Porsche Cayenne, VW Touareg, Audi Q7 owners

[Knuff]

Originally Posted by Popcycle

Thanks for the road map! I hope to find someone closer to NC than CanAm to do the work you described. My 2014 Diesel Pepper and 25fb serenity will be identical to your setup. Looking forward to the journey !

Popcycle, this is going to be a great setup. We will be heading out tomorrow for a 4-day trip to Lassen NP. Having now towed almost 20K miles with our setup, I feel carefully optimistic that I know what I am doing. Doubting the setup and being careful at all times is the name of the game. I do not want to put the family at risk and have gone through rounds of careful consideration to ultimately realize that the Pepper is probably one of the best TV out there, no question at all. It is not about racing up Tioga pass to beat a ¾ ton truck pulling SOB or a 25FB, no, it is about having fun and enjoying your airstream. The whole discussions that are going on on some other threat feel strange given the fact that we are all not in a race about bigger, better, and most powerful; but ultimately, it is all about common sense.

Would be great to meet you some day - half way... for a beer, wine, or spirit... or just a good BBQ...

[Knuff]

Originally Posted by LiaG

What is it that you don't like about the Equalizer? My dealer is talking me into installing it on my Touareg and a 23 ft Airstream. He said Reese with cams is too heavy and ProPride would be overkill?

Andy from CanAm did not recommend it (the equalizer) and I must say that it was pretty "stiff" when towing out 20ft FC. This means that there is little room for any play when you hit a bump, or drive through a ditch. The Eazylift is much more forgiving in that sense. It is also a more responsive setup when it comes to maneuvering, so the whole thing does not feel like the TGV train (or ICE if you know what I mean). The ProPride is going to be sweet - you consciously will go over the tongue weight rating, attracting s%it from the tank crowd, but it probably is going to be an even better setup. Realistically, any airstream when pulled over and weighted for true tongue weight will probably weigh in at easily >1000lbs, even some bambis. So if you are conscious about this and try to keep the weight down using some of the discussed tricks, you probably will be all right.

[bono]

I posted a few photos of the hitch reinforcement - BMW X5 E70, maybe somebody will find it useful. Now I need to get the trailer.

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f463...ml#post1683125

[Utley06]

All,

I wanted the Touareg TDI when I started my new car search, so that I could pull my 2013 19' Airstream Bambi Flying loud. I was having trouble finding one and then accidentally stumbled across a 2012 Audi Q7 TDI S Line. It was stickered at 40k and I assumed it had the same towing capacity as the Touareg. I decided if I could get a good deal I would do the Q7 over the Touareg.. I haggled the dealership down to 35k and felt tickled to get it. However, Now I'm seeing that the Q7 pulls 1000 lbs less.. Did I make a mistake ? I wanted the 7700 lbs of towing to ensure lots of stability and power.

[2012FB]

Rest easy. With a proper hitch setup it will be great.


Sent from my iPhone using Airstream Forums

[Tom_T]

Originally Posted by Utley06

All,

I wanted the Touareg TDI when I started my new car search, so that I could pull my 2013 19' Airstream Bambi Flying loud. I was having trouble finding one and then accidentally stumbled across a 2012 Audi Q7 TDI S Line. It was stickered at 40k and I assumed it had the same towing capacity as the Touareg. I decided if I could get a good deal I would do the Q7 over the Touareg.. I haggled the dealership down to 35k and felt tickled to get it. However, Now I'm seeing that the Q7 pulls 1000 lbs less.. Did I make a mistake ? I wanted the 7700 lbs of towing to ensure lots of stability and power.

You'll be fine with the 19' Bambi - maybe in the future limited with the longer AS's that will weigh more wet & loaded if you ever upgrade your AS, compared to the Touareg/Cayenne's 7700# & even those are reduced somewhat on the latest models.

The Q7 loses the 1000# rating due to more curb wt. with the 3rd row & longer body - not an otherwise reduced capability.

IIRC there are a couple of folks towing 19-25' AS's with Q7s - if you read thru the post above in the topic.

Have Fun!
Tom
////////

[Utley06]

thanks, good to know!!!

[Andrew T]

The Q7 is actually a little better tow vehicle than the Treg. We have many customers with them.

The rear overhang is the same but the wheelbase is longer. The suspension tuning is just as tight as the Treg so it will work very well for you.

I would suggest you use an Eaz-lift 600 lb rated hitch with the 19'. This hitch is the easiest on your receiver. I would add one friction sway control.

Andrew T

[Knuff]

Originally Posted by bono

I posted a few photos of the hitch reinforcement - BMW X5 E70, maybe somebody will find it useful. Now I need to get the trailer.

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f463...ml#post1683125

Looks great! Double attachment points in the back!
We just returned from a week trip up to Lassen NP where we dragged our Zeppel up to the scenic drive (8500 ft). Even at 100+ degrees, we had no heat related issues and the hitch receiver after return did not show any signs of stress or strain. We always check for these signs just to be sure. Seems that the reinforcement is not even playing a role because the original receiver is just very very sturdy.

