GOLFMK8
GOLFMK7
GOLFMK6
GOLFMKV

Trailer hitch?

B

bentin

Autocross Champion
walker said:
Great work mbusa! That looks fantastic, the trim is a nice touch. So where are you located and how much would you charge a fellow forum member for install ?! Only half joking. If/when I move to a MK8 gti I need a hitch. I've got woodworking skills, but no car wrenching knowledge at all.
Click to expand...
No need for this with a GTI, the diffuser on the GTI is a different shape and already has a cutout. This is only an issue for the R.
 
M

mbusa

New member
I’m in Massachusetts. If you go with a GTI no cutting will be necessary there is a hole in the bumper that the receiver should slide through. You’ll still need to pull the lights and bumper to install the cross member. The install I did on my mk7 gti was similar and the first (and only other) one I have ever done. It’s totally doable if you buy the $20 worth of body panel tools from an auto parts store. I’m not going to be installing for anyone else - the liability of cracking a tab on a body panel is too high for me to feel comfortable taking apart another persons car. I’m sure you’d have no problem finding an auto body or independent mechanic to install one of these for you.


walker said:
Great work mbusa! That looks fantastic, the trim is a nice touch. So where are you located and how much would you charge a fellow forum member for install ?! Only half joking. If/when I move to a MK8 gti I need a hitch. I've got woodworking skills, but no car wrenching knowledge at all.
Click to expand...
 
tos

tos

Go Kart Newbie
I think that looks funny if comparing EU trailer hitch, which is completely hidden :)
 
B

bentin

Autocross Champion
tos said:
I think that looks funny if comparing EU trailer hitch, which is completely hidden :)
Click to expand...
On the R? Got pics? We're talking about the one that looks like an elephant phallus? Unfortunately, that design doesn't work for me and it looks like there isn't an option to use a 2.0" or 1.25" receiver.
 
walker

walker

Go Kart Newbie
mbusa said:
the liability of cracking a tab on a body panel is too high for me to feel comfortable taking apart another persons car. I’m sure you’d have no problem finding an auto body or independent mechanic to install one of these for you.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I'd be afraid of cracking a tab or something doing it myself. I cracked some tabs messing around with my front grill. I also don't have the means to lift my car up.

For the hitch on my MK6 gti, the vw dealership quoted $800 just for install, claiming they had to remove the bumper and all. That was completely unnecessary on the MK6. Got a trailer dealer to do it for $75 in under an hour.
 
C

coherentcollapse

New member
Finally got the 2" receiver installed on my 2022 GTI on the 3rd attempt. U-Haul couldn't do it. The local VW dealership quit quickly into the project. I recommend using whoever Torklift Central suggests. In Massachusetts, it was Rack Attack of Framingham. They did a great job!
 

Attachments

  • gti 2.jpg
    3.5 MB · Views: 180
  • gti 1.jpg
    2.4 MB · Views: 170
S

SFR400

New member
mbusa said:
All right, I finally got around to cutting the hole in the diffuser today. It was nerve racking and ended up needing to be bigger than I originally hoped. This is for the torklift 2” hitch that has the removable receiver (the only one spec’d for the MK8 GTI). To be clear this is now installed on a MK8 Golf R.

I’m going to skip over the installing of the cross bar as that is pretty straightforward but you do have to remove the rear lights, bumper, and disconnect the ultrasound sensors. It’s all easy enough to do at home if you jack the rear end of the car up and pop the wheels off.

For installing the receiver you will need to cut a hole in the diffuser. The receiver (pictured) fits into the cross bar and is bolted in with a giant 4” bolt. You need to cut a hole in the diffuser to slide this up into the cross member. I started by using a bunch of masking tape and some magnets to help locate the approximate center of the socket on the cross member. I then used a combination of a dremel too with a cutting wheel and a rotozip to start to cut the opening for the receiver. Long story short after a ton of trial fittings and - what felt like - a million small cuts. I had the receiver bolted in.

The whole thing looked a little rough and I wanted to clean it up - this is a brand new car, after all. So I got some edge trim to put around the cut. I found that by so carefully tracing the outline of the receiver I couldn’t get the edge trim to conform to the many (many) bends. I made the decision to just make the hole a larger rounded square so the edge trim fit. As you can see it looks pretty good. I couldn’t think of anything better. Even cleaning up the cuts with a soldering iron didn’t look that great enough.

I installed my 1up bike rack and all seems good. This 2-piece hitch doesn’t seem as wiggle free as the hidden hitch I had on my mk7 gti and have on our mk7 tdi sportwagen, but I’m sure it’ll be fine.

The 2nd part of this install isn’t for the faint of heart. I’m not a car mechanic, but I do have good mechanical skills and do some woodworking so I’m comfortable and familiar with cutting tools and making precision cuts. That being said with the edge trim I think you could do a pretty hack job and still have it come out looking pretty good. Just take it slow and don’t reattach the two retaining clips that hold the center of the diffuser in until you have the receiver all torqued up - the 100Nm spec on the bolt is a lot the get done with a 15/16” socket in a cramped space.

I know I had a lot of questions about the fitment of this hitch so I hope this helps others who are in that situation.

View attachment 275977View attachment 275982View attachment 275979View attachment 275980View attachment 275981
Click to expand...
New member here. Just picked up my 2023 R (2nd R; 1st was 2012 R 6MT w APR Stage 1 & HPFP).
Do you remove the receiver often? Can you? Also, how has it been with 6 months of usage? Still recommend it?
By the way, the install work and write up are super helpful and the only resource i could fine!! Kudos.
Thank you in advance for your response, Steve
 
M

mbusa

New member
SFR400 said:
New member here. Just picked up my 2023 R (2nd R; 1st was 2012 R 6MT w APR Stage 1 & HPFP).
Do you remove the receiver often? Can you? Also, how has it been with 6 months of usage? Still recommend it?
By the way, the install work and write up are super helpful and the only resource i could fine!! Kudos.
Thank you in advance for your response, Steve
Click to expand...
I have never removed the receiver. It’s not the easiest to get at and it would leave a hole in the diffuser unless you bought a 2nd diffuser and swapped them out which, IMO, would be a PITA. It’s been great, better than what I had on my mk7 gti. 10/10 would recommend.

Glad you find the information helpful.
 
walker

walker

Go Kart Newbie
Bumping this because I'm picking up my 380 edition next week. Any other options out there? The ecoHitch seems to be the only one I can find. It looks great but it is certainly expensive. It's also 2in, which would require I buy a new bike rack, or run a reducer to 1-1/4"
 
S

Silverstoned

New member
Better to run a reducer and have the option if you want to use a 3 or 4 bike rack in the future.
walker said:
Bumping this because I'm picking up my 380 edition next week. Any other options out there? The ecoHitch seems to be the only one I can find. It looks great but it is certainly expensive. It's also 2in, which would require I buy a new bike rack, or run a reducer to 1-1/4"
Click to expand...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top