Towing a classic VW Beetle as a Toad

[vswingfield]

Originally Posted by Punch

...old British cars...and...obnoxiously primitive and clunky.

Am I the only one that thinks this sounds appropriate somehow?

[Punch]

Originally Posted by vswingfield

Am I the only one that thinks this sounds appropriate somehow?

Sarcasm is frequently a substitute for knowledge

[vswingfield]

Originally Posted by Punch

Sarcasm is frequently a substitute for knowledge

Too true.

Good luck on finding a good solution.

[andreasduess]

Originally Posted by HappyPill77

Wow, from all of these replies I'm starting to think that I made a mistake by buying a VW Beetle to tow. Hope my Bug does better than what I heard about here. Thanks for your replies, though.

I know this is a very late reply, just to chime in that my first car in the early 90's was a 1974 VW in British Racing Green that I bought for $700. Loved that car. Yes, cold in winter but great fun to drive.

Never had anything serious wrong with it apart from a bent back axle when I hit a hidden curb in snow.

[Punch]

So this maybe is the system I was looking for:

ReadyBrake Supplemental Brake System for Towed Vehicles - NSA RV Products

This Ready-Brake system may be used with your existing towbar or their own Ready-Brute towbar:

Readybrake RV Tow Bars and RV Surge Braking Systems for Car Towing - NSA RV Products

And here is an installation video (not the best, starts out badly, but improves):

ReadyBrake Use and Installation Video

Looks very simple and straightforward. A cable attaches to your brake pedal and forward surge activates the brakes. You don`t have to have power brakes, there`s no electrical hookup (for the brakes, you still would have to have the hookup to the toad`s brake lights). I`m not too clear on what happens to the cable when you`re not towing, but presumably that has been thought of. Seems it`s also a very inexpensive system (should be: there`s not much to it!).

[Globie64]

At the Jackson Rally a week or so ago, there was an older gentleman with SOB of MOHO towing a '65 beetle, painted to match the older MOHO. I had wanted to ask him about it, he just had some towing setup that seemed to be connected to the front end of the frame that supports the front axle of the bug. I had a 65 bug when I was in high school, and I loved it.

[m.hony]

This '71 bug was to be used as a toad. It wasn't ready in time so a '01 Jeep Wrangler became a toad.

[OldVwHunters]

I think you should carry one for every occasion.

[73shark]

Seriously?

[OldVwHunters]

Originally Posted by 73shark

Seriously?

Well you know how it is, the guys with the little trailers always feel as if they need to compensate somehow.

[m.hony]

There is much $ worth of old Sokol vee dub there.
A Thing, a Bug, and a Transporter...
I'm impressed!

[m.hony]

Old skool...
Spell check is stoopid!

[RocketManKen]

The beauty of air cooled beetle is only 8 moving parts. If we all try hard enough to find negatives... I had a 67 Beetle drove heck out of it, probably abused abit. In 67 most cars had lousy brakes, heaters, driveability issues. We are fortunately very spoiled with computer fuel injection and all dependability today. I don't know anyone that keeps a pipe in their car to wrap on the starter motor occasionally.
Back in the day it was normal to pump throttle 3 times, hold steering wheel slightly left, turn key. That is unless you were parked in street in front of house then it was 4 pumps or below 30 degrees. But if it rained the night before....
Loved beetle, loved my 83 Rabbit GTI.

[GCinSC2]

Gang,

Just a comment from a friend of mine from years ago. His Dad was towing a manual transmission Samurai IIRC and had a few boxes of stuff in it, just using the storage space. All was well until he braked pretty hard and one of the boxes knocked the stick and put it into gear. The rig kept going windmilling the Samurai engine for mile after mile (sorry, don't know what gear it was in) finally damaging the engine somehow.

Just a comment, but I just relaying someone else's story.

Gary

[DKB_SATX]

Originally Posted by GCinSC2

Gang,



Just a comment from a friend of mine from years ago. His Dad was towing a manual transmission Samurai IIRC and had a few boxes of stuff in it, just using the storage space. All was well until he braked pretty hard and one of the boxes knocked the stick and put it into gear. The rig kept going windmilling the Samurai engine for mile after mile (sorry, don't know what gear it was in) finally damaging the engine somehow.



Just a comment, but I just relaying someone else's story.



Gary

Seems like if it managed to get in reverse, while being towed forward it would turn the engine (and thus the oil pump) backwards and not circulate oil in the engine. That would likely do some damage in short order. A forward gear should work out ok, though if it were a low one the engine would make quite an air compressor. That would probably eventually hurt it at highway speeds.

[idroba]

A motorhome towing a small car came past my place one day (30 mph road). I could see the smoke coming from the towed. I ran down and flagged the guy down to stop, as he had a fire.

Turned out to be a very old man driving the motorhome, and it was obvious to me that he should not have been out on the road. He was vague, and quite confused. But what had happened was that he left the towed in gear, and had pulled it 5 miles from the campground using brute force of the motorhome engine. The engine in the towed was turning over and the compression and friction was heating the water in the water jacket. What looked like smoke was actually steam from the towed engine.

And I don't know what damage he did, or the rest of the story.

[Paul Dobbin]

No you don' need a brake buddy, as you probably already know. They flat tow beautifully with a cheap tow bar. Hint: Hook a strechable bungee cord under the seat and the the lowest point of the steering wheel so it returns to straight after a turn.
We've been towing this 66 VW for24 years. It's still a six volt car and I had to make a light bar that bolts onto the rear license plate frame. Then I ran a wire through the floor pan rail from front to bact that plugs into the light bar. It's easily removabe, as sis the tow bar. Great arrangement and I think about 20,000,000 VW owners have shared their VW stories whenever we stop.
The car is called the "Road Bug".

[Boxster1971]

I towed a 69 Karmann Ghia for years. Nice and light, towed easily and didn't need a brake buddy. Only down side was if you needed heat in cold climate or AC in a hot climate.

[ViewRVs]

Well I thought I'd track back and update an old post with the latest information. We actually towed the Beetle today and it towed great. Here are some pictures.

[martin300662]

Very nice Fred, how did it go? We are looking at toad options for ours (assuming it ever gets finished!) but not sure the little 350 has got enough punch to pull a small convertible.