towing advice

[epilot]

hi
looking for do's and dont's for my foray into trailering.
i have a 147TSI DSG, factory tow hitch, and its going to pull my race car on a tilta trailer, all up weight 1300kg.
thanks

[MGV]

Allow more stopping time when braking.
Practice going backwards, ie if this is your foray into trailering, the trailer wont go where you think it will, it will go in the opposite direction!

[Guest001]

Trailer should have override brakes at the very least and a D Shackle that is equal weight capacity of the safety chain.
NOT a 1/4" Bunnings crap one.

I used Rated & Stamped 2 tonne ones on my van

All UP WEIGHT includes trailer Correct????

Towball weight may come into question as well as a car with all weight at front will bump that up.

What is a Tigs ball weight limit.

[Pickles]

After your first towing experience with the full 1300 kg will be interested to see how the DSG goes.
1300Kg is a decent load for the tiggy
From experience a box trailer behind my 155 with any load and you for sure know that it there, confuses the #### out of the DSG.
Not saying that you won't be able to tow it, just that you will know for sure that its behind you.
Don't even consider trying to reverse up any incline with the trainer on.
As MGV said allow plenty of room for braking.

[JGM21R]

I have a manual diesel VW Caddy for towing duties and I have always been amazed at the things it can tow. Had the rear bar reinforced, so it regularly tows 2 tonne (Caddy rated for 1500kg) Had to use the tigga a couple of times, though. 155 with DSG, no APR yet and I gotta say the petrol is no slouch, but no fire breather either. Tows very comfortably.
It has plenty of low down grunt and realistically you don't race, you cruise when you tow (sometimes)

I always use the DSG in manual mode and never or rarely past 4th or 5th gear, since the higher the gear the more damage you can do in a gearbox under towing load (apparently). Have tried it in D and the programming when towing changes to hold gear longer than standard but you still cant beat the driver preparing and changing the gears according to the road situation. Engine braking is poor and the mirrors are more sports car like than caddy like (VW Caddy mirrors are the best mirrors I have used on ANY car, and there has been a lot). Factory tow bar is a bit of a pain, with the use of adaptor cables for our AUS trailer connectors and the u-bolt mounting points not accessible easily (I use 2 chains on either side of the tow bar) but the design is good looking and concealed.

My only question mark would be the DSG on a hill, either accelerating or reversing up a driveway. How would the clutch plates fare, I dont know. Prob wouldnt use it as a sole regular tow vehicle, not with loads close to the tig's rating, but it can handle a max load no probs, its proven that to me.

With 1300kg, I think the tig will be very comfortable, but thats my opinion. And as mentioned already your brake pedal travel and pressure will need be increased by quite a margin when there is a load behind.

Tig is rated for 100kg on tow ball weight and trust me do not exceed that. Not regurarly anyway. IT WILL cause damage to your car over a period of time. It happened in my Caddy but lucky I had plenty of warning when the towbar was seperating from the chassis, but thats another story.

[Guest001]

I have a manual diesel VW Caddy for towing duties and I have always been amazed at the things it can tow. Had the rear bar reinforced, so it regularly tows 2 tonne (Caddy rated for 1500kg) It happened in my Caddy but lucky I had plenty of warning when the towbar was seperating from the chassis, but thats another story.

The rule on towing capacity is " The vehicle can tow to the limit of the towbar or the manufacturers vehicle limit WHICHEVER IS THE LESSER.
So if you put a 3500kg capacity towbar on a 1500kg rated vehicle you can only LEGALLY tow 1500kg.
Thats the Law
People have had insurance claims rejected for towing overweight vans and the coppers have woken up and weigh them at times now as well..
Also you may use only a single length of chain on a trailer attached by one D shackle which should be rated the same as the chain.
Chain should be stamped with 4177 standard mark and its rated capacity IE 2T
You should have two chains for trailers with ATM of 2500 kg or more.
They also have to have overide brakes below 2000KG and electric brakes on all wheels if over that.

[JGM21R]

