Towing

AlanTDI

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 18, 2002
Location
Long Island NY, relocating to Louisiana next week
TDI
1996 Passat wagonTDI, 02 jetta sedan, on the dark side 2017 Rav4
Hi,
What do you think about me towing my 2002 Jetta from NY to Louisiana with my 96 Passat, with a triangle tow bar?
dangerous ? Don’t do it.? Or maybe
thank you for your input. I don’t have a lot of towing experience, except for
Towing a 5x8 Uhaul trailer with a RAV4 last year.
 

Mongler98

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Mar 23, 2011
Location
COLORADO (SE of Denver)
TDI
98 Jetta TDI AHU 1.9L (944 TDI swap in progress) I moved so now i got nothing but an AHU in a garage on a pallet.
TF? your going to flat tow a car that is about the same weight as the other for 1400 miles?
your going to kill the passat or yourself trying. it would be less expensive for you to catch a cheep flight BACK to NY and drive the jetta to wherever your going. wear and tear and fuel, also safty. it can be done but its not idea. Moving truck with a car dolly or trailer is best. remember your putting those miles on your passat and the jetta, road miles is road miles, even if the engine isnt moving but the tires are!
 

KLXD

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 22, 2009
Location
Lompoc, CA
TDI
'98, '2 Jettas
Aside from the above concerns, you considering the one with the auto trans? Does the 01M like to be flat towed? Prolly not, check the manual.
 
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TDIDaveNH

Left Lane Coal Roller at Large
Joined
Feb 17, 2009
Location
North Conway, NH
TDI
1997 Passat TDI x2 1984 Buick Century 4.3 diesel
The Passat will do it, but I would strongly suggest a lightweight tow dolly.
 

AlanTDI

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 18, 2002
Location
Long Island NY, relocating to Louisiana next week
TDI
1996 Passat wagonTDI, 02 jetta sedan, on the dark side 2017 Rav4
You guys are the voice of reason. that’s why I posed the question. I see those flat towing bars when I drive from NY to La. in the Bristol Tn/Va area ( Bristol motor speedway)
Maybe race cars/ durby cars. Short distance tow

Wear and tear.? The Passat has 285k, Jetta 269k the O1M probably will Freddie mercury on the trip
After I turned I my 2010 sportswagon, and brought a new rav4; I still can’t shake the TDI bug, much to the chagrin of my wife
I’ll have to think of an alternative
 

where2

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 29, 1999
Location
North Palm Beach, FL, USA
TDI
One '13 JSW_TDI & One '04 Variant_TDI
If the MkIV was a 5MT, and you rigged it properly for towing you could drag it wherever you wanted (with a slightly larger tow vehicle). I dragged my 2004 MkIV with a 5MT ~3,000 miles last year behind my RV. Even with the car behind the RV, it technically needs an auxiliary braking device to stop the car if something catastrophic should happen to the tow rig, or the trailering vehicle were to "break away" for some reason.

If you really want to get the car from NY to Louisiana, there's car haulers making the trip all the time. This morning I made one phone call and got a hauler lined up to pickup a car in MD late this week, and drop it off in South FL on the weekend. I've easily got half as much invested in my MkIV flat tow rig as this haul cost me, and that's not counting the aux braking device (required by most states). Flat towing can be helpful/useful, but do it safely...
 

Mongler98

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Mar 23, 2011
Location
COLORADO (SE of Denver)
TDI
98 Jetta TDI AHU 1.9L (944 TDI swap in progress) I moved so now i got nothing but an AHU in a garage on a pallet.
the safty is not in the towing of it, its in the slowing of it. if you do flat tow, put some ballast in the front seats and air up the rear tires a few PSI.
you want a little bit more weight than 50/50 here. if you translate a bias towards your hitch the tow car will travel strait and want to not fishtail. Stopping is also a big issue. no way i know of to make a tow car have a braking system to work with the pulling car. so when you try and slow down, the towed car will try and push you out of the way causing a jack knife.
a tow dolly will solve most of this
the problem with any rental is that uhaul and other companies will NOT rent one to you at all, not a freaking chance. if i cant tow a 1984 944 with a 2014 ford escape on a tow dolly, there is no way your going to get one. does not mean you cant do it, it just means that uhaul has policies that stop you from doing this as its unsafe to there insurance and to the drivers, from there standpoint that your car is not rated to do so from the factory. so that means your going to have to buy a used one or get one on the cheep or back door shenanigans. so a flight might be cheaper in that regard to drive it solo.

either way i would just have it hauled there by a professional mover! or rent a moving truck that can do it with a tow dolly but then your going to suck on mpg
 

AlanTDI

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 18, 2002
Location
Long Island NY, relocating to Louisiana next week
TDI
1996 Passat wagonTDI, 02 jetta sedan, on the dark side 2017 Rav4
I’m seeing the light, and towing is not a good idea, with the rav4, I’m sure the Passat would be fine, then again I just remembered the brakes on the Passat suck.

