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On 15 Feb 2006 at 9:09, raru wrote: > Was wondering if anybody knew if the vehicle weights provided in the > manuals includes fuel and fluids? Basically trying to figure out GVWR > since I'm thinking of building a small tear for the square. Either > way something seems screwy since the total load permissible (according > to manual) is 992 lbs, but the VWOA trailer hitches are rated from > 1080 lbs. Am I missing something here? I've never towed anything, > just been trying to read up. The GVWR is just the load that you can carry ON the car and its own wheels. It has nothing to do with trailer weight. I suspect it should include the tongue weight, however. While others will chime in and tell us how they've used their type 3s for towing, I'm extremely reluctant to recommend it at all. The problem is that the bumper mounts just attach to extremely thin metal. There is nothing substantial there to support the trailer load or the tongue weight. Sure, you might get away with it, but one little slip-up would ruin your whole day.... Yes, VWoA sold hitches for these, but those were less liability-aware times, plus the cars were new and the metal hadn't had a chance to rust away at all. The hitches they sold, AFAIK, had a reinforcement for the bumper itself, but it still just attached to the same bumper mounts, so it didn't do anything for the actual weakest link. Some people have mentioned hitches which included longitudinal bars which ran forward to carry the tension portion of the trailer load, but they still don't do anything for tongue weight, and it's debatable whether they have any usefulness when the tension turns to compression, as in braking. -- Jim Adney jadney@vwtype3.org Madison, WI 53711-3054 USA ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ List info at http://www.vwtype3.org/list | mailto:gregm@vwtype3.org ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~