VW Touareg 2 towing capacity

[Nightwatch]

This has been discussed on many forums including this one, club touareg and a few others. Some stickers are incorrect. Call VW and have them send you out a new sticker. They will confirm that the actual tongue weight rating is 770lbs. I too had the 616lb sticker - called VW, and they confirmed that it is not correct and sent me a new sticker.

[Nightwatch]

Also if you look carefully the rating in the manual is different by a couple of pounds from the sticker on your hitch. Really don't know how they messed that up so badly. And finally - yes you can use weigh distributing hitches on Touaregs, though it is not recommended with air suspension. They changed that on the new stickers as well.

[OrangeKid]

Originally Posted by Nightwatch

This has been discussed on many forums including this one, club touareg and a few others. Some stickers are incorrect. Call VW and have them send you out a new sticker. They will confirm that the actual tongue weight rating is 770lbs. I too had the 616lb sticker - called VW, and they confirmed that it is not correct and sent me a new sticker.

I have read about that on the forums, but the owner's manual as well as the sticker were in agreement that the tongue weight limit on the 2011 Touareg is 616 lbs. Are both the sticker and owner's manual wrong?

I posted photos of the sticker and owner's manual on the ClubTouareg,com forum. For some reason I cannot upload my photos to this forum. In any case the killer is the fact that VW recommendss against using a weight distributing hitch in no uncertain terms in their owner's manual. Again I have a photo of the appropriate page on the ClubTouareg.com forum.

[OrangeKid]

Originally Posted by Nightwatch

Also if you look carefully the rating in the manual is different by a couple of pounds from the sticker on your hitch. Really don't know how they messed that up so badly. And finally - yes you can use weigh distributing hitches on Touaregs, though it is not recommended with air suspension. They changed that on the new stickers as well.

Again take a look at my photos on ClubTouareg.com.

Towing capacity - Page 7 - Club Touareg Forums

I did notice that the label on the hitch indicates a WD hitch but the weight limits are exactly the same at 616 lbs for the tongue weight.

Again according to the owner's manual they state in no uncertain terms that a weight distributing hitch cannot be used. See my photo.

[dkottum]

The manual and the label shown do not make sense.

If you have a 7700 lb trailer, you would need at least 770 lbs (10%) on the hitch for safe towing.

And if you have 770 lbs on the hitch of this vehicle, you would need a weight distribution hitch for safe towing.

It is poor practice for a company that advertises the Touareg towing ability by showing it pulling a Boeing 747, cannot get its towing instructions or labels in order.

doug k

[OrangeKid]

Originally Posted by dkottum

The manual and the label shown do not make sense.

If you have a 7700 lb trailer, you would need at least 770 lbs (10%) on the hitch for safe towing.

And if you have 770 lbs on the hitch of this vehicle, you would need a weight distribution hitch for safe towing.

It is poor practice for a company that advertises the Touareg towing ability by showing it pulling a Boeing 747, cannot get its towing instructions or labels in order.

doug k

I don't know if it is a problem with the towing instructions or the Touareg itself. The only documentation available to me are the labels on the Touareg and the towing instructions in the owner's manual. If an accident occurred that was caused by the towing capabilities of the Touareg, I am sure VW would would deny any responsibility if the instructions in the owner's manual were not followed exactly.

[dkottum]

Yes, but then VW, or any other car company, would deny responsibility no matter how little you were towing.

doug

[OrangeKid]

Originally Posted by dkottum

Yes, but then VW, or any other car company, would deny responsibility no matter how little you were towing.

doug

Perhaps! But one would stand a better chance if his rig met the specs of the tow vehicle.

As much as we like the Touareg we are looking elsewhere for our next tow vehicle.

[JFScheck]

If you can afford it, F-150 CrewCab with EcoBoost!

[OrangeKid]

Originally Posted by JFScheck

If you can afford it, F-150 CrewCab with EcoBoost!