It’s drive and fly, or liquidate or get it hauled// probably not worth it// or abandon the beloved 2002 Jetta wagon auto if it don’t make it

I rented a 5 x 8 uhaul trailer, and pulled it to La from NY , normally get 28-32 mpg on RAV4, with full trailer 15 -17 mpg’s ,first trailering for me, piece of cake

Plus I’m finding uhaul doesn’t have one way rentals to the backwoods of Louisiana -Sterlington

at least I’ll live to enjoy my retirement
And thanks for the informative input
 
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TDIDaveNH

Left Lane Coal Roller at Large
Joined
Feb 17, 2009
Location
North Conway, NH
TDI
1997 Passat TDI x2 1984 Buick Century 4.3 diesel
I have a bit of experience towing trailers & other VWs with the B4....a few VW's several hundred pounds heavier than the B4.

I'd do such a trip, but every system on the B4 has really got to be on point...and I do mean every system, brakes, suspension, tires/steering, AC, electrical, etc...and I would leave at dusk and do the majority of the towing at night. Then again, I've got the larger brakes and a few other tricks going on. The thing is, even with everything optimized for success you still can't stop as fast, hence going at night. All it is going to take is one 20 year old Camry or a white Buick Century and it's game over.

Uhaul tow dollies are just too heavy. Don't even bother with them.
 

AlanTDI

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 18, 2002
Location
Long Island NY, relocating to Louisiana next week
TDI
1996 Passat wagonTDI, 02 jetta sedan, on the dark side 2017 Rav4
Besides UHaul or buying a tow dolly, where can they be rented?
UHaul wants $525 for a one way rental from NY to Monore La.

And to most likely doesn't have brakes, which I understand is required in all 50 states

Thank you
 

TDIDaveNH

Left Lane Coal Roller at Large
Joined
Feb 17, 2009
Location
North Conway, NH
TDI
1997 Passat TDI x2 1984 Buick Century 4.3 diesel
For that price, it's best to buy one then put it up for sale on the craigslist of your destination before you even tow with it. My Towmaster dolly doesn't have brakes, I've never been questioned for it or even worried about it.
 

Mongler98

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Mar 23, 2011
Location
COLORADO (SE of Denver)
TDI
98 Jetta TDI AHU 1.9L (944 TDI swap in progress) I moved so now i got nothing but an AHU in a garage on a pallet.
like i said, find a cheep flight back and drive it. i see cheep flights for about $80 bucks from time to time. gata use skyscanner.com and wait for the best time to go. get an uber to take you to your car and go at it. if its not in derivable or running condition, sell that heap and move on. plenty of them around.
its just a car.
 

AlanTDI

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 18, 2002
Location
Long Island NY, relocating to Louisiana next week
TDI
1996 Passat wagonTDI, 02 jetta sedan, on the dark side 2017 Rav4
Toad Passat from Long Island to Louisiana

Thanks to all the feedback.
I ended up buying a craigslist Acme EZE tow dolly circa 2018 $900.00
Toad with my Rav4 (which replaced my 2012 buy back Sportswagen)
1350 miles no problems, MPG for this trip normally 28-31, with tow dolly
18-22.
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Thanks again to the TDICLUB members.
 

Mongler98

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Mar 23, 2011
Location
COLORADO (SE of Denver)
TDI
98 Jetta TDI AHU 1.9L (944 TDI swap in progress) I moved so now i got nothing but an AHU in a garage on a pallet.
Cool. At least you can sell it and recoup the cost
 

Steve Addy

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 7, 2002
Location
Iowa
TDI
97 Mk3
I too recently had need to move a vehicle which apparently was not inop, just out of gas (despite the fuel gauge reading 1/2 tank).

I bought a second hand (or third hand) tow dolly for $400 and on the trip to load the car it struck me that perhaps it was out of gas! Which it was.

This is not the first one I've owned, I had one other back in the 00's, but sold it off because it was causing some bad habits in the form of 'dragging things home' that would better be left elsewhere.

Now I'm with tow dolly again and hoping that it doesn't cause any problems. Then again I recently acquired a new shop that's 42x70 so maybe it doesn't matter?

You should be able to get close to your investment out of that I would think. Most tow dollys here get purchased fairly quickly as RV owners typically decide they need to pull a car with them. I was surprised the one I got was still available honestly.

Steve
 

AlanTDI

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 18, 2002
Location
Long Island NY, relocating to Louisiana next week
TDI
1996 Passat wagonTDI, 02 jetta sedan, on the dark side 2017 Rav4
Yes, i got a acme eze tow(about 385lbs), it weighs way less than the uhaul, and less than the master tow.(about 500lbs)
With the acme ez tow, you must leave the toad cars
Steering unlocked, no swivel, the others have swivel
Plates on the dolly.
I have one move car to tow, a toyota echo.

I just had to be aware that the tow dolly is wider
Than my Rav4, scary the first few miles, then you get
Used to it, monitoring the rear view morrors.
The eze tow can be stored vertical to save space.
.
 
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