Decisions, decisions

[Organize4u]

Hi all,
I am new here. I am looking at purchasing a 1977 Trillium 13'. Here is my dilemma: in 2011, I bought a Subaru Impreza Outback Sport. It's not the Outback that you are probably familiar with. It is a lower profile, sportier model. Anyway it's towing capacity is 2000#; hard to believe for this style vehicle. I am back and forth on the safety of towing the Trillium. I did test tow a 13" 1981 Boler and it felt fine. I need to make a decision. Please help!

Thanks,
Egg Owner Wannabe

[David Tilston]

The Trillium 1300 is definitely less then 2000 lb. You may end up a bit over 2000 lb after you load it though. If it has electric brakes and your Outback has a brake controller, I don't see a problem.

There aren't many trailers that are much lighter.

[Carol H]

Originally Posted by David Tilston

If it has electric brakes and your Outback has a brake controller,

The OP does not have an Outback they have a smaller Subaru as stated with less of a tow capacity their's is only 2000lbs.

My suggestion would be to load the trailer up with your camping gear and then weight it - dont forget to include the weight of the tongue. There is only one such trailer on the real world weight listing here that has been weighed and it came in at 1840lbs loaded for camping.

[bec]

Originally Posted by Organize4u

Hi all,
I am new here. I am looking at purchasing a 1977 Trillium 13'. Here is my dilemma: in 2011, I bought a Subaru Impreza Outback Sport. It's not the Outback that you are probably familiar with. It is a lower profile, sportier model. Anyway it's towing capacity is 2000#; hard to believe for this style vehicle. I am back and forth on the safety of towing the Trillium. I did test tow a 13" 1981 Boler and it felt fine. I need to make a decision. Please help!

Thanks,
Egg Owner Wannabe

We've had two oldie Trilliums that we refurbished and one new . The oldies were 1300 lbs dry ( with the ice-box - a bit more with fridge )..... the new 1395 dry ...... Unless I thinking of a different Subaru - I think it's a fairly light weight vehicle ..... never would tow with front wheel drive ... especially in the hills . Bolers have been a bit lighter weight than Trillium .

[Organize4u]

David,

Thanks so much. I am not intending to be near 2K as I will limit what I load on to the unit. My main concern was the profile of my car and how it would tow. It gets scary when you read some of these posts on what is safe to tow and what is not.

I am also going to see if the seller will be kind enough to weigh the unit as it will be quite a distance for me to travel to buy it.

Thanks.

[Organize4u]

My car is 4 wheel drive. BTW Carol, what is an "OP"

Thanks,

[dylanear]

The Outback Sport is no different than a standard Impreza for towing from what I understand. I believe it's simply an appearance package, not like the suspension changes and greater ground clearance the Legacy Outback and the Impreza based Forester have.

I'd guess you'd be OK with a 13' class trailer, especially with brakes, but I don't know Trilliam specs, weights.

[Roy in TO]

Originally Posted by Organize4u

I bought a Subaru Impreza Outback Sport.

There should not be that much difference in towing a 13' Trillium vs a 13' boler. There may be some differences due to the frontal area and contours.

Although I tow with an old Ranger, I notice the effect of wind and speed on the my Trillium 4500 more than on my boler American. The 4500 is longer, wider, taller and heavier.

Someone recently posted a description of the effect of frontal area relating it to parachutes and sails. Very good concept. Does your manual say anything about frontal area? I noticed you did not say anything about tongue weight as that is important too.

[dylanear]

It's definitely 4wd, not fwd, and a later model like the '11 is likely not all that light weight.

2011 Subaru Impreza Outback Sport Specifications

3108lbs apparently, so not super heavy either.

[BCDave]

"OP" means "Original Poster"

[Organize4u]

thanks for all of the input. the seller is going to weigh the unit and let me know the tongue weight. there are not brakes and i don't have a brake controller that i know of.

[WildBirder]

Marie to the Forum. I'm in a similar boat and wanted to add that I was disappointed with my manual, which I checked for towing specs before purchasing the vehicle. In a LATER section of the manual, that I did not read until I was home, it added that trailer brakes must be used for trailers over 1000 lb. Not a big deal for me because adding brakes was in my plans anyway. They're surprisingly cheap.