I understand and I do not want to appear ignorant or like a crazy hoon endangering the public, which I can see might have happened from my previous comments. There is nowhere in the law that it says I cant use 2 chains. It says to use at least one. My chains are 4177-35, rated for 3500kg (overkill for an officially rated 2000kg trailer). The trailer and the the reinforcing of the towbar has been constructed well in excess of ADR38 rules, and way more than the cars towing limit (not an excuse, I know). Coppers will never wake up (apologies to any of my copper friends ). If the law is black and white, why dont you get booked for doing 61 in a 60 zone. You may say that you know of someone that has, I know of some that have as well. They got off when it went to the court. They still broke the law, though. (excluding speedo errors and radar inaccuracy and blah blah blah). I also witnessed my gorgeous sister being let off for doing 95 in a 50 zone by a cop, who is now her husband (poor thing).
At the end of the day the responsibility is on the user (and not worrying if you get booked or if you take your chances) and my fault is that yes, I probably do exceed the limit of my cars towing capacity. However my argument is that the knowledge of the law is not clearly available until someone searches for that specific law. The only time I learned what you have commented above, is when we were building the trailer. I cant remember my driving instructor (back nearly 20 years ago) advising me of towing laws and dangers. You get your licence and you are free to tow. Was it my responsibilty to learn about the law and apply it on my own. Perhaps, but thats why you put 4 bollards to create a square and you put safety tape around it to seal the area and people still walk over it or under it and into the sealed off area. We are a unique species. Everything needs to be labelled and thrusted in front of our eyes these days and in which case the towing laws where never put in front of my eyes. What I can remember though is most of my knowledge coming from the old mans experience and advice on towing and common sense (a thing seriously lacking these days perhaps in me too).
The rest of the knowledge comes from mistakes (prob the easiest and quickest way to learn).
I can also remember quite a few horror stories of towbars coming off from caddys towing well within the limits of the car.
I understand where you are coming from and that information regarding the law should be embedded into most peoples head with a hammer and nail (including mine sometimes) but I still think common sense is more valuable than the black and white law (excluding the million loopholes that can be found). I have never towed outside reason (although you can say that 2000kg for a 1500kg is well outside reason and I might be inclined to agree) For me, the older I am getting, safety becomes more and more important. Sometimes you just gotta do the job with the tools that you are given and hopefully the caddy will soon be replaced with a more capable towing machine (Amarok ) and that should hopefully be the end of me breaking the law.
I appreciate your advice and I hope I havent offended you too much. Hopefully somebody can learn something from this.

[Guest001]

I understand and I do not want to appear ignorant or like a crazy hoon endangering the public, which I can see might have happened from my previous comments. There is nowhere in the law that it says I cant use 2 chains. It says to use at least one. My chains are 4177-35, rated for 3500kg (overkill for an officially rated 2000kg trailer). The trailer and the the reinforcing of the towbar has been constructed well in excess of ADR38 rules, and way more than the cars towing limit (not an excuse, I know).
At the end of the day the responsibility is on the user

I can also remember quite a few horror stories of towbars coming off from caddys towing well within the limits of the car.

I understand where you are coming from and that information regarding the law should be embedded into most peoples head with a hammer and nail (including mine sometimes) .

I have never towed outside reason (although you can say that 2000kg for a 1500kg is well outside reason and I might be inclined to agree)

For me, the older I am getting, safety becomes more and more important.


I appreciate your advice and I hope I havent offended you too much. Hopefully somebody can learn something from this.

Firstly what I meant by a single length of chain was not "One Chain" but an unbroken length. for how many you have.

Some people have put shackles in to lengthen chains which apparently is not allowed.

Despite your huge post justifying your illegalities it still remains that.

It is the users responsibility to make himself aware of the law, as "sorry sir I didnt know" wont cut it. You say you found out when you built the trailer yet still ignored the Law

If you go 1kg over the 2 Tonne you must also have electric brakes on all trailer wheels and in NSW there is additional rules about visual controllers in the cabin. Should also have a breakaway brake system installed

Have seem this endless times with vans and cant believe how many just stick their head in the sand and say "It wont happen to me" or "Ive been doing it for years so its ok"
Unbelievable

After seeing a friends van departing backwards down a hill when the towbar broke and chains and all went with it I have become very safety conscious to the extent that I checked my towbar bolts every night after a days towing (up to 500k) some days.

Also the brand new van on the Gold Coast that got about 4k from the dealers and jackknifed and wrote off the van and car because it wasnt hooked up properly and illegally.

You havent offended, me just reinforced my belief that some people dont give a fig for laws and restrictions to keep things safe and do what they like with scant regard for others safety on the roads.

[JGM21R]

Hillbilly, agreed... just please dont judge a book by its cover and dont assume that everyone sticks their head in the sand. People learn in different ways.

Epilot, you will find the Tig is quite accomplished for your particular towing duties.

Safety must be a priority.

Read up on towing laws and regulations, read up on trailer maintenance (in particular bearings and brakes), make sure your combined weight of trailer, race car, tyres and gear is under 2T for the Tig and balance the car on the trailer for the towball weight to be under 100kg but don’t remove too much weight from the towball as you will lose stability (most open car trailers weight about 700-900kg + race car + extra tyres + tools and gear).

Having someone with you that has some experience with towing would be beneficial at least for the first few times.
Practice and enjoy.

Thanks and sorry for polluting your thread with my rubbish excuses for breaking the law. (and that’s exactly what they were… excuses and rubbish at that)

I better stop talking. My black and white vision is getting blurred and I am starting to see grey again…

[epilot]

gents,
many thanks for your advice.
yes the combined weight of the car and trailer is 1300 kg, well under the 2000 kg limit, so i'm hoping the tig manages it comfortably. very conscious of the 100 kg ball limit, the ramps/ car can be moved on the trailer to adjust this.
it is not intended for long distance towing, i'm about 2.5 hours north of SMP and about 5 north of Wakefiled Park in Goulburn, that'll be about it.
the tilta trailer is a really nice piece of kit, originally designed for the 'grey nomads' to tow small cars behind their Winnebagos etc, but a number now have been sold to the likes of me with light weight 'race' cars to tow with small SUV's.
trailer arrived yesterday so i'm off to practice my reversing !!
any comment on rear tyre pressure ? should they be increased slightly ?