DUTCH VanAtlanta

Even with the factory installed hitch, you will still need a brake controller if the trailer has electric or hydraulic brakes.

cuatrokoop

2007 4.2 w/factory tow, pano roof, factory air suspension. I added a brake controller, and have pulled 7-8k lbs around town w/out issue. Hydraulic brakes are surge type, the master cylinder is in the coupler assembly. Only electric brakes have a controller on the tow vehicle that I know of.

I added the factory receiver and trailer module to my 2007 3.6 w/pano, have only pulled maybe 2k lbs with that at this point. I may rent a trailer and caravan the two Q7's with car trailers behind them (my enclosed car trailer behind the 4.2 and an open behind the 3.6).

DUTCH VanAtlanta

There are also electric over hydraulic brakes made by Carlisle in the US for one brand. I have them on my Australian Kimberley Karavan. They are not a surge type and most definitely do require an electronic brake controller in the tow vehicle.

cuatrokoop

That is not a very common trailer in the USA, I think yours is the only one I've seen. The vast majority of braked non-comm trailers in the USA use electrically operated drums, or a hydraulic surge system (drum or disc) due to cost and complexity. An EOH would likely add over $1k to the cost of any new trailer (or more, depending on GVWR and therefore braking requirements), a fully electric system is far less expensive to purchase or repair. A surge system tries to bridge the gap of better braking but with a lower cost and complexity factor compared to the EOH system, but I didn't like pulling any of the surge trailers, they felt like they were pushing the tow vehicle still instead of working with it.

DUTCH VanAtlanta

The Carlisle brake system is made in the US, and are sold on more than only Australian made Kimberley Karavans. I was only trying to point out that not all hydraulic trailer brakes are surge activated. There are other types of hydraulic brakes, in this case the Carlisle Electric Over Hydraulic Disc Brakes; and they do require an electronic brake controller in the tow vehicle.

bmwrt

Don't go after market. Get OEM. I got mine on Ebay from a Dealer in Florida with a free shipping. I've installed in two Q7s already and both had panoramic roofs. No issues at all. The OEM comes with the module that plugs into your vehicle. You just have to take to the Dealer to program the new hitch wiring.

2012Q7204

Hi all,

So I finally got around to pulling off the rear bumper to see how to install the hitch and it definitely looks pretty straightforward.. But, there are no score marks to cut out the plastic bumper to accommodate the hitch. I did some more research and apparently, Euro models with pano were prohibited from having the hitch installed at the factory and as such, there is no provision for installing one as far as the bumper goes. Now if course, that is not going to stop me but I do have a question about how best to measure for the hitch so I can cut it accurately and whether or not there is any type of accessory (i.e cover) that I should provide for when making the cut so it looks as close to factory as possible. Any insight would be greatly appreciated as well as suggestions for making the template for the cut.

Lastly, as mentioned in my previous reply, I was having issues with my sunroof creaking which was driving me insane! The only way to get it to stop was to use the tilt function so I knew there had to be a way to fix the noise by either adjusting or lubing it somehow to stop the creak. I had previously used silicone spray and lithium grease on the seals and rails respectively (I used off the shelf stuff as I am too cheap to spend 50 bucks on two tiny bottles from vw) but still the source of the creaking eluded me. Until today when I realized that the roof can be opened another 4 inches or so by keeping the opening **** turns all of the way past its last detent allowing unfettered access to the rear seal. What I saw them was that the gasket was really dry and covered with pollen so I cleaned it up and sprayed the crap out of it with silicone and ...no more creaking! We will see if this is a long term fix but considering I was getting ready to smash it with a sledgehammer or epoxy the damn thing closed forever this was a big win for me. Amazing how something so trivial can totally ruin the experience of driving a car if even only driven for purely necessary reasons.