Towing Limits on MY18 TIGUAN 140TDI

[Hillbilly]

I noted that one of the your questions was how will it tow, which is somewhat different to what's legal to tow. I recently towed a race car and trailer at 1.9 tonnes using a 110TDI with DSG and it did it easily. I had it set at 145 kgs on the hitch with 50 kgs of preload on the load equalisers, so it sat almost level (not bum down) and it was very stable at any speed. Obviously not pulling it out of a boat ramp (that would be unfortunate), but my driveway and street are both pretty steep and with no clutch slip it basically idled up the hill.

It towed about the same as my Stagea, just used half as much fuel.

Based on that I'd expect 2.5 tonnes to be easy, requiring just a bit more juggling of the tow ball weight so it towed nice. With a race car it's relatively easy to move it back or forward a few mm's on the trailer. Or move the tyres, fuel and tools. With an extra 50nm of torque the 140TDI would be slightly better again.


Cheers
Gary

Iwould respectfully point out that ballweight is a figure weighed un hitched and is always that weight unless you shift weight rearwards to lighten it. A WDH or stabilisers do NOT alter the ballweight, they merely redistribute it partly forward and some rearward onto the trailer wheels. Has been the subject of many threads on the Caravannes forum and even Hayman Reece say the same thing. Their analogy is that a WDH increases the force between the hitch and the towball but does NOT lessen the weight.

Only a Jack or a skyhook can do that. Shifting weight rearward is fraught with danger as witnessed on ACA last night which showed the effects of poorly laden and poorly driven vans.

Should you get weighed they will unhitch and weigh it and you would be over at 145kg

[Sydneykid]

Iwould respectfully point out that ballweight is a figure weighed un hitched and is always that weight unless you shift weight rearwards to lighten it. A WDH or stabilisers do NOT alter the ballweight, they merely redistribute it partly forward and some rearward onto the trailer wheels. Has been the subject of many threads on the Caravannes forum and even Hayman Reece say the same thing. Their analogy is that a WDH increases the force between the hitch and the towball but does NOT lessen the weight.

Only a Jack or a skyhook can do that. Shifting weight rearward is fraught with danger as witnessed on ACA last night which showed the effects of poorly laden and poorly driven vans.

Should you get weighed they will unhitch and weigh it and you would be over at 145kg

With the utmost respect back.
Who are "they"?
Highway Patrol cars don't carry scales.
Weighbridge, checking station, I know where the fixed ones are, ever so easy to move the car back a few mm and get down to 100 kgs. Or swap 40 litres of race fuel from the Tig to the race car boot.
Mobile checking stations can weigh the whole package, 1 or 2 axles at a time, but they have nothing to check the tow ball weight.
I towed over 10,000 k's last year, across 4 different states and never had sideways look, been towing race cars for 30+ years and not once been checked. Of all the race guys I hang around with no one that I know of has ever been checked either. Maybe that's because I don't drive around with the tow car's fuel tank dragging on the ground, so it never looks like it needs checking.

I honestly have no idea who "they" are and even if "they" actually exist "they" seem to have other more important things to do than weigh my ball (or bust them).

Cheers
Gary

[Hillbilly]

I really dont care if you choose to exceed the vehicles limits and falsely think by using stabilisers you are lightening the ballweight.

As I said moving weight rearwards is fraught with dangers but of course having been doing it for 30 years makes it all right.

For those new to the vehicle the manufacturers limit on the towball is there for a reason and should be adhered to.

A good example of the effect of poor loading is shown here YouTube

This is often the reason for van and trailer rollovers, where it has been loaded rear heavy and starts snaking as shown in the video.

Was several examples on TV last night where the vans were snaking and crashed spectacularly.

[jpvw01]

I had it set at 145 kgs on the hitch with 50 kgs of preload on the load equalisers,

Just for the record:
1) are you suggesting the "load equalisers" are reducing the towball weight below below the 100kg limit or do you acknowledge you exceed the allowable limit?
2) the Owners Manual clearly states that "weight-distributing or load-balancing towing brackets" are NOT to be fitted.

In the event of an insurance claim or warranty claim your insurance company / VW will certainly care.

Having said that I do believe that the 100kg towball limit is unnecessarily restrictive but typical of European cars. I have seen a number of cases where the exactly same vehicle in AU magically has its towball weight increased. In fact VW does it for the Touareg. In the UK the towball limit is 140kg but in AU it is 280kg.

[theresanothersteve]

... I have seen a number of cases where the exactly same vehicle in AU magically has its towball weight increased. In fact VW does it for the Touareg. In the UK the towball limit is 140kg but in AU it is 280kg.

I believe LandRover are doing something similar as well.

I wonder if it is anything to do with the goose neck towing balls that the Europeans seem to favour?

[Sydneykid]

Just for the record:
1) are you suggesting the "load equalisers" are reducing the towball weight below below the 100kg limit or do you acknowledge you exceed the allowable limit?
2) the Owners Manual clearly states that "weight-distributing or load-balancing towing brackets" are NOT to be fitted.
In the event of an insurance claim or warranty claim your insurance company / VW will certainly care.

