VW Touareg Tow Vehicle

[agbowden]

See my reply at the end of the thread.

[youroo]

Originally Posted by agbowden

Late to the party, but we tow a #3900 dry weight Wildwood 221RBXL, x-lite, and love it. Hitch good for 610 only has 420lbs, use a Tekonsha aftermarket brake controller, sill getting 15-18 MPG. Lots of people don't know the power of the t-reg diesel. The only add mod was when we bought the trailer, we had to turn the hitch upside down and and get a 2 5/8 ball... probably would have made Wolfsburg grimace as the think ball size is linear with trailer weight. Yikes! NO. REGRETS. And, I don't have to drive a truck

I am pretty sure you meant "2-5/16 Ball" in regards to my post about Member DDC towing with a VW Touareg he also used a "Hensley Hitch"! Youroo!!

[Hersbird]

I just did some hitch weight measurements on my Solaire 19x and came up with 820 pounds WDH, 2 propane bottles, 2 batteries, full water and front compartment full of chairs, BBQ, leveling blocks, basically packed full. Then I took everything out, both propane tanks off, drained the freshwater tank, and pulled both batteries and it was 425 pounds of hitch weight. (Only 381 pounds without the WDH). So then I added both batteries, one propane, some of the stuff like leveling blocks and BBQ but no chairs and extra junk in the compartment, and no fresh water, and got 647 pounds. I think this how we will tow. If I really wanted I could knock 42 pounds off that with just 1 battery. That leaves 690 pounds of GVWR for 4 people and a few items inside.

I ordered the Curt wireless brake controller and a Curt LED harness adaptor. I need to re-adjust my WHD as it is set up for a Suburban but otherwise we plan a 650 mile trip mid August with the Touareg.

I keep detailed MPG logs so it will be interesting to see how it does. The best we have gotten with a gas motor was 8 mpg and we would get about 11 mpg with a 5.9 Cummins. Doing this trip for a little over $100 in fuel will be a record by far. It was getting to the point where it was less expensive to just get a hotel for 3 days with over $3.50 gas and 8 mpg.

[Fants75]

Very late to the party - but have the same question and been researching about a Mini Lite 2109s. Dry weight is 4171 lbs and Hitch Weight 412, which should easily work with the Touareg capabilities (also TDI - 7,716 lbs towing capacity and 616 lbs of tongue weight). I asked this question in a facebook group of owners, and everybody have their perspectives on what the "actual" tongue weight is for these rigs, varying from 510 to 740 lbs (pretty wide range!). I saw some of you mentioned WDH, which should definitely improve the tongue weight situation, but the user manual in the Touareg states clearly: “Never install a weight distributing or load equalizing trailer hitch on your vehicle. The vehicle is not designed for this kind of trailer hitch”. What's your perspective on it? You went for it anyways? Any problems? How much "Capacity" do you get by adding a WDH in the Touareg?

[JayArras]

I don't own a Touareg, but I've heard similar constraints on other vehicles. Not sure of the reason why, but it's almost certain that they will deny you any warranty claim due to failure of the receiver or tow setup if they found you were using a WDH. That said, I would not pull a 4100+ lb. trailer without one.

[agbowden]

I drove a steep grade with water, propane full - I personally don't think you will have any problems.

[bikendan]

Originally Posted by JayArras

I don't own a Touareg, but I've heard similar constraints on other vehicles. Not sure of the reason why, but it's almost certain that they will deny you any warranty claim due to failure of the receiver or tow setup if they found you were using a WDH. That said, I would not pull a 4100+ lb. trailer without one.

These WDH constraints are on unibody vehicles. Never seen WDH constraints on a ladder frame vehicle.

[Mr Towed]

Originally Posted by agbowden

Late to the party, but we tow a #3900 dry weight Wildwood 221RBXL, x-lite, and love it. Hitch good for 610 only has 420lbs, use a Tekonsha aftermarket brake controller, sill getting 15-18 MPG. Lots of people don't know the power of the t-reg diesel. The only add mod was when we bought the trailer, we had to turn the hitch upside down and and get a 2 5/8 ball... probably would have made Wolfsburg grimace as the think ball size is linear with trailer weight. Yikes! NO. REGRETS. And, I don't have to drive a truck

Love that brown!

And i miss my TDI sportwagen with 6 speed stick shift! I got a GTi to replace it, and while it is faster and has amazing active headlights, I liked the TDI better, and, boy, do I miss the mileage I used to get in that thing!

[Hersbird]

Well I'm going to use the WDH. To me it doesn't seem to add any extra stress to the hitch. Instead of weight hanging, it adds some weight basically lifting. As long as you aren't putting so much weight transfer on the thing to the point where you are lifting the rear tires (which is possible with a WDH) I don't see how terrible it can be. As it is with my setup the WDH takes most all the squat out of the rear of the Touareg with the camper hooked up, that and it has sway control as well. IMO the Touareg is built like a tank, the curb weight on the thing is similar to a much bigger Suburban.

here is another's story using WHD and towing a bigger trailer with a Touareg.
https://www.clubtouareg.com/threads/.../topics/209089

and another thread on it.
https://www.clubtouareg.com/threads/...nd-wdh.213297/

[Hersbird]

Oh and just for fun, take this Toyota and space shuttle!
https://vimeo.com/215435721

[nmooney]

2014 TDI LUX towing Solaire 247RKES. Loaded WT approx 6500#, lots to spare. Hitch weight around 770, right at max due Blu Ox WDH. Tows great, guzzles DEF when towing.

