2008 VOLKSWAGEN GOLF trailer

Tires and
There arc limits to th e amount of load or weig ht that any vehicl e and any tire can carry. A ve hicle that is overloaded will not handle well and is mor e to stop. Overloading can not only
lead l oss of ve hicle control. but ca n al so damage including a blowout
and s udden d eflatio n th at can cause the vehicl e
to crash .
Your safet y
and that of your passengers also de­
pends on making sure th a t l oad limit s arc not ex­ceeded. load in cludes everybody and ev­eryth in g in and on the vehicle. These load limit s are technically refe rred to as th e vehicle' s Gr oss Ratin g
includes the weight of the basic ve­all factory installed accessorie s. a full tank of coolant and other fluids plus max­imum load. The m ax imum load incl udes the number of passengers that the ve hicle is in ­tended to carry lbs. (68 kg) for each pas­senger at designation seating position and the
total wei ght of a ny lu ggage in the ve hicle. yo u the weig ht of the trailer hit ch and the tongue weight of the loaded trailer mus t be included o f the ve hicle load.
T he Gross
Axle is the m aximum load th at can be ap plied at each of the
veh icle's two
has 5 seat ing pos ition s, 2 in the front and 3 in the rear for seating ca­paciry of 5. Eac h seatin g posit ion ha s a sa fe ty bookle t2.1
and
The fact that there is an upper li mit to your ve­
hi cle's Gross Hating means that the total weight of whatever i s bein g carried in the vehicle (in cluding the weight of a trailer hit ch and the tongue weig ht o f the load ed
t railer) is limited. The more passengers in the ve­
hicl e or passengers are heav ier than the standard weig hts assumed mean that less weig ht can be carried lu ggage.
The tire pressure on your Volkswage n also lists the maximum combined weight of all of the occupants and
page fig . 15 .
WARNING
Overloading a ve hicl e can cause loss of vehicle control, a crash or other accident, serious pe r­
sonal injury, nnd even dent h.
more weight than your vehicle was d esig ne d to carry will prevent th e ve hicl e
fr om handling properl y and increase the ri sk of th e loss of ve hicl e control.
The brakes on a ve hicl e that has been over­loaded may not be abl e to sto p the ve hicle
w ithi n a safe di stance.
o n a ve hicle that has been overloaded can
Alway s make sure that the to tal load bein g transported-including the weight of a trail er hitch and the tongu e weight of a loaded trail er -does no t m ake th e ve hicle heavier t11e
ve hicl e's Gross Vehicle Rating .

3.2 Tips and Advice
WARNING
The spare whee l may be smaller than the origina l tir e. The s maller spare wheel is identi­fied with a sticker and the words
The spare whee l m ust be returned to the
spare whee l well so on as the standard road
wheel can be re pla ced.
Getting started
The spare wheel must always be secured
with the w hee l bolts provided by the factory .
After
r
vehicle in a safe place before changing a wheel.
If yo u have a flat tire or puncture, park
the vehicle as far away fro m the of
traffic as possib le on a firm, even surface
Turn off the e ngin e. Turn on the emer­
gency flasher.
App ly the parkin g brake firm ly and e n ­
gage a
gear or put the selector in
If yo u are towin g a trailer, unhitch it
from yo
ur vehicle.
WARNING
Changin g a wheel, especially on
Alw ays stop the ve hicl e
to change the
Turn on th e e merge ncy fla sh er and se t up an o th er warning device ab o ut 27 ya rds (25 meters) beh ind the vehicl e to warn ap­
proa ching traffic.
Always sure th at th e ground is leve l and firm, if necessary usc sturdy under the ja ck .
When one wh eel is lift ed off the ground putting the se lec to r l ever in
Always apply tl1e par k in g brake firmly and firmly engage gea r or put th e selec tor lever in

Ra ise th e ve hicle only o n th e app ropr iate jack points fo r vehic le jack.
Fig. 26 The jock points for the
page 84.
Jacking up the
fig . 26
closest to the w heel th at h as to be c h anged.
4. Ra i
se the jack under th e jac k p oin t until
it
fit s under the ve hicl e.
5. Make s
ure th at the sta nd o f th e jack is in
full contact wi th th e ground.
6. Adj
ust th e jack and continue crankin g
up th e han d le until i t is in positio n around
t h e ve
rtical r ib unde rneath th e ve hicle
fig.
fo r t he jack p age 85.
Fig. 27 Jock of left rear
fig. 26. A lways use the jack closest to the whee l you are worki ng on.
WARNING
Impro pe r u se of your vehi cle jack can cause the ve hicl e to fa ll off th e jack leadi n g to serious personal in jury. To reduce th e risk o f injury cause d b y the ve hicle fa llin g ofT the ja ck :
A lways set up t he jack on firm , level
g round. Soft g round unde r the ja c k m ay cause the v ehi cle to slip jack. If n ecessary large , s tro ng b oard or similar s upport. a
hard , slip pe ry surface (such as tiles) use a
rubb er m at or so mething similar to p rev en t ja ck from slippi ng.
Alwa ys position the jac k only th e jack
points fo r t he veh icle page 85 , fig . 26 .
Befor e yo u r aise your ve hicle, a lways make
sure th e ja ck claw properl y grasp s th e vertica l
rib und er the sill so that th e jack do es no t sli p
off whe n yo u are ra isi ng th e page fig. 27.
trailer, unhit c h it from
your v ehicl e befo re ra is in g th e
Alwa ys keep passen ge rs, es peci ally dren at a safe dis ta nce w hile using th e veh icl e
j ack and als o make sure there arc no pers o ns under th e v ehicl e. C hild ren at play c ould
What do do now? 85

