Quote:
Originally Posted by McKenna Lynn
I am planning on retiring in a few years and traveling full-time in the U.S./Canada for 2 years (just myself and cats). I have never towed and am trying to educate myself ahead of time. I liked the Chalet XL 1935 but now am leaning towards the Escape 17B, mainly because of the cats. I have a 2011 Subaru Outback 3.6R which can tow 3000lbs, and just realized I may need a different vehicle to tow the Escape with dry weight 2100. I travel and camp alot, but this is new to me. Any advice would be appreciated....McKenna in Colorado
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Since the main part of your question has to do with the tow vehicle, I think you'd do better to ask it in a
Subaru forum...
But as a starting point, I advise a careful perusal of your vehicle owner's manual. I took a quick look at one online. It's true that your vehicle has a "tow limit" of 3,000 pounds, but there's more to be considered than just that number. There's language there as to limits on long uphill stretches, but perhaps more important and really the limiting factor for you is that the
trailer tongue weight can't exceed 200 pounds.
Period.
(There are no modifications one can make to increase that number, by the way.)
Since for purposes of towing stability, most non-European camptrailers must be towed with a minimum tongue weight of 10% of loaded trailer weight, the Escape 17 clearly will exceed this limit by at least a hundred pounds once loaded.
The evident disconnect between the stated tow limit and the low allowable tongue weight is easily explainable and very common in vehicles of this size/class. Boats are the most commonly towed units by vehicles of this type, and since due to differences in design they can be safely towed with a lower tongue-to-total ratio, a 200 pound tongue weight with a 3000 pound boat would be perfectly stable. ( In all cases, trailer weights over 1,000 pounds do require trailer
brakes.)
I frankly agree with your hunch that you'll need to consider more tow vehicle (or less trailer).
Good luck!
Francesca
P.S.
It's agonizingly slow to load, but here's a link to the online
2011 Outback Owner's Manual
It covers all models including your 3.6, and trailer towing info starts at page "8-19".
F.