Tow Bar Measurements - 65 VW Pan - CMC 1989 Speedster

What I've done on overnights is disconnect the car and back it up to the fence, then back the tow vehicle up and reconnect. Good luck stealing it thieves...

The 90 degree turn thing is completely a non-issue in any gas station or drive-thru in all of my travels. Most times you can either pull straight through taking two spots or go way in the back and angle in and out. Lenny and I have done this for years with TWO Spyders in tow and have always found room. Look ahead and plan and it's a non-issue.

What's more of an issue is in and out driveways. Be careful of sharply inclined entrances, they can cause the towbar to bottom on the ground or worse the fiberglass body.

^^THAT^^  Third paragraph.  

You learn to enter/exit gas stations at an angle to avoid this.

Thank you all!...The contributions from everyone plus the private messages from MusBJim have really educated me on all facets of this Tow Bar topic from measurements to rationale for decreasing width of a standard bar to lengthening the bar. Planning, driving, turning, ramps and the no-no of backing up. Preventing stone chips and theft are real bonuses I hadn't turned my mind to....Thank you all!

How about some comments about what would be a suitable towing vehicle?

Would my VW GTI be suitable?

What's the tow rating of the VW? How much does your Speedster weigh?

I flat-towed my 1500 pound Spyder with my 3300 pound Legacy GT with 165hp. It worked, but wasn't very much fun on hills- downshifts to 4th happened often to Carlisle. My V6 Passat was much better with 195hp but more TORQUE. Better than that was the V8 Audi with 300hp and HUGE brakes for flat towing.

Best yet though was my dedicated single-axle car trailer with brakes at 700 pounds. Ultra light and effective, towing 2200 pounds with a 3500 tow rating was great. The mileage didn't even go down much at all with this rig.

The official VW position is no towing with any Golfs but hitches are available.

@Michael McKelvey posted:

How about some comments about what would be a suitable towing vehicle?

Would my VW GTI be suitable?

I know someone who pulls a small trailer with a Jetta with a 1.4L engine, he just takes his time and does not go far.  With a GTI 2.0L 225hp engine it has I believe over 200 ft/lbs of torque so you can pull it but I am not sure the DSG could handle 500 miles without complaining.  There is I believe an aftermarket DSG oil coolant that you would have to get installed for longer distances.  I would install a temp guage for the tranny for sure to see what the normal temp is when running and monitor it under load.   The GTI is a very nice hot hatch to drive if I say so myself.

in 2001 "new" S-10 had a Vortec 4 cylinder w/ a 5 speed. Towing a speedster on a single axle 12' trailer was a breeze, it handled and pulled great.

@Michael McKelvey posted:

The official VW position is no towing with any Golfs but hitches are available.

I'd use another vehicle then, just like Kelly Frazer did after he bought a new Accord. Kelly rented a U-Haul truck with a hitch, down to NC and back he went. No problems as far as I know.

IamRay said, "if you look at the link above the measurements are there, I pasted them for you. I also think that sandblasting the front of your car is one of the issues of flat towing, so Musbjim uses a bra some use a hanging broom style rock arrestor or low riding rubber mudflaps to prevent the rocks from hitting their car."

Does anyone have photos of a hanging broom handle style rock or stone arrestor?...I searched for one but couldn't seem to find a photo of a DIY Speedster version. Lots of pickup truck ones on YouTube.

but using reinforced sliced rubber would be an easy DIY version (but heavier).

Wolfgang, I can see from your photos how I might be able to fabricate a DIY version for use on my vehicle towing the Speedster....thank you....Mike

I'm a little late to this thread, but I just came across these pictures of my tow bar.  I've been using mine for more than 10 years now and have towed at least 75 Speedsters with it and logged several thousand miles with it.  I originally used an S-Type  Jaguar to do the towing, but bought a Toyota Tacoma in 2015 to replace the Jag.  Mine is slightly shorter than some of the others and I think that is why I have never experienced stone chips on any of the cars I've towed.  My theory is that the stones have less of a chance to bounce up and hit the car.  Mine was also modified to add some additional strength.

Troy, thanks for jumping in on this...to my benefit....better late than never. The explanation for deciding on a shorter length than some is helpful to me at this point....I am about to make alterations from stock EMPI VW Beetle tow bar but haven't started yet. You bar appears to have round tubing welded to either side of the cross brace tubing and 2 small circular pieces welded to the driver's side of the bar. I do see what appears to be a cable as opposed to chains. Could you explain the functions of these additions please?...Thank you again!...Mike

The cable just happened to be hanging frome my bar when I took the pictures.  It has nothing to do with towing, I use chains. The round tubing just provides added strength. The two small circular pieces are not used they just happened to be on the bar when before I got it and modified it.  The overall length is approximately 51 inches and I've never had any issues with it being too close to allow for turning sharply.  Like I said, I've towed thousands of miles with it for more than 10 years.

Troy, thanks for your explanation and clarification. I was hoping you were going to tell me that the circular pieces were used to somehow make it easier to attach the bar when laying on the bar to attach is to the front end. It's all very helpful to me...Thanks..Mike

It's very simple to connect, just a bit of a problem with getting the clip pin in the pin. I always put the pin in from front to back and the bumper bracket is in the way, so you have to do it blindly.   

Using the hair pin clips, best to move it past the first detent and to the larger ring area of the clip, this is much safer.

@Alan Merklin posted:

Using the hair pin clips, best to move it past the first detent and to the larger ring area of the clip, this is much safer.

I agree.  Additionally, I use a wire twist wrap at the end of the clip to help prevent them from coming out, which happened to me once. 

@mboyd posted:

Troy, thanks for your explanation and clarification. I was hoping you were going to tell me that the circular pieces were used to somehow make it easier to attach the bar when laying on the bar to attach is to the front end. It's all very helpful to me...Thanks..Mike

@MusbJim brings a set of blocks (2x6s) with him and drives his Speedster up onto the wood blocks to get the front end up higher. That way he can slide his pineapple under the car to attach the tow bar. You'll also find it easier to attach the tow bar to the Speedster first then the ball so you can move and adjust the bar as needed. You might also consider adding a cable or another chain from the frame of the tow vehicle or the part of the hitch where you safety chains go and securing that to the front beam of the Speedster. This would help in case of a catastrophic failure of the tow bar. So you'll have safety chains from the tow vehicle to the actual tow bar and another chain to the beam of the car.