Homemade tow bar. $170.
Ever see a Speedster in a four wheel drift with no hands on the wheel ? Some guy did when I pulled onto I 81 a few years back while towing with my Dodge in snow way up in Upstate NY. He told me about the sight in a Watertown gas bar about 30 miles South a bit later.
Standard VW tow-bar modified...
Extended length allows for sharper turns without making contact between vehicles.
Attached white antenna to tow lights so that I could see car following behind me.
For those of you who have not seen my towbar and lights here are a few pictures. I'm not sure why everyone else's seem to be so long, but maybe because they are towing behind a truck and I am towing behind a car. After towing more than 20 different Speedsters for thousands of miles, I have never experienced any front end damage and I believe that having it closer to the tow vehicle cuts down on the possibility of rock chips.
My lights slip over the nerf bars on widebody Speedsters and they slip behind the tonneau on regular body Speedsters. Very quick and easy to install. None of this was my idea, I just copied what others on the SOC had done.
Those measurements are 4' X 2'.
Homemade tow bar. $170.
Ever see a Speedster in a four wheel drift with no hands on the wheel ?
Jim,
In these posted photos of yours there's one, a profile, of your silver speedster with what appears to be two horizontal padded bumpers (?) suspended from the ceiling... Are they to protect against opening doors making contact with the garage mate??
Troys is longer than stock though. Mine is stock length - I did narrow it to clear the CMC front bumper brackets on either side. I simply ground all the welds and pulled the arms in --- that did make it about 4" longer. It still easily fits in back of my Toyota 4Runner. I do make sure the side bars are parallel to ground by adjusting height of receiver ball. If ball is too low it could bottom out. If too high it would hit belly pan behind the front bumper.
I'm appreciating all of the responses so far and now I have another question.
I'm thinking of wiring in a flat four prong plug directly to my tail lights/brake lights/ and turn signals. That way I can run my "trailer light wire" through the front trunk, into the cab, and into the engine bay and plug in directly to my car's lights. The brake lights etc work well enough for when I'm driving; does anyone see a reason why I couldn't use the same for when I'm towing?
Harbor Freight has the regular magnet tow lights $19.99 but frequently "on sale" for $9.99. An LED version is $29.99 (less 20% coupon). You can't beat $10. I'd use their kit and install it permanently. The 4 plug connector and wire could be throw in front trunk and the magnetic rear lights tucked into the engine compartment. Just need to figure out brackets for the engine grill to mount lights - easy peasy.
Jim,
In these posted photos of yours there's one, a profile, of your silver speedster with what appears to be two horizontal padded bumpers (?) suspended from the ceiling... Are they to protect against opening doors making contact with the garage mate??
Carl - you are correct, those are door guards. The top rail with fishing lure float is at the level of the Range Rover (right) rear view mirror. Wife drives the Rover into garage with mirror a few inches away from rail and stops when mirror reaches red-white float.
Bottom two rails covered with pipe insulation. 
Passengers for Rover enters car outside of garage and exits car before entering garage. Entry to Speedster via Speedster passenger door.
I'm appreciating all of the responses so far and now I have another question.
I'm thinking of wiring in a flat four prong plug directly to my tail lights/brake lights/ and turn signals. That way I can run my "trailer light wire" through the front trunk, into the cab, and into the engine bay and plug in directly to my car's lights. The brake lights etc work well enough for when I'm driving; does anyone see a reason why I couldn't use the same for when I'm towing?
Robert - I considered that idea when fabricating my set up. I use the universal tow lights pictured in my post because they are larger brighter lights (larger than Speedster) and positioned at driver eye-level.
I run the wiring through passenger compartment, under dash (driver side) through trunk hinge opening, out lower portion of closed hood and to tow vehicle.
(CLICK ON PICTURES TO ENLARGE)
This set-up is for those without luggage racks to attach to.
Bigger, brighter tow lights at driver eye- level.
I'd rather just plug in the dedicated lights when I need 'em and not muck with the speedster wiring harness.
