Date:         Wed, 10 Mar 1999 08:09:00 -0700
Reply-To:     Bill <Bill@FREEHOLDER.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Bill <Bill@FREEHOLDER.COM>
Subject:      Re: towing with a vanagon
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

At 07:35 AM 3/10/99 EST, you wrote:
>that means "People's Car".  As long as you use them to move people around in
>you are OK.  You start using them to tow things and then you are in trouble."
>These vans were designed to move people not to tow stuff.  You can put an
>incredible amount of weight inside a Vanagon and it will not hurt anything

I have been towing (boats, mostly) for 35 years.  In that time, I have read
and studied the issue as relating to MANY different kinds of vehicles.  If
you paid attention in physics, you know that as far as braking and
acceleration are concerned it makes absolutely no difference whether the
weight is inside the vehicle or a trailer.  The only difference is the
added friction of another set of bearings, which is minimal.

On the other hand, the trailer weight adds only the tongue weight to the
load on the towing vehicle's suspension, so an 800 pound trailer only puts
an extra 80 pounds or so load on the vehicle towing it.  The additional
stress on the brakes and motor is about the same whether the weight is
inside or a trailer.

I agree that using a Vanagon to tow another vehicle is hard on the brakes
and engine, but if you loaded the same 2500 to 3500 pounds into the
vehicle, it would be just as much stress on the brakes and engine and more
on the suspension.  A vehicle weighs as much as about 20 or so average people.

I live in Arizona, and my home is at nearly 5000 feet of elevation.  I tow
a boat often behind my Vanagon ('81 Westy).  The total weight of the boat
and trailer is about 600 pounds, and I tow it up and down some VERY steep
grades, to lakes as low as 2000 feet and as high as 8500 feet.  I don't
even know it's there, except that braking distances are a bit longer.
Acceleration doesn't seem much of any different.

Boats in Arizona??  Yes, we have lots of lakes here, and more boats per
capita than any other state.  This time of year, the trout fishing is
great, and the bass will be starting to hit soon.

Bill (SE Arizona) (Bill@freeholder.com) HTTP://www.freeholder.com
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