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We are looking at a Q7 prestige for my wife. We have a 2016 Mastercraft X20 wakeboard boat that weighs, fully loaded about 6-7000 lbs. We primarily tow with my GMC Sierra 2500 Duramax diesel, but it would be nice to have a backup if we ever had to tow two trailers or whatever.
I was wondering if anyone had anymore info about #'s 2 and 4. We may tow a camping trailer which has electric brakes so was wondering if the trailer brake controller is a simple plug and play install (and what brake controller folks went with) or if its something the dealer needs to do.
Also was wondering if anyone tows WITHOUT air suspension and how much the backend sags when the trailer is hitched up. I have heard many issues with past air suspensions so would assume just save the $4k and not get it. If the Q7 was going to be our primary tow vehicle I may feel different but it will not be.
any comments or pictures are greatly appreciated. I have been reading a lot on this forum and really appreciate everyones insights and info.
Thanks, Eric
We have a similar size MasterCraft and have been using the Q7 as a tow vehicle for the short trips, while keeping my truck for the long hauls. I chose not to get the adapative air suspension for the same reasons you stated above. The back end of the Q7 does sag, not horribly, but the 500-600lbs of tongue weight does show. (Imagine how your vehicle would look with 3 full size guys standing on the bumper!) However, in the end, I will not be replacing $4,000 worth of air shocks, compressors, etc. in a few years when they inevitably fail. Are you catching my soured opinion on air suspension based on my previous experiences?
I've actually been thinking of contacting Ride-Rite or AirLift about installing a universal coil spring helper bag system. I figure for less than $500, I can install a simple system on the rear to take the sag out while towing. It might be a project once the skiing slows down!
We have a similar size MasterCraft and have been using the Q7 as a tow vehicle for the short trips, while keeping my truck for the long hauls. I chose not to get the adapative air suspension for the same reasons you stated above. The back end of the Q7 does sag, not horribly, but the 500-600lbs of tongue weight does show. (Imagine how your vehicle would look with 3 full size guys standing on the bumper!) However, in the end, I will not be replacing $4,000 worth of air shocks, compressors, etc. in a few years when they inevitably fail. Are you catching my soured opinion on air suspension based on my previous experiences?
I've actually been thinking of contacting Ride-Rite or AirLift about installing a universal coil spring helper bag system. I figure for less than $500, I can install a simple system on the rear to take the sag out while towing. It might be a project once the skiing slows down!
Thanks! Do you still have the 197? See you on team talk (Eric2010MCX2).
We're using the Q7 to tow a 2003 Mastercraft X2, which weighs about 4500lbs with trailer and gear. Our Q7 does not have the air suspension. This is less weight than you're talking about, but thought it'd be useful to share regardless. Some observations:
Net, the Q7 is a pleasure to drive when towing. We're coming from a Lexus GX470 with a V8, and this doesn't feel like a step down. We're very happy.
[LIST]On the freeway, going flat, the transmission often puts itself in 8th gear but has a hard time staying there over small hills, so it hunts for new gears a fair bit. I haven't towed that much yet, but I'll probably end up using the manual gear selection more than I'm used to. If there's a tranny mode for towing that avoids 8th entirely, I haven't found it.
Do you have the transmission in D or S? I suspect when in S and towing you'll never see 8th gear.
No one should have a problem towing up to the limit, with or without adaptive air suspension. I towed my A6 over 800 miles with our Q7 non-air suspension with ease. The sag was there, but didn't feel as tilted driving as the picture below displays. Was able to maintain highway speeds with less effort than expected. I don't plan on ever doing it again, but it's performance was excellent throughout.
drkknte: That's reassuring to hear how well it did, but I'm curious as to why you then say that you would never do it again. Was it not stable at speed? Or are you just worried about the added wear & tear that trailering will do to your Q7?
I plan on towing my 6000 lb (loaded) sportscar trailer, shown in the pic below, with the Q7 to far-away track day events across several states. My former Touareg TDI was more than up to the task, even without a self-levelling air suspension. As you can see there was plenty of rear end sag thanks to the 650 lb tongue weight. But it was all effortless towing from Chicago to NY to NC and back. So I'm optimistic that my new Q7 with air suspension will at least be as capable... I hope
drkknte: That's reassuring to hear how well it did, but I'm curious as to why you then say that you would never do it again. Was it not stable at speed? Or are you just worried about the added wear & tear that trailering will do to your Q7?
I plan on towing my 6000 lb (loaded) sportscar trailer, shown in the pic below, with the Q7 to far-away track day events across several states. My former Touareg TDI was more than up to the task, even without a self-levelling air suspension. As you can see there was plenty of rear end sag thanks to the 650 lb tongue weight. But it was all effortless towing from Chicago to NY to NC and back. So I'm optimistic that my new Q7 with air suspension will at least be as capable... I hope
I just want to never tow my car or anything that far again..! I love long road trips, but with something in tow; it's a totally different dynamic. It's very stable at speed; much more than my old 2010 Q7 TDI. As far as wear and tear, that was a short thought, but dismissed as I don't do much towing in the first place; hitch is mostly for the bike rack. I'm extremely satisfied with the performance and would have no problem towing anything it's capable of pulling in the future, only for much shorter distances!
06-29-2016, 09:18 AM
IMG_0455 by lrzv, on Flickr