Another towing my Thing thread

[surfarii]

Thanks for sharing K mann. Your stories echo the many I have heard.

Sounds like Thatthing and Kubelmann have both experienced the same cheap coupler. I have replaced a few myself for customers.


As a side note.
One of the greatest forces/stresses on a tow bar is exerted when the Tow Vehicle is braking hard. This is especially true with a heavy tow vehicle like a motorhome or a big truck that is capable of stopping fast in a panic type stop.
When the heavy tow vehicle stops fast and hard, the tow vehicle with no brakes applied, wants to keep moving forward.
Which brings me to my point. The VW tow bar clamps under the beam and dog legs up to achieve a somewhat standard ball height.
This bend is a weak link under load. I have seen a few bend at this spot due to the above mentioned scenario.

[NOVA Airhead]

[oasis]

More random thought ...

First, I appreciate all of the answers.

Second, the Eos forum confirms 750 kg (1,653 lbs) max for an unbraked trailer. It does say with a braked trailer, the Eos is then rated at 1,700 kg (3,747 lbs).

With a Thing at 2,006 lbs (curb weight), a braked trailer could weigh up to 1,741 lbs and be okay for the Eos. However, there doesn't seem to be any hitches for the Eos rated above 2,000 lbs. Hidden Hitch and Draw-Tite are the only two I have found with this rating.

Storing an unused trailer is a problem for me that could be addressed if I replace a section of fence and use the back yard area near the storage sheds. I'm not sure I would want to do that. At least, not yet.

I towed my wife's Golf with a dolly when it had a mishap a few years ago. I hated that experience, and that was only 60 or so miles. (We had the EuroVan at the time, not the Eos.)

If I did any towing, I would want the wiring and safety (back-up) chains to be proper. (Not sure of my terminology here.)

All in all, I'm getting less enthusiastic about using the Eos. It has been a great car and I don't think I want to put it through any stress at its margins. Renting a trailer would be an expense I would probably prefer to avoid compared to driving the Eos and Thing separately.

The real downsides for driving the Eos and Thing separately are (1) the inability to swap drivers mid-trip as each driver has their own vehicle, and (2) holding the Eos back to 55-60 MPH is as undesireable as flogging the Thing over 60 MPH for any length of time (although the former would get 35 MPG at such a mundane speed).

The irony is if we ever get a beefier vehicle for towing -- like a EuroVan, Touareg, or whatever -- we would then go to using a trailer and have to decide between Eos and Thing which stays home.

Now, how about a Thing pulling an Eos ...
_________________
Now: 2003 New Beetle Turbo S / 1990 Single Cab Transporter / 2014 Tiguan R-Line 4motion / 2013 Tiguan S / 2002 Golf GLS TDI
Past: 1974 Thing Acapulco / 2009 Eos Komfort / 1997 Jetta GT / 2002 Cabrio GLX / 2002 Passat GLS / 1971 Super Beetle / 1993 EuroVan MV Westfalia / 1981 Pickup LX / 1985 Vanagon / 1986 Jetta GLI

[citroen]

get a vw bus I used to pull my race car and trailer without any problems, used the old panel to pull the trailer and it worked too

[GI Joe]

[surfarii]

[oasis]

[surfarii]

Oasis;
Sorry I don't know of any good shops on the East coast.
The little research I did leads me to believe there was/is a dealer option receiver. look into what that entails if you want to pursue this.

A little info on the breaking system can be seen here

Link

[oasis]

Cool. I'll check it out when I'm away from work away from my work place -- this weekend. Thanks.
_________________
Now: 2003 New Beetle Turbo S / 1990 Single Cab Transporter / 2014 Tiguan R-Line 4motion / 2013 Tiguan S / 2002 Golf GLS TDI
Past: 1974 Thing Acapulco / 2009 Eos Komfort / 1997 Jetta GT / 2002 Cabrio GLX / 2002 Passat GLS / 1971 Super Beetle / 1993 EuroVan MV Westfalia / 1981 Pickup LX / 1985 Vanagon / 1986 Jetta GLI

[sxuxrxf]

surfarii, do you have any experience or thoughts on a system like this?
http://www.readybrake.com/brake-systems.html

btw...before moving to O'side, I lived near your shop on Wilson/Fairview. I stopped in one day for some advice on building my surfboard/bike rack for my motor home. (rack has been revised since pics)


For what it's worth, I'm one of the lucky ones who has towed VW's many thousands of miles without issue. (knock on wood)
I use the generic VW style tow bar, with a few modifications. I welded in a support bar to reduce the amount of twist, as well as adding some stops near the beam connections so the bar stays located properly and doesn't kill the zerks.
I also have safety chains from the bar to the receiver, as well as a separate chain from the beam to the receiver.

