Volkswagen Jetta Sportwagen TDI

Hi Robert,

Hey - sorry I was pulling my TD in Glacier... had a great time. OK - let me see if I can point you to the pieces that I put together for the Jetta. BTW - I was passing some cars in Montana pulling the trailer and going 80 - the Camp Inn tows like a wonder and the Jetta has plenty of torque. I do agree that there are times where starting up a steep incline from a stand still can be a problem due to the front wheel only... but I just stay out of those situations... done lots of dirt and gravel roads.. and have had to back up to get momentum a few times... but so far ... this is a great tow vehicle. here are the details... I did my research on etrailer.com.

I had Uhaul put on the trailer hitch and the brake controller and they did fine on the hitch, but messed up the brake controller. The big problem was they just didn't connect the charging circuit.... and that was easy to correct. You want a really good connection between the car battery and the trailer plug. You may or may not decide to get the battery isolator (it keeps you from draining the car battery when using the trailer... but I always unhook the trailer so I didn't get one).

Here is what I sent to Uhaul.

1) Hitch - 200# tongue weight/2000 pound rating - similar to this (http://www.etrailer.com/Trailer-Hitch/Volkswagen/Jetta+SportWagen/2012/11072.html?vehicleid=2012300261)
2) 7 pin connector similar to thishttp://www.etrailer.com/Wiring/Hopkins/37185.html
3) Trailer Isolation from vehicle electronics similar to this (http://www.etrailer.com/p-56146.html)
4) Trailer brake controller similar to this (http://www.etrailer.com/Brake-Controller/Tekonsha/90885.html)
5) Tow bar with 2" ball. Mounted so we have 17" from the ground to the top of the ball with someone standing on it to simulate the tongue weight of the trailer.

From the trailer manufacturer 1) Make sure they connect the white ground wire to a good chassis ground 2) Make sure they wire the backup light wire (Purple) 3) Need to verify that the wiring all works with Headlights on *and* off. 4) Brake controller output would hook to the Blue wire on connector Hopkins 37185

 

All - I wanted to give an update on the TDI mileage after more than just the highway cruising I listed before.. so here are some more examples.

Sportwagen - no trailer... up and over and back on the "Going to the Sun Road" in Glacier NP - 48.5

Sportwagen - w/trailer - West Glacier to Priest Lake Idaho - 30.5mpg - maybe 25 miles was on gravel roads and traveling at 65 to 70 most of the way on two lane roads - several lower passes.

Sportwagen - w/trailer - into strong headwind - Spokane, WA to Seattle - 27.5mpg - 70 to 75 mph. High plains, Snoqualmie Pass, Columbia River Gorge...

Sportwagen - w/trailer - Seattle to Mossy Rock - 50 -60mph - 34 mpg. Expressways, rolling hills - two lane..

The original post was dead flat in South Dakota... I think these are more realistic...but speed really affects mpg.

Again - the trailer is amazingly stable at higher speeds and the 6 speed tranny with the torque of a diesel - makes passing on a two lane road in 4th gear a doable thing.

 

thanks to both Daves for their replies

Dave with the Jetta: this is good info. Just to make sure I understand - you bought the listed stuff and took it to uhaul for installation? Did you install any of it yourself?

robert

 

Dave

the only question I can't answer for this at this point is what wire to tap for the brake signal to controller connection. You got any idea which wire this is and where it's located?

thanks

rd

 

Rd,

Sorry I missed this question.

I used the signal that Uhaul had connected to in the rear of the car. But I think that there is a good video on etrailer.com on how to get this hooked up.

I used the two bigger wires to run the charger wire Power) and the ground - to the connector.

Dave K

 

Hi All,

I've read the posts about using a Jetta Sportwagen TDI with manual transmission, but ours is automatic. Anybody try it? Stupid to consider it? Keep in mind...we don't even have a Camp Inn yet, but I'm working hard on remedying that! (Wanting the 560)

Thanks for any opinions!

Quinny

 

Tdi will do just fine.. A lot of torque will do better than most 4 cilinders gasoline vehicles

 

Hi, thanks for your reply! My question was more about a Jetta Sportwagen TDI with manual vs. automatic transmission. I'm reading that towing is NOT recommended with automatic and am wondering whether that's a cya from VW America or based on fact. (Which would really annoy me! And send me to the forum to figure out what I have to get instead!)

Thanks!

 

lots of threads about this on the tdi forums. Here are a few for example. Search on jsw, towing, dsg:

http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=255330

http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=302838&highlight=towing,+dsg

http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=362026&highlight=towing,+dsg

 

Hi Quinny,

All I know is that the Sportwagen Manual says Diesel + Automatic... do not tow.

Its OK with the gas + automatic... so it must be a different transmission.

As I have previously posted the TDI pulls the CampInn like a dream.. curvy mountain roads - no problem.

Dave K

 

My vehicle is a manual shift 2006 Volkswagen Jetta 2.5 PZEV 4dr Sedan. I bought it used at 160,000 miles, therefore, it was not under warranty - have had no towing problems whatsoever. Riding so low to the ground is not great for off-road use, however, this drawback is made up for by how the tiers do not spit up mud and grit at the cabin, plus one gets pretty good miles per gallon on unleaded fuel.

 

I towed our 550Ultra with a Jetta TDI for the first three years we had it and I solved the low riding with some air lift bags inside the rear coil springs. Both Air Lift and Firestone make a similar product that will work well on the Jetta and cost around $80-100 depending on where you get them.
If you measure the inside diameter and height of the coil with the spring not supporting the vehicle, both companies will tell you which model # to get.
I have replaced the Jetta with a Passat TDI and installed the Firestone brand air lift bags on it. They are almost the same except I like the hose connectors that Firestone uses better than the Airlift ones I used on the Jetta. With these installed and inflated to about 20 psi the rear end will stay at the same level as when you have nothing connected to the hitch.

 

I bought a pair of tow springs for the rear and got 2-3" of additional clearance in the rear. Now the JSW never scrapes going over curbs. Very nice addition.

R Dickson

 

Clearly you've got it pegged, Dave. My contribution was simply to clarify a fact which is that sedans can do the job well - this topic was not clear when first I started out.