Towing with Outback

[El Chupacabra]

There's plenty of evidence of CVT failure when loaded. Or even unloaded. They're just not very durable.

why the fuck would you by that brand?

That is an excellent question.

[Tailwind]

This feels like people are overstating the probability of failure.

Will it put more wear on the transmission? Sure.

Will that wear push it to the point of failure? Probably depends on how close it was to start.

Driving the vehicle gently within factory specs should be fine.

It’s probably best to think of it like extra depreciation and wear and tear on the car. Maybe it’s Normally 30 cents per mile… maybe towing is 60 cents.

I think most people just don’t like to face the fact that road trips cost way way more than gas. IE drive 2000 miles and it actually costs you gas plus $300 of repairs and $300 of depreciation. Towing a trailer might double that.

[RShea]

I don't think U-Haul allow cross-country van rentals? And the $19.95 a day also comes with 69 cents a mile so another ~$2k

Well there are others besides U-Haul, Budget, Ryder maybe that could be investigated also, but never did a U-Haul van or investigated the fine print.

[anotherVTskibum]

On the cost per mile standpoint, I'd say your cost per mile probably triples or quadruples with a Subaru and triples with a half ton, assuming you load similarly close to GVWR on both and are pulling enclosed trailers. Open trailers aren't quite as bad, assuming you don't put a wind grabbing load on them.

ETA I haven't moved cross country with a Subaru, but I've done it in a box van and in my pickup truck, both towing trailers. That's where I'm getting my ballpark numbers.

[El Chupacabra]

This feels like people are overstating the probability of failure.

Will it put more wear on the transmission? Sure.

Will that wear push it to the point of failure? Probably depends on how close it was to start.

Driving the vehicle gently within factory specs should be fine.

It’s probably best to think of it like extra depreciation and wear and tear on the car. Maybe it’s Normally 30 cents per mile… maybe towing is 60 cents.

I think most people just don’t like to face the fact that road trips cost way way more than gas. IE drive 2000 miles and it actually costs you gas plus $300 of repairs and $300 of depreciation. Towing a trailer might double that.

CVTs seem prone to fail at low mileage even without towing. Additional strain from towing isn't going to improve chances of longevity.

[SoVT Joey]

Just going out on a limb here and could be wrong… towing the Subaru has to be done with a actual trailer from what I know, all wheel drive can’t be towed unless all four tires are off the ground, or if it’s a manual transmission, which is still probably not a great idea, so a car dolly is not a choice. You can disconnect the drive shaft but I assume that’s probably a pain in the ass and extra expense.

if towing I’d minimize the amount of stuff in the car and put as much as I could in the trailer. I would also make sure the trailer and hitch are set correctly for height to allow towing properly. Also add sway bars from trailer to the hitch, wind sucks on a single wheel trailer. Buying a small trailer might not be a bad option because you can set it up correctly before you need to leave. Regardless it’s not going to be cheap. I use www.bulletproofhitches.com for all my hitches. They are very helpful if you call and talk to them. Which I highly recommend before ordering the wrong size adjustable. The return shipping is a killer, at least it hurts quite a bit when a 2.5” hitch with a 6” adjustment has to be shipped back, that’s from experience. The also have the sway kits available. They are very high quality and I’ll never use a different hitch again and I’m consistently hooked to 14-18k on my super duty.

shipping is probably the best option or really paying attention to the weight being loaded in a trailer. An option for shipping may also be looking on some hot shot trucking boards and see if you can be added to a load. Hope that helps some.

[AK47bp]

I'm contemplating a cross country move towing a small uhaul trailer (4x8 or 5x8) with my 2017 2.5 Outback (CVT transmission).

I'd need to get a hitch and wiring installed. Should I have the transmission serviced?

Does this car actually have enough power and capacity to do this? I know on paper it should, but my guess is that this is going to not a ton of fun to pull.

Don’t do it dude.

Not worth it.

Stay where you are and lay down roots.

[andrewo]

I used an ‘03 Subaru Outback to tow a Heavy 4 stroke sled on a trailer for years. And car is still kicking as my daily driver, if you aren’t exceeding the capacity you’ll probably be fine especially if you just cruise. But if you are concerned then like previously stated get a Uhaul truck with a car trailer.

[Backward_Banana]

About 100k ago with my '09 I drove across the country with a fully loaded Uhaul, 2 extra passengers, and a loaded car + roofbox. Had the great idea to go over Teton Pass, made it up in second gear at 6k rpm.

Car is still rolling, but I did redo the entire suspension between now an then.

[Gepeto]

.....

[SchralphMacchio]

CVT fluid service and an aftermarket transmission cooler and you might be okay … but probably not worth it.

I towed an open utility trailer with my 16 FXT which had the high torque CVT. At 50k miles and only a couple of short tows of that trailer, I had a shop do the fluid service and add the tranny cooler. They said my oil was black and nasty. Driving it normally (unloaded) after the service I was blown away by how smooth the power delivery was, as it had been slowly eroding over the life of the vehicle. It was much happier towing once I had the tranny cooler in place, I could see my engine oil temp was also running lower than it was before the tranny cooler was in place. Subaru is so full of shit for saying that CVT fluid is good for the life of the transmission. My vehicle clearly needed and benefited from that … I did another fluid service at 80k and sold the vehicle.

Not sure I would have wanted to pull a small enclosed trailer with the 2.5 and standard CVT.

[adrian.bee]

CO > Maine with a fully loaded 5x8 and roof box, but was a 2014 with a 6MT. I had a few instances of trailer bounce that went on for several minutes but other than that it handled totally fine.

[oldnew_guy]

Maybe I just need to buy a Tacoma.

[m2711c]

you still wafflin' around on this decision?

[oldnew_guy]

you still wafflin' around on this decision?

It's what I do best. Stay tuned for my thread on what tires to put on my Outback for a east coast winter and towing across the country twice.

[adrenalated]

Maybe I just need to buy a Tacoma.

We've moved on from Tacomas. It's all about the lifted Tundra these days

[summit]

I'm going to put a receiver on my 3.6 2013 with a 5 speed. Goal is towing a camper <2k

[SchralphMacchio]

I'm going to put a receiver on my 3.6 2013 with a 5 speed. Goal is towing a camper <2k

Aftermarket transmission cooler is cheap insurance. I’d try to install a brake controller and 7 pin as well. If your suspension is stock it won’t feel great under hard braking - stiffer dampers (and springs if you really wanna go crazy) would help.

[LHutz Esq]

Aftermarket transmission cooler is cheap insurance. I’d try to install a brake controller and 7 pin as well. If your suspension is stock it won’t feel great under hard braking - stiffer dampers (and springs if you really wanna go crazy) would help.

That isn't exactly "cheap".

Cheap is sell this coast stuff,
Drive cross country
Buy that coast stuff.

[El Chupacabra]

Aftermarket transmission cooler is cheap insurance. I’d try to install a brake controller and 7 pin as well. If your suspension is stock it won’t feel great under hard braking - stiffer dampers (and springs if you really wanna go crazy) would help.

Do not add a transmission cooler to a manual transmission.

[SchralphMacchio]

Isn’t the manual the 6 speed and the auto the 5 speed?

[El Chupacabra]

Isn’t the manual the 6 speed and the auto the 5 speed?

No idea.

[summit]

Isn’t the manual the 6 speed and the auto the 5 speed?

yes

why can't you extra cool the manual?

[El Chupacabra]

yes

why can't you extra cool the manual?

How are you going to pump fluid through a cooler on a manual transmission?

Manuals do not require additional cooling. Keep fluid level full and change at appropriate intervals.

[summit]

^ah

mine is an auto