Trailer towing Driving with a trailer
General information
Your Audi was designed primarily for passen
ger transportation .
If you plan to tow a trailer, p lease remember
that the additional load will affect durability,
economy and performance .
Trailer towing not on ly places more stress on
the vehicle, it also calls for more concentra
tion from the driver.
F or this reason, always fo llow the operating
and driving instructions provided and use
common sense.
(D Note
If you are going to tow a trai ler, you must
activate the trailer operation mode
q page 154, Towing a trailer.
Technical requirements
Traile r hitch
Use a weight-carrying hitch conforming to the
gross trailer weight. The hitch must be suita ble for your vehicle and trailer and must be
mounted securely on the vehicle's chassis at a
technically sound location. Use only a trailer
hitch with a removable ball mount. A lways
check with the trai ler hitch manufacturer to
make sure that you are using the correct
hitch.
Do not use a bumper hitch.
The hitch must be installed in such a way that
it does not interfere with the impact-absorb
i ng bumper system. No mod ifications should
be made to the vehicle exhaust and brake sys
tems . From time to time, check that all hitch
mounting bo lts remain securely fastened.
When you are not towing a trailer, remove the
trai ler hitch ball mount. This prevents the
hitch from causing damage should your veh i
cle be struck from behind~.&.
Trailer towing 235
Trailer brakes
If your trailer is equipped with a brak ing sys
tem, check to be sure that it conforms to all
regulations.
T he trailer hydraulic bra ke system must not be
directly connected to the vehicle's hydraulic
brake system
q .& .
Safety chains
Always use safety chains between your veh icle
and the trai le r.
Trailer lights
Trailer lights must meet all regulations. Be
sure to check with your authorized Audi dealer
for correct wiring, sw itches, and relays.
M irr ors
If you are unable to see the traffic behind you
using the regular outside mirrors, then you
must install extended mirrors.
It is important
that you always have clear v is ion to the rear.
_&. WARNING
- If a trailer has electrical brakes please
note that these brakes are not activated
by the factory-fitted control unit -risk of
accident!
- After removing the trailer hitch, do not
store it in you r vehicle. In case of sudden
brak ing, the hitch could fly forward and
injure you or your passengers.
- The Gross Vehicle Weight Rating for your
Audi Q7 vehicle, found on the safety
compliance labe l on the driver's side 8 -
pillar, must never be exceeded under any
circumstances. Exceeding the Gross Vehi
cle Weight Rating of your vehicle is likely
to damage your veh icle, and such dam
age will not be covered by your Limited New Vehicle Warranty. Exceeding the
Gross Vehicle Weight Rat ing will a lso
change the performance and handling
characteristics of your vehicle, which
could cause a crash resulting in serious
injury or death.
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•
•
308 Emergency situations
Emergency situations
General
This chapter is intended for trained emer
gency crews and working personnel who
have the necessary tools and equipment to perform these operations.
Starting by pushing or
towing
Q;) Note
Your vehicle is equipped with an automatic
transmission. Consequently, the engine
cannot be started by pushing or towing.
Starting with jumper
cables
If necessary, the engine can be started by
connecting it to the battery of another vehi
cle.
If the engine should fail to start because of a
discharged or weak battery, the battery can be
connected to the battery of
another vehicle,
using a
pair of jumper cables to start the en
gine .
Jumper cables
Use only jumper cables of sufficiently large
cross section to carry the starter current safe
ly. Refer to the manufacturer's specifications.
Use only jumper cables with
insulated termi
nal clamps which are distinctly marked:
plus(+) cable in most cases colored red
minus(-) cable
in most cases colored black .
A WARNING
Batteries contain electricity, acid, and gas.
Any of these can cause very serious or fatal
injury. Follow the instructions below for
safe handling of your vehicle's battery.
- Always shield your eyes and avoid lean
ing over the battery whenever possible. -
A discharged battery can freeze at tem
peratures just below 32 °F (0 °C). Before
connecting a jumper cable, you must
thaw the frozen battery completely, oth
erwise it could explode.
- Do not allow battery acid to contact eyes
or skin . Flush any contacted area with
water immediately .
- Improper use of a booster battery to
start a vehicle may cause an explosion.
- Vehicle batteries generate explosive gas
es . Keep sparks, flame and lighted ciga
rettes away from batteries.
- Do not try to jump start any vehicle with
a low acid level in the battery .
- The voltage of the booster battery must
also have a 12-Volt rating. The capacity
(Ah) of the booster battery should not be
lower than that of the discharged bat
tery . Use of batteries of different voltage
or substantially different "Ah" rating
may cause an explosion and personal in
jury.
- Never charge a frozen battery. Gas trap
ped in the ice may cause an explosion.
- Never charge or use a battery that has
been frozen. The battery case may have
be weakened.
- Use of batteries of different voltage or
substantially different capacity (Ah) rat
ing may cause an explosion and injury.
The capacity (Ah) of the booster battery
should not be lower than that of the dis
charged battery.
- Before you check anything in the engine
compartment, always read and heed all
WARNINGS¢
page 248, Engine com
partment.
@ Note
- Applying a higher voltage booster bat
tery will cause expensive damage to sen
sitive electronic components, such as
control units, relays, radio, etc.
- There must be no electrical contact be
tween the vehicles as otherwise current
could already start to flow as soon as the
positive(+) terminals are connected. ..,.