trying to decide

[Carol H]

Originally Posted by Nancy L

it was a camplite, livin lite 14'. The subaru should pull it, my GVWT is 2700. But I really like the insulation, etc of the fiberglass trailers. Retired and wanting to travel the US. Have camped all my life, but always tent camped. Wanted to upgrade.

Sorry I am not sure what you mean by GVWT? not familiar with that term. I believe that the 2700lbs is actually your tow capacity rating. Your GVWR would be your gross vehicle rating and its including the vehicle's chassis, body, engine, engine fluids, fuel, accessories, driver, passengers and cargo etc. and its a very different number & higher than than 2700lbs as the car itself weighs more than that. The GVWR should be on the label on your drivers door. Most probable in the 4500lbs range.

As been mentioned Subaru gives you a decent towing capacity - 2700lbs or 3000lbs depending on which Outback you have but they limit the tongue weight rating at 200lbs regardless of the total tow capacity spec. So unless you are pulling a boat (which have lighter tongue weights than RV's) you are never going to get a safe solid tow and come close to maxing out the tow capacity rating on an Outback.

Basically you need to look for a trailer (fiberglass or sticky) that has a total (axle & tongue weight) *loaded* weight of under 2200lbs. The reason for that is the the trailer needs to weigh only 2000lbs or less on the axle to allow you the room to put the needed 10% tongue weight (200lbs) on it for a solid safe tow. Subaru does not recommend the use of a Weight Distribution Hitch on their vehicles in order to help you out with that situation. When I asked Subaru at the dealer as well as the national office as to why no WDH I was told it was a safety issue - concern that the weight shift the WDH will interfere with their All Wheel Drive system.

The thread Trailer Weights In The Real World is a good place to start your search as you will see the weights of the trailers is broken out so you can see what ones weigh less than 2000lbs on the axle.

EDIT: BTW #37 on that list is my trailer and you will see I was running it at 200lbs on the tongue - that was a very short lived experiment on my part at trying to keep within the Subaru's 200lb tongue weight limit..... did not work out at well at all! Only did it for one trip. #33 is my trailer weighed again with a much more solid safe tow set up and its normal set up for most of the time I pulled it with my Outback - that btw was pretty lightly packed with no water in any of the tanks - one propane tank and one battery - No AC or microwave etc. It was also REALLY hard in regards to wear and tear on the vehicle and why I currently have an Outback with fairly low miles on it for sale.

[OneOleMan]

Nancy, it would appear even the Camplite 13’ may well exceed your Subie’s capacities; a dry tongue weight of the Camplite 13QBB is 235 lbs and the Subie's maximum is 200 lbs.

With what little research I did about towing, (with my now traded Subie), the T@B Teardrop appeared to be the only TT with a bath that is in the ballpark weight wise.

I have to agree with Jim. (because that’s exactly the route I took), especially if you plan to travel the US.

[Uplander]

Best advise...Never Exceed Tow Rating...Always select a tow vehicle that has a greater tow rating than you need and always stay under that limit...make sure you have a Trans-cooler and a quality trailer brake controller. Safety first.
If you exceed your tow rating you will destroy your vehicle and someday soon find yourself stranded on the side of the road waiting for help...not fun!

Always buy the best rated vehicle for the task at hand. If you are buying new get one with a factory tow package. Double check the ratings on both the tow vehicle and the specs on the trailer of your dreams. Do it right the first time and spend less in the long run and always be a "Happy Camper".

Listen to the advise of other veteran campers...they have been there and done that...all too often we learn from our mistakes and that gets expensive.

[rdickens]

Nancy,

Welcome to the forum.

Like you, we previously had both tents and also popup trailers. We now
have a 2014 Scamp 13ft with the new 54" bed. For pictures see:
http://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/f51/scamp-full-size-bed-smaller-table-size-65096-3.html

==============================================
Just a couple of questions for you to consider:

How many people do you want to sleep? (Adults only? Kids/grandkids?)

Does your Outback have a manual transmission or a transmission cooler
on the automatic transmission?

How far do you plan to travel?

What kind of facilities (bathrooms/showers, electric, water, sewer)
might be at your planned destinations?


============================================

Besides the "Trailer Weights in the Real World: thread, you might
look at a couple of other recent threads:

http://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/f...ght-67206.html

http://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/f...m-67198-3.html

http://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/f...tml#post492479

If you are careful about the tongue weight, a 16ft Scamp might be
within the Outback's capabilities. However, I wonder if you might find
it to be a more agreeable towing experience to tow something that
actually weighs much less than the Outback's rated towing capacity?

Scamp Lightweight Travel Trailers & Small Campers - Scamp Trailers

Many choices will be influenced by your own camping style and
personal wants and needs (see questions above.) All considered, I
suspect that one of the many lightweight fiberglass trailer brands
and sizes might truly be your best option? But that's just my guess ....


I think that you will find lots of information and friendly, helpful people
on the forum.

Good luck with your decision!

Ray

[RogerDat]

You know how it is more stressful to drive in bad weather than good weather? Towing right at the edge (or over) the capacity is going to be a lot like that.

Now some people tend to travel in a manner that is more like folks travel in bad weather. Slower speeds, shorter distances, less heavily traveled roads. The can make it work but given a choice I would go with having more capacity than I use just because it is more comfortable to drive and tow.

[Bob Miller]

About the only FGRV I can think of offhand that weights well under the Subaru's towing specs AND has a bathroom is the Hunter Compact-II, but some folks might find it a bit tight for space. Here's some pics of ours:
Hunter Compact II Photos by advocateone | Photobucket