Loyale Towing Capacity?

[MR_Loyale]

Early GL manuals say this. However, later ones, and

Loyales (same car) had a trailer hitch available from the dealer???

 

Obviously they can tow some. I've even towed 1500 lbs long distances in mine with no probs.....not scary.

 

Beyond that I would want trailer brakes.

 

I garauntee that camper weights more than 2k lbs.

 

I can't speak to all the manuals of cars I do not own. However I am the original purchaser of my 1993 Loyale which I still own. The owners manual states on page 6-25:

 

Towing trailer or other items with your SUBARU is not recommended.

Furthermore, the 1993 Warranty and Maintenance Booklet that came with my car states on page 9 under WHAT IS NOT COVERED last sentence:

 

There is also no coverage if a part malfunctions, fails or is damaged due to any unauthorized alteration made to the car such as the removal of parts or the attachment to the car of accessories or equipment not approved or recommended by SOA.

 

This information is repeated again on page 30 under WHAT IS NOT COVERED point (7).

[scoobiedubie]

Where does one find a hitch for a loyale....and how do you (did) you put one one....THANKS!!!

 

Businesses that sell trailers, often install trailer hitches. Especially if they have a shop. I have a trailer hitch and have towed 1500 lbs. I don't recommend towing more than 1000 lbs, however. All of the trailer hitches on EBAY are wrong for the loyale. Those hitches hang off of the hidden cargo hold. Instead, you need one that has a beam that transfers the load to the flat areas on each rear corner. The attachment at those corners is with 3- 5/16" dia bolts. You would also have a center strut that extends forward and is mounted just behind the differential. If you have a 2WD, forget about a trailer hitch, because the trailer would lift your power wheels and reduce the traction and pulling power.

[subieman666]

from a truck drivers point of view is that i would be concerned about the tongue weight of the trailer. especially since its only a single axle trailer your going to have a lot of weight on the tongue. Next is how badly are you rear shocks going to compress? if they compress a lot you going to have a lot of weight on the rear axle then the front which eliminates a lot of traction for turning. and you may have to drive in 4 wheel in stead of two wheel because of the lack of sufficient weight on the front end. Next is stopping, trailer brakes are great to have and if your going down a hill you have to go slow (with you 4 way flashers on, so everyone else knows you are going slower then the speed limit) and be in a lower gear preferable one low then what you were in climbing the hill. Also a lot of the guys that are talking about towing another Subaru with a Subaru don't have a lot of these things to consider because of the weight displacement of the load. Its just like that Toyota tundra commercial, the weight displacement of that shuttle is just right, so that the tundra doesn't have any weight on the bed of the pickup and its just pulling, if it had and tongue weight or bed weight like from a 5th wheel i honestly think that a lot of parts would've been broken. hope something in that rambling will help you

[Stubies Subie]

I got my hitch from Hitch anything.com, it's a class 1 and cost me about 140 bucks delivered. General Disorder helped me install it.

 

http://www.hitchanything.com/1991-Subaru-Wagon-CURT-1-1-4-Receiver-Class-1-Hitch-11275-2-and-4-Wheel-Drive-Including-Loyale.html

 

it's got a 200 lb tongue weight, and a 2,000 lb towing capacity, however, I believe that trailer you have is to big for your little Subaru, I tow a little utility trailer with mine that never exceeds 1,000 lbs gross weight, and it struggles with that, I wouldn't want to pull anything as big and heavy as your trailer for fear of ripping the hitch off the back of the car

Edited January 26, 2013 by Stubies Subie

[Gloyale]

I can't speak to all the manuals of cars I do not own. However I am the original purchaser of my 1993 Loyale which I still own. The owners manual states on page 6-25:

 

the attachment to the car of accessories or equipment not approved or recommended by SOA.[/i]

 

This information is repeated again on page 30 under WHAT IS NOT COVERED point (7).

 

Read my post again.

 

I didn't say that the manual recommended it.

 

I said that there was a hitch available from dealerships. I believe it was a Subaru supplied accessory, but I'm not positive.

 

I just know of several cars with a certain type of hitch,(replaces tow hook plates, and has runners that lead forward, and bolt into the frame rail behind the bumper) that were installed at the dealership.

 

I followed that with a ?

 

Did you think I was trying to say I knew anything for sure???

[jj421]

I got my hitch from Hitch anything.com, it's a class 1 and cost me about 140 bucks delivered. General Disorder helped me install it.