[Flybob]

Originally Posted by Hersbird

The Touareg is actually a much stronger SUV than a Atlas irregardless of the size. The Touareg has 406 ft-lbs of torque and a 8 speed Aisin transmission which is good enough to go behind the 541hp turbo Porsche version. It weighs 4974 pounds vs 4400 pounds of an Atlas. It was VWs flagship greatly over engineering compared to an Atlas and a good $20k more expensive. !

Looking at their published numbers scares me. What is the cargo capacity listed on the drivers door jamb. That is the weak link in the chain.

[Hersbird]

Originally Posted by Flybob

Looking at their published numbers scares me. What is the cargo capacity listed on the drivers door jamb. That is the weak link in the chain.

1105 pounds of payload. Basically 6305 GVWR and 4970 curb weight and they give you 225 pounds for the driver. 1335 if you don't count the driver.

I agree payload is the limiting factor. At 700 pounds on the hitch, I only have room for the wife and a kid, everything else needs to be in the camper. If we want to carry more, I have a 2500 Yukon XL with 2800 pounds of payload. Then we can tow and carry all adult kids and grandkids at the same time.

[AlaskaErik]

Originally Posted by Hersbird

1105 pounds of payload. Basically 6305 GVWR and 4970 curb weight and they give you 225 pounds for the driver. 1335 if you don't count the driver.

I agree payload is the limiting factor. At 700 pounds on the hitch, I only have room for the wife and a kid, everything else needs to be in the camper. If we want to carry more, I have a 2500 Yukon XL with 2800 pounds of payload. Then we can tow and carry all adult kids and grandkids at the same time.

The payload capacity on the yellow sticker is for everything...driver, spouse, kids, dog, and everything else you brought with you, including your hitch. So if that yellow sticker says 1105 lbs, that includes the driver. There is no 225 lb allowance for the driver.

[Hersbird]

Originally Posted by AlaskaErik

The payload capacity on the yellow sticker is for everything...driver, spouse, kids, dog, and everything else you brought with you, including your hitch. So if that yellow sticker says 1105 lbs, that includes the driver. There is no 225 lb allowance for the driver.

I know what the GVWR is and I know how much it weighs, the difference is the payload. Absolutely some manufacturers make an allowance for driver and some don't. It's logical to me payload rating doesn't count driver as you have to have a driver, just like you have to have fuel. So after you have everything you need to move, you still have 1105 pounds for anything extra. I already included the weight of my entire WDH setup in the 700 pounds of tounge weight. Without the hitch head and bars my tounge weight is more like 625.

[bikendan]

Towing Capacity allows for a 150lb driver but not Payload Capacity.

[hobienick]

Payload rating does not count driver. How is the mfr supposed to know what the driver weighs. There is an almost 150lb difference between my wife and me (to clarify she is the smaller one). That's ~10% of your payload number. Pretty big gap for the mfr to assume.

Unibody cars are not designed to take the forces of a WDH. The WDH does move weigt forward, but it does so by levering on the frame of the vehicle. If the mfr says do not do it there is a reason. It's similar to when you put large powerful engines in cars that were not designed for it you have to add frame stiffeners to get rid of the body flex.

All that said the engineers know that someone who "knows better" will decide to ignore the warnings and do it anyway. Hopefully they were able to design in a safety factor to account for this. However, the bean counters may have not let them. The question is what will wear out early or break first? When that happens how will it effect the rest of the system?

Look at the common European travel trailers. They are small. Many teardrops. Casitas & Hymers (like Scamps). This is what the designers have for a trailer reference.

[Janet H]

I just sold my 12 year old Touareg and towed with it thousands of miles. (full disclosure my trailer weighes under 3800 lbs). I am still a fan of these although they are no longer imported to the US. I had a WD hitch which seemed fine. My 2008 had a truck frame and was a tank.

[GGB]

Originally Posted by Beachbourbon

We just test drove the VW Atlas to replace DW car. The Atlas is bigger than the toureg, and I would never consider towing a camper with it-even with the turbo v6. IMO these are cars, not TVs. Plus the CVT for towing? The CVT can barely figure out going forward from a dead stop when you push hard on the accelerator, I don’t see how it handles the torque requirements of towing a trailer. I cringe thinking about towing a small Uhaul trailer across town with one of these

Atlas does not have a CVT transmission or a V6 turbo. The transmission is an 8 speed by Aisin for transverse mounted engines & the engine is a normally aspirated 3.6L V6.

[GGB]

Originally Posted by Jer1428jab

Is anyone out there using a VW Touareg as your tow vehicle. What make and model trailer are you towing and what do your hitch weights look like?

I know and have met quite few people towing with the VW Touareg. It is a strong and capable vehicle even for trailers most people on this forum wouldn't want to tow.

There was link provided to a FRF member that has done it and here is a link to thread (49 pages) on Airstream Forums. https://www.airforums.com/forums/f46...rs-134917.html
There are many more that discuss towing with the Touraeg, Q7 & Cayene all basically the same chassis you just have to do a search. Lots of good information, you will see that there are two sides there just like here, ones that say you can do it and ones that say no way in he77.