for a test drive - 14x6, 3000lb axles, side door, rear spring assist ramp, LED lights, interior lights, tongue jack, black, 15" wheels, diamond tread rock guard, flush floor tie downs, quick rail on the sides, 6.5' tall inside, etc. I figured it would pull like a parachute, but is actually pulled very easy and smooth, even at 70 MPH (empty). I'd want one with hydraulic surge brakes, maybe a second axle with load distribution, more tie downs inside, etc as well. Maybe someday...

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dremd said:

What kind of weight did you have in that trailler? What speeds? Any major mods to the 03 wagon?

I'm contemplating dragging an empty 6x12 with 5 ft interior height behind my 03 wagon this weekend.

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That might be a good question for Fix_Until_Broke.