[Carol H]

Originally Posted by Organize4u

My car is 4 wheel drive. BTW Carol, what is an "OP"

Thanks,

OP is Original Poster.

Is your car a 4 wheel drive or an All wheel Drive?

I tow with an All Wheel drive Outback and I can tell you it is a very solid tow. I have towed with other vehicles such as trucks in the past and all I can say is the Outback is surprisingly solid tow, actually better than a truck I once towed with. LOL I rarely even notice any trailer movement even when its being hit by side winds which were hard enough to put a semi trailer sideways in front of me one day. I have even had it (not planned) in a snow storm and had it up to 10,000 feet in elevation. Have had the unfortunate experience of having to stop the car/trailer at high speed on a hill and it had no issues doing that - actually handled that situation way better than I had expected and probable a lot better than many other vehicles would have. The one and only negative to towing with an Outback that I can point to is its limited allowed tongue weight allowance which greatly reduces what trailers it can in fact safely tow.

I dont know what the aerodynamics or weight differences are between your vehicle and the Outback are though. I also dont know what the tongue weight of your trailer is or specs in that regard are for your car either.

Have a hunch though if the trailer has brakes and it weighs in at or under the tow weight specs set by Subaru you will find the car will handle the trailer just fine.

Hope that helps.

[cpaharley2008]

Do you have a hitch receiver installed yet?

[MC1]

Originally Posted by Carol H

I tow with an All Wheel drive Outback and I can tell you it is a very solid tow. I have towed with other vehicles such as trucks in the past and all I can say is the Outback is surprisingly solid tow, actually better than a truck I once towed with.

Have a hunch though if the trailer has brakes and it weigh in at or under the tow weight specs set by Subaru you will find the car will handle the trailer just fine. Hope that helps.

I'm with Carol on this one. We too have used a truck and our car towing the 23' Airstream feels better/more stable. You need to get the connection right and brakes on the trailer is highly disirable.

There is a good talk here about a guy who towed his 10' pop up with a 4 cyl Camry. A pro set up got him a custom hitch and WDH. That is what we use too. Works! RV.Net Open Roads Forum: Towing a 10' Popup with a Toyota Camry

[Carol H]

Originally Posted by MC1

A pro set up got him a custom hitch and WDH. ]

A note to the OP - Subaru does not recommend the use of WDH (Weight Distribution Hitch) on their vehicles.

[MC1]

Originally Posted by Carol H

A note to the OP - Subaru does not recommend the use of WDH (Weight Distribution Hitch) on their vehicles.

Correct. Their factory receivers are not strong enough to support the leverage from the WDH. That is why a custom heavy duty receiver would be required.

This is a custom receiver being installed on a Sub. Quite a difference between custom and factory.

[dylanear]

Originally Posted by Carol H

OP is Original Poster.

Is your car a 4 wheel drive or an All wheel Drive?

I tow with an All Wheel drive Outback and I can tell you it is a very solid tow.

I'm pretty sure all Subarus these days are 4wd in the US market. The new sports car BRZ being a notable exception.

And in this case it's very important to make the distinction between an "Outback" which is based on the larger Legacy chassis with a lifted suspension and the "Outback Sport" which is an appearance package on the smaller Impreza that mostly changes the look of the car. The tow rating between an Outback and an Outback Sport could be quite significant.

Been researching Subarus lately.

[Organize4u]

Ok, here is the site which shows my car specs:

2011 Subaru Impreza Outback Sport Base 4dr All-wheel Drive Hatchback Specs

It is an all wheel drive and weighs over 4K lbs. I do have a receiver hitch which I had installed. The seller is going to weigh the unit. The unit does not have brakes.

M

[Thomas G.]

Originally Posted by WildBirder

.............. it added that trailer brakes must be used for trailers over 1000 lb. Not a big deal for me because adding brakes was in my plans anyway. They're surprisingly cheap.

Not cheap if the axle doesn't have the mounting flange.