I made a copy of Jim's system and it works well. I keep the lights next to the tow bar in the garage. It's about 5 minutes to plug and go.
I'm thinking of wiring in a flat four prong plug directly to my tail lights/brake lights/ and turn signals. That way I can run my "trailer light wire" through the front trunk, into the cab, and into the engine bay and plug in directly to my car's lights. The brake lights etc work well enough for when I'm driving; does anyone see a reason why I couldn't use the same for when I'm towing?
If you do that, you MAY need to run a ground wire from the Speedster's ground to the tow vehicle's ground to get the lights to work.
Or, the tow light wiring harness may include a ground wire back to the tow vehicle ground.
But in either case, you could have issues with voltage feeding back from the Speedster's lights, through the Speedster's fuse box, and energizing some things you may not want to be running.
My gut feeling is to not use any part of the Speedster's electrical system when you're not driving it.
One beer later:
On further consideration, you probably won't have backfeeding issues if you keep the Speedster headlight and turn signal switches off and don't step on the brake pedal. You may still have to run a separate ground wire between the two cars, though.
Thanks guys. Your responses have enlightened me (see what I did there?) to the idea of using a dedicated lighting system for towing.
My brother is coming over Sunday to mock up the tow bar customization. I'll get the lights done after that.
Robert, I ran an extra harness front to back. Kind of a trailer wire extension, enough to reach the tow vehicle from the front, coiled in the trunk when not needed. Since I have a Spyder, there is already a trailer connector in the back. The whole rear clip comes off for working on the rear end, two hinge pins and a plug and poof, full access.
Using the existing taillights IMHO is the best and easiest way for a guy who is flat-towing ONE car. For Troy, who picks up different cars from all over, his light setup is way more suited to his needs. You're also supposed to put a CAR IN TOW sign on the back of the car.
A 4-pin harness has a ground, running light wire, and left and right turn/stop. You may need an adapter from the tow vehicle to the 4 wire setup. I got one on Ebay for about $30 or so.
I'm not sure if a sign is required in California, but it seems a little superfluous. Sort of like these.
We live in a country where we go to extremes to protect morons from themselves.
Danny,
I take it you have a tow bar? I also have a Spyder and it has a removable aluminum plate underneath that covers the front suspension components. I was kicking around the tow bar idea. I'm going to, at least, make a tow ring for any emergency short towing situations.
CG
@ Danny, when I bought my truck it came with that adapter. That and I've towed so many trailers with yard equipment to clean up my yard I would have had to buy one a long time ago.
And you're correct Troy, no sign needed in California. But don't say that too loud as the Nanny-crats in Sacramento might hear you.
Yes, Carlos, I have a bar that I had made by a certified welder(does roll cages in racecars, beautiful work). It needs to be about 3" narrowed from a stock Bug bar and lengthened to clear the nose, as well as lowered to clear the body. And it definitely installs to the beam where the removable panel unbolts. Got a lot of miles towing, but prefer to drive if the weather looks good. LOTS more driving miles than towed.
I wired into my speedster (VS) lighting using a 4 wire flat plug. Very simple. Run the green wire to the Right turn signal on the front. Run the yellow wire to the Left turn signal on the front. Run the brown wire to the Left parking light. Run the white wire to the body connection end of the battery ground cable. All are easy to reach and very short wire runs. The flat connector is wrapped around the horn once and tie wrapped once. To use......cut tie wrap and feed out through the left turn signal grill to connect up. Keep a flat plug dust cover on the connector to keep dirt and water out when not in use.
When in use, the front parking lights are on along with the rear tail lights. This lights up the back of my white GMC a little for better viz. Also the front signal lights flash along with the rears which gives me better side viz. The same goes for the brake lights and Really lights up things. Since my truck tail lights/etc are so high, they can be seen from the rear of the Speedster as well. I'm pretty comfortable with this arrangement. When in tow I flip the bat switch off just for good measure for when I'm towing anyway I think it just looks a little nicer with out having the big tow light assembly on the back somewhere. Other than that...both work...Bruce
I disconnect the battery too, when towing, Bruce. Good point.
