Question for Scamp 16 owners towing with Subaru

[honda03842]

JD,

When we towed light we kept the trailer tires at max pressure, 50 psi and the tow vehicle rear tires at 39 psi, fronts at 36 psi, looking for stiff sidewalls in both cases.

[greenghost45]

Originally Posted by DougOlson

I am looking at getting a Scamp 16' standard to tow with my 2008 Subaru Forester, rated at 2400# trailer GVW (200# tongue) with the Subaru installed Class I hitch (2000# rating). Since the dry weight of Scamp 16 is somewhat below the Class I ratings but most people find towing weights closer to the 2400# limit on my Forester, I was just wondering if people have replaced the Subaru Class I hitch with a Class II hitch (3500# rating). Comments and thoughts welcome. Thanks.

Doug; In my view your Forester should NOT be towing a trailer over 1,500# all up, regardless of the hitch rating. I have over 300,000 km of towing experience in the last 6 years as I pull new RVs from the factories to the dealerships. I have towed across Canada and to Texas and California. The trailers have ranged from 40' gooseneck to 15' travel trailer and from 1,500# to over 15,000#.

My commercial tow vehicles have always been Dodge Cummins diesel pickups but we also own a 2006 Outback wagon 2.5. We just returned from a 2,500 km trip from Vancouver Island to Waterton Lakes Park, Alberta and we towed a 1,700 # tent trailer that we rented for the trip. We carried little or no fresh water and not too much gear so the all-up weight should have been around the 2,000# mark.

The Subaru did OK but it was clear to me that this was a marginal load. The mountain passes were attained in 2 gear with the engine labouring and this was in moderate fall weather. Handling was OK but the tent trailer was more noticeable than a 30' travel trailer behind my Dodge 3500. If I were ever buy a trailer to tow with my Subaru, it will be no more than 1,000# empty and I will be keeping the water and gear to a minimum. This is just my opinion but it is based on many hindreds of thousands of kms of towing and my experience towing with a Subaru. Best of luck in whatever you decide!

[Brandon_W]

Hi new member/scamp/outback owner here I just wanted to chime in here and say that i have dont have any problems towing our 1982 13' scamp with our outback 2006(except for the mirrors-extension needed) I must say that I dont have much scamp or outback experience since both are fairly new to us(3 scamp trips, 1 with outback) i DO know that i wouldnt be happy with a 4cyl outback, ours is the 3.0 H6 version, and i wouldnt have it any other way!