Pk_2018

Hi, i am a new member looking for some help on towing a travel trailer. I have no prior towing experience in towing. I have spent lot of time in searching for info but found information overwhelming and sometimes they confused me more.

I have a 2018 q7 with factory tow package. No air suspension. I am planning to tow 2020 micro minnie 2106rbs which has rated dry weight of 3700 and hitch weight 360. It has double axle with independent suspension.

As i understand can not put WD hitch but i will put sway bars.

I will add rf brake controller.

I am unabe to find 6 inch hitch receiver. It seems the one sold by audi is 8 inhes now. So i am going to put 8 inch receiver.

Payload on Audi including people and cargo and without trailer will be around 600 pounds.

On the trailer, 2 propane cyclinders will be 80 pounds, battery 60 pounds. And another 300 pound cargo. So total trailer weight will be around 4200 with 450-500 tounge weight.

Can someone please advice if I am on the right path? Will it be a safe tow? I am specifically worried about sagging and sway.

Thanks in advance.

AlbertQ7

I can't answer regarding sag, since I have air suspension. I know people have reported moderate, acceptable sag with the regular suspension while towing enclosed car trailers (loaded with a track car) . If you are in the 450-500 pound tongue weight, you'll probably be OK. Sway is mainly a result of a trailer without enough tongue weight, so you just need to be careful that you actually know your total weight and your tongue weight once you're loaded up. The only way to do that properly is to go to a weigh station once you are loaded for a trip and do multiple weighings, +/- also get a tongue weight scale. You want ~12% of the total weight to be at the tongue (I think >10% minimum), so you will have to resist the urge to decrease tongue weight in order to reduce sag and then find yourself in a situation where your trailer will be more prone to sway. A sway bar and the tandem axle will help a lot, but there is no substitute for a properly weighted/balanced trailer.

GeoJoe

Just a slight bit of sag on this setup, but towed it from GA to KY and back with no issues... no air suspension.

Attachment 100887

Pk_2018

Thanks! What was the tongue weight in your setup?

Pk_2018

I have figured another issue which I did not realize before signing the contract for Micro Minnie. The trailer is raised up a bit and I would need about 8 inch rise to make it level. I think Audi recommended maximum of 3 inch rise so I am far from this. Anyone thinks this will be be problem? Should I rather go for 6 ich rise and keep the trailer front down a bit? I will be mostly driving at 50-60 miles per hour.

ecbc1

for my RV Travel trailer, it was a 7 inch rise.

i used an adjustable hitch. This hitch model has 2 holes and one of the holes got it really close to the Q7.

Weigh Safe WS8-2-KA 8

my tongue weight is about 500 lbs (4700lb trailer empty) with no air suspension. It rides fine but I added air bags to it to lessen the sag to just 1.1 in

g/l

Pk_2018

Thanks for responding. Can you please provide some details on airbag installation? How much does it cost? Does it void warranty? Will audi dealers do it?

mhoran89

I think he is referring to air “helper springs” which are common on trucks. Helps with sag when towing a heavy trailer. You can inflate them with a bike pump and they are fairly inexpensive to purchase and not very involved to install...

Pk_2018

I got a 8 drop/6.5 rise receiver today and tested with setting up the trailer and q7. Trailer was empty with two propane cylinders attached. So tongue weight should be around 400 pounds. Q7 sagged for about 1 inch (measured at rear side of rear wheel). So I think fully loaded one will sag less than 2 inches. This consistent with what others have reported. Trailer was perfectly level. It will go little more down when loaded which i think is good. So I feel better about sagging issue now.

But another issue popped up. The 8 inch drop receiver increases the distance between pin whole and ball to about to 11 inches. There no enough space to drill a 2nd hole to bring it closer. I need to find another one with same rise but not as slanted or have space for another whole. The WS8-2 pointed out by ecbc1above looks really good but I do not think I can attach sway bar to that. If I do not get another option, I need to decide whether sway bar is more important or couple of inches for receiver length reduction is more important. Any advice members?

ecbc1

I personally think sway control is very important for safety, especially when you’re new to towing a RV.

I’m using the Hayes electronic sway controller. There are other models which I think may be better but this unit is just plug and play. With electronic I don’t need to attach anything mechanical. My RV is bigger, wider, and heavier then yours and before my sway controller, I can feel it swaying going at 65 in certain situations and need to recover by manually applying the electronic brakes. I have a Ibex 20BHS so it’s 25ft with a 500# tongue weight.

The Air bags I used was Air Lift 1000 kit 60901, it was a simple install by myself. Q7 spring is 8 x 3.5 but with the inside spring bumper insert it’s actually 7.75x3.5 so it was a good fit, I just needed to add a top plastic protector to protect the airbag from some sharp edges at the top of Q7 spring assembly. I also ran the air line to the back by the tow hitch. I don’t have my numbers in front of me but I think it added about 1/2 in height and with 500# tongue weight it went down by 1in so overall there was only a 1/2 in sag from original height. Below is what it is, u see a sharp pointed plastic at the top.

g/l