Anyone tow a popup camper?

jesssssser

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 8, 2016
Location
Buffalo
TDI
2010 Jetta Sportwagen ~118K
I'm just curious. A tow hitch is certain in my plans, and I was wondering if anyone has towed a popup with their TDI

I met a guy who tows his Harley from PA to the Tampa Bay area every year in an enclosed trailer! Seems like a popup wouldn't be much of a stretch.


Thanks!
 

DerekG

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 8, 2013
Location
Oklahoma
TDI
'13 4dr Golf TDI 6-speed manual
Check this thread out...

http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=255330


Biggest thing to watch out for is tongue weight with a pop-up. Before buying the trailer in my sig we disregarded pop-ups because the tongue weight was too much. We didn't go with Casita, Egg Camper, or T@B because of that same reason.

Also go ahead and splurge on a proper euro hitch such as Westfalia or Bosal. I went with Curt and while it's been fine for the ~14k miles I've towed my camper with it I would prefer the peace of mind of a higher quality hitch and will probably upgrade in the future.
 

jesssssser

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 8, 2016
Location
Buffalo
TDI
2010 Jetta Sportwagen ~118K
Check this thread out...

http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=255330


Biggest thing to watch out for is tongue weight with a pop-up. Before buying the trailer in my sig we disregarded pop-ups because the tongue weight was too much. We didn't go with Casita, Egg Camper, or T@B because of that same reason.

Also go ahead and splurge on a proper euro hitch such as Westfalia or Bosal. I went with Curt and while it's been fine for the ~14k miles I've towed my camper with it I would prefer the peace of mind of a higher quality hitch and will probably upgrade in the future.

Thanks for the referral! Looks like people tow a bunch more than a popup
 

nayr

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 26, 2013
Location
Colorado
TDI
2014 Audi Q7
I tow a trailer not much larger than a popup all over the country; does fine.. If you plan on towing it alot you probably want some airbag helper springs or else your rear tires gonna wear out prematurely... (Presuming JSW has IRS)

Its all about tongue weight, you cant handle much so it requires a carefully balanced load.. as a general rule of thumb was if I cant lift it and put it on the hitch relatively easily with my own strength then it was too heavy.. I had a 1500lb trailer and put 150lbs or 10% on the tongue.

I'd suggest blind spot mirrors, helps you turn your mirrors in to see trailer without loosing road coverage..

I towed with a Westfallia hitch, did great.. You can rent PopUp campers from: https://www.outdoorsy.co/rv-rental/ if you want to try out a few models of various size and weight and see what works out best for you. I prefer to haul trailers with long tongues, makes backing them in much easier and when you tow with a car ppl have to be retrained to help you back in; they used to signaling to trucks and wont know to keep there hands down low where you can see em..

Since I just upgraded to a larger tow vehicle I'm thinking of renting out an airstream from time to time, like when we go camping in the early season and would really appreciate having heat on subzero nights.. Its alot cheaper than buying and storing a big camper.. and we can drive Oregon/Washington and rent one there without yanking it a few thousand miles and killing our fuel budget.
 
Last edited:

piper109

Veteran Member
Joined
Dec 6, 2003
Location
Ashe Co NC
I have towed an Aliner with my 2003 Manual TDI Golf. Camper weight is about 1200 lbs loaded so its not one of the bigger ones. Dates to 1990. No problems at all towing. In the mountains of North Carolina to Tampa area Florida. Got about 30 mpg driving about 70 on the freeway.
Later after buying my 2012 TDI Jetta Sportwagon with 6 speed manual, I towed it fairly often and drove it in 6th gear no problem at all. Got 32 mpg at freeway speeds.
My biggest issue was seeing out the back so I mounted a camera, backwards looking, to the front of the Aliner on a piece of aluminum angle sticking up about 12" above the camper so I could see behind me at any time. This made towing so much calmer for me.
 

kooyajerms

grocery getter
Joined
May 5, 2004
Location
Pomona, Southern California
TDI
97 B4V (mine), 11 x5 35d (hers) 04 V10 (that one you want), 2014 Q7 (mom's) 74 Shasta 1400
Shameless plug.

I'm pulling this 1600 pound Shasta. Westfalia tow bar, tow module, towing mirrors and rear airbags.

I'm a newbie when it comes to towing so I'll give you some idea of how it feels to me. Nayr on the other hand has taken his into the depths of hell and out ;)

I'll also take a few pictures on our next trip to Jasper, CA. We Gave it a bit of a paint job.
 