[Utley06]

Originally Posted by Andrew T

The Q7 is actually a little better tow vehicle than the Treg. We have many customers with them.

The rear overhang is the same but the wheelbase is longer. The suspension tuning is just as tight as the Treg so it will work very well for you.

I would suggest you use an Eaz-lift 600 lb rated hitch with the 19'. This hitch is the easiest on your receiver. I would add one friction sway control.

Andrew T

Man, you people are super friendly.. Thank you so much for the help!!!

[KSA63]

Adding the Audi Q5 TDI to the list.

We recently purchased a FC 28' and had Can-Am set us up with an Eaz-lift weight distributing hitch with Husky sway control. I expected it to tow well but it actually exceeds my expectations. We were able to achieve a FE of 12.6L/100km (22.4mpg uk or 18.7mpg us) over the 327.5km (204mi) trip from home via secondary roads. We were comfortable traveling at about 85-90kph (55ish mph) with some minor hills along the way. The 28 tracks very well with no sway or rocking felt.

The q5 has very little space to mount a traditional brake controller so I opted to install the Redarc "Tow Pro" which when installed only shows a small control knob which I mounted next to my light switch. The Tow Pro is a proportional brake controller with multi axis sensor, it seems to work very well in this application.

[Bambi75]

Originally Posted by JerryMcMunn

We have been using the Aero 2 mirrors with our 2014 Touareg & 25' Airstream for well over a year. We are quite pleased with them.

Sorry I'm a little late to the party here.

We towed our 19' Winick Bambi over 51,000 miles with a 2005 Touareg V8 between 2006 and 2014. We used the McKesh mirrors and a full-sized Hensley Arrow and were happy with the setup.

Last fall I replaced the 10-year old Touareg with at 2015 Cayenne Diesel. I also replaced the Arrow with the lighter SwiftCub (chains rather than screw jacks). I hated the chains and had Hensley replace them with screw jacks on my way to Newfoundland this summer. The regular Cub with screw jacks worked just fine.

Turned out the McKesh mirrors didn't work well for me on the Cayenne. They were noisy and interfered with raising the windows. I bought a pair of Aero 2 Mirrors, and they worked great. Of the 31 trailers on the Airstream Newfoundland (Viking Trail) caravan this year, three were pulled by German diesel SUVs (a Mercedes, a Touareg, and my Cayenne). All three of us had Aero mirrors and we all liked them. Turns out the Aero mounts allow a variety of mounting positions, and each of us mounted ours differently.

[IanPoulin]

I am interested to hear from VW Touareg owners who've had the CanAm modifications to strengthen the hitch setup for use with larger Airstreams. Normally, my tow options are easy - it's what I fit into (I stand 7' (2.14m) tall,) and headroom makes for difficult decisions. I am looking for a 3+ seater, upgraded from my current two seater, right now and the extended cab trucks simply do not fit (it's the damned lump in the ceiling where they run the lighting wiring.)

So after reading this forum thread, and on a lark, I went and test drove a Touareg TDI (non sunroof) package and the room was quite good! Not the same head or shoulder room as my F150 but amazing legroom - the specs report shorter legroom than the F150 but the f150 power-assist pedals destroy that difference and then-some. Finally, with the current VW scandal, prices on the tDI are rock bottom right now....

However, my 28W blows past the Touareg hitch capabilities; though from what I've read the CanAm upgrades can compensate. I would like to hear what it took price wise - and I assume I'd have to buy a third party warrantee as the exhaust mods that supposedly come with this would invalidate the factory warrantee on the power train.


2011 Airstream International Serenity 28' - 30a/taupe
2013 Ford F150 v6-ecoboost with max tow and HD payload packages

[Ohiobrits]

Originally Posted by IanPoulin

I am interested to hear from VW Touareg owners who've had the CanAm modifications to strengthen the hitch setup for use with larger Airstreams. Normally, my tow options are easy - it's what I fit into (I stand 7' (2.14m) tall,) and headroom makes for difficult decisions. I am looking for a 3+ seater, upgraded from my current two seater, right now and the extended cab trucks simply do not fit (it's the damned lump in the ceiling where they run the lighting wiring.)

So after reading this forum thread, and on a lark, I went and test drove a Touareg TDI (non sunroof) package and the room was quite good! Not the same head or shoulder room as my F150 but amazing legroom - the specs report shorter legroom than the F150 but the f150 power-assist pedals destroy that difference and then-some. Finally, with the current VW scandal, prices on the tDI are rock bottom right now....

However, my 28W blows past the Touareg hitch capabilities; though from what I've read the CanAm upgrades can compensate. I would like to hear what it took price wise - and I assume I'd have to buy a third party warrantee as the exhaust mods that supposedly come with this would invalidate the factory warrantee on the power train.