The whole point of our search for a new tow vehicle was to find a single vehicle that could double as our tow vehicle as well as our every day auto, replacing both our large and ponderous Sequoia and our Honda CRV. A pickup is not what we need. We have downsized from a 3200 square foot house in Vegas with a three car garage to a 1100 square foot condo with a single parking space in downtown Portland and do not need/want a "brute" of a SUV or pickup.

We are now looking at a Jeep Grand Cherokee. It can tow 7200 lbs and the tongue limit for the 4x4 version is 720 lbs. We may be able to get our Airstream hitch weight down to that number. Most importantly the Jeep accommodates a weight distributing hitch. Unfortunately the Jeep does not come in a diesel version, which would be ideal. Jeeps are available in other countries with diesel engines.

[mutcth]

There are rumors of the diesel GC coming here for 2013. No idea how sure those rumors are though.

A Dodge Durango (shares the GC's platform) will also tow this trailer nicely; its V6 is rated to tow 6200 lbs but it will be fairly slow going. (The tongue weight on the V6 is rated at 620 lbs, but since the V8 uses the same hitch and is rated at 720 lbs and has less payload capacity, the tongue weight limitation seems to be a lazy "10% of towing weight" suggestion.)

Frankly, I think that with a discussion with Andy Thomson at CanAm, you could either figure out a strategy to get the tongue weight down (he did it with a 23' International to tow it with a Mustang) or to beef up the Touareg's hitch.

Tom

[mutcth]

Or you could find a nice used 2008 Grand Cherokee with the diesel. Not quite as nice as the new GC, but it gets you the diesel you want.

Tom

[JFScheck]

Originally Posted by OrangeKid

The whole point of our search for a new tow vehicle was to find a single vehicle that could double as our tow vehicle as well as our every day auto, replacing both our large and ponderous Sequoia and our Honda CRV.

First of all - a F-150 is not a brute of a vehicle.

Second, if you desire to tow with ANY SUV out there, then the Touareg or Cayenne are two of the best SUV's for towing that are currently on the market.

If you are limited to a certain vehicle, then downsize your Airstream along with everything else.

[OrangeKid]

Originally Posted by mutcth

There are rumors of the diesel GC coming here for 2013. No idea how sure those rumors are though.

A Dodge Durango (shares the GC's platform) will also tow this trailer nicely; its V6 is rated to tow 6200 lbs but it will be fairly slow going. (The tongue weight on the V6 is rated at 620 lbs, but since the V8 uses the same hitch and is rated at 720 lbs and has less payload capacity, the tongue weight limitation seems to be a lazy "10% of towing weight" suggestion.)

Frankly, I think that with a discussion with Andy Thomson at CanAm, you could either figure out a strategy to get the tongue weight down (he did it with a 23' International to tow it with a Mustang) or to beef up the Touareg's hitch.

Tom

This is the first I have heard of the possibility of a GC with a diesel engine in 2013. Ill be listening for more. WRT lowering my tongue weight I think there is a good chance I could get it down to the 720-770 range, but to get it down to 616 would be a 30% reduction. I will be experimenting on my next trip to determine what tongue weight reduction is possible. I'll bring my Sherline tongue weight scale and measure my tongue weight under various l loading scenarios.

[OrangeKid]

Originally Posted by mutcth

Or you could find a nice used 2008 Grand Cherokee with the diesel. Not quite as nice as the new GC, but it gets you the diesel you want.

Tom

Interesting suggestion. I'll check it out.

[OrangeKid]

Originally Posted by JFScheck

First of all - a F-150 is not a brute of a vehicle.

Second, if you desire to tow with ANY SUV out there, then the Touareg or Cayenne are two of the best SUV's for towing that are currently on the market.

If you are limited to a certain vehicle, then downsize your Airstream along with everything else.

As I state several times we really like the Touareg. But VW clearly states in the 2011 owner's manual that the vehicle was not designed to accommodate a weight distributing hitch. There have been several reports of bent or deformed hitches and bolts mentioned on this forum for Cayenne's and Touareg.

