Show what you tow!

[ThatGTI]

It is a 13 foot Camplite We had to search for it and drove 300 miles to get it. All aluminum/composite unit. The Beetle is generating ~315 TQ/160 HP. So it pulls no problem. When we are cruising, there is a lot of wind drag because of the shape and so much of the trailer face is not protected by the Beetle so we feel that. Don't really need brakes with this parachute behind us . So much drag that the turbo is always boosting at about 5 psi. It doesn't generate boost when cruising when the trailer is off.

Very nice! I looked up the specs and saw that it was a lot lighter than I expected. I figured all aluminium would be, but still.

Put an AirLift setup in the factory springs. I love that setup on my wife's MkV. I've put the AirLift setup in my MkIV Wagon as well, but I didn't take the Wagon on a 4500 mile test drive with the trailer...

Here's the link to the photos before the AirLift setup went on the cars...
http://forums.tdiclub.com/showpost.php?p=4966499&postcount=2470
http://forums.tdiclub.com/showpost.php?p=4968277&postcount=2477

I might have to look into that. Thanks! I'm anxious to see how it does with the stock springs by themselves.

 

[ThatGTI]

Last Sunday I took a trip from Ohio down to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. The trip went pretty smoothly. The car towed the pop-up without any issues at all, I was genuinely impressed with how well it it did.

We had a spot right next to the beach. It was so nice falling asleep and waking up to the sound of the waves.

 

[Oo-v-oO]

55, 40# bags of Anthracite nut coal. 2,200#. Trailer did not like all of the frost heaves we have this time of year in NH.

 

[[486]]

Don't get delivery in your area?
from what I hear you usually get a few tons delivered a lot cheaper than in bags

 

[Oo-v-oO]

This was from a free ad. ;-)

 

[[486]]

Who gives money away?

 

[Oo-v-oO]

It happens, sometimes. I can't remember the last time I've paid to heat my home, other than in motor fuel and sweat equity.

The person I got it from said I was about the 12th to respond but the only one to use the magic words. "I heat with coal". The rest were just out to flip it for a buck.

 

[Geordi]

Why would someone give it away? Don't they need it to heat their own home?

I think I'd be looking to set up some form of omnivorous heating system - is there such a thing, that can use coal or pellet pine or otherwise? Mainly I only know of gas or oil/diesel heaters.

 

[kjclow]

A good heating stove should be able to burn any consumable solid. Probably not able to burn liquid/gas in the same stove but wood, coal, paper... should all be good.

 

[Oo-v-oO]

The person with the coal injured his back and couldn't hump around 40# bags any more. He needed the room in his garage and so we both won. He regrettably will be heating with gas now, would have been happy continuing to burn coal but such is life.

We heat our entire house (other than a 10K btu unvented propane heater in the upstairs bathroom for subzero days) with an Ashley combo wood and coal stove. It burns wood, of course, and Anthracite coal sized Pea up through Stove. You need to be careful with Pea because it tends to drop through the grates fairly easily so I blend it with Nut and that helps. We have no other sources of heat.Typically burn wood in the Spring and Fall, when it is still too warm for a proper coal fire.

I have burned some Butuminous and Cannel coal, but it is very dirty and stinky. Anthracite burns very clean with no smoke and only a little bit of odor outside when you first load it up.

I love heating with coal. Only need to tend the stove twice a day unless it is below zero.

 

[jmodge]

sounds like the same furnace I have for wood. Do you have the funky little hinged vent door on the main door. The only thing I don't like about it. 17 years and in use right now.

 

[Geordi]

Hmm, interesting. So does this heat water that then is piped through the house to radiators, or some other direct method? What kind of cost would it be normally... And lastly, since this is so small, would something like a pellet stove (which I think they have little augers in them to feed the pellets) work for this?

 

[Oo-v-oO]

Mine does have a little hinged door in the main door, I believe it is there to relieve pressure in the case of a minor explosion in the stove which can happen if you have it really cranking along then turn the temperature way down, starving the fire for air. It will eventually get enough to ignite whatever flammable vapors have accumulated in the stove and it goes "WOOOF" and puffs smoke out into the room.

The stove just heats the air, it is not a boiler.

Not exactly small, either. From empty it takes 40-50 pounds of coal to fill it. This is a "hand-fired" coal stove, where you shovel the coal in manually. A "stoker" stove is more like a pellet stove, except it burns Rice or Buckwheat sized coal, typically. Some use augers and some use a pusher mechanism that strokes back and forth, with the rate of firing being controlled by how often it strokes.