 

http://www.hitchanything.com/1991-Subaru-Wagon-CURT-1-1-4-Receiver-Class-1-Hitch-11275-2-and-4-Wheel-Drive-Including-Loyale.html

 

it's got a 200 lb tongue weight, and a 2,000 lb towing capacity, however, I believe that trailer you have is to big for your little Subaru, I tow a little utility trailer with mine that never exceeds 1,000 lbs gross weight, and it struggles with that, I wouldn't want to pull anything as big and heavy as your trailer for fear of ripping the hitch off the back of the car

 

I am very interested in this hitch. The one I saw on RockAuto a while back was just like this. And the price for the hitch + ball + wiring is very cheap compared to other places. So, I might actually buy this. Not for towing this camper trailer, of course, but I might buy a Harbor Freight trailer and tow around that.

 

But anyways, how does that install? It looks like drilling into the smuggler's compartment as well as drilling into the bumper. Does it drill into the metal part of the bumper?

[MR_Loyale]

Read my post again.

 

I didn't say that the manual recommended it.

 

I thought you were implying that the later manuals allowed towing based upon what you wrote.

 

Early GL manuals say this. However, later ones, and

Loyales (same car) had a trailer hitch available from the dealer???

 

Obviously they can tow some. I've even towed 1500 lbs long distances in mine with no probs.....not scary.

 

 

Thank you for your clarification. Originally when I purchased the car new in 1994, I was excited about potentially towing as the jj421. Everything I read at the time, including the owners manual said no towing. I have a small boat I would have loved to have towed with the car. Instead I bought a Dodge Ram for towing.

[Gloyale]

Well,

 

I can tell you that these cars will tow 1000-1500 lbs without feeling unsafe at all.

 

Now, the stock EA82 engine, and front axles are the weak link for that. But keep the RPMs up, and start out very slowly, espescially when starting and turning.

 

I got tired of that, so I switched over to a 2.2 and a 4.11 AWD trans from an Outback. Along with 215/65/15 tires.

 

Now I tow 2000lbs regularly, and no worries about axles or engine power.

 

I do occassianally tow even more. I took an EA81 body hulk to the scrap yard. About 1400lbs of car, on a 1500lb car hauler trailer.

 

It did fine, but I needed to leave alot of braking distance. I stayed under 60mph. Flat ground. I would not have wanted to take that up or down any mountains, espescially any curvy mountain roads.

 

That was using one of the "dealer" trailer hitches that bolts into the towpoints, and behind in the frame rail.

 

FWIW, I've seen the type that bolt the rear part of the hitch to the bumper. My buddy had one on a DL, and the bumper bent down while towing a ~1000lb drift boattrailer. I wouldn't recommend them.

 

What I have done to build hitches before, is to make a rectangular, angle iron frame inside the smugglers cover, tight against 3 walls. The 4th, left rail won't go all the way to the left end of the compartment, because of the hump for exhaust. put it as far left as possible, about 8~10 inches from center. You'll have a "boxed" in section. Now drill holes down through, and bolt the reciever(like the ebay one linked, or a home built) through the angle iron frame. This yeilds a very strong hitch.

 

My very first GL (85 GL, bought it in 95) had a homemade hitch like that. I towed several trailer loads (1200lbs+) back and forth from Oregon to Wisconsin. I later took that hitch off, and installed it on another car. Sold that one. Recently, I needed to make a hitch for my GF's new Loyale, I copied this design.

 

Pics soon.

Edited January 26, 2013 by Gloyale

[man on the moon]

When considering a question like this, I try to remember that "can the car do this?" is the wrong question to ask. The correct question to ask is "can the car do this when things go wrong?"

 

I'm pretty sure my back hair is still stuck in the seat of my college roommate's Ford half-ton pickup. The rear differential went out while coming down a steep grade in the rain, in a construction zone, at night, pulling a big trailer full of canoes. It sounds like the beginning of a bad joke, but it ended happily (or at least with everyone alive) because we were in a vehicle big enough to handle things going wrong. We may or may not also be responsible for the faint ammonia-like smell in the cabin of that truck...

 

It's not enough to move the load, you have to control it when it all hits the fan, and as others have said, a Loyale can pull, but will simply not be able to counteract the trailer if you get into wind, slick roads, or are passed to closely by a big-rig on the highway.

