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beetletogo's avatar
beetletogo
Explorer
Apr 26, 2014

vw beelte towing

I have a vintage 1963 VW beetle. I have everthing ready to go, lights, tow bar and open road. My question is I have been told that I should bungee the steering wheel while towing. Is this true?
  • You do not want the steering wheel to be immobilized/locked in position when flat-towing a car. I don't guess a bungee would hurt as long as it still allows the steering wheel to turn freely, but I don't see any need for it. If you were towing w/the front wheels on a dolly then that does normally require immobilizing the steering wheel
  • I towed a 64' Beetle years ago and the dealer told me to make sure the steering was bungeed. IIRC, he said it was something to do with the geometry of the steering on a Bug and that if not bungeed, it could possibly swing to full lock on a turn, instead of returning to center.
  • My guess is that they want you to use the bungee cord because it will allow the wheel to turn but not all the way right or left where the wheels could get stuck in the extreme position. I know of friends with a smart car that have to do the exact same thing because if the wheels turn to sharply the won't come back with out help.
  • I towed a '65 VW Beetle for a few of years around the western states to drag meets, Yes drag meets, I always put a bungee cord on the steering wheel and attached it to the wind wing latch.

    Just wrap it a couple times and pull it fairly tight with the wheels straight.

    I did this after I made a turn thru a driveway and the wheels decided to stay all the way left. Really messed up the front suspension. After that I had no problems.
  • beetletogo wrote:
    I have everthing ready to go, lights, tow bar and open road.


    Beetletogo.
    I just did a post a couple of days ago about towing my 63 beetle. I'm having a hard time finding "lights" to attach to the beetle, how are you doing your lights?

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