Towing Casita Freedom Deluxe With Subaru Outback

[james cronn]

We are considering purchasing a Casita 17' Freedom Deluxe and would like to tow it with our 2007 Subaru Outback. the Outback is equiped with an automatic transmission and a 4 cylinder normally aspirated (non turbo) engine and is rated for 2700 lbs. towing capicity. The Casita dry weight is 2385.

Casita recommends a class III hitch and the Subaro has a Class II rated for 3500 lbs.

We would get a brake control device and 7 pin plug installed.

Anyone have experience with this combination.

Thanks,
Jim

[Booker B.]

Hi James,

I think most members will agree that you would be over the tow capacity once the casita is loaded. I am towing a 13' Trillium with our 2005 Forester (same engine as your Outback). It's a great combination and I would not hesitate to tow a 15' Trillium which is closer to 1500lbs dry. However, the 17' Casita is realistically closer to 3000lbs loaded. I better choice would be Minivan like a Honda Odessay, a V6 SUV like the Rav4 or a small V6 pickup like a Tacoma or Ranger.

Cheers,
Booker

[Cam A]

I think the deal breaker is the tongue-weight of the casita. I have heard that a loaded trailer can approach 450 pounds; the official rating is, I think 300 pounds. WDH are required by vehicles larger than the Outback to cope with the weight.

[Michelle A]

I feel compelled to provide input because I'm a bit of a Subaru nut. I did a lot of research when we were considering buying a trailer to tow behind our Forester. I really wanted to minimize wear and tear, because I truly adore both of our Foresters (yes we have two) and I want them both to live long and happy lives. Based on the information on this website and others, I came to the conclusion that a 13 foot is the safest bet. I hope this helps.

Good Luck!

[Donna D.]

I wonder if a new Trillium 4500 should be considered as well? It's a bit bigger than the 13' trailers, but smaller than the 17 footers. Link to Trillium 4500

[Patrick M.]

Jim, I think the Casita is too heavy for the 4-cylinder Subaru. Most end up at 3,000-3,500 when loaded with stuff, and the tongue weight is significant, although a WDH will mitigative that.

You should either switch to a 13'-15' trailer, or get a different tow vehicle, but you might want to do a search over at the Casita forums for Subaru experiences.

[Ron Stewart]

I wonder if a new Trillium 4500 should be considered as well? It's a bit bigger than the 13' trailers, but smaller than the 17 footers. Link to Trillium 4500

But the Trillium 4500 has the same shell as the fifteen-foot Escape, and they will not be in production until this fall. Which is why we are planning on towing a 13' Escape behind our 2000 Forester.

But we are considering buying a used Ford Escape with 3500 pound capacity and a 17' Escape trailer. The Fords can be had for well under $10,000 US, (although I think older ones are only rated for 3000 pounds).

Ron

[Mike Magee]

Rated hitch weight on the deluxe is currently 365 lb. Most likely the battery and propane are not included in that figure! The class 2 hitch is only rated to handle 350 lb. tongue weight, I believe. Like Cam A said, that's the big problem you face even if you load lightly and manage somehow to stay under 2700... which is pretty iffy. I would not feel comfortable towing a deluxe with less than a class 3 hitch on a vehicle made for class 3 towing.

Sure, your engine and tranny might survive if you took it easy, but you don't want the hitch to rip off at highway speed.

Mike

[Martin D]

Jim, the Subaru is not capable of "towing" the Casita. There is a huge difference in moving an rv from one spot to another and safely towing it. We evaluate every item we place in our Casita. When loaded for an extended trip I have had the hitch and the entire unit measured on certified scales. The hitch weight was 505 lbs - total weight 3409 lbs. The most this weight could be reduced if we took off all food and half of everything thing else carried is 350 lbs. We never carry full water tanks, gray and black are empty and the propane tanks are usually half filled,

You are heading for failure with this one in my opinion. Do not discount how much weight that 3000 lbs really is when trying to stop or lug it up hills or mountains. Martin

[Lou & Lora E.]

we bought our freedom almost exactly 7 years ago.
we went to a rally in kentucky in may, and there was a couple giving a seminar on trailer safety, etc.
they weighed any trailer for $35. and provided a computer print out with recommendations, etc.
we weighed about 3500 and were told that we were "light" compared to others. there were about
70 trailers there, don't know how many were weighed.
we were "light" partly because we had had the trailer for only about a month....not enough time to "fill it up"....we now probably weigh near 4000.
in fact we bent an axle about 5-6 years ago and replaced it with a 4500 lb axle.
hope this gives you something to think about.

