adrooz

Want to tow with (and generally enjoy) a Cayenne Diesel. 950# Trailex 8045 with 3400 # worth of car and accessories. What features of the Cayenne are needed for towing? Does air suspension help?

Thanks.

Frank 993 C4S

Air suspension is always nice as it self levels the car. You should still check your tongue weight with a Sherline Scale:

Sherline Scale

Beantown Kman

I have a Diesel on order. Due to arrive end of September. Ordered with air suspension because I will be using it to tow my Cayman on my open Featherlite trailer. As far as I can tell, not many people order the Cayenne with air suspension. Those that have it love it. Those that don't seem perfectly happy without it. Either way, folks seem to be very happy towing with Cayennes, especially diesels.

f4 plt

I have had a Cayenne S for over two years and of the 35,000 miles on it over 10,000 are towing my enclosed Trailex trailer. I have PASM but not air suspension. Had in on the '08 Cayenne GTS and decided not to get it on the '11 "S" I have had no issues towing. Strongly agree on getting a tongue weight scale. My wife got her Cayenne diesel almost a month ago and while we have been piling on the miles (4600) I have yet to tow anything more than an 8 ft enclosed utility trailer. It tows it better than my "S" does. We also have only PASM on the diesel. One option i would definitely recommend is the rear view camera and add on mirrors if you tow an enclosed car trailer.

Thundertub

I suggest the following:
Get the detailed towing specs of your specific year and model. It will tell you the maximum tongue weight for your specific vehicle, but they are all mostly around 617lbs (The Cayenne max towable weight has been 7716 lbs since day one, and still is).

Now here is a cheap and relatively easy way to get your tongue weight:
Drive the entire hooked-up rig (with car and equipment) to any truck stop that has a certified scale on the premise. Don't worry, they do "civilians" all the time. Go inside, pay your fee (usually less than $20,) then drive onto the scale and stop where they tell you. Then, when they say OK, pull off and park some place close but way out of the way of the trucks. Go inside and get your weigh sheet.
There are three numbers on the sheet: 1) your gross combined weight, 2) the weight of the tow vehicle, and 3) the weight of the trailer.

Now go back outside, unhitch the trailer, and drive back onto the scale for a reading of only your tow vehicle (Normally, you get two weighs for the same one fee if done in 24 hours). Stop where they tell you, then when they say OK, pull off, park by your trailer, and go inside and get you second weigh sheet.

You will notice that your tow vehicle weighs several hundred pounds less in the second weigh than in the first. THE DIFFERENCE IS THE TONGUE WEIGHT OF YOUR TRAILER. Then add that number back to your trailer weight measurement to get the actual gross weight of your trailer and load.

Divide the gross weight of the trailer (and its load) by 10, and then divide the gross trailer weight by 7. Those two numbers are the upper and lower weight parameters of your towed trailer and equipment that should be on the tongue in order to keep the trailer from swaying (too little tongue weight) or pushing down too much on the suspension.

Hook up your trailer and go home. Make any necessary adjustments to your trailer load positioning. Rinse and repeat if necessary.

Works great. Nothing to buy. Unless you don't live close to a truck stop with a scale.

f4 plt

I don't dispute that your system works, however a tongue weight scale is so inexpensive and then you can easily check the actual tongue weight as you change loads .

Frank 993 C4S

Here is a cheap way to determine your tongue weight as you change loads:

Igooz

...what they said...

Don't order PCCB on the Cayenne if you are going to tow with it...(Long story and I will protect the innocent!).

If you end up buying an enclosed trailer you will need mirror extensions.

PowdercoatMike

I tow a 370z track car on a steel texas rollback trailer and my CD tows much better than my 07 Tahoe or 10 Expedition did. I did have to move the car back about a foot on the trailer to adjust the tongue weight, as the other two had air suspensions, but its an awesome tow vehicle.

Vicki Gershon

HELP BOYS!
I am a horse woman towing my 2700# trailer and 1 or 2 horses weighing 1200 each with my 2014 Cayenne diesel. I replaced my 2005 Cayenne S. My trailer dealer put a weight distribution hitch on it that sticks out so far it hits the ground at any driveway.
A) so I shouldn't even have a WD hitch? B) don't the brakes of the trailer work through the same plug that makes my trailer lights work? I don't need a brake controller, or do I if I go to a normal hitch? It seems the WD hitch makes everything much smoother when I am pulling 2 horses. Why does Porsche say no to them? Possibly because they stick out too far in back?
My Local Porsche dealer is clueless about towing questions . . .Thanks

grohgreg

You made a mistake not buying a Cayenne with the factory hitch, and by not installing a brake controller. Your trailer dealer made a mistake by ignoring manufacturer advice NOT to install weight distributing hitches AND in failing to advise you of the need for a brake controller. Fix it soon, or risk losing both your horses AND your Porsche.

I recommend going back to that trailer guy for a removal and a refund - and hope nothing's damaged in the process. Short of trading your Cayenne for one that's got the factory towing option (which is only $650 by the way), go to someone who actually knows what he's doing, and install an appropriate hitch - giving informed attention to the length of the ball mount and ball rating as well. Understand that installing the correct type hitch involves removing the rear bumper cover and modifying the Cayenne wiring.

