Hi all,
I have a 2018 VW SEL 3.6L V6 W4motion. my wife, daughter and 2 dogs do a lot of driving. I'm currently at 70k miles. Wife is a travel nurse so there's that. But we purchased a 2020 keystone passport sl 199ml. The exact weight of our camper is 4,300lbs. We purchased it at camping world and they looked up all the specs and requirements for my SUV to make sure I was safe. They won't let people leave if they aren't going to be within the right specs. As with the WDH and sway control system I did not know about that at the time of purchase. But I can say I don't care. It's designed to control the sway of trailer when approached by winds, semis other drastic stuff that make towing very unsafe. It does make quite a bit of noise but that is normal with sway control systems. That's them working. I have pulled our camper through mountains in Arkansas and the tiny hills in missouri. I completely agree with Redneckson on the whole RPM and speed thing. Utilize sport mode as it allows the engine to hold onto gears longer. It allows prevents the engine from changing into lower gears prematurely when towing so you're not maxed out on your rpms drinking your gas. You already will be going through gas a lot. The 18 gal gas tank is definitely not good for towing. Roughly 180 miles per tank is what I get when towing my camper. Cruise control can help as well but only if you're on relatively flat roads. Tiny hills will cause it to downshift and max out the rpms. When we know we are going to be towing, we pack light. Buy food at our destinations etc. Do not load up the SUV and tow. It will squat badly and squat induces sway. Vw producing a vehicle that cannot use a WDH sway control system but yet tow 5,000 lbs is asking for a disaster. Next vehicle will be able to actually tow properly and SAFELY. Till then, this will work. I have not had any issues it while towing. The only issues I've ever had with this suv were a CAT replace at 20k miles and now there is a recall for the cat system to prevent it from going bad again. So I'll be jumping on that as soon as we get back home.
I cannot and will not tell anyone to use a WDH sway control system if VW says not to. I'm not a lawyer and I don't give out legal advice. But i can tell you i have a high mileage vehicle, we tow a 4300 lb camper, and I pass my 10k mile inspections and I have never had an issue towing and I use a WDH sway control system with a brake controller that camping world installed for me. I purchased the 7 way pin connector and installed it myself. Don't pay the dealership to do it for you. Its 4 screws, unscrew them, take the plate off and plug in the 7 way pin connector. Done. Videos on youtube. There is a specific video on youtube where a guy walks you through it very easy to understand and he even gives you the website that he bought his 7 way pin connector off of for like 12 dollars vs the 57 dollars at the dealership. I went the dealership route and paid 63 for my 7 way pin connector to be exact. Then I came across his video afterwards.
Do what you feel is safest for you, your vehicle, and your family.