[turbosubarubrat]

theres a tow hitch in the junk yard in boring oregon on a gl or loyale, they would probably sell it for $20 or less.

[Subaru_dude]

Friend of mine has a spfi ea81 Brat and towed a 4wd hatch with it, it did just fine. I had an '89 2wd 5spd EA82 sedan and had a 4wd rear end in the trunk with various other parts in the trunk... I would GUESS 350lbs of stuff in it. You could definitely tell it had a hard time accelerating, having it full of people had the same effect. Didn't have any trouble stopping, but going through the mountains with more weight than just me in the car is fun if you like hearing the beautiful sound of an EA82 at 4000rpms and up.

[jj421]

So yeah, I am definitely not gonna pull this camper. I will, however, pull a utility trailer.

 

I went ahead and bought a Curt hitch, model 112751-59146, off of Amazon for $185.12. Looks like four bolts in the trunk of the wagon, and two u-bolts in the bumper, so that shouldn't be too hard. Comes with a Euro style 1 7/8" ball, which would be the best thing to keep me from towing this camper, as it requires a 2" ball. So if ever get tempted, I have to buy a ball mount and a 2" ball. Also comes with the wiring to hook it up with separate brake/turn signals.

 

 

What I plan on doing for the trailer is to buy a 4' X 8' trailer from Harbor Freight. The one in the picture below.

 

 

Gonna put a plywood deck on it, as well as the railings. The frame weighs just over 200 lbs, and the wood shouldn't weight more than 200 lbs. So that's 400 lbs total, which leaves 800 lbs of carrying weight (even thought I doubt I'll ever haul that much). So, I should be able to haul this trailer. With a couple things in it, I can't imagine it being much more different than 2-3 passengers.

 

The capacity of the trailer is 1195 lbs, which seems like the maximum I should really ever think about pulling. Like I said, I don't haul heavy things regularly, so I should never even come close to that figure. However, if I do, I'll make sure the overall driving distance is short and flat, if possible.

 

Has anyone had experience with these Harbor Freight trailers? I hear they're good, strong, long-lasting trailers, although they're a PITA to assemble and it's best to swap out the bearings if possible. I'm going to be checking on Craigslist for cheap utility trailers as well, but I think assembling this would be a fun project.

 

Turbosubarubrat, of all the times I've been to the junkyard, I've only seen one hitch installed on an older Subaru, and it was welded on. I wanted to take it off, but I can't do anything about welds, haha.

[Gloyale]

Unless you need it to fold for storage, take off those silly posts with casters behind the wheels. They like to get caught when you go into and out of driveways.

 

And if you don't need it to fold, I recommend welding the 2 halfs, so it doesn't flex so much.

[ferp420]

a freind of mine bought 2 of the cheeper harbor fraight trailers and bolted the 2 together making a double axle trailer and towed it behind a little yota wagon its real nice because there is almost no tongue weight and it can be wheeled around like a big wheel barrow when not hooked to a car ill get a pic when im there next its a cool little trailer

[presslab]

Has anyone had experience with these Harbor Freight trailers?

 

I have this same trailer, it's a great value. I also built the sides for it, and using the corner brackets it's sturdy and easy to assemble.

 

I also tow it with my Subaru sometimes. I have a similar hitch to the one pictured, but I also tied it in further up toward the gas tank. My hitch bike rack would bounce a lot before I did this.

 

When not in use I fold the trailer up and it takes very little space!

[jj421]

Unless you need it to fold for storage, take off those silly posts with casters behind the wheels. They like to get caught when you go into and out of driveways.

 

And if you don't need it to fold, I recommend welding the 2 halfs, so it doesn't flex so much.

 

I probably won't be folding it up. There is barely any room in my garage to work on my car, and I feel that bringing a trailer in would be a little tight, haha. But I'll make sure to take those things off (or never put them on). I didn't even notice them, haha. But if they get caught in driveways, I definitely don't want them since my driveway is pretty steep. I would weld the two halves, but I don't have welding equipment. And I don't know anybody that does. Maybe something for the future.

