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Rob wrote -
I've always had a tow-bar (trailer hitch) on my 1970 Bug, and I’ve pulled some horrendous loads with it -- on one occasion over 1.6 tons on a trailer which had no brakes.
In it's youth, the car pulled a small caravan on a 2000 mile holiday too. It's been a real workhorse, which makes it amazing it's lasted so long really.
I originally had a special towbar which had long V shaped frame which went forwards under the engine and attached to the torsion bar tubes. These provided the ‘pull’ for the towbar, with the bodywork only supporting the vertical weight. But this got stolen (about a month after I got it), and so since then I've used a simple one which mounts ‘inside’ the rear bumper, and attaches direct to the rear bumper hangers. They call these ‘body breakers’ as the body takes ALL the load; but I've had no problems with mine at all. I'm just very careful to weight the trailer right, and always take is easy when towing. The VW is quite good as a tow car -- low 1st and 2nd gears, and the suspension can take a lot of weight. The disc brakes on mine help breaking too of course. Crazy that they stuck with the drums on US VWs.
Dave wrote -
Tough little Bugs, aren't they!
Rob responded -
Yes. I wouldn't want to do it in heavy traffic (slow acceleration holding people up) but they sure don't mind pulling a load. Before I started I had to buy some M8 bolts -- the rear bumper (which holds the tow-bar) had only 2 bolts per side -- I wasn't going to risk that with a big load on.
Interesting thing though -- the pulling power of the DP engine is definitely less than the SP engine at lower rpm - I've heard Type 2 guys say the 1600 SP is a better engine for buses than the 1600 DP (more torque low down), and I can understand that easily.
Dave wrote -
I'm not understanding. Why would a single-port engine have more torque at low rpm and a dual-port engine?
Rob responded -
I think it's mainly because the SP uses the smaller 30 or 31 sized carby -- so you get high airflow through the smaller throat at lower rpm, which brings the max torque rpm in sooner than the larger 34 sized carb. The DP engine provides more power but it's shifted up the rpm range a little so you have to hold a lower gear for longer with this engine. Also the 1600 SP (and the 1500s too) came with a slightly lower range gearbox -- 3200rpm at 60mph where your gearbox has about 3050rpm at 60mph.
The lower gearing makes for better acceleration, at the expense of lower top speed.
Someone wrote to the RAMVA Newsgroup -
I am 1974 Super Beetle that is not running. Can I tow it? I have a truck with a trailer hitch, so what do I do then?
Response -
They have towbars that just hook right up; I think they have them for Supers. I have one for my ‘68 Baja and it is great!
Dave posted to the RAMVA Newsgroup -
I have been reading with interest the posts to the VW Newsgroup today about towing. My son has a '73 Super Beetle that he plans to take to college with him in the Fall. We're a little leery about driving the car 750 miles (I'm confident that the rebuilt '71 engine can make it, but my wife is not).
So we are thinking about towing the Bug behind our van when we make the trip. Now finally my question: I have seen the tow bars in the RMMW catalog; I'm wondering if you have any experience with them, like how hard are they to put on the Bug, do they match up well to the trailer hitch, etc. I don't want to invest close to $100 if the things turns out to be a piece of junk.
The guy with the Baja responded -
I don't know about the Super towbar, but the one for my ‘68 takes less than 5 minutes to put on, hook up and be on the road!
They are wonderful.
Dave wrote -
Rocky Mountain Motor Works (now Mid-America Motor Works) sells a tow bar for the Super Beetle (Part #34902). Here’s what they say about it:
Motorworks Tow Bars are made of heavy duty steel tubing and meet S.A.E. Class 1 specifications (2000 lb. gross load). The Standard bar is easily installed or removed with two quick release pins. This same type of tow bar has safely towed Bugs for thousands of miles. The Super Beetle bar has a mounting plate that bolts under the car. The tow bar is equipped with a 1-7/8" receiver.
Dave wrote to Rob -
Over lunch today my wife was expressing concern (once again) about driving the VW the 750 miles to where our son will be attending college. She's going to call U-Haul and see how much it would cost to rent a truck one way to haul the car. She is thinking it won't be more than $150 -- when she called she learned that it would cost $500 to rent a truck and another $250 for a trailer (they don't recommend hauling the car inside the truck). Alternately we could rent (or buy) a trailer hitch and associated wiring for the Caddy (about $200), then buy the SB-specific towbar from RMMW ($90) and tow the Bug down.
I still say "Drive it!" I think that's what we're coming to... One way or the other, after I've put in all this work so our son could have a safe, reliable, "cool" car to take to school, we'll get it down there, one way or the other!
(Dave and his son (plus Dave's wife and a friend) did drive the Bug to school the first time. The second time, after the resto was complete (and mainly because they didn't have enough drivers), Dave and his son towed the Bug behind a borrowed truck.)
Dave wrote to Rob about how to get the car to the paint shop -
Rocky Mountain Motor Works sells a tow bar for the Super Beetle that has a mounting plate that bolts under the car for $85 -- I would probably spend more than that renting a trailer.
Rob responded -
Aren't you allowed to tow with a rope in the US? If the car is still registered (isn't it?) I'd just tow it slowly since it's only a few miles.
Dave wrote -
I'm a bit leery of towing the car with a rope. It's more than just a few miles -- both in town and freeway driving. The tow bar is solid - no worries about the tow rope/chain going slack and things like that. I think I’ll bite the bullet and order the tow bar -- it may be useful later, too, who knows.
Rob wrote -
I guess you won't need a driver in the towed car that way -- it's not going to run up the back of the truck.
Dave wrote -
I'm going to have to rig up brake lights somehow. The tow bar in the RMMW catalog shows two mounting brackets with two holes in each. They said that it attaches directly to the car without having to put in any new mounting bolts or anything -- without crawling under and looking I can't imagine just where it goes.
I went over to the U-Haul place yesterday and got a 1-7/8 inch ball to mount on the rear bumper on the truck. The guy looked the situation over and said the truck should be good for up to 2000 lbs -- the Bug is about 1800 lbs, as I recall, and that's with all of it's doors and fenders and stuff.
Rob responded -
The standard Bugs are 1800lbs - the Supers just over 1900lbs, so no problems with the truck.
Dave wrote -
The guy tried to talk me out of the lights, since I'm not really going very far and it will be during the daylight. That would be good -- would save me about 46 bucks! (Lights $30, wiring $13, plus tax.) But I think I should do things right -- with all of the other expenses I can hardly afford a hefty fine!
Dave wrote, after receiving the SB tow bar from RMMW -
First thing this morning I went out and installed the tow bar mounting bracket. Turns out it attaches to the underside of the car using six of the eight bolts which hold the crash bar. The tow bar didn't come with the required safety chains, so I had to make them.
Dave got good use out of the tow bar -- he towed his stripped SB to the paint shop with it hitched up behind his little red Nissan truck, and later he towed the car the 750 miles to where his son was attending college, and back again. The only drawback with this tow bar is that you cannot back up with the car attached to the towing vehicle.
Disclaimer stuff: Rob and Dave have prepared this information from their own experiences. We have not assumed any specialised mechanical knowledge, but we DO assume that anyone using this information has at least some basic mechanical ability.
We hope you find this information useful, but we don't take any responsibility for anything which happens to you, other people, your VW or any other property or goods resulting from your use of this material.
Feel free to print off any of this information for your own use. If you intend to link this material to another site, reprint it, or in any other way redistribute it, please leave the information complete, including this disclaimer section, and provide a link to this Web site.
Last revised 6 May 2004.