 

[jmodge]

Yeah, I have had mine pop open a few times in mild weather and the coals get choked down{hardwood}. The place I bought it from said it was for letting a small amount of air in prior to loading, to avoid inducing to much air to the choked coals. They also make a door without it.

 

[PB_NB]

Did some camping at Porteau Cove on the West Coast of BC.

 

[PB_NB]

I came across a newer light weight trailer that appears to be made for us TDIer's.

https://heliovr.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Helio_O_Series_2018.pdf

Starting weight at 1089 lbs. Also has a bit of an aerodynamic styling that would help cut through the air at speed!

I can see more and more small cars out there pulling trailers

 

[CGDoig]

I was scrolling through and I realized I haven't actually posted a tow picture since getting the hitch all done up and wired. I ended up putting brakes on the Boler before the season last year as well. Tows like a dream. Not sure on total loaded weight but we made it all over Alberta without a hiccup. Didn't brave BC unfortunately, I feel my turbo is a little tired and my EGTs on flat ground alone are enough to scare myself. Anyways, here's a couple photos of the set up, we're upgrading the wife's vehicle with something more capable for future mountain trips.

 

[PB_NB]

Now image the little Boler in red! That would be quite a site.

Looks great!

 

[nayr]

My new toy hauler:

19ft long, All aluminum, tandem torsion axles, two tipout queen beds, aircon/heat, slide out kitchen..

~3k unladen, 7k total capacity..

 

[PB_NB]

That trailer looks pretty cool!

 

[Stealth TDI]

Half a cubic yard of top soil...

It definitely closed the gap on my downgraded trailer springs...

The car handled it great, but it wasn't fun backing the third load up a hill to my front yard. The first two loads went to a flatter spot that didn't require backing.

Scott

 

[penclnck]

Another bad investment.... Funhouse.

 

[KITEWAGON]

My new toy hauler:

19ft long, All aluminum, tandem torsion axles, two tipout queen beds, aircon/heat, slide out kitchen..

~3k unladen, 7k total capacity..

Love the tires you have going on that Q7. Good on you for putting that beast to work.

 

[nayr]

Thanks, I love my tires aswell

I've been getting as many comments on the tow vehicle as I have the trailer.. some ole Harley rider approached me in a parking lot while wife was refilling us on espresso.. Asked me a bunch of questions abut the trailer then said 'I just bought a diesel truck that can tow 7k pounds'.. when I told him 'oh this is a diesel and it can tow 7k pounds too' he just looked at me like I was sooo full of **** heh.

Even the sales man at the RV dealer was skeptical such a nice vehicle could pull such a large trailer, then when he retracted the jack he commented 'oh wow this thing didnt even drop an inch'.. so I had to explain to him how the Air Suspension worked.

Pulls great, the independent suspension on trailer just glides down the interstate.. I still had plenty of power left.. It would go to 8th gear at 70mph and cruise @ 1800rpm on flat ground, and had no problems passing big rigs going up an incline.. Fuel Economy is a gonner tho heh, averaged 12-13mpg towing it home @ 70mph virtually empty.

 

[ToxicDoc]

Real issue is weight. Just be cautious that it doesn't push you around (especially in braking and fast turns) if it's too heavy. Keep it as light/unloaded as possible

 

[pdq import repair]

I regularly haul our racing Beetle common rail to the dragstrip on a tow bar. (1700 lbs) It barely notices it is back there, harldy even affects the fuel mileage. I just took 3 trailerloads of scrap to the recycler last week. I rolled cross the scale last load at 6800 Lbs. Had 2300 lbs. on the trailer and the guys there all commented about the load i was pulling with my little Jetta.

Just be careful and watch the tongue weight.

 

[GEFP]

Not towing with either of the Jetta's .....yet. Subscribed.

 

[casioqv]

I was lucky enough to find a Tesla model X owner that didn't want to keep the 2" detachable Bosal hitch adapter they come with, which is not sold to the public. It's shown below on my 2001 TDI Golf, next to the padded carrying case it comes with. I haven't tried it yet, but I'm looking forward to seeing how well this works in practice. This essentially gives a real class III hitch on the MKIV with all OEM grade parts, nothing custom. It has a lot of internal moving parts in the attachment mechanism, so I'm a little worried about long term reliability as I mostly use this for launching my sailboat in salt water.


I'm also looking into getting (probably renting) a fiberglass trailer like what CGDoig has above for a road trip...

 

[PB_NB]

Took a little trip to Diablo Lake and stopped in Concrete Washington to get supplies.

 

[Millennium Falcon]

I towed the jeep with the wagon a couple weeks ago. It did fine.... and if the wagon blows up the jeep has a spare ALH in it....haha! The last picture is the slip from the scales where I weighed the jeep.