[Vwdiesel] tow tow tow your boat

[Chuck Carnohan]

I mis-read Shayln's pleas.  Doyt is absolutely correct.  Do not try to
drag the pickup from AL to TX with a little economy car of any type.  I
was thinking (wrongly) that U-Haul didn't think the dolly was
appropriate to tow a Rabbit- Sorry!  Find a reasonable tow vehicle- A
big rear-wheel drive V-8 car would do it- A full sized SUV (Bronco or
Jimmy), a full size van- no significant mountains b/t Texas and Alabama
that I recall.  VW Rabbits are- let's face it guys- small and light.  No
reflection on our manhood eh?  I've towed VW pickups with a dolly and a
Bronco, a dolly and a 1-ton pickup.  Any full-sized American beast with
a good tow hitch should be adequate.  With a Jetta or a mini-SUV it
would be a long and damaging drag- one way or another.

Chuck Carnohan


-----Original Message-----
From: vwdiesel-bounces at vwfans.com [mailto:vwdiesel-bounces at vwfans.com]
On Behalf Of Doyt W. Echelberger
Sent: Wednesday, January 12, 2005 9:47 AM
To: vwdiesel at audifans.com
Subject: Re: [Vwdiesel] tow tow tow your boat

At 11:16 PM 1/11/2005 -0600, you wrote:
>I have a friend attempting to tow back a non-running Diesel Caddy from 
>Alabama to Dallas.  His two options to get it here are: 1986 Jetta NA 
>Diesel, and a 1997 Toyota RAV4 with a 5 speed and a 2.0 litre engine.
>I'm suggesting to him that the Jetta is a poor choice.  Any hope on
either 
>count?  I've been in a Caddy only once and never tried to tow one.  I'm

>going to loan him a tow bar because U-haul etc. won't rent him one
because 
>they say he can't do it with those cars.  I don't want to set him on
his 
>way to blowing up his wife's Toyota.  Shame you can't just go down to 
>Hertz or whomever and rent a Ford F100 cheap.  It'd make it much easier
to 
>tell all these people here in Texas they really don't need a 3500
Cummins 
>4X4 ton truck to haul a few potted plants back from the nursery once a
year.
>-Shalyn
 >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
In my opinion, U-Haul is showing considerable caution and good business 
sense in not providing your friend with the means to cause a serious 
accident. They are considering liability and risk, compared to the
profit 
they could make. The risk is high and the liability enormous.

Friends don't let other friends...........finish it any way you want.

I pull things like that with a 3/4 ton Heavy-Duty Suburban running a 454

and class 3 hitch. It has the brakes to stop the unit, and the cooling 
system to handle dragging it up hills and against wind resistance.

Incidental Note: Rule in Europe for hauling trailers without their own 
brakes is that the tow vehicle should be at least twice the weight of
the 
towed vehicle.

Most people have replying to this question indicated they would use a
truck 
for the job. That is because neither of the suggested sedans have the 
excess braking capacity to reliably stop that load if it needs to be
done 
in a hurry. U-Haul knows this.

If you are towing at 50 mph, the stopping distance required can't be 
figured because the linings may get too hot to work if they have to be 
applied very often.....but it will be a long way. And the vehicle being 
towed may be pushing the rear of the tow vehicle into a jack-knife at
any 
moment. Picture the Caddy sliding down the right side of the road with
its 
rear end out, with no brakes of course, tow-barred to the Jetta with
brakes 
locked up and tires smoking as it slides down the oncoming lane totally
out 
of control and pointed toward the ditch. Who is driving? The non-person
in 
the Caddy.  Add in a patch of wet road, even a heavy fog would do
it.....


Doyt Echelberger


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