Mystik29

I am looking at towing a 5x8 uhaul trailer from Washington State the Florida. It says the vehicle has a 4400# Tow capacity, seem like a lot for this little guy. Has anyone attempted to tow an enclosed trailer that far before ? I am having Uhaul install a hitch and I am installing a Tekonsha Modulite harness.

What else do I need to know

rbtrary

search is your friend

https://www.audiworld.com/forums/q5-...5-sq5-3010146/

Mystik29

Very helpful.. Thank you

Norskie

How much are you going to tow? i.e. what does the trailer weigh, how much weight will you put in it, and how much will be in the car? The combined capacity is 4400#.

Each state will have different laws for which trailer weight requires trailer brakes, usually it's something like 3000#, so if you go over that you'll also need a brake controller (and rent a trailer with brakes). Even if you're not hauling more than 3000#, the SQ5 is the only model with beefy enough brakes that I'd feel can comfortably handle it.

You're going to be putting a lot of stress on your vehicle going up and down the mountain passes. I've moved thrice between the midwest and the west coast, and found renting a truck is the right answer. Twice we enlisted friends to drive the cars and motorcycles separately, once we rented a dolly for the car and had the truck pull that too.

Mystik29

Thanks …. It’s a uhaul trailer, trailer is 850# and max load is 1875#, well within the 4400#.

I did the truck and car carrier last trip but now that same rig is over 5k and the trailer is $700. So, here I go. It just blows my mind that the Audi has such a high tow capacity. I looked into all the VAG controllers and come to the conclusion that if the OEM discontinued the parts they are telling us something. But they don’t recommend not towing with the vehicle. This size trailer doesn’t support brakes or anti sway bars.

it will be an adventure… stay north of Utah and Colorado and I think I have a chance

Norskie

That sounds reasonable. Unfortunately ID, NV and CA require brakes on anything heavier than 1500#. https://www.brakebuddy.com/towing-laws.html

I'd suggest something like Kennwick -> Boise -> SLC -> Moab -> ABQ then go east. That will get out of the snow and avoid most steep inclines.

Wyoming can be pretty windy, fortunately it usually blows from the west. I love trip planning ;-)

shaggymatt

There's a lot more to towing than the max tow capacity. That assumes an empty car, with one average adult driving. My guess is for that trip, it's more than one person in the car. If you have cargo, additional people, start subtracting that from your capacity. And then you're supposed to stay ~20% under max.

My old boat was ~3200#, I towed it once with the SQ5 and promptly bought a full size pickup for towing. The pickup has a transmission cooler and temp gauge, I will tell you when I'm towing up local hills in PA which might be a 1/2 mile, the transmission temps reach the bottom end of the upper limit marker. I had a couple of seriously scary sway moments when being passed by semi's.

Avant4Adam

mmm that’s not accurate. Any Q5 with the factory tow kit has brakes designed for stopping with the trailer load. I’ve had 2 of them (still have my Q5 diesel) and tow a 3600 lb. Trail care tool trailer regularly. And the diesel is a ridiculously excellent tow vehicle. But my previous Q5 was the 2.0T which worked pretty well. Towing is more than just the max weight, max tongue weight is very important- factory kit is rated for 440lbs (usually ~10% of max tow cap. ). You need to check what the aftermarket hitch is rated for and make sure it’s good for what you’re hitching to it.

shaggymatt

Towing Capacity = GCWR – Passenger Weight – Cargo Weight – Curb Weight – Customization Weight

Check out the weigh safe hitch, this tells you how much weight you have on your tongue. I love mine, and you can easily swap out the *****. If you get the drop hitch model, it also allows you to level your load which is another important part of towing.

Having brakes on the trailer assists stopping the vehicle in a controlled manner during a panic (or regular) stop. Most people don't know how to tune their trailer brakes anyway and probably aren't leveraging the full effect of them. You're supposed to drive the laden trailer at about 25mph and fully apply the trailer brakes, you back off the gain just from a lockup point.

If you're in an accident or get stopped and weighed you can face hefty fines or associated liabilities in the event of an accident. My state even requires that your trailer is inspected on a regular basis, again if it's out of inspection you can have insurance implications in the event of an accident.