Club 80-90 Forums

I have a 1987 Type 25 Syncro with the 2.1litre DJ engine, running on LPG. Sometime in the not too distant future I’m thinking of buying a boat, which I intend to tow with the Syncro. The boat will probably be about 16-18 ft.

My question is, will the DJ be man enough for this towing duty? It doesn’t exactly have a surplus of power, though it does seem to have decent torque.

At some point the engine will be due for a refresh (it’s probably already quite tired). A reconditioned Wasserboxer will probably be a bit livelier but I’m wondering whether I’d be better off considering a conversion (Subaru being the obvious choice).

Anyone have any thoughts or advice?

What's the boat plus trailer weigh?

According to the 1987 owner's handbook (p130), the max towing weight for a 2.1 Syncro's 1600kg. Part of that's going to be the ability to drag it - which a power upgrade may address - but a large part of it is the ability to keep it all in a straight line and stop it again.

With a diesel, the Syncro's rated up to 2000kg. But if you get a tug off Mr Plod, it probably won't matter if you've upgraded the engine, he'll take a look at the max weights VW stated, and base the degree of bollocking on that...

PM Mudlark, Mark tows a dingy with his syncro to and fro the SW and elsewhere, now he's got a TDi 16" but he used to run a petrol syncro
I'd advise keeping well within the weights, tbh T3s aren't great tow vehicles becuse they are, in original spec, under engined compared with say a land cruiser or a discovery/rangie, but you can't camp in them readily

The most likely boat is a Shetland 535, which weighs about 500kg. Add 250kg for the trailer, say 80-90kg for an outboard and a bit for gear/fuel and it comes to about 1 tonne so well within recommended towing limits.

I read somewhere that you should aim for a minimum of 40bhp per ton as a power/weight ratio for the whole 'train'. If the Syncro weighs about 1700kg (unladen) and the boat/trailer come to 1000kg then the standard 112bhp doesn't get there (it's about 37bhp/ton before you put two people and gear aboard) so it would probably end up a pretty 'leisurely' outfit....

The sensible thing would be to change the T25 for a T4 Syncro with the 2.5TDI engine, but I love this old bus and don't want to part with it...

My 1900DG has towed my trimaran (Magnum 21) with no problems. Trailer and boat all up weight = 500kg
Have you looked at the National Trailer Association website, all sorts of good stuff to be read there

I have towed a 4 wheel plant trailer with a running but stripped out single cab on it with my empty camper AAZ syncro....slow up the hills and potentially hazardous but it coped quite well....I think some 16s were plated upto higher towing weights..the g gear is very handy when you have a massive load behind and need to do a u turn in a tight spot....saves melting the flywheel!



Just to elaborate...the trailer was 700 kgs empty! Truck about 1400 I imagine..well over the 2 tons....not good but possible.

fairwynds wrote:My 1900DG has towed my trimaran (Magnum 21) with no problems. Trailer and boat all up weight = 500kg
Have you looked at the National Trailer Association website, all sorts of good stuff to be read there

...just found this picture - oh, bring on the summer!

And I was worried about my jetski!! Awesome pic!!!

Thorgills wrote:And I was worried about my jetski!! Awesome pic!!!

Thanks matey, sadly I no longer own her, got something a tad smaller now the kids have flown nest! Great rig to tow, and a damn fun sail too!

Great picture, and a nice looking van too! I 'specially like the colour