VW Touareg diesel and 31 foot Airstream

[Ohiobrits]

Originally Posted by Popcycle

Hi; as you have the same setup I'm shooting for, what kind of brake controller do you use. One dealer has said the Cayenne "works best with a wireless controller". Of course it's $700 bucks. Another said a conventional one at $150. Is all I need and it won't ever void the warranty. Am I over-thinking this? Did you reinforce your receiver and/or weld the ball in place? I think both are recommended by Canam for Cayenne as TV.
Appreciate your willingness to help a newby.

Popcycle, take a look at this thread for lots of details on these vehicles. Post questions there.

On the specific question on brake controller, I use a Tekonsha P3 I installed myself. Not too difficult. See post 24 in this thread for details of how to do that. Reading the other posts in this thread you will see that finding a dealer or other place to do the install for you can be problematic. If you don't want to DIY and can't find someone local with the required expertise then the Prodigy RF is a good option. I believe Knuff uses one - he may be able to provide some insight.

[mojo]

Originally Posted by 2012FB

The dealer is trying to sell you a very expensive vehicle without regard to safety or the fact that a Cayenne is not designed for a WD hitch. In fact it is expressly prohibited on it sister the Touareg. I would guess it is on the Cayenne as well but I never specifically looked for the towing restrictions as I personally could not justify the added expense over the Touareg. The tongue weight limit on both is under 600 pounds and reducing the tongue weight on a 25+ airstream to under 600 pounds would be reckless. I am surprise they did not suggest a fifth wheel with dolly.

More balderdash.

[switz]

The Airstream literature tongue weight on both the 25 & 25FB averages about 836 pounds. Experience teaches this number is understated as is does not reflect any options. With just fresh water, full propane, street and rear awning a a single 155 watt solar panel mounted above the axles, and a Hensley hitch installed on our 25FB International, the tongue weight was 1,150 pounds at the selling dealership.

There was no concern expressed about this tongue weight by the general manager who had over 30 years experience selling Airstreams.

Loaded for camping, the tongue weight was 1,175 pounds and the trailer weighed about 6,960 pounds out of the 7,300 pound GVW rating. That static tongue weight did not include any of the rotational forces applied to the vehicle frame when the weight distribution hitch is energized.

I pulled the 25FB home using my 2007 ML320 CDI. I drove 55 mph both in California and in Arizona where it was posted 75. I experienced the bow wave of the semi trucks coming up 20 to 25 mph faster than my speed. The scales report when I got to Arizona suggest the axle and wheel rating were not exceeded. We used the Tekonsha Prodigy RF brake controller on the Mercedes and the 25FB.

Those numbers turned negative after loading the trailer for camping and we retired the ML for the 2500HD Cummins. The round frame member supporting the 2012 Dodge receiver was rated for 1,200 pounds and there was chatter in the forums of failed welds on this hitch. I cut of the factory hitch and installed a Curt after market hitch rated 2,550 pounds tongue weight and a 17,000 pound trailer.

The 25FB was exchanged for a 31' Classic. There was no way I would have tried to move that trailer with the Mercedes. After the initial modifications that included the disc brake conversion, I found there was extremely erratic braking using the Dodge built in brake controller. The installer and I then found out from his wholesaler that all of the big 3 truck's factory installed brake controllers were incompatible with the Titan BrakeRite II SD we had selected.

So at additional cost, I acquired the Tuson DirecLink NE after market brake controller that plugs into the truck's data port. Brake issues were cured.

We plan to upgrade the existing trailer disc brakes to the Tuson ABS Actulink system. That will provide the best possible braking scenario at this point in time.

I think safe stopping is far more important than the pulling power when the chips are down.

[2012FB]

Quote:
Originally Posted by 2012FB
The dealer is trying to sell you a very expensive vehicle without regard to safety or the fact that a Cayenne is not designed for a WD hitch. In fact it is expressly prohibited on it sister the Touareg. I would guess it is on the Cayenne as well but I never specifically looked for the towing restrictions as I personally could not justify the added expense over the Touareg. The tongue weight limit on both is under 600 pounds and reducing the tongue weight on a 25+ airstream to under 600 pounds would be reckless. I am surprise they did not suggest a fifth wheel with dolly.

Originally Posted by mojo

More balderdash.

Sorry for the poor pictures but I figured I needed to take actual pictures of the 2015 Touareg TDI manual from my iPad to not be called out again for making false statements. It does get pretty old....

[Knuff]

Originally Posted by Ohiobrits

Popcycle, take a look at this thread for lots of details on these vehicles. Post questions there.

On the specific question on brake controller, I use a Tekonsha P3 I installed myself. Not too difficult. See post 24 in this thread for details of how to do that. Reading the other posts in this thread you will see that finding a dealer or other place to do the install for you can be problematic. If you don't want to DIY and can't find someone local with the required expertise then the Prodigy RF is a good option. I believe Knuff uses one - he may be able to provide some insight.

We use a bare bones wired in Prodigy controller that was dealer installed (there is a wire harness/kit that comes from VW/Porsche). Never had any issues with it.

[Kevin245]

This thread is closed.