mk21147Can you tow a Rallye by lifting the front wheels onto a dolly or tow truck?
I cannot find a definitive answer anywhere.
I found a post on vortex that said you can & found other info that said you can’t and that it will wind up the rear diff?
Has anyone got a Rallye / Syncro owners handbook in English that states the correct procedure?
Houseyno, you can’t
if you raise the front wheels and tow it, the rear wheels will try to spin the front, same the other way. its mechanically connected at all times
you can either take the prop-shaft off. or use a flatbead
Houseyits the same for brake-testing (don’t know if this is a procedure done en england, but they do this in norway at our bi-annual MOTs)
if they set front wheels on the brake tester, and run this, the car will only push itself of the testing wheels 
mk21147Thanks for the reply.
That’s not what I wanted to here, I had my Rallye collected and taken to a garage when I was at work and they towed it with the front wheels up on the tow truck. (my wife phoned me to let me know)
I had told them that it was four wheel drive and would need to go on a flatbed.
What damage will it have done?
How can I check when I go to collect it?
mk21147I posted this question on club GTI & here is one of the replies
Note from syncro manual:
Quote:
The vehicle can be towed like any two wheel drive golf
With a recovery vehicle the car can be towed with front or rear wheels suspended
If the vehicle is to be towed with the rear wheels lifted and the rear wheels cannot turn freely, one must ensure that the freewheel in the rear axle has not been locked beforehand by driving the vehicle in reverse. To unlock the freewheel the gear lever must be shifted briefly into first gear with the ignition on and then back into neutral.
This depends on whether there’s enough vacuum stored to actuate the freewheel lockout release, and therefore how recently it’s been driven. To be on the safe side after the above check, I’d jack up the rear, and with a mate’s help turn both of the rear
What do you think?
PadrigWhen the freewheel lock is disengaged (when either of the forward gears is engaged and clutch released beforehand) the Syncro system will act as any other ‘normal’ Golf, and can therefore be towed with front wheels lifted.
The thing is, when done in the above stated order, the rear wheels will spin freely (hence ‘free-wheel lock’) on their internal planetary differential.
This way, the only way to activate power to the rear wheels is when the front wheels start turning faster than the rear wheels do. But in the case of lifting the front and towing the vehicle, the front wheels do not turn at all, so no power is transmitted to the viscous coupling, so no power is needed to turn the rear wheels, who in turn start spinning on their planetary differential.
Only when the free-wheel lock is engaged, it will lock the crown wheel to this planetary differential and make the rear permanently connected to the front wheels.
In case of Brake testing, the Syncro only pushes the car of the brake tester when the front wheels are brake tested (front wheels start spinning faster than the rear, so viscous coupling stiffens and hereby engages the crown wheel and turning the rear wheels)
This effect is only recreated on the rear wheels when the car is placed in reverse gear, then the Vacuum actuator manually ‘locks’ the freewheel lock.
The reason VW added the Vacuum Actuator to the Syncro, is to give the car 4wd in reverse gear as well as it would do when traveling in a forward motion.
If you like I can scan the original Syncro Suplement manual where this towing procedure is also described, although i’ve only got the German version.
Good luck
mk21147quote:
Originally posted by PadrigWhen the freewheel lock is disengaged (when either of the forward gears is engaged and clutch released beforehand) the Syncro system will act as any other ‘normal’ Golf, and can therefore be towed with front wheels lifted.
The thing is, when done in the above stated order, the rear wheels will spin freely (hence ‘free-wheel lock’) on their internal planetary differential.
This way, the only way to activate power to the rear wheels is when the front wheels start turning faster than the rear wheels do. But in the case of lifting the front and towing the vehicle, the front wheels do not turn at all, so no power is transmitted to the viscous coupling, so no power is needed to turn the rear wheels, who in turn start spinning on their planetary differential.Only when the free-wheel lock is engaged, it will lock the crown wheel to this planetary differential and make the rear permanently connected to the front wheels.
In case of Brake testing, the Syncro only pushes the car of the brake tester when the front wheels are brake tested (front wheels start spinning faster than the rear, so viscous coupling stiffens and hereby engages the crown wheel and turning the rear wheels)
This effect is only recreated on the rear wheels when the car is placed in reverse gear, then the Vacuum actuator manually ‘locks’ the freewheel lock.The reason VW added the Vacuum Actuator to the Syncro, is to give the car 4wd in reverse gear as well as it would do when traveling in a forward motion.
If you like I can scan the original Syncro Suplement manual where this towing procedure is also described, although i’ve only got the German version.
Good luck
Thank you very much for that, I feel a lot better.
If you get a minute I would appreciate you scanning the Syncro Supplement.
Thanks again
Richard
PadrigHere’s the Golf Country Supplement https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B4q66352HxlrMGJmZGE4Y2YtZTU2Yy00Y2MxLTg3ZDMtMzFkMjI0YTIyOTNh
And here the Syncro Specifics from the user manual https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B4q66352HxlrOTA0NDEyZTgtOTBmMy00NDgzLWJiYmEtYzEyNmFmMmNhMGU4
mk21147quote:
Originally posted by PadrigHere’s the Golf Country Supplement https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B4q66352HxlrMGJmZGE4Y2YtZTU2Yy00Y2MxLTg3ZDMtMzFkMjI0YTIyOTNh
And here the Syncro Specifics from the user manual https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B4q66352HxlrOTA0NDEyZTgtOTBmMy00NDgzLWJiYmEtYzEyNmFmMmNhMGU4
Thank You
Houseydamn… my golf does not behave like described at all…
Padrigquote:
Originally posted by Houseydamn… my golf does not behave like described at all…
What does she do then Housey?
Remember, my Country did some strange things a couple of years ago as well, upon removing the vacuum actuator, it reveled the fault,.. the nylon/plastic push/pull rod was broken and the free-wheel lock plate was free to move between the locked and unlocked position, so one time I had permanent 4wd and the other time I only had 2wd. Also when reversing on a slippery surface, I always had a rattling/knocking sound from the Syncro and often only 2wd when reversing…
On your car, when driving and reversing, does your steering wheel feel heavy? after driving back and forth and turning corners, does your Viscous Coupling feel warm to the touch?
These are just some of the things that can happen when that simple nylon rod is broken!