 

a freind of mine bought 2 of the cheeper harbor fraight trailers and bolted the 2 together making a double axle trailer and towed it behind a little yota wagon its real nice because there is almost no tongue weight and it can be wheeled around like a big wheel barrow when not hooked to a car ill get a pic when im there next its a cool little trailer

 

That'd be a good idea with the double axle trailer. If you do that and weld the two halves, I bet this trailer can haul quite a bit. And that's what I was hoping with the tongue weight. That'd make it easier when maneuvering it around my driveway. Also would make it easy when connecting it to the car. What's the tongue weight like when loaded? If it's still pretty low, that'd be great for the Loyale.

 

I have this same trailer, it's a great value. I also built the sides for it, and using the corner brackets it's sturdy and easy to assemble.

 

I also tow it with my Subaru sometimes. I have a similar hitch to the one pictured, but I also tied it in further up toward the gas tank. My hitch bike rack would bounce a lot before I did this.

 

When not in use I fold the trailer up and it takes very little space!

 

Those corners do look pretty sturdy. I'm thinking I'll have to wait another two weeks to do the siding (gotta wait for another paycheck ), haha. I'm hopefully gonna get the hitch in the mail late this week/early next week. Does your hitch drill into the metal part of the bumper? If so, how does it look? I have a hard time picturing it, haha.

 

-

 

So yeah, I'll probably buy this on Friday when I get paid, and build it over the weekend. Like I said above, I'll be keeping this trailer outside. From what I hear, they rust pretty easily. Any opinions? I was also thinking of doing the plywood deck and coating it in bed liner. Maybe that'd make it some degree stronger.

[jj421]

Bump and update. Have you ever been so bored waiting for a package to come in the mail, that you built an entire trailer before it arrived at your house? Haha, today I bought one of the HF trailers, built it, and got my hitch in the mail. My paycheck was not as big as I would've hoped, so I was constricted to one of the mini trailers and 8" wheels. So this is the one I ended up getting:

 

 

Managed to assemble it entirely in about 4 hours. My hitch just arrived in the mail, but it's dark outside now, so that'll wait until tomorrow. But it looks pretty straight-forward. It'll probably take me 2 hours to install the hitch and do the wiring. Then I will be able to test out towing my new trailer.

 

The downsides: At first I was kinda disappointed that I didn't get the 8 ft long trailer. But seeing this one assembled, the 8' trailer would've been too long, and I doubt I'd ever use up the entire space. It's also only rated for 870 lbs, but again, I doubt I'd haul anything that heavy. And if I do, I'll want to upgrade the brakes on my car first. The final thing is I still wish I got the model with 12" wheels. I'll probably upgrade to 12" wheels at some point, but for now, the 8" wheels will have to do.

 

The positives: The first thing I noticed when I opened up the box was that it's the same exact (or at least very close to) red as my Loyale. I'm probably gonna do 10" metal sides with rear gate (as was in the manual) and will probably paint the sides the same red. Then, combined with the perfectly small size of the trailer, it'll be the perfect little trailer for my Soob. Empty, it only weighs 130 lbs, so I'll probably be able to take it offroading (nothing major, of course) and go camping out in the woods.

 

So yeah, if you can't tell, I'm excited to use this trailer, haha. Hopefully registration won't cost a fortune. I'm definitely gonna take a bunch of pictures one I get it on the road.

[ferp420]

That's the same one my freind built they sead it was very bouncy even with motorcycles on it so the put 2 together works great I got pics last I was there

http://www.flickr.com/photos/11391300@N06/8437501307/in/photostreamhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/11391300@N06/8437421695/in/photostream

http://www.flickr.com/photos/11391300@N06/8437503787/in/photostream

http://www.flickr.com/photos/11391300@N06/8437505799/in/photostream

http://www.flickr.com/photos/11391300@N06/8437504929/in/photostream

There are a few more pics on there to just poke through they made the trailer about 10 years ago and haul everything from trash to motorcycles to scrap metal as you can see in the pictures its 4x8 and even loaded tounge heavy the tongue dosent hit the ground so its very easy to move around with out a car almost like a wheel barow or a wagon I think the sides are alittle high but its a tough little trailer and rides very smooth and best of all no tongue weight on the car even when heavly loaded

[Gloyale]

So yeah, if you can't tell, I'm excited to use this trailer, haha. Hopefully registration won't cost a fortune.

 

You have to register small utility trailers in WA?

 

In Oregon, and most "western" states you can tow either of those harbor freight trailers with no plates or regestration?