2011 Airstream International Serenity 28' - 30a/taupe
2013 Ford F150 v6-ecoboost with max tow and HD payload packages

Ian, the Can-Am mod is probably in the $350 range although I had mine done locally. The mod does not require any changes to the exhaust system as Can-Am does it, the stiffening member bends under the rear muffler. Knuff above did a low profile version, pictures above. If you are considering the Touareg for a 28, plus want to carry 3+ people you will want to consider some form of tongue lightening for the 28 since the tongue weight will be in the 900+ lb range. Your max payload on the Touareg will be around 1250 to 1300 lbs. Calculate how much of the payload you will use as follows:-

Max payload = 1300 lbs
Less AS tongue weight 900lbs
Approx 150 lbs of this tongue weight is moved back to the AS axle by WD application so you gain this back
Less weight of people let's assume 3 X 200 lbs (may be high)

So remaining payload = 1300 - 900 + 150 - 600
= 50 lbs OVER max payload

This means you will be running down the road over Max Gross Vehicle Weight Rating. For some people this is the end of the world. I would not recommend it but I know from experience that the Cayenne / Touareg still performs well loaded up to the max.

I'm a very big fan of the Touareg / Cayenne. My typical loading comprises myself, my wife and daughter (none of us are 200lbs) plus very occasionally my teenage son. I have absolutely no regrets over my choice and would buy another in a heartbeat but you need to be aware of the limitations, the only one being payload in my experience.

Post here if you have any more questions.

[Hamish]

Hello,

Our experience is similar to Ohio Brits with our 2014 Eddie Bauer 27(28), although we have not been on the road much yet. We have a 2011 Touareg TDI set up by Can Am and have found it to be a great drive. We just take it easy and keep it to about 55-60mp/h on the highway and about 50 on single lane roads. Gas mileage is about 14mpg or sometimes a little better if we travel slower. Hills haven't been a problem though we haven't been in any mountains yet. A major plus is that once we are unhitched we have a great second vehicle that gets mileage equal to that of our Lexus IS 250. If we get to long haul travelling... More than a week at a time and decide we need a generator, canoe, bikes etc we may move to a truck for more space, but so far we haven't needed to and have space for bikes or a canoe and maybe all in the trailer though we haven't figured that one out yet.


S&K

Sent from my iPad using Airstream Forums

[Andrew T]

A couple of things that help with the load capacity, If you have 900 pounds of hitch weight a couple of hundred pounds will wind up back on the trailer wheels when you set up the weight distribution.

Sometimes GVWR is determined by what the load will do to a vehicles solo handling and not what the running gear can handle. On the Touareg all the suspension and running gear components are identical to the Q7 which has a few hundred pounds more GVWR since it has 3 rows of seats and a longer wheelbase. A good example of this is the Mercedes GL which has a 500 pound higher rear axle capacity when you are towing as long as the speed is kept below 100 KPH (62 MPH).
All of these are built to stand up to autobahn speeds well over 100 MPH so towing an Airstream at 60 is a pretty easy by comparison.

We had some folks in from the west coast a couple of weeks ago. They have with a 27FB with a Hensley that was not set up properly. The Touareg was about 6" low at the back and was sitting just above the suspension stops. Including the the Hensley they had 1220 pounds of hitch weight of which most of it was sitting on the rear axle. The receiver had bent about 5 degrees. The thing was they had driven several thousand miles in this severely overloaded state with no problems on the vehicle.

One thing I have noticed is that running these in Drive (D) they tend to lug the engine and go all the way into 8th gear when towing. I think you will find you get better performance and mileage by putting it in 7th on level highway. You can do that with sport mode, sport mode tuning and tow haul mode that is available on some vehicles are basically the same thing.

The other option is to manually shift on the highway. When I get into town or stop and go traffic I just put it back into automatic mode. I drove a 2015 Touareg yesterday and noticed that if I put it in manual mode in 7th gear with will kick down to 5th or 6th on hills but then does not upshift back to 7th once over the top you need to manually shift it back up again.

I hope this helps.

Andrew T

[Johnairkathy]

We selected an international 23FB because the 25 exceeded the hitch weight on our 15 CayenneS. No problems so far.

[Texas Gal 61]

I am really bummed out. I love my 2010 VW TDI. But lately it's been acting without even towing. We thought we had it happy, but while in NM we lost our drive shaft. Thank God I upped our AAA membership. 106 mile tow. My husband is making me get rid of it. It's a comfortable daily driver and I love the looks we get when pulling our 27' 1985 Sovereign. Now what? A big old truck? Yuck!

[cameront120]

Originally Posted by Texas Gal 61

I am really bummed out. I love my 2010 VW TDI. But lately it's been acting without even towing. We thought we had it happy, but while in NM we lost our drive shaft. Thank God I upped our AAA membership. 106 mile tow. My husband is making me get rid of it. It's a comfortable daily driver and I love the looks we get when pulling our 27' 1985 Sovereign. Now what? A big old truck? Yuck!

Maybe get a different husband?

[Andrew T]

Hi Texas Gal

Big trucks loose driveshafts sometimes as well. How many miles are on your Touareg? It is not a problem I have heard of from any of our customers and most are towing much more Airstream than you are.

Andrew T