Heated seats 4
(5). 37 46 (5)
windows for 23 front
wind ows for 32 rear
Rea r
window de- 25 (25) fogger
R
ear w indow wiper 41 (15)
R ear 12-vo h socket 26
F1 F2
Backup light left F47 F48
Backup light right F47 F48
Brake light left F48
Warning
Brake light righ t F47
Turn sig na l left F47 F48
Turn signal right F47 F48
F48
Headlight left F47
Headli gh t right F48
Horn F5 (15)
Rad i
ator
Radio Fl9 (15)
Sound syste m
Windshield wipers F31
the wrong fuse and attempti ng to re pair a fuse or usi ng something instead of a fuse can
cause a fir e and serious personal injury.
Alway s read and heed the information and all page a
The check light ill uminates when an ex terior lighting bulb has failed.
The indicato r light lig ht s up in the instrument clus ter when a ve hicle exterior lightin g bulb,
(e.g. le ft high beam) has failed.
th e ve hicle is delivered from the factory with a
t railer h itch and the is correct ly atLached to the trai le r socket, cert ain bulb s on the trail er are also monit ore d .
Bu lb
monitorin g with trailer attach ed The traile r light ing is con stamly monitored for a bulb failu
re.
The ch eck ligh t illumin ates if a b ulb in the rea r light of the trailer has fai led
The following bulbs are mon itored:
failure of all turn signa ls on one si de
Failure o f the rear light on one si de (on som e
model s als o failu re of the license pla te light ).
Failure of both brake li gh ts
What do

Rear towing eye
Fig. 47
without
hitch
-Inse rt the flat blade of the screw driver
i n to
the slo t between th e cover and the
fig . 47 .
-
th e cove r off carefully to the re ar. It
m
ay be necessar y to use addi t ional force.
Lea
ve the cove r hanging on the veh icle.
- Scr
ew the tow ing eye in di rectio n of th e
arrow as fa r as it will go into the threa ded
hole. Use the lu g wrench tigh te n the
to wing fig . 48 .
3.2 T ip s and Advice
Fig. 48 the right rear bumper: screwing in the eye
-towing operations are comple te,
unsc rew the towing eye clockwise and in­
s ta
ll t h e cover.
-
He turn t h e tow ing eye , the lug wre nch
and th e screwdriver to the too l kit.
page
trailer hi tch
On veh icles whic h are fac tory-equipped wit h a
t rai ler hitch . there is no threaded hole for th e
to w in g behind th e cover. The trailer hitc h
must be use d for towing.
Note
Vehicle s equi pped with a trailer towing cannot use a tow bar to usc a
possib le tow the front w hee ls off g round
Always observe the followi ng if yo u use a
tow-rope :
Notes for the driver of the towing ve­
-Turn on the emergency
- Drive slowly at fir s t until the tow-rope is
t a u
t. Th en accelerate gradually.
-the acce lerator s lowly.
What do

light 5
See Anti-lock brake
should want to add an acces-sor y to my ve hicl e?
Add ress of
Add ress of Transport
Afte r c hanging a w heel 87
Alloy
wheels
fe el a slight v i­
b ration on the brake pedal? 4
Ant i-t h
eft alarm system
Linking your trailer
Anti-theft wheel bolts 84
A uto Safety Hotline
Automatic car wash 22
B
3
Batt ery
56
low often should replace m y engin e
battery? 56
Important informatio n t o know befo re
d isconnect the battery 55
Hcplac ing
56 yo u must do after reconnect the battery 55
is the correct brake nuidleve l?. 53
Brake syste m 53
light 2
B rak
es low docs mois ture or road salt affect the brakes? 13
does it mean when feel a slight vi­bra tion o n the brake pedal? 4
Br
aking distance 13
Break-in period
Engin e 12
is the right way to break-in my vehicle? 12
Br e
aking in
B r
ake pads 12
Ti r
es 12
Break ing in
tires 12
Bulb ch
ange 93
Bulb fa
ilure 93
65 39 , 55
22
ra di o 33
phone 33
phone 33
a bulb 93
a w heel 86
brake pads
fuel cap 36
engine oil leve l 44
26