Date: Tue, 15 Jul 2003 21:43:20 -0700
Reply-To: Jeffrey Schwaia <jeff@TSSGI.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Jeffrey Schwaia <jeff@TSSGI.COM>
Subject: Re: da'lan hitch
In-Reply-To: <374BB538-B713-11D7-AE67-00039398EEBC@mac.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Yes, they are Dokas, so perhaps you gain a little extra capacity, but other
than a little less weight, they're the same. However, I sincerely doubt
that any of these are under 1500 pounds. I used to have a 24' open bow
speed boat and it weighed 2200 pounds, so even the "relatively small boat"
is probably more than 3000 pounds.
BTW: How about #5, the Doka towing the Transporter? I'm guessing that's
just a tad over 1500 pounds...
Here's a couple more pulling a light load:
<http://www.vanagonparts.com/images/towing/t3_pickup_met_kever.jpg>
<http://www.vanagonparts.com/images/towing/t3_doka_syncro_stijn.jpg>
Anyways, it's all in good fun. I'm sure these guys did a few upgrades to
help them tow. All I was trying to point out is that many people are doing
it and have been doing it. And since all these vehicles were in Germany,
you can be sure that the Doka's could handle the load (see TUV).
Cheers,
Jeff
-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM]On Behalf
Of Kim Brennan
Sent: Tuesday, July 15, 2003 3:25 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: da'lan hitch
I could go on a picture by picture issue (first two are trailers, not
cars, and though large, may not be much more than 1500 pounds.) The 4th
one is a relatively small boat and again maybe within stretching
distance of the towing capacity of the Vanagons....
BUT, EVERY SINGLE one of these is a DoubleKab. I.E. a TRUCK to begin
with. The DoubleKabs are lighter in weight (from my experience) than
the Passenger or Westfalia vanagons. And some of those images reveal
potential issues (notice how squashed down the rear is on number 3, the
one with the big boat.) I bet number 3 also has auxilliary brakes. The
trailer not created from Vanagons might too.
http://homepage.mac.com/kimbrennan
The ATV (Polaris Ranger 6x6) is about 1500 pounds, so I've been a bit
over the towing capacity of my Passenger Syncro (due to the extra
weight of the trailer itself). This is a trailer without auxilliary
brakes.
Towing with the original 2.1 was VERY slow (I could get up to 50-60 mph
in a couple of minutes) but if there was any sort of grade it I was
usually down in 2nd gear pretty quickly. The GoldBrick now has a Tiico,
which makes accelerating considerably better and grades are less of an
issue.
But braking is still an issue (I have not upgraded to big brakes on
this vehicle). I need a much longer braking area. When I tow this, I
tend to go on back roads so as to not impede other traffic, because 1)
I'm never going to be fast with this big a load, and 2) because I don't
want other traffic to get in my way and force me into any need for
sudden stops.
The Vanagon frame is pretty darn tough. It just doesn't have the
wheels, brakes, engine or transmission set up for heavy duty towing and
though you can get away with it...you're rolling the dice each time you
tow that M1-Abrams around...