1) No of course not, what I am suggesting is that load equalisers do exactly that, equalise the load by taking some "weight" off the rear of the tow car and adding it to the front. Hence no bum dragging, which is primarily for increased safety with the bonus that it doesn't attract attention.

2) Conversely my trailer manufacturer recommends load equalisation and fits the necessary hardware. So does my tow hitch manufacturer. So which manual do I choose to follow?

3) In the event of insurance or warranty claim how in the hell will the insurance company or my local VW dealer know the tow ball weight? FWIW my trailer and race car are insured with Shannons and I'm sure that they would be far more concerned with following the trailer and hitch "manuals" than the tow car "manual".

The bottom line, I could easily get the tow ball weight under 100 kgs (move the car on the trailer) but it doesn't tow very well with the balance at ~6% of the towing weight. The fact is it tows much better closer to 10%, with less sensitivity to direction changes and road surface conditions. The choice is to follow the VW manual or towing safety, I choose the latter.


Cheers
Gary

[Sydneykid]

I really dont care if you choose to exceed the vehicles limits and falsely think by using stabilisers you are lightening the ballweight.
As I said moving weight rearwards is fraught with dangers but of course having been doing it for 30 years makes it all right.
For those new to the vehicle the manufacturers limit on the towball is there for a reason and should be adhered to.
A good example of the effect of poor loading is shown here YouTube
This is often the reason for van and trailer rollovers, where it has been loaded rear heavy and starts snaking as shown in the video.
Was several examples on TV last night where the vans were snaking and crashed spectacularly.

I'm not sure what the video has to do with tow ball weight, it's about weight distribution over the trailer. What I did notice is that rear weight was moved much further from the centre than the front weight. Hence the CoB was moved rearwards plus at the same time the tow ball weight was reduced. Both far from ideal on a single axle trailer. What the good Dr did (moving the CoB rearwards) was exactly the opposite to my methodology (moving the CoB forwards).

To be clear, I don't load rear heavy, it was not what I was suggesting and I would never recommend it.

Cheers
Gary

[Hillbilly]

1) No of course not, what I am suggesting is that load equalisers do exactly that, equalise the load by taking some "weight" off the rear of the tow car and adding it to the front. Hence no bum dragging, which is primarily for increased safety with the bonus that it doesn't attract attention.

2) Conversely my trailer manufacturer recommends load equalisation and fits the necessary hardware. So does my tow hitch manufacturer. So which manual do I choose to follow?

3) In the event of insurance or warranty claim how in the hell will the insurance company or my local VW dealer know the tow ball weight? FWIW my trailer and race car are insured with Shannons and I'm sure that they would be far more concerned with following the trailer and hitch "manuals" than the tow car "manual".

The bottom line, I could easily get the tow ball weight under 100 kgs (move the car on the trailer) but it doesn't tow very well with the balance at ~6% of the towing weight. The fact is it tows much better closer to 10%, with less sensitivity to direction changes and road surface conditions. The choice is to follow the VW manual or towing safety, I choose the latter.


Cheers
Gary

Always follow the vehicle manufacturers manual.
EG back in the 1990's Toyota 80 series up till 1995 had a towing limit of 2500kg The HR towbars that fitted were 3500kg limited. In 1996 Toyota upped the towing limit of the vehicle to 3500kg, apparently without any mechanical upgrades. Howls of protests from earlier model owners but Toyota refused to change the limits. Made it a bit ludicrous but thats what it was. Same as with Aus vehicles having different limits to other country specced ones. There must be a reason but they wont tell us unfortunately.

Nissan had huge problems with a certain model of an Xtrail where due to towing forces factory towbars were literally ripped off chassis.
Aftemarket bars didnt have the same problems for some reason but it is best to stick to the "vehicle' limits and not the towbar maker who may or may not say "dont worry it fits its ok". They dont design the arse of the tow vehicle and know its engineering limits, they just want sales.

[Colonel]

Just on the load equalisers; The manual specifically prohibits the use of load equalisers as the chassis cannot handle the weight transfer

[Hillbilly]

I'm not sure what the video has to do with tow ball weight, it's about weight distribution over the trailer. What I did notice is that rear weight was moved much further from the centre than the front weight. Hence the CoB was moved rearwards plus at the same time the tow ball weight was reduced. Both far from ideal on a single axle trailer. What the good Dr did (moving the CoB rearwards) was exactly the opposite to my methodology (moving the CoB forwards).

To be clear, I don't load rear heavy, it was not what I was suggesting and I would never recommend it.

Cheers
Gary

Basically adding weight to the rear as well as unbalancing the rig lightens the ball weight and as you alluded to swapping fuel out of the tug into towed vehicles boot I figured that was what meant Is basically the same as what the Prof did
Quote
ever so easy to move the car back a few mm and get down to 100 kgs. Or swap 40 litres of race fuel from the Tig to the race car boot.

If that isnt shifting weight rearward I dont know what is.

The proper choice is use a vehicle that allows the weights you have
We bought a Patrol which we thought was ideal and then bought a van which both exceeded allowable ATM of Patrol and also ballweight.

Did we say stuff it She'll be right. No we went and spent another $23,000 and bought a Cruiser that had plenty of capacity and is what we should have bought in the first place. We were very happy we did in the end.