I already have a very good tow vehicle, the 2006 4WD Sequoia SR5 with 4.7 V-8. I have towed my Airstream over 20,000 miies including to Alaska and back.

But in a city like Portland with narrow streets and tight parking spaces the Sequoia is a "brute" of a vehicle. Its turning radius is too large to pull easily into many parking spaces. In Vegas the Sequoia was fine. I thought a mid-size SUV such as a Touareg, Jeep Grand Cherokee, Land Rover LR4 or something of similar length and width might be a better overall vehicle now that we live in Portland.

We now store our Sequoia when we are not towing and use our Honda CRV. However life would be simpler if we only had one vehicle that could serve both needs.

I did check out the next smaller Airstream, the 20' Flying Cloud, but its tongue weight still exceeds the limit on the Touareg.

[GolfStream]

Just a note from the peanut gallery...

With my 2010 Touareg TDI (air suspension) I tow a 28' International (7300# with a tongue weight of 950#) using a ProPride hitch with weight distribution. Tows great and it's less filling.

I did my own research and decided that for my usage, I have the best setup for my lifestyle. I don't want to drive an F-250 daily and I don't want to make a $800+/month payment on a $50,000+ vehicle to have it waiting around in my driveway for my next roadtrip. I'm not morbidly obese and I don't travel with tons of extra toys.

With good guidance from this forum, I took my rig to Propride AND CanAM in April for the set up. Each did a great job.

VW does not recommend the weight distributing hitch because the factory receiver is attached to the unibody frame at the very end by four bolts on either side. Without reinforcement, the tension created by the weight distribution hitch given enough prolonged pressure on those two points of contact could act like a opener on a bottle top. To answer that, CanAM welded a reinforcing bar from the receiver box at the rear of the Touareg to the supports of the rear suspension to spread the load of the tongue (and the associated stress) to multiple points along the chassis. The reinforcement also minimizes, if not eliminates, any lateral twist at the receiver so the connection to the trailer remains solid.

The rest is driving skills and a healthy respect for the road. Unfortunately, you'll have to learn those on your own. For my part, I make good use of the transmission to slow the rig down hill and I know when and how to apply the disc brakes on both the trailer and the tow vehicle.

At the end of the day, everyone here does what makes sense to themselves. You should do what makes sense to you.

Enjoy your adventures,

Javier

[slowmover]

VW does not recommend the weight distributing hitch because the factory receiver is attached to the unibody frame at the very end by four bolts on either side.

The details matter. Neither did the 1960's car manuals recommend towing past XXX pounds with a bumper hitch. A proper hitch had to be built (for which diagrams were provided).

[Road Ruler]

Originally Posted by REDNAX

VW does not recommend the weight distributing hitch because the factory receiver is attached to the unibody frame at the very end by four bolts on either side.

The details matter. Neither did the 1960's car manuals recommend towing past XXX pounds with a bumper hitch. A proper hitch had to be built (for which diagrams were provided).

Rednax has the good info...

In 1964 my dad towed a good sized TT with his unibody 1964 Dodge similar to the one below. Small 318V8 and a 3 speed auto tranny. The local welding shop custom built a hitch for the car and he used an Equalizer brand WDH.

If you were to compare the Dodge with the T-reg, without a doubt the T-reg would out perform the dodge with a large margin, any which way you would want to compare. Note the Dodge was an adequate TV in it's day.

[mojo]

Originally Posted by REDNAX

VW does not recommend the weight distributing hitch because the factory receiver is attached to the unibody frame at the very end by four bolts on either side.

VW did not recommend weight distributing hitches because they don't use them in Germany. Yes the hitch is attached to the unibody frame with four bolts as is with every other unibody vehicle. If you wish to contact VW regarding the outdated information in the manual and on your hitch you can request an updated sticker if that will make you feel better.
If you don't own a Touareg or have never towed with one then perhaps you don't really understand the vehicles capabilities.