Towing advice..

Any advice on towing long distances? I'll be towing my speedy behind an E320 wagon at least the 1,500 kms to Edmonton where I may put it on a train to Toronto or continue towing it the further 4,000 kms...depends on how the initial leg to Edmonton goes.

I flat towed the donor VW bug using the std VW tow bar that attaches to front beam 980 miles from FL to VA. That was with a 4 cyl Toyota 22RE PU in height of the summer. Had no issues. Hills were a little slower and braking a little longer. With CMC nearly complete now - I had to narrow same tow bar to clear the bumper brackets which are where the tow bar used to fit. Narrowed about 4". I now tow with a 6 cyl Toyota 4Runner and use an adjustable hitch since bumper is so high due to 4WD. Just ensure steering is not locked, transmission is out of gear and hand brake is off --- and avoid backing up. A VW tow bar is $70-100 --- assuming you have std front VW beam and it isn't lowered much it should fit. Do a search on mods others have done to tow bars.

Brian:

Gravel roads?? If so, then some sort of shield can be cobbled up to defend against gravel rash - Full nose bra would be ideal. Something covering the windshield and headlights, too. Car and Driver has used stickey, kitchen cupboard contact paper with very good results (no kidding) It should stick where you put it, although you may have to seal the edges with duct tape to avoid windblown lifting along the edges. A pair of headlight shields would be good, too. Like those slightly flexible bubbles that fit over round headlights, only bigger, or just cover them with something that il absorb the impact.

Other than that, if you have a decent tow bar you should have no trouble towing behind the E320.

BTW: Who the hell needs an E320 in Yellow Knife??????? Isn't that Kubel-Wagen territory?????

Picked the E320 4-matic wagon cause it is AWD, has 7 seats so I can take my grandkids in it and, most importantly, has a ski bag so I can store my skis inside the car without getting the car dirty or the skis damamged.

I checked on the tow bars at CIP1. Yes they are only about $100 but CIP1 wants $150 to ship one to me. Story of my life, shipping kills most deals. Been taking so much of my Porsche parts to the dump cause just not worth it to try and sell.

Most of the road out of here is paved or chip sealed now but when you travel cross country you will run into every kind of road surface, especially during construction season. Not worried about windshield, already cracked. I'll wait until after the trip to instal the new one. Got a full front bra and stone bars on headlights, plastic jobs might be good though. Was thinking more along the lines of keeping the car dry, even though its an IM with roll up windows it still leaks. What do you think about having it shrink wrapped like they do boats? I see people towing their boats that are shrink wrapped...wonder if that would last or if I'd be stopped on the side of some busy highway trying to gather up the plastic after it flew off.

House goes up for sale tomorrow, hopefully it sells quickly. Last two I sold here sold in one day so I priced this one a bit on the high side. Easier to go down rather than up.

Looking fwd to this move, I haven't driven the IM for probably 5 or 6 years and in the 10 years I've owned it I've put on less than 2,000 miles. That'll change once I places to go to.

What do you think about having it shrink wrapped like they do boats?

Well, that depends. When we lived in Rhode Island we were a few houses away from the guy who owned Don's Marine and he received all of his boats from the manufacturer (Proline and others down in Florida) fully shrink wrapped. They used the heavier duty stuff but after getting the wrap off he had a high school kid do a complete polishing of the gel coat/paint as there would inevitably be some scuffing of the gel coat from wind buffeting the wrap. Damned if you do and damned........

I would just opt for sealing up around the top of the windshield and around the side windows with blue painter's tape and head on out. I've trailered Pearl from New England to Savannah with single layers of the blue tape and, while it looks less than cool, the damn stuff seals and she arrives dry inside (although she looks like she's been dragged through 500 miles of mud puddles on the outside).

Peel the tape off, give it a good bath, hop in and go.

Don't forget!!!! Put something protective over the front directional lenses, too.

You ending up in Niagara on the Canadian side??

gn

Blue painter's tape? I never get that stuff to stick well. How would that seal up between the top and the windshield frame, that's where I think most of my leaks come in. As far as scuffing the paint...my car will require a full paint job anyway when I move. Years of this weather up here have taken their toll plus I swapped out the rear deck and had some stress cracks repaired in the hood. Both of these no longer match the rest of the car.

There are new door seals on the car plus front trunk seals so they are pretty much water tight. I'm thinking of swapping out the newly covered black leather Porsche 356 seats for the vinyl Recarro's that came with the car that way I won't be too concerned about water damage to them. I'll just ship them with household contents.

Yes, Cdn side. Niagara-on-the-lake to be specific. We have a house in the vineyards there that we'll be retiring to. Was there for a couple of weeks in May but all I seem to do when there is mow the lawn. Going to have to do something about that....less lawn for sure.

If you have friend with a welder - you could adapt a universal tow bar for use. Any Harbor Freight Tools near by?

No such creature near here Wolfgang. I have a mig welder so I bought some 1x2 inch 1/8 wall square steel tubing and plan to weld up a tow bar from that, should be strong enough I'd think. Have to get the tranaxle and engine back into the car first though, almost there. Won't bother to get in running, just don't want to pay the $2 per pound charge that the moving company is charging us to move our stuff. There's another engine and trans crated up that they'll be moving, don't want to pay for two. Its almost worth it to take most of our stuff to the dump than ship it, the dump just charges a flat rate.

Here's another idea if you have a welder and some flat stock:

Thanks David, I remember seeing your prior posts on that setup. I'm going to do something similar but coming out under the front valence however hinged similar to what you have.

Here is another towing warning, for those with the Vw Audi automatic's.

You can't tow them. It will burn up the bearings in the tranny The internal oil pump is driven by the engine, Not the wheels.

Traller? rollback. or caddy on the rear wheels..