tow bar VOLKSWAGEN GOLF 1993 1H / 3.G Owners Manual

Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine DRIVING TIPS
Trailer towing
The vehicle is intended main ly for the trans­
portation of persons and luggage but it can, with the appropriate technical equipment,
also be used to tow a trailer.
Technical requirements
• If the vehicle is suppl ied with a factory­fi tted towing bracket, all that is technically
a nd legally necessary for trailer towing wil l
have been taken into account.
• If the trailer to be towed
has a 7 pin plug, an adapte r cable can be used whi ch IS ob­
tained from a Volkswagen dealer.
• Volkswagen dealers have
all the necess­ary information on the In stallation of towing
brackets and the fitti ng of a heavy-duty cool­ing system. The installation should there­
f ore be done by them .
Operations instructions
• On the Golf saloon with a factory
fitted towing bracket* the removable ball
coupling will
be fitted. Fitting/remo ving in­
struc tions and instructions on correct stow­age of the ball coupling in the spare wheel
well can be found in a linen bag in the ve­
hicle luggage compartment.
•
On the Golf estate with a factory fitted
towing bracket* the remova ble ball coupl­
ing is stored inside the vehicle next to the
spare wheel, together w ith instructions on
fitting.
• Pitching movements between towing
vehicle
and trailer can be reduced by hea vy­
duty springs and shock absorbers on the
rear axle. If these springs and shock ab­sorbers have not alread y been fitted at the
factory, they can, in many cases, be service­
installed by a Volkswagen dealer.
• The permissible trailer weight -see
page 144 -m ust not
be exceeded on any ac­count.
• If the the trailer weight
is below the
permissible maximum, a correspondingly
steeper gradient
can be climbed. •
The given trailer weights
are only appli­
cable for altitudes up to 1000 m above sea level. As the engine output and thus the
climbing ability drops due to the decreasing
air density , the weight of vehic le and trailer
must also be reduced by 10 % for each
further 1000 m or part thereof.
• Where possible make full use of the
maximum permissible drawbar weight
on ball of the towing bracket -see page 144 ­
but do not exceed it.
• While observing the permissible trailer
and drawbar weight, distribute the load in the trailer so that heavy objects are as nea r as possible to the axle. The objects must
also be secured so that they cannot slip
about.
• Check the ty
re pressures on the towing
v ehicle, and adjust for full load conditions,
and also check the pressures on the trailer
• T he headlight settings, should
be checked w ith trailer attached before mov­
ing off and adjusted as necessary. On vehicles with headlight beam control it is on ly necessary to turn the knurled disc in dash in the appropriate directIOn .
77

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Driving instructions
To obtain the best possible handling of ve­
hicle and trailer, the following should be
noted :
•
Try to avoid driving w ith an unladen ve­
hicle and a loaded trailer. If this cannot be
avoided, only drive
slowly to allow for the
unfavourable weight distribution .
• As driving stability
of vehicle and trailer
decreases when the speed increases do not drive at the maximum permissible top speed in unfavourable road, weather or wind conditions -particularly when going
downhill.
In any case the speed must be reduced im­
mediately the trailer shows the slightest
sign of snaking . On no account try to stop
the snakin g by accelerating.
• For safety reasons one should not drive
faster than 80
km/h (50 mph). This also
applies in countries where higher speeds
are permitted. •
Al
ways brake in good time. If the trailer
has an overrun brake, apply the brakes gen­
tl y at firs t then firmly. This will avoid the Je rk­
ing caused by the trailer wheels loc king. Change down before going down a steep
hill so that the engine can act as a braka.
•
When a lon g climb in a low gear with ex­
tremel y high engine revs must be nego­
tiated at exceptionally high ambient tem­peratures the coolant temperature gauge must be observed. When the gauge needle
moves to the upper end of the scale, the
road speed must be reduced immediately
If nevertheles s the warning lamp flashes,
stop
immediatel y and allow the engine to
cool off at id l ing speed for several minutes.
• The coo ling
effect of the radiator fan can­
not be increased by changing down, be­
cause the speed of the fan is not dependent
on the engine speed. One should the refore
not change down even when towing a
trailer as 10ll g as the engine can cope with­out the vehicle speed dropping too much .
General notes
• It is advisable to hav e the vehicle ser­viced between the Insp ection in tervals it it
is used frequently for towing a trailer .
• The trailer and draw
bar load figures on
the data plate of the towing bracke t are for test ce rtific ation only. The correct figures
for the vehicle, which may be lower t han
th ese figures, are given in the eh icle docu­ments and in this manual.
78

Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine DO-lT-YOURSELF
Tow startingfTowing
Front towing eye
(Left-hand illustration)

To be able to tow the vehicle, a towing eye
must be screwed into front bumper on
right. The towing eye is in the vehicle tools .

•
Lever cover out forwards with flat blade
of screwdri ver (fro m vehicle tools) and re­move -see also page 124.
• The towing eye has a left- hand thread . ~crew to~ing eye in onto stop and tighten with wheel spanner -see il­lustration.
• . After use unscrew towing eye and place with vehicle tools. The towing eye must always be carried in the vehicle_ Refit
cove r -see page 123.
Rear towing eye
(Right-hand illustration)
The rear
towing eye is located on the right In the bumper and is covered by a cap. To
open, unclip ca p, first at the top, then at the
botto m and leave it hanging To close flap, lit bottom first and then push upwa rds unti l It engages .
General notes
Tow-ropes or bars should be atta ch ed at
these points only.
• The tow- rope
should be slight ly elastic to
reduce the risk of damage to both vehicles .
It IS advi sable to use synthe tic fibre ropes ,
or ropes of Similar elastic materia l.
Avoid excessive towing effort and do not
Jerk. DUring tow ing opera tions on other than
surfaced roads there is always the danger
that the attachment points will be over­
loaded and damaged.
• Before trying to start engine by t?wing, the battery from another ve­hicle. should be used for starting if possible -see previous page.
If the vehicle has to be tow started
or towed at any time, the following
must be noted: .
• Check whethe r there are any local traffic regulat ions concerning the towing of ve­
hicles .
• Both drivers
must be familiar with tow­Ing procedures. Inexperienced drivers
should not attempt to tow start or tow.
• When using a to w-rope the driver of the
towing vehicle must engage the clutc h very
gent ly
v,/hen moving off and changing gear.
• The driver of the veh ic le being
towed must ensure that the tow -rope is always ta ut.
129

Downloaded from www.Manualslib.com manuals search engine TECHNICAL DATA
Trailer weights
Figures apply to both saloon and estate
kg
Permissib le trai ler w eight
T
rai l er w ithout brakes I Trailer vvith brakes 1
)
Permissible weight of trailer drawbar on ball
co upling of towing hitch
max. m ln
Petrol engines
4 % of actua l trai ler
w eight.
I t does not have to
be
more than 25 kg.
It is advisab le to
uti liz e the maximum
permissible drawbar
w eigh t
40
and 44 kW 500
800/10002
) 50
55 kW ­ 1.6 Itr 500 1
00 0 /1 2002
) 50
55
kW ­ 1.8 Itr. and
66, 85 and 110 kW 500
1200
50
66 and 140 kW syncro 570 1500
75
128 kW 600 1200 50
Diesel engines
47 kW 500 850/10002
) 5 0
55kW 500 100
0 / 1 2002
) 5 0
66
kW 500 1200 50
liOn gradient
s up to 12 %.
21 On gradi ent s up to 10 %
144