Graydude

Hope I’m not hijacking this thread but quite a few knowledgeable people seem to be responding. Hi, newbie here. My situation is I'm going from RVing with motorhomes and towed cars to a travel trailer. The tow vehicle I'm favoring so far is the Q7 3.0. Probably a 2018 or 2019. The trailer I'm favoring is a 24 Forest River with a dry weight of 4,600 and gross weight of 6,800 all loaded up. Tongue weight will be about 650 lbs. Has anyone actually used their Q7 for a setup like this and did it work out? I'm really hoping for the straight scoop before I pull the trigger. Other RV sites are crucifying me for even suggesting I use this setup. Common remarks are "you'll be blown all over the road" or "yeah it might pull it but you won't stop" or the mono frame is not strong enough to take that much load" (why would Audi approve the spec if that was the case?) or " travel trailers have to much frontal wind resistance for the Q7 to tow properly" Are these comments real or just uninformed remarks?

Secondly, I'm not seeing any Q7s on the resale market with air suspension. Is that required for my set up? And whats the deal with using a weight distributing hitch? II get the impression the car will self destruct or separate into two pieces if I use a WD hitch.

I'm really hoping folks with actual experiences can shed some light on my issues. Thanks in advance!

dreadlocks

That Forrest River is going to fall apart before you'd ever have any issues towing it with a Q7.. its a fine towing machine even beyond its ratings, its more than capable within them.

Graydude

Thanks for the feedback Dreadlocks!

cuatrokoop

Totally agree, these things belie their size (park next to a Suburban some time) when they are hooked up to a trailer. With or without air suspension. Air is nice (had it, then I had to maintain it), but not mandatory.

Graydude

Cuatrokoop, what were you towing tha t you were not worried about your ride?

cuatrokoop

I've had five different trailers behind my old 4.2 with air ranging from 1500lbs to way over the rating (dump trailer full of dirt, guessing at least 8klbs each load I moved, but possibly upwards of 10klbs at least once). My 3.6 has had much less weight due to the ZF 6HP19 transmission, no more than about 4k lbs. I haven't towed anything with the TDI yet. The 4.2 got 14mpg on the highway with my 20ft enclosed car trailer behind it and about 15 with an open steel car trailer behind it...

burmbuster

Our 2015 TDI looks to have the factory receiver and the block off plate with wiring for the plug but no software. So I guess I am to assume that all I need is the plug and a flash at the dealer. Hope thats correct because the service rep said she wasn't sure ours was factory and tried to sell me a kit for $1100 and another $700 for the install. Hitch looks identical to the factory hitch in the pics that I see, as well as the harness plug mount.

DUTCH VanAtlanta

The service rep can certainly look your vehicle up by VIN and find out what is factory and what is not. Maybe you need to find a better service rep.

dreadlocks

You just need the plug, doubt it needs any recoding.. here yeh go:

burmbuster

Well the towing mode isn't listed when you pull up the menu so thats the only thing I can think of. Its certainly been prewired for the package and its the Audi factory hitch.