 

Larger/heavier rated trailers DO need plates. Although I see bobcats and tractors on flatbed haulers with no tags all the time:rolleyes:

[markjw]

You have to register small utility trailers in WA? :

 

Yes. Pretty much anything that can be towed down the road in this state has to have a license plate on it. Washington is Much more strict than Oregon about that. I believe there is an exception for a two wheeled car dolly, but even that is iffy.

[Gloyale]

Yes. Pretty much anything that can be towed down the road in this state has to have a license plate on it. Washington is Much more strict than Oregon about that. I believe there is an exception for a two wheeled car dolly, but even that is iffy.

 

lame

[MilesFox]

Yes. Pretty much anything that can be towed down the road in this state has to have a license plate on it. Washington is Much more strict than Oregon about that. I believe there is an exception for a two wheeled car dolly, but even that is iffy.

 

This should be true for all states as a tow dolly at u-haul does not have license plates, although any of the other trailers have apportioned licenses.

 

However, here in wisconsin, trailer plates are not requiered for anything under 10,000 lb capacity.

[jj421]

Yeah, that's a really good idea. I would do that, but I don't have the money or the need for a trailer that size. This trailer looks perfect behind my Loyale.

 

I could probably get away with not registering it, for a while. As it sits, you can see my car's license plate no problem. But yeah, I do need to get a plate for this trailer. At least insurance is optional on trailers in Washington....

 

 

After I wrote my previous post, I got excited and installed the hitch last night. Installation was a lot simpler than I thought! The u-bolts in the bumper were 20x easier than I had anticipated, and drilling into the smuggler's compartment was just as easy. Wiring was pretty straight-forward too.

 

 

I did a test drive last night, and found I had some electrical problems.

 

1) The euro ball moves around slightly inside the receiver, and when it does, the lights turn off on the trailer. Have to unplug the 4-pin connector and plug it back in to get lights again.

 

2) If I have the brakes and one turn signal on at the same time, the headlight/taillights will stop working (although the brake lights and turn signals still work).

 

This morning, I have fixed it though.

 

1) With the ball mount moving around, I fixed that by running another ground wire from the trailer to my car. It's easily removable, so I can take it off when I disconnect the trailer.

 

2) I improved the power connection and the ground connection on the taillight converter in my car. It seems to have fixed my brake/turn signal dilemma.

 

Did some driving with the trailer this morning. Its... interesting. Unless I'm turning fairly sharply, I can't see the trailer in any of my mirrors, while looking back, or looking out the window. I can't feel the trailer either. It's so lightweight, it doesn't affect my car's acceleration, braking, turning, etc. at all. I mean, I'm not gonna take a turn at high speed and slam on the brakes, but I really don't even notice the trailer behind me, haha.

 

 

It's also tricking my mind. I'm used to the long, heavy trailers in truck simulators and whatnot. I keep making unnecessarily wide turns when towing this. And wow. Reversing this trailer is quite a chore! Again, it's so light and small, so it's very sensitive to steering inputs and jackknifes easily. Not to mention the visibility, again. Especially in my driveway. Blindside reversing is nearly impossible to do, since you can't see if it's jackknifing or not. At a certain angle, you can see the trailer in the side mirror, but until you get to that angle, all bets are off, haha. My driveway is extremely difficult to reverse into, considering it's at a downward slope. But after three tries, here is my first successful reversing job into my driveway:

 

[MilesFox]

A shorter trailer moves quickly. A shorter trailer is easiest maneuvered with a longer vehicle, such as a box truck where the hitch is way past the rear axle. If you could extend the tongue, the trailer will not move as quickly.

 

You may want to get a straight receiver so the trailer sits more level. Although it will not matter with such a small trailer, a larger trailer that rides like that is more prone to sway.

 

Try opening the hatch when backing the trailer so you can look at it, watch its movements, and learn better how to anticipate which way it will go. You will have to be all over the place with steering input to back the trailer in one maneuver.

 

reading you electrical problems, it sounds like the lighting module wasn't grounded to the frame. The pigtail has a ground with the white wire. You can spice a wire to the frame on the car end.

 

Have fun with your trailer! I had one like that. It dod come with a certficate that was good to apply for title.

[markjw]

I agree. I would do whatever needed to level that trailer. And your trailer is covered by your auto policy when its hooked to your subi. If its stored in your yard or garage, it needs a separate policy to be covered from theft/damage (optional, like you say) but your homeowners or renters policy wont cover it if its stolen or damaged while stored on your property. Or anywhere else for that matter.