Rear Towing Eye/hook

Lukavell

Lukavell

DITryer. Sold!
T6 Legend
Just a quick one today, anybody know where the rear towing eye on a T6 Caravelle is please?
(besides at the rear!)

I think I've identified it but it would be nice to get confirmation from those in the know.

Surprisingly after a Google and T6forum search I can't find anything to do so! Hopefully will help other folk one day too.
 
Have you looked under the rear bumper?
There should be a fixed towing loop, the screw in eye is only used on the front.
 
It worked, towed my mates beastly Chrysler Voyager 15 mi to the scrap yard a treat. Once again, thanks for the help guys!
 
I have a factory tow ball fitted, and consequently the van doesn’t have a rear towing eye (you’re supposed to use the too small eye on the tow ball!). I have found part no 7H0803611 for the T5 - is this the same part no. for the T6 if I was to source one and retrofit?
 
drays said:
I have a factory tow ball fitted, and consequently the van doesn’t have a rear towing eye (you’re supposed to use the too small eye on the tow ball!). I have found part no 7H0803611 for the T5 - is this the same part no. for the T6 if I was to source one and retrofit?
Click to expand...
That's odd. I too have a factory fit Westfalia tow bar and my towing eye is still there.
Although I cant see your tow bar, on mine, the small eye on the tow bar is for the trailer breakaway cable...definitely not for towing.
You shouldn't tow anything with a tow bar unless it's got a hitch.
 
Dannyb6467 said:
That's odd. I too have a factory fit Westfalia tow bar and my towing eye is still there.
Although I cant see your tow bar, on mine, the small eye on the tow bar is for the trailer breakaway cable...definitely not for towing.
You shouldn't tow anything with a tow bar unless it's got a hitch.
Click to expand...

It’s very strange. The manual states:

On vehicles with a factory fitted towing bracket, there is no fixed towing eye under the bumper cover. To tow, swivel out or fit and use the ball head.
Click to expand...

It was only when I bought a tow rope I discovered there was no towing eye. As I only normally use the towball for my bike rack it is normally kept in the garage, so I have inadvertently been driving round for the best part of a year with no means to attach a tow rope at the rear of the van!

However, even with the tow ball fitted, wrapping it round the ball head is not a pretty solution, and the hook on the tow rope won’t fit through the small eye on the tow ball. Playing around with shackles I found that a 1/2” 2 Tonne shackle won’t fit through the small eye either. The best I can do is a 7/8” 1.5 Tonne shackle, and nothing about that says to me it is fit for purpose.

CF21F8B2-B179-4EC7-A015-C4CF84924996.jpeg
 
drays said:
It’s very strange. The manual states:



It was only when I bought a tow rope I discovered there was no towing eye. As I only normally use the towball for my bike rack it is normally kept in the garage, so I have inadvertently been driving round for the best part of a year with no means to attach a tow rope at the rear of the van!

However, even with the tow ball fitted, wrapping it round the ball head is not a pretty solution, and the hook on the tow rope won’t fit through the small eye on the tow ball. Playing around with shackles I found that a 1/2” 2 Tonne shackle won’t fit through the small eye either. The best I can do is a 7/8” 1.5 Tonne shackle, and nothing about that says to me it is fit for purpose.
Click to expand...
Strange. My van has factory fitted tow bar and the removable section of the tow bar does not have that small eye.

edit this is what mine looks like:
3A9FA725-AC23-4655-9A8D-33EAC5B7C8BB.jpeg


The setup on my van looks different to @Loz 's. To be honest I wouldn't trust the small hole in the spare wheel bracket to tow with.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I don’t have the spare wheel bracket either as it has 18” Tolucas and came with compressor and sealant in lieu of spare!

A061813B-0C99-4ACC-BCAC-EA0CD1CB9337.jpeg

Not much to fix a tow rope to there! Fitting a towing eye would make me a lot less nervous.
 
drays said:
However, even with the tow ball fitted, wrapping it round the ball head is not a pretty solution, and the hook on the tow rope won’t fit through the small eye on the tow ball. Playing around with shackles I found that a 1/2” 2 Tonne shackle won’t fit through the small eye either. The best I can do is a 7/8” 1.5 Tonne shackle, and nothing about that says to me it is fit for purpose.

View attachment 58614
Click to expand...

Put the shackle pin through the hole?
 
Shackles from a reputable manufacturer have a safety factor of 6 so a new 1.5Te SWL shackle correctly loaded should not fail at less than 9000Kg.
That’s not to say the SWL of 1.5Te should ever be exceeded but it’s safe to say it’s highly unlikely to break.
 
DXX said:
Shackles from a reputable manufacturer have a safety factor of 6 so a new 1.5Te SWL shackle correctly loaded should not fail at less than 9000Kg.
That’s not to say the SWL of 1.5Te should ever be exceeded but it’s safe to say it’s highly unlikely to break.
Click to expand...

True, but I’m not sure VW could use that argument! The eye in the tow ball would most likely fail first in any case.
 
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