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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...


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