Eurovan etc.

[Stan Nicholson <stan@xxxx>]

Bill -

The issue with the Touareg was tongue weight. VW rates the vehicle 
with the substantial towing capacity, but rear axle capacity severely 
limits the permissible tongue weight, which made their 
Airstream-towing ad an implicit recommendation of a non-permitted 
use. Ugh.

As has been mentioned many times, quite a number of factors are 
involved in determining safe tow capacities, both by manufacturers 
and by we users. I very much like Colin's suggestion of actually 
testing the Eurovan's suitability. If the test trailer is within VW's 
towing specs, AND if Mary Ann is comfortable with its performance, 
that should be good enough. The UHaul test would be conservative, in 
that it probably wouldn't involve the same hitch type that would be 
used with an Airstream, and it probably wouldn't involve the same 
braking system (surge vs. electronic controller), both of which would 
make the load a bit uglier to handle.

Now, an interesting follow-up test would be for Mary Ann to also tow 
the test trailer with a 3/4 ton truck.

Stan
'72 Overlander