Do you really want a trailer guy tackling that? I know trading an almost new car for an only slightly newer one means taking a financial hit. But weigh that loss against the $2000 or so you can expect to have an appropriate aftermarket towing package installed. Might be cheaper to trade.

//greg/

stronbl

This may be more than you need or want but here goes ...

Does your 2014 Cayenne diesel have a standard hitch receiver mounted below the rear bumper? Typically the weight distribution part consists of the hitch shank with springs and vertical adjustments, sway control bars and all the necessary connection bits to attach to your trailer. The sway bars typically hang below the trailer tongue so they may be what hits the ground.

If you do in fact have a standard hitch receiver, then you need to determine if it was wired properly to the Cayenne trailer module. If the hitch came from the Porsche factory then it is already wired and you can ignore then next few sentences, but if you had a 3rd party installer do the work, it may not be wired properly. There is a specific Porsche retrofit document the Porsche dealer can access, it is bulletin Group 6, #32/10, dated May 9, 2011, Installation and Conversion Instruction Trailer Hitch (I-nos. 1D6) for Cayenne (92A). This document details everything needed to retrofit a non-factory trailer hitch installation including connecting the trailer module. Once the trailer module is properly connected, the Cayenne will need to be hooked up to the Porsche PIWIS system and re-coded so it is active. Once active it should be just like the factory install. You may also need to purchase a 7 pole RV style trailer socket (vehicle side) and attach it to the trailer hitch - just in case it is not already installed. Note: according to your comments, it sounds like you have lights at the trailer already so some of this above work may have already been done.

At this point you should have trailer lights working from the tow vehicle, but not the trailer brakes (assuming your trailer has electrical brakes and not surge brakes - ask your trailer dealer if you are not sure). In order to make the trailer brakes work, you will need a brake controller. There are many threads on brake controllers in this forum so a search should turn up some info. Most brake controllers will need a wiring harness installed from under the dash area to connect to the brake controller; Porsche provides for a 4 pin socket which the wiring harness plugs into (I believe even if the vehicle was not ordered with factory trailer hitch this socket is installed). Most trailer dealers can manage this installation as it is a simple task but they will need a couple parts to make the harness and connect to the Cayenne. These are VW parts and they are (a) Connector Housing #1J0-972-782
quantity required=1, and (b) Wire/terminal assembly #000-979-228
quantity required=2 (cut in half to make 4 wires). Again you can do some searching on this forum or in a VW Touareg forum to find more details.

Finally as stated by grohgreg, Porsche explicitly states not to use a weight distribution hitch, so you will need to get a conventional 2inx2in shank and trailer ball. Assuming all retrofit and installation goes smoothly, you should be ready to tow safely.

Guards Red Car

Hi,

I am very close to buying a 2012 Cayenne S Demo from dealer (3,000 miles and LOADED!)

Yikes, NO Factory Trailer Hitch !

According to Porsche Ordering Guide - "All Porsche Cayenne Models have trailer-hitch preparation as standard equipment"

I want to be helpful and "Guide" Sales and Service staff on a Dealer/Service Department installation of Trailer Hitch with Electrical Connection (i.e. 7 pin) -- AND -- An electric trailer brake controller at driver's "knee"

I would really appreciate any Part Numbers (for OEM Porsche Trailer Hitch with 7 Pin Socket, etc) -- AND -- Recommendation for Electric Trailer Brake Controller unit -- (I doubt the electric trailer brake controller is a OEM Porsche Part, however I would/could furnish the part to dealer) -- Also, is there/are there any "Harnesses" I need to be aware of?

What kind of "computer programming" does this installation require (to be totally compatible with the Cayenne's ABS/PASM/Air Suspension/Porsche Dynamic Chassis Control/Porsche Torque Vectoring Plus ??)

Finally, in that the dealer is willing to do this as part of the deal, I would rather have them do the entire job rather than taking my New/Demo to a trailer shop -- However, is this job within a Porsche Service Departments' scope of expertise?

Would really appreciate a detailed list of parts and recommendations so that I can get the job done correctly from the Porsche Dealer prior to my delivery

Thanks so much!

Frank 993 C4S

I had my hitch installed by my dealer as part of my purchase but they did charge me for it. Your dealer will know what kind of programming you need. Mine was very knowledgeable and gave me the info on everything I needed. I installed the brake controller myself because it was quite easy to do. I am sure that your dealer would do that for a charge as well. Do a search here for brake controller here and you will find several options. Welcome to RL.

f4 plt

The dealer can do it. They did it on my first Cayenne. I would strongly recommend that you have them do it even though the cost may be more. Attaching the hitch is the easy part, it is the wiring that you want their skill so as not to damage anything nor void the warranty. I also had them do the brake controller which is only needed if your trailer has electric brakes. Many of the Trailex 8045 trailers have surge brakes and a controller is not needed.