>       But towing with all four on the ground, rolling, would seem to
>be ok for the powertrain.  But you've got to have someone steer it.
>   (snip)
>       Or does the Synchro manual specificly tell you to never coast
>down hills or roll in neutral??

Your Syncro has a standard trans, right? (4WD, I know). Tell me if any
of this applies:

When towing a car with an automatic trans, you must disconnect the
drive shaft if goin any distance over a mile or so, unless you raise
the driven wheels and don't allow them to turn.

This is because the auto tranny is lubed by an engine-driven pump, which
obviously is not turning while the car is towed.

Do Syncros have anything like this? Do the differentials have any sort
of lube requirement which is supplied only by a running engine? I'm
guessing, here (I know very little about Syncros) abouth why VW seems
to abhor the idea of towing a syncro, or otherwise rolling it a long
way with the engine shut down. Any chance this could have something
to do with it?