Towing with my 99 Legacy

[99lego]

Hello all. I am moving (finally) out of Arizona. Having lived in one place for over three years I have accumulated a few things that I cannot part with. For example an 80 pound 17' long canoe, a 950 pound Pacific Yurt, a few large Cacti, and an antique dining room table with 6 chairs.

 

Obviously I need to pull a trailer in order to haul the big stuff (canoe on the roof.) Joe Spitz at cars 101 says that SOA doesn't recommend towing with a legacy http://www.cars101.com/subwarr.html.

 

I have a 5MT and am running her bone stock.

 

I would check my owners manual but it is at the shop with the car getting the t belt done.

 

How much weight can I tow safely?

[idosubaru]

one time deal is nice you can plan ahead accordingly. i'd be comfortable towing 1,500 pounds roughly. since you're doing it once, do it with as little traffic as possible, take your time and plan on dramatically increased braking distances and balance the load on your trailer properly (throwing on how it fits best is not a good idea). if you can, having a trailer with brakes is a plus.

 

towing can be very dangerous, just proceed cautiously and you'll be fine.

 

here come the hee-haw stories: "i towed a (insert name of large item here) once and my rusted soob with leaking power steering and no antenna did fine". yes your car could tow 3,000 pounds, another car, a flat bed trailer......it really comes down to statistics. higher weights = greater chance of bad stuff, less control, decreased safety, possible legal issues, increased wear on your components...etc. it's not like it can tow 1032 pounds, but not 1033. it's a mathematical curve...as weight goes up braking distances increase, stability decreases, likelihood of accidents increase, etc.

[subaru360]

I believe it's 2,000 lbs.

 

Hello all. I am moving (finally) out of Arizona. Having lived in one place for over three years I have accumulated a few things that I cannot part with. For example an 80 pound 17' long canoe, a 950 pound Pacific Yurt, a few large Cacti, and an antique dining room table with 6 chairs.

 

Obviously I need to pull a trailer in order to haul the big stuff (canoe on the roof.) Joe Spitz at cars 101 says that SOA doesn't recommend towing with a legacy http://www.cars101.com/subwarr.html.

 

I have a 5MT and am running her bone stock.

 

I would check my owners manual but it is at the shop with the car getting the t belt done.

 

How much weight can I tow safely?

[Rooster2]

For my two cents worth, last year I helped my daughter move from San Diego to Irvine, CA. We rented a cargo van (like a telephone company repair truck) from Enterprise, and returned it the next day. Cost was about $85. For my money, it was well worth hauling in a vehicle that is designed to haul stuff. I was amazed how much can be packed into a cargo van. You will find that you will be hauling more then you first realize.

 

If there are two of you doing the move, have the other person follow the cargo van driving your Subbie. If just one person moving, rent a flat bed car hauler, the kind that the entire car drives up on. With all four wheels off the ground, there is no chance of damaging the drive train, as opposed to towing two wheels being on the ground.

 

Doing the above is a whole lot easier and better then possibly damaging your car's drive train, or wrecking your car, or getting pulled over by the cops for towing too large a load.

 

I am off my soap box..........just my 2 cents worth. I hope your move goes smoothly. Too bad moving from AZ, I would love to live there.

[Gene J]

The towing capacity for the manual trans is a lot lower than the automatic if I recall. The clutch is the weak spot.

 

Rent a van. You wont be sorry.