Tow bar construction diy?

mike_hellas

mike_hellas

Member
Hello,
Did anyone of you has worked or has built himself tow bar for A2.I wanted to help me with information such as a plan or dimensions.
 
@oneflewover: ha, you'll have a bunch of people standing in line if you want to sell it....

But you'll have fun getting it through inspection. Without E marks I'd expect it to fail. A GDW without electrics is around €300; I don't see how you could DIY for much cheaper. Also because it will include the fixings, and the original ones are around €40 each from Audi.

- Bret
 
@bretti_kivi, It is a kosher one, not for sale. Just offering the measurements and photos should @mike_hellas want them.

Got a feeling the UK test is not as stringent on tow bars as yours may be. Always had one on a car, not many had the E mark
 
the issue is that early A2s simply don't have an authorized towing weight from the factory. Which means at the very least ordering a new sticker from Audi, then getting the Part 1 reprinted, which generally means a visit to a testing station of choice to show what you've done.

For later A2s, the weights may already be in the Part 1, so there's no real issue there. I do not see the point of trying to make something for this, because the safety-criticality is enormous. It's a towbar for pulling a 1000kg trailer. If something happens, any insurance company worth their salt will be looking for a way out, and I personally prefer not to offer such an open door.

Here, I wouldn't have to show the bar at the inspection. In Germany, oh yes. But papers are required here for all sorts of other things.

This is one of the places where I'm happy that standards are set and should be adhered to.

- Bret
 
bretti_kivi said:
the issue is that early A2s simply don't have an authorized towing weight from the factory. Which means at the very least ordering a new sticker from Audi, then getting the Part 1 reprinted, which generally means a visit to a testing station of choice to show what you've done.

For later A2s, the weights may already be in the Part 1, so there's no real issue there. I do not see the point of trying to make something for this, because the safety-criticality is enormous. It's a towbar for pulling a 1000kg trailer. If something happens, any insurance company worth their salt will be looking for a way out, and I personally prefer not to offer such an open door.

Here, I wouldn't have to show the bar at the inspection. In Germany, oh yes. But papers are required here for all sorts of other things.

This is one of the places where I'm happy that standards are set and should be adhered to.

- Bret
Click to expand...
Are you sure about early A2s? I have an early 2001 with a factory fitted towbar. I'm allowed to pull 1000kg.
 
yep, the original ones were homologated with a '99 concept that didn't allow for a towbar. New stickers are a regular occurrence over on the German forum; it's for next to the right-side secret compartment.

- Bret
 
Are the towbars by GDW a replacement for the now defunct Audi ones? I apparently can order one direct from Belgium?
 
I have spoken now to GDW and they do indeed do a towbar for the A2 and it looks very similar to the Al-Ko Audi part. They have a stockist in the UK. Is anyone else interested in getting a quote?
 
The lowest that I've seen these towbars go is about £200 .... It's going to be worth a search on the Internet/ German Ebay/ Google, maybe ?

David
 
Useful to know as would love to get one on my A2 as well for a small lightweight trailer and bike rack.
 
I have a full "Votex" body kit and I fear that if I was to fit a tow-bar, it would be very difficult and require a lot of cutting to the rear "Votex" skirt? I had thought that I might be able to design a special, detachable section for the rear-skirt that might have even hid most of the tow-bar, when not in use?

David
 
LHD or RHD though? I've seen towbars on eBay but its only for LHD cars, I've not seen or found one which definitely says its suitable for RHD cars, although of course I imagine the differences at the back end are not massively important (be interested to know what the phyiscal difference is though, or whether its just some weird admin thing to do with its Type Approval).
 
There appear to be3 E-Satz setups the one you mention Steaman is the most expensive, do you know the difference?
 
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