New tow Vehicle.

[wingnut]

Finally had to get a new TV. The 97 VW Passat finally let me down. Blew a turbochager a couple of weeks ago. Cars has nearly 300K on it and still has the original clutch, which I througth would be the thing that would fail. Anyway replace it with a new 2012 VW Jetta TDI with 6 speed manual transmission. We test drove the TDI with 6 spd DSG auto trans and really liked that, but you can't tow any thing with the auto or it voids that warrienty, so we went with the stick. Had to barrow a TV from one of our kids to make camping trip with friends. Hope the new hitch & wiring harness get her soon, simmers a waste'n.

[mvperini]

pictures?

Mike

[wingnut]

Hey Mike,
Pics are in my album, but I forgot how to post them in my post.

[ssrjim]

[wingnut]

Yep,
That's the one. Howed you do that ssrjim? After the forum changed to the this new I can't seem to figure out how post pics out of my gallery.

[ssrjim]

Yep,
That's the one. Howed you do that ssrjim? After the forum changed to the this new I can't seem to figure out how post pics out of my gallery.

I pasted:

!album!97041!/album!

The ! were [ and ] on each side of the word album

[Gage]

I think this is the better picture.

[wingnut]

Just got the Curt hitch installed today. Now just waiting for the wiring harness to show up. By that time I should have a 1000 miles on the Jetta and can start towing the TD with it. Having withdrawl systums, been almost 3 weeks without going someplace with the TD. Summer is a waist"n.

[mezmo]

Congrats on the new tow vehicle!

If you could, would you mind posting a pic of the installed hitch?

We had a U-Haul hitch put on our 2007 VW Rabbit 4Door [gas] and
boy, is it ever low to the ground. I just wanted to compare yours
to that.

Thanks in advance.

Cheers,
Norm/mezmo

[wingnut]

Hey mezmo,
The pics of the hitch on my Jetta are in my album. Would post them here, but haven't figured that move out yet.

[Kevin & Sandy]

Congrats on the new TV !

We use a Sportwagen TDI to tow with, (see avatar) took it to IRG in 2010, it cruises right along ! Going up the steep grades, the variable vane turbo builds boost and it shifts down, keeps right up with cars pulling nothing! One thing I did note was that the temp gauge was always right in the middle. I thought it must be the best cooling system ever. Turns out even thought the temp goes up and down, it has to really get hot for the gauge to move from the center. If you want to track that, put a ScanGage in and it will digitally read out.

We did have to put airbags inside the rear coil springs for a more level ride, it takes about 10 lbs of air pressure to level everything out.

Ours has the DSG, it is rated to tow like 1000 lbs in the US, but in Europe the same car is rated to tow 3500 lbs, so I don't worry much. Ours has 50,000 miles on it now, we are getting 45 mpg empty, we averaged 29.7 pulling the TD to California and back.

[wingnut]

Kevin & Sandy,
Haven't towed with the Jetta yet, just got the trailer light converter box & harness put in yesterday, so have no idea well it tows. Should be really good, as the car is a sweet ride. I really like the acceleration over what the old 97 Passat had. Your towing milage is about what I was averaging towing with our Passat. I hope the Jetta will do as well. We test drove a 2012 Sportswagen with the DSG and the wife really liked it, but it was a lot more money than the standard sedan with manual trans, but she got the color she wanted with the sedan.
Where did you find the air bags for the rear coils? I was wondering if I might need them on this car as the rear suspention is different than on the older Passats. tounge weight of my trailer is 175 lbs, it made the Passat squat just a bit, but not enough to require lifts.

[Kevin & Sandy]

Wingnut,

Google "firestone coil rite 4176" and maybe add "jetta" for more info.

Installation was easy, just jack up the car to extend the coils out, suck the air out of the bag and slip it thru the coils. Caution when locating the air fill valves ! When you need to use the bags, the car will likely be full of gear, so make sure the valves are accessible when the trunk is full !!

After returning from an extended TD trip, I stopped at VW to get warranty work done. They loaned me a Jetta with a gas burner in it to get around town while I waited. I think I could outrun that gas burner with my diesel even with the TD hooked to it !! Love the power..

Kevin

[Gary and Cheri]

Wingnut,

Like Kevein we also drove our 2009 Jetta Sportwagen TDI 6 speed manual out to the 2010 IRG but we average about a mile less. for the trip. The first day and a half I was driving plus 5 on the speed limits which were 65 in Illinois, 70 in Iowa, 75 in Kansas, they just got faster and our mpg was going down. We were getting 21-24 mpg. After commenting to my wife about what I considered low mileage we backed off to 59-60 mph which is a speed my car seems to like and we started averaging 30+ mpg. I drove in 6th gear when it was flat and dropped it into 5th for gentile hills. 6th gear is an overdrive and has some issues on bigger hills while 5th just keeps us humming along.

Both Kevin and I have put "air bags" in the rear coils to keep the car level. They do make a difference.

Gary

[mezmo]

Hi Wingnut,

Thanks for the measurements. I checked the Rabbit's hitch and
the bottom of the 1&1/4in receiver is at 6&3/4 from the ground -
before attaching the cargo carrier and loading it and the car. But
the hitch parts attaching it to the car look lower than that from the side.
I'll have to check that out when I get back to SC. One of my brothers
welded up an additional riser length/height to a commercial riser so
that should cure our cargo carrier's dragging problem. It only had
4in of clearance on the trip up. Now the top of the 2in receiver is in
line with the top of the bumper - a Big improvement !

Cheers,
Norm/mezmo