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Trailer hitch?

bentin

Autocross Champion
I reached out to Stealth Hitch and haven't heard back. EcoHitch is running a survey to see what style users want, which I assume means we're still a ways out on getting their hitch. I will likely pull my Curt before trading the Mk7.5 in and if it just happens to work on the Mk8 R, I'll use it until I can get a Stealth 2".
 

josephvman

New member
I had a Curt on my Mk7 and it worked fine and didn’t require any modifications to the car to mount it. Hopefully it won’t take them too long to come out with the new one. It seems like many GTI owners have hitches.
 

bentin

Autocross Champion
I had a Curt on my Mk7 and it worked fine and didn’t require any modifications to the car to mount it. Hopefully it won’t take them too long to come out with the new one. It seems like many GTI owners have hitches.
Yeah, I had one on my Mk7 that just had carriage bolts that you mount into the underside of the frame rails. They changed to a design like all of the others that requires removing the rear bumper skin and bolting the hitch directly to the bumper structure. Fortunately I found the original design as NOS when I bought my Mk7.5. It is a terrible design though and I would never dream of towing with it, I only use it to carry bikes, and even then I check the bolts every few months. I don’t mind using it for a few months but would really prefer a proper design with a 2” receiver and a removable lower section to make it invisible when not being used.
 

Ikswort

New member
Also interested in this. I contacted my local hitch shop and they didn't know. They contacted Curt, and I did as well. Nothing yet. Had a hitch on my MK5 and loved it after years of not using the sunroof due to the factory roof rack noise.
 

giovanotti

Passed Driver's Ed
Let me share my experience.
When ordering my Mk8, I chose original hitch as extra. It is costly and will never pay back (I not not exactly, but there are also some differences in car, like bigger cooler), but I did not want to bother with non original ones as for few hundred cheaper, they are either uglier or impractical . In the past I was loading bikes on the roof rack, but with increasing age and weight of (e-)bikes, I wanted to load low, on the back. Original hitch is produced by ACPS automotive and built into the car during assembly at VW. Car received, played with button and retract - OK.
Now let us buy a bike rack. I opted for Thule EasyFold XT 2, which has nice feature of folding and storing to the trunk, when not needed. A webshop also had an offer of EasyFold XTF 2. What is F? It is ACPS initiative, called Fix4Bike. I already had XT 2 at home, but I decided to change it for XTF 2 as my hitch has famous horizontal pins beneath the ball. Feature is really nice, taking care of orthogonal position of the rack, no large lever tensioning, just set and click.
Got XTF (bit higher price - well, I buy it for next 15 years): no click. WTF? It turned out, that Thule was producing a joint to a specification from my second link, while my hitch is the same from 1st link. Where is difference: on the curve of the hitch, there is a "nose ring", where a security lock or wire can be attached. This nose prevented Thule to slide down. Informed Thule, they promised upgrade for next production run (should be actual now). I took file and removed 3mm of extra sheet metal on my rack and got it working properly.
Just a word on compatibility: all old racks (working with friction joint of the ball) can be used with Fix4Bike hitch. But Fix4Bike rack cannot be used on pin-less hitch. So I have a technical (non-selfish) excuse not to borrow it to my brother:)
 

josephvman

New member
Let me share my experience.
When ordering my Mk8, I chose original hitch as extra. It is costly and will never pay back (I not not exactly, but there are also some differences in car, like bigger cooler), but I did not want to bother with non original ones as for few hundred cheaper, they are either uglier or impractical . In the past I was loading bikes on the roof rack, but with increasing age and weight of (e-)bikes, I wanted to load low, on the back. Original hitch is produced by ACPS automotive and built into the car during assembly at VW. Car received, played with button and retract - OK.
Now let us buy a bike rack. I opted for Thule EasyFold XT 2, which has nice feature of folding and storing to the trunk, when not needed. A webshop also had an offer of EasyFold XTF 2. What is F? It is ACPS initiative, called Fix4Bike. I already had XT 2 at home, but I decided to change it for XTF 2 as my hitch has famous horizontal pins beneath the ball. Feature is really nice, taking care of orthogonal position of the rack, no large lever tensioning, just set and click.
Got XTF (bit higher price - well, I buy it for next 15 years): no click. WTF? It turned out, that Thule was producing a joint to a specification from my second link, while my hitch is the same from 1st link. Where is difference: on the curve of the hitch, there is a "nose ring", where a security lock or wire can be attached. This nose prevented Thule to slide down. Informed Thule, they promised upgrade for next production run (should be actual now). I took file and removed 3mm of extra sheet metal on my rack and got it working properly.
Just a word on compatibility: all old racks (working with friction joint of the ball) can be used with Fix4Bike hitch. But Fix4Bike rack cannot be used on pin-less hitch. So I have a technical (non-selfish) excuse not to borrow it to my brother:)


I don't think we have the option for that trailer hitch in the US market, but I'm definitely interested in getting one. I was on the ACPS website and I don't see any listing of dealers, so I assume they are only and OEM supplier?

I also have a Thule EasyLoad XT2, and hopefully can find an appropriate hitch for my MK8 GTI.
 

Jdm4292

New member
Stealth hitch said they were not producing a hitch for this car at the current time --I posted on VWVortex after my findings. Just wanted to make you aware.
 

bentin

Autocross Champion
Stealth hitch said they were not producing a hitch for this car at the current time --I posted on VWVortex after my findings. Just wanted to make you aware.
Someone in WA state just got an R, go pressure them to take it to Eco Hitch. I've already planted the seed.
 

josephvman

New member
Today I had a hitch installed, made by Draw-Tite. It's more unobtrusive than the one I had on my MK7 GTI, though it was a bit more expensive at almost $500 installed.



 

mbusa

New member
Today I had a hitch installed, made by Draw-Tite. It's more unobtrusive than the one I had on my MK7 GTI, though it was a bit more expensive at almost $500 installed.



Is this for a Golf R or a GTI? I'm only seeing options for a GTI listed on the Draw-Tite site: https://www.draw-tite.com/product/24979_class-1-trailer-hitch. The dealer has a 2023 Golf R with on the way with my name on it, but if I can't put a hitch on it that's a deal breaker.
 
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