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> I realize that I've been warning people not to attempt to tow trailers with > your type 3s for years now, and no one has ever come back and told us their sad > story of how they were so sure of themselves that they did it anyway and then > proceeded to tear the rear end off their car. I've had a trailer hitch on two Squarebacks, one was used for occasional trips for building materials, with a half-ton capacity load-trailer, and towing a small sailing dinghy, maybe about 400 lbs. I even pulled another Squareback on a tow-along crane (110% of towing car). I've never noticed anything bad happening. The trailer hitch was bolted only to the bumper mounts, piggy-back with the bumper irons using longer bolts. This is a VW approved accessory. When my Squareback was hit hard enough on the hitch to bend 2" diameter substantial steel tube (proper German 'towbar') there was no apparent distortion of the rear mounts or the area around. The lower rear panel was however pushed in by the central reinforcement which bolted through it next to the bottom air-intake panel. The bumper was luckily untouched as the tow-ball extended beyond it and was pushed down and clear of the bumper by the other car. In fact the tow-bar undoubtedly saved the bumper from damage. I understand that caution should be exercised; certainly don't tow with rusty rear bumper mounts, but there's no need to be over-worried, as our cars can and do cope fine if you're sensible about loads and speeds. We never have the problem of very hot weather, so the advice for central USA in summer could be different. Dave. UK VW Type 3 & 4 Club http://www.hallvw.clara.co.uk/ ------ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ List info at http://www.vwtype3.org/list | mailto:gregm@vwtype3.org