I am planning to flat tow my classic VW and am looking for help in determining what tow equipment I should use. I will be towing behind a '08 Winnebago Outlook 29'.
There are lots of VW towbars on eBay (about 8 of them the last time I looked).
Hookup the towbar, istall lights, put the car tranny in neutral, and go.
Oh, yeah, make sure the steering is unlocked, and the parking brake is OFF!
* This post was
edited 04/06/12 06:15am by mowermech *
CM1, USN (RET)
2002 Fleetwood Southwind 32V, Ford V10
Toad: 2006 Jeep Rubicon LJ
Other toad: '06 PT Cruiser, Kar Kaddy dolly
Toy: 1977 Dodge W100 CC SWB, 3/4 ton axles & springs
"When seconds count, help is only minutes away!"
mowermech wrote: There are lots of VW OEM towbars on eBay (about 8 of them the last time I looked).
Hookup the towbar, istall lights, put the car tranny in neutral, and go.
Oh, yeah, make sure the steering is unlocked, and the parking brake is OFF!
VW did not make a tow bar, so all those listed on eBay are not OEM. I'm sure they will work fine. Tow bars for VWs have been around for decades.
No worries of locked steering on a 63, there was no locking steering in that model year.
mowermech wrote: There are lots of VW towbars on eBay (about 8 of them the last time I looked).
Hookup the towbar, istall lights, put the car tranny in neutral, and go.
Oh, yeah, make sure the steering is unlocked, and the parking brake is OFF!
VW did not make a tow bar, so all those listed on eBay are not OEM. I'm sure they will work fine. Tow bars for VWs have been around for decades.
No worries of locked steering on a 63, there was no locking steering in that model year.
Just a question: so you can tow the older Beetles 4 down and not ruin the transmission? I wish I could tow my 54 F100 3 on the tree. I've been told it can not be towed.
Glenn in TN
04 Liberty daughters
03 Mazda 6 wish I could tow it
00 Ford Taurus wish I could tow it 4 wheels down
99 Holiday Rambler Vacationer w/05 PT Cruiser toad
They used to make those old rigs towable by removing the fill plug from the tranny, and installing a street ell in its place, with the ell pointed up, then they would fill the tranny with gear lube until it ran over, and install the plug in the top of the ell. This raised the lube level to the point where the bottom of the rear bearing was sitting in the lube all the time.
I heard that kept everything lubed, and the truck could be towed no trouble. I don't know, I never tried it.
Of course, that also increased the probability of leakage out of the vent and the rear seal, and occasionally the front seal.
But, yes, the VW transaxle lubed itself just fine while being towed.
fifty4..YES the old air cooled, manual trans beetles, buses, fastbacks, squarbacks, karman ghias, 411s, 412s and 181s could ALL be towed 4 down with NO modifications and NOT hurt a thing. No stopping to run engine, etc etc,,,,hook it up and go without a worry.
BUT....I can't recall for sure...the buses with the gear reduction boxes on the rear axles...those may have had towing limitations....I just can't remember about those
Since we are still in the "what to buy for a toad" part of this motorhome upgrade, I've found that Blue Ox sells baseplates for the older Bugs. That still might be our choice if I could find an old bug at a decent price. They are going for over $5000 around here!
If I had a classic Bug that I wanted to keep stock the last thing I would do is ruin it by installing a baseplate, especially when you can connect a tow bar to it with no modifications at all.
1998 Gulfstream Ultra B/H Ford E450 V10
2005 Chevy 2500HD 6.0 w/ Maxidump insert
2006 Ford Escape Hybrid
1998 Saturn SL2 toad
2012 VW Jetta S
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