[Nate]

i have a 1997 impreza L AWD, and as i know it is tough and gutsy and torquey and solid, my 73 13' boler made the headlights point in the trees. the hitch bent, and i almost wore out the clutch. it was just too much, and also braking was scary. the boler was within the limitations of the capabilities of the car, but it was too much to handle.

[Dlynne]

We use to tow our 13' with my aging full size SUV and I felt the car was getting
too old. When we upgraded to a 16' Casita I retired my SUV from towing
and bought new Honda Odyssey with the engine that cuts off cylinder for the econo
mode when not towing. I would not have a TV any smaller. Our 13' weighed in
at 2000 lbs. fairly empty. We have not been to the CAT scales yet with '06 Casita but, know
it is at least 500 lbs. more. I'm looking at a Forester to use as a daily commuter car so we
will go down to only one TV.

[Bobbie Mayer]

A bit OT, but has anyone seen the info on the new 2010 Outback? I was trying to find tow rating and couldn't.

[curtis c]

bad combo in my opinion. your to far at the top of your towing cap. plus you have to figure in the weight in the car too. gear, people etc. i like to keep my rig a minimum of 1000lbs under the rating capacity. and like someone said earlier towing is a lot different than moving your trailer across town. you get into trouble on a hill and you could have some Major problems.

[Dlynne]

Agree. I knew of someone who was towing too large a stick built trailer with their small
van and the trailer started to ''wag'' the trailer after a truck passed by. She told us both vehicles rolled
and were both totaled. Luckily no one was injured seriously. They carried quite a large load inside the van. We try to be careful how we pack both the car and trailer and all family members are on diets including the dog!

[CD Smith]

Curtis, I am curious about your "a minimum of 1000lbs under the rating capacity" comment.

If I tried to do that I couldn't pull my Casita 17' SD.

The maximum load capacity of the Escalade is 1392 lbs. Take away the weight of two passengers (460 ponuds), the hitch weight (475 pounds), and what we carry (375 pounds) and I don't have much capacity left over. This has nothing to do with towing capacity.

Most people talk about towing capacity and hitch weight capacity, but then completely ignore that each vehicle since 2004 has a plackard that defines the maximum load (passengers and cargo) the vehicle is rated to carry.

I know one person that pulls an 17' Oliver with a vehicle thats only rated for 850 pounds. Can this TV pull the weight, yes! can it do it safely, qestionable!

What about you?

[Jim Hovind]

We pulled a 25' Sunlite from Elk River to Washington/ Oregon and back in 2004. The 4.0 Exploder we pulled with was rated for the 3800# Sunlite but driving 50mph and being scared to death the entire 6000 mile trip was not fun.
We replaced the Exploder with a Surburban and get better gas milage and driving at 75mph is a walk in the park.

Now we replaced the Sunlite and the 13' Burro with a 16" Casita looking forward to our first trip.

Jim H

[Pete Dumbleton]

Rather than a specific weight, there is a Rule of Thumb that's been around for a long time that says don't tow more than 75-80% of your tow vehicle's tow capacity.

This may have some basis in fact because tow capacities are established by the manufacturers with new vehicles in good weather, on good roads at sea level. Ford has a note in their tow capacity tables to 'reduce tow capacity by 2% for every 1,000' of elevation' (Towing in Colorado can easily put you at 10,000', which is a reduction of 20%).

BTW, someone towing an Oliver with a tow vehicle rated for less than 1,000 lbs is taking some serious chances not only with his own equipment and family, but also those on the road around him/her. Were I sitting on a jury, I would consider that to be gross negligence.

We have photos of trailers being towed with garden tractors. I'm sure I could tow an egg up Pike's Peak with a motorcycle but not at all sure that I could get it back down again...

[Donna D.]

We have photos of trailers being towed with garden tractors. I'm sure I could tow an egg up Pike's Peak with a motorcycle but not at all sure that I could get it back down again...

Sure you could Pete. Just a heck of a lot faster than you intended and I guarantee you wouldn't stop until you hit the bottom.

Stopping is probably a lot more important than "going." If a tug is pulling more than it safely should, you can bet it will have a tough time stopping when it should too.