_________________
(ignore the X's )

[kubelmann]

Surfarii, Towing terms can be confusing to the private non-technical Thing owner. So I thought we could "pimp out” your towing expertise to build a towing term glossary. I have discussed towing with a number of folks and most folks are very unclear when it comes to:
Volkswagen GVWR (Vehicle)
Volkswagen GAWR (Axle)
Volkswagen GCWR (Combined)
Volkswagen Cargo Carrying Capacity (CCC)
Volkswagen Curb Weight
Volkswagen Payload (stuff hauled inside the vehicle)
So perhaps towing could even become a sticky... Folks like sxuxfxf avoid towing tragedy because they create a safe towing package that is greatly improved by exceeding all safety limits. Guys like me have towed so many thing so many times that stuff has gone (right) and wrong and as such I trailer vehicles now except for short distances or an emergency

[surfarii]

[surfarii]

[NOVA Airhead]

I have also found the Annual Towing Guide published by Trailer Life to be useful - link below. Even for seasoned "towers" its a good refresher.

http://www.trailerlife.com/trailer-towing-guides/

When I had a Travel Trailer I would swear at least half the Trailers at any particular campground had an unsafe towing combination - typically vehicles that were overloaded. Often people focus on a single number such as the tow rating. I often see people towing huge 5th wheel trailers with F150 trucks.

I would never use a VW tow bar without modifying it. In standard form its not safe. At a minimum it needs proper safety chains installed. This is not only for safety but in most places is required by law.
_________________
Ghia Owner Emeritus

[kubelmann]

Agreed. In the 60s-70s in Colorado Springs and for decades more we depended on European Auto Parts (now closed and mostly forgotten) for all our imported car needs. The place was run by a bunch of old school air cooled folks. They had the standard VW tow bars on the wall for sale ($69.95) for many years. These units came without a hitch lever retainer or safety chains of any kind... Never mind about lights.... In those days nobody thought about protecting a well worn 65 bug they had just bought <barely running> for $75

[NOVA Airhead]

[FV195]

I have and use a tow bar for short trips, but when I moved to fl and back I used my 8x18' enclosed car trailer. And yes storage is an issue

[sam_w]

I went out and bought a used 2 wheel trailer for $500, but it needed a bit of work so say $650.
In CA the max trailer that does not need brakes is 3000 lbs, and the minivan tow weight is 3300 lbs, so I think the Thingster on a 2 wheel trailer is well within the capabilities.

I have trailered it 2000 miles to WA and back, and gone off roading in the Mojave several times, 1000 mile round trip. It is great when you break something as I seem to do.
But a 2 wheel trailer is easy to store with the Thingster on top.

_________________
63 singlecab
73 thingster
74 Thing

[RealThing74]

I am not taking any sides just passing on my experience. I have been towing a Beetle behind my Motorhome for the past 5 years with a VW tow bar that mounts to the lower beam tube and have not had ant problems. I average 6000-8000 miles a year towing it . I will say I did have a tow bar brake but it was not the bars fault the Beetle was hit from behind by a fully loaded Gravel dump truck with a fully loaded trailer behind the truck, The Beetle was pushed into the back of the Motorhome and the tow bar was bent in two and broke also the hitch receiver was bent and push forward. The Bike rack mounted to the hitch bar stopped the Beetle from hitting the back of the Motorhome.
Blue Ox makes a tow bar base plate that mounts to the front beam permanently and a tow bar then hooks to that base plate just under the bumper. Also I always have safety chains running from the towing vehicle back to the lower beam tube and I put a lock on the hitch ball release.
First pic is the Blue ox base plate.

_________________
Mike
81 Vanagon Westy
74 Thing Currently under a pan off restoration
73 Standard Beetle that we tow behind our Motorhome & use for sightseeing.
Click to view image

[GI Joe]