ThatGTI

Member
Joined
Oct 18, 2016
Location
Miamisburg, OH
TDI
MK6 GTI
I'm working on getting a hitch setup for my MK6. I have a Westfalia wiring harness and am just working on getting a Westfalia tow bar. While looking at campers to tow, the hitch weight seems to be the biggest limiting factor. Even little 8' box pop ups have a hitch weight right around the 165lb tongue weight rating of the car. I know the Westfalia hitch is rated a bit higher. I've seen some members on here greatly surpassing that rating. Specifically the guy that towed an Airstream with a hitch weight of about 350lbs. How much hitch weight do you think the car is actually capable of before it becomes an issue?
 

DerekG

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 8, 2013
Location
Oklahoma
TDI
'13 4dr Golf TDI 6-speed manual
I'm working on getting a hitch setup for my MK6. I have a Westfalia wiring harness and am just working on getting a Westfalia tow bar. While looking at campers to tow, the hitch weight seems to be the biggest limiting factor. Even little 8' box pop ups have a hitch weight right around the 165lb tongue weight rating of the car. I know the Westfalia hitch is rated a bit higher. I've seen some members on here greatly surpassing that rating. Specifically the guy that towed an Airstream with a hitch weight of about 350lbs. How much hitch weight do you think the car is actually capable of before it becomes an issue?
Personally I would keep it 200 or less. You'll notice a fair amount of squat with ~140-175lbs tongue weight with gear/people. I'll be installing an Airlift kit on my Golf before taking the Scamp + gear and bikes for 2 people to Palo Duro Canyon in 2 weeks. I'm going to make a thread showing before/after pics as well as an install video.

Here is what my ride height looks like with ~150lbs tongue weight, relatively empty trunk, and large car seat with toddler in the back seat.

DSC05622 by DerekG710, on Flickr

The main benefit I'm looking for with the air springs is not having to purposely under-load the trunk while towing to avoid excess squat. Secondly there are times I want to take a kayak when we camp and I would have to put it on the roof which would add more weight to the rear springs as well.
 
Last edited:

ihatespeed

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 12, 2013
Location
holbrook, ma
TDI
11 tdi wagon 6mt 15 golf 6mt (Wife's) 2000 Ford 350 7.3l 6mt 4x4 (technically a TDI)
I had the Firestone coil right helper airbags, they worked ok, but I had issues with one leaking, and eventually got towing springs. If you don't mind the slightly lifted look (1.5") go with a set of euro tow springs and tiguan fronts from id parts. coincidentally they sell a euro spec bosal hitch for descent money and for a nominal fee weld on safety chain rings for you.
 

ihatespeed

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 12, 2013
Location
holbrook, ma
TDI
11 tdi wagon 6mt 15 golf 6mt (Wife's) 2000 Ford 350 7.3l 6mt 4x4 (technically a TDI)
We tow a home built teardrop camper nominal weight of 1200lbs. car takes it great, still get 30 mpg even. as for what the car will safely and reliably take I have on several occasions scaled in at 5600-6000 lbs cgvw for several thousand miles (military personal property moves) the car has plenty of brakes and power, and if you load evenly and upgrade your springs it is a very reasonable and predictable towing experience. As long as you remember you are towing something and take it easy you will be fine.
 

vanbcguy

Veteran Member
Joined
Feb 22, 2013
Location
Vancouver, BC
TDI
'93 Passat - AHU mTDI with GTB1756VK
Towing isn't really a problem. Stopping and backing uphill are a different story. Trailer brakes are highly recommend!

Sent from my XT1097 using Tapatalk
 

DerekG

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 8, 2013
Location
Oklahoma
TDI
'13 4dr Golf TDI 6-speed manual
I am very interested in the air springs.
Have you already purchased them? If so, what brand/model.
I have them in my garage now. I'll PM you that info tonight when I get home and check. :)


Towing isn't really a problem. Stopping and backing uphill are a different story. Trailer brakes are highly recommend!

Sent from my XT1097 using Tapatalk
So much this^
 

ThatGTI

Member
Joined
Oct 18, 2016
Location
Miamisburg, OH
TDI
MK6 GTI
Is there any issue in getting a trailer with a higher tongue weight but still well under the total towing capacity, and just securely loading gear in the back in order to bring that tongue weight down to the tongue weight limit of the car? Obviously you can't do that to extreme amounts, because you should have around 10-15% of the total weight to be on the hitch.
 

lcbailey

Member
Joined
Jun 6, 2012
Location
Lake Placid, NY
TDI
2010 Jetta TDI, 1998 Jetta TDI
Is there any issue in getting a trailer with a higher tongue weight but still well under the total towing capacity, and just securely loading gear in the back in order to bring that tongue weight down to the tongue weight limit of the car? Obviously you can't do that to extreme amounts, because you should have around 10-15% of the total weight to be on the hitch.
Interested if anyone has any thoughts on ThatGTI's question.
 
Top