| Author | Message | ||
| R.C.Bishop
Rating: N/A |
I recently acquired a great little VW Convertible for just commuting from our rural home to town and back..previously using my Dodge Ram 4x4. At today's fuel prices, the Ram is running between $80 and $115 per month just to go to Sams (furtherest point, 10 miles one way) and very carefully planned stops along the way...to and from. Of course, some days longer mileage than others. For the past three weeks, the Cabriolet, same trips average mileage.....a total of $23 in fuel.....AND, the tank is full!! I had not planned on towing a vehicle, but now am considering towing the Rabbit. Any comments, ideas, advice???....  BTW,I parked the Ram!!! Thanx for your input. RCB '64 Crown (HWC) | ||
| RJL Rating: N/A |
If it's a stick-shift, you can tow it 4-down. If it's an automatic, you'll need a dolly or trailer.  FWIW, RJ PD4106-2784 Fresno CA | ||
| JVickrey
Rating: N/A |
Hey, maybe we can get a towing thread going here.... I have a 2000 Dodge Stratus I want to tow. Anyone else towing A Stratus??? | ||
| JVickrey
Rating: N/A |
OOps! The Stratus is an automatic and I want to tow 4 down. If I have to put a curculating pump in that's ok. | ||
| R.C.Bishop
Rating: N/A |
RJ....5 speed manual..... Wondering about any potential problems, quirks, etc..Thanx RCB | ||
| David (Davidinwilmnc)
Rating: N/A |
Hi, I have an '89 Cabriolet and was wondering the same thing. The owner's manual says to limit 4-down towing to 50 miles and 50 mph (or something like that). Mine's a stick too, so I'm not sure why that is. Maybe VW thought it would be easier to make one towing statement. I believe you'll accumulate miles on the VW, as it has a mechanical odometer... mine doesn't work, so it's not an issue for me! I'll be curious to hear what tow bar you use. David | ||
| TWODOGS (Twodogs)
Rating: N/A |
I just bought a 88 VW 'fox'..standard shift,have a friend with a bug ,he just puts it in neutral & goes...my 'new' car has 4 loops on the front,looks like for tie downs when shipping,going to try to bolt an adapter to them for the tow bar | ||
| John Jewett (Jayjay)
Rating: N/A |
TD, that's probably a mistake. Over an extended period of time, they probaly won't take the longitudinal stress involved in turning. Bolt/weld to the front frame horns, NOT the bumper framing. We all know how your towing luck goes, so be careful, since we all wait with baited breath for the electric fan debacle to end. Cheers...JJ | ||
| Jtng Rating: N/A |
HAR! It ain't never gonna' end, if urine keep bringin' it up, John.. (heh heh) | ||
| TWODOGS (Twodogs)
Rating: N/A |
the 4 loops look pretty sturdy...can't see anything else to fasten to...will unbolt them & attach 3/8x2" strap to them there,makeing a plate for the tow bar to hook-up to...will leave it in the valley once I get it down there..there ain't no fan project,too many stupid people pissed me off.. | ||
| Gary Stadler (Boogiethecat)
Rating: N/A |
------O-H-----M-Y---- .....too many stupid people huh..... Best lame excuse I've heard today Well, back to the thread, My one bad experience with towing a small car behind a bus was back in the 80's, a tire blew on the toad at night, and I never even felt or knew it... until I stopped at a rest stop and was greeted with a rim ground down all the way to the brakes! It must have been quite a spark show for people behind me! So after that I put a whip antenna on all my toads with a little light on the end, so I can see it in my rear view mirror. Any major change in the light's position means something's wrong. Works really well. | ||
| Richard Bowyer (Drivingmisslazy)
Rating: N/A |
Many years ago I towed a VW bug. It had a tendency for the wheels to go to full lock occassionally, either right or left, when making slow sharp turns in a parking lot. A bungee cord to the bottom center of the steering wheel to a fixed point on the seat solved the problem. Make sure it is not too tight and that it holds the wheel in the exact forward direction. Richard | ||
| Stephen Fessenden (Sffess)
Rating: N/A |
Since we turned this into a toad thread, does anybody have any experience with cable operated toad brakes. There was a commercial version that used this system. I am setting up my Mercedes 300SD to tow, with a drive shaft disconnect and a towbar mount attached to front 16 inches of the front frame with three 5/8 inch bolts on each side. The two sides of the mount (base plate) are joined with 2 inch square tubing in front of the bumper. The action of the towbar in a stop will pull on a cable attached to the brake pedal. So..., any experiences in fine tuning such a mechanical system would be appreciated. The break away brake system will activate the emergency brake pedal directly, taking advantage of the built in ratchet. I would rather have the car stop a little slower with the rear wheels acting to keep it in line than jamb on all four wheel brakes with no one at the helm and have a runaway toad flip across the median into oncoming traffic. Anyway, I could use some help with any experience adjusting the cable operated surge brake system. By the way, I cut off the front tie down loop to mount the towbar base plate. I do not believe it would be strong enough to tow long distances with. | ||
| John that newguy Rating: N/A |
Locking the rear wheels of any vehicle will result in an out of control skid. | ||
| Stephen Fessenden (Sffess)
Rating: N/A |
Good point, John. I doubt that the parking brakes can be locked on a Mercedes of this model. They are a separate small parking brake drum brake within the rear brake rotors. Also, when we put the rear wheels in a skid with the brakes, the front brakes are applied hard also, giving a pivot point. We have not vehicles with rear only brakes for 80 plus years, so all our experience is related to applying both front and rear. I believe that the rears only will provide drag to keep the front in front. I will test it behind another car before and let you know before inflicting it on the public. | ||
| John that newguy Rating: N/A |
The use of the ratcheting emergency brake would be my only concern.. If you design your unit after the commercially made models. you shouldn't have any problem! The "Brake Buddy" types are more to my liking (if I ever decided to tow again and wanted towed braking), their wireless remote control of the unit makes life easier, too. | ||
| Stephen Fessenden (Sffess)
Rating: N/A |
I tried out the parking / emergency brake at 40 MPH, hard as I could push with my foot. It did not, could not, lock the wheels and the car came to a stop in a straight line though the stopping distance was longer. Thats what I want a breakaway brake to do, a controlled stop. The ratchet idea is great for breakaway. Any other design will have some form of one way setting of the brakes with manual release when you go get the lost toad. I hope I never need the break away feature. I will test the regular toad brake tomorrow and Monday. I like mechanical devices. Wireless brakeing systems scare me, though I am sure they are safe. Once built my toad brakes will always be set up and ready, since I plan on leaving the ugly tow bar mount in place permanently. I will also add a trailer hitch because it other drivers tend to stay a little further back when they think of a trailer hitch in their radiator. | ||
| David Hartley (Drdave)
Rating: N/A |
Why not rig up a small 12 volt linear actuator with a trailer type breakaway kit/switch, a pull chain to the pedal so when the switch trips the cylinder pulls the pedal which locks. Then you wouldn't need a fancy hookup. Just a thought. That's probably what I will make up for mine. |