No "earlies" seem to have a rated towing capacity on them. Probably a silly question but is anything even remotely classic, cool or retro VW going to be able to tow?

Obviously a Beetle can't do it. A kombi is probably pushing it too, am I going to have to look outside the VW stables to get a towing vehicle? I want to look at buying or building a car trailer to move cars round. So it needs to have about 1.5 to 2 tonnes towing capacity as a trailer, on average, is 750kg empty. The vehicle will be a daily drive too as I can't justify 2 rego and insurance if I decide to buy another vehicle for towing.

I'm pretty sure nothing classic or semi classic VW will suit but putting it out there just in case. T3 maybe? Suggestions? Don't want anything new.

I managed to tow my Elfin Vee, sitting on a single-axle trailer....behind my 1968 stock 1500 Beetle.

Your trailer is how heavy? :O
A member of Vwdcq has a 76ish kombi & tows his 76ish full weight race beetle with it on a single axle tipper trailer, granted the trailer is minimalist but I can't seem to fault the setup at all. Sides will no doubt back that up, it was purpose built for the car. That helps!

I've been towing car trailers with my bay for years, but it's pushing the envelope a little and always with my own trailer as anything 'off-the-shelf' will be too heavy. They are out there with bigger engines so it may be an option, although I did probably around 15-20 000km with a stock didplacement 2 litre. These days I tow with my 2.1 WBXR T3. It does it better than an air cooled 2 litre in std form. Something that is of interest is the 2wd has a towing capacity of around 1170kg (by memory) but a Syncro is 2000kg, hence I'm doing up a Syncro for my next towcar, with a little more power too . Without doubt, a T5 or Amarok TDI is the ultimate towcar, but are pretty exxy still, although a mate just scored an awesome V6 T4 with ALL the luxuries for $15k, but a basic TDI T5 can be found for similar or maybe less these days if you shop around.

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Originally posted by matberry I've been towing car trailers with my bay for years, but it's pushing the envelope a little and always with my own trailer as anything 'off-the-shelf' will be too heavy. They are out there with bigger engines so it may be an option, although I did probably around 15-20 000km with a stock didplacement 2 litre. These days I tow with my 2.1 WBXR T3. It does it better than an air cooled 2 litre in std form. Something that is of interest is the 2wd has a towing capacity of around 1170kg (by memory) but a Syncro is 2000kg, hence I'm doing up a Syncro for my next towcar, with a little more power too . Without doubt, a T5 or Amarok TDI is the ultimate towcar, but are pretty exxy still, although a mate just scored an awesome V6 T4 with ALL the luxuries for $15k, but a basic TDI T5 can be found for similar or maybe less these days if you shop around.

I would be more concerned about what can stop it, rather than what can tow it.

Obviously I want it to be able to stop as well. Most trailers you hire from the servos are 750kg empty. So add potentially a kombi or something similar to that and that's the weight it needs to tow. Don't want to be burning clutches and doing gearboxes. If I get a trailer it will be the type with just a ramp each side for the wheels to sit on, so as to keep weight down.

I reckon Brad did a pretty good job of proving what a EJ22 powered bay could do when he towed that car trailer from Melbourne to Brisbane with the tractor with front end loader and slasher on it.

That poor thing was pulling over 3 tonne from memory

Towed my car to Warwick this year with my old Kombi, went ok, 2 ltr with 94mm "B" Cima flat top pistons, 1800 heads, European "E" grind cam and a pair of 45 Dells, its and old engine too.

2,500 k round trip, averaged 18mpg, oil temps from 80 to 110 on a hot day climbing the Glbraltar range, no extra cooler.

I did have to adjust the valves at Warwick as it started running rough on the way up, found number 1 riding an inlet valve, engine is now on the bench for a top end check over.

I worked at Wolfsburg when they moved from Essendon to G-Town and used a 2.0 late 70s bay full of parts (starters and engine components) + a tandem trailer with some sort of other bus full of parts..... it would do the journey at least twice a day over 3 months!!!!

It,s a nice idea to tow with a classic VW but honestly get a Turbo Diesel dual cab or similar.

My Colorado got 11.77 litres / hundred towing from Tamworth uphill to Warwick.

Larry towed with his Toureg and got from memory around 12, we travelled at 100k,s up and down all hills.

Cheers Col

In the early 80's my old man would regularly tow a heavy old skool double horse float about with an 1800 76 Bus .. the good old days before everyone fitted temp gauges and became paranoid.

yeah.....and he said "classic VW"

caravelle with a flat 6 subi motor towing a splitty on a dual axel from penrith to newtown piece of piss

What about a 1600 kombi? Is that pushing the limit a bit? I'm not a fan of the type 4 motors (more exxy on parts and harder to work on). Granted I could pick up a TD Rodeo or similar for 1/4 the price of a half decent kombi but whats the fun in that.

Type 4 is not much different to a type 1 motor to work on!!

Col ... you are digging yourself into a soft hole

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Originally posted by matberry yeah.....and he said "classic VW"

So are the 90s T3 kombis any good generally?

Any issues to look for (as someone who is used to air cooled), and are ther any faults which, if present, mean the car should be avoided at all costs?

Would prefer an air cooled one but keeping options open.

Engine conversion to an air cooled motor? 1200cc maybe

T3's to avoid, rust in the external body seams, water leaks or even any staining / evidence of leaks, from where the heads meet the case water jackets, trans are relatively exxy and any trans noise means a rebuild is preferable/required and can cost >3k. Thing is a water pumper engine conversion is way easy so a 6 cyl Subi would make sense for your towing beast, altho leagally a syncro would be the go as I said earlier they have a much bigger towing capicity.

How about carrying on the back?

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Originally posted by r0880 How about carrying on the back?

grab a modern horse with many seats, cruise n aircon etc
unless you are handy swinging spinners on the roadside enroute somewhere
modern stuff can't be beat for speed limit sitting all day
I have a T5 now but my old T4 did a great job of towing as well
did I mention aircon cruise control blah blah

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Originally posted by h grab a modern horse with many seats, cruise n aircon etc unless you are handy swinging spinners on the roadside enroute somewhere modern stuff can't be beat for speed limit sitting all day I have a T5 now but my old T4 did a great job of towing as well did I mention aircon cruise control blah blah

Would the t3 autos have the same towing capacity as a manual?