subby towing things

after watching the wagon attack videos and one of them having something about towing a dolly and a car with that wagon, it got me to thinking about how the heck i am going to tow my race car next year. I have a 1995 subby legecy l wagon with a 2.2 4 banger and a 5 speed with 14 inch tires and brakes. I was wondering if adding a hitch to it and fixing the rear sturts since they are toaste would it be able to tow using a dolly my 88 chevy monty carlo stock car(totaly gutted and everything), along with a extra set of tires or so and a small amont of tools and 2 or 3 people. i was hoping to avoid a extra tow rig sitting around anoying the street and my grandmother. as i said its an idea i was thinking about.

For some reason your idea instantly made me think of this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsPnwi0nb2Q

I have nothing else to add to your question and I don't know if it will or will not work.

Carson wrote: For some reason your idea instantly made me think of this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsPnwi0nb2Q I have nothing else to add to your question and I don't know if it will or will not work.

exactly. That car could tow a jet ski, maybe two on a light trailer. Anything more than that, make sure your insurance is paid up and you family knows you love them.

Disclaimer: DO NOT DO THESE THINGS, UNTRAINED IDIOTS RISKING OUR LIVES

My roommate and I are Subaru EA82 (DL/GL/GL-10/XT/etc) guys, I'm sure you remember us I'm sure ckosacranoid. We like our Subarus. Here's the list of what we've towed without dying:

1982 Subaru Brat:1988 Subaru RX turbo, 1992 Legacy wagon

1988 Subaru GL sedan: 1989 Toyota Camry wagon, 1987 Lincoln Town Car

1995 Subaru Outback (your old car!): 1984 Subaru GL-10, 1978 Toyota Chinook camper, 1984 Renault Encore, 1987 Subaru GL-10 turbo

1988 Subaru DL wagon: 1990 Audi 90, 2003 Hyundai Elantra

Subarus have the right gearing, lots of torque, and the right stance; I wouldn't worry about towing the Monte. Then again, we towed the Town Car 45 miles with a car about 1/2 its weight...YMMV, OMGLOL, etc

Brakes are always the controlling issue on towing. You can move most anything with anything, like a strong man towing a train. He can move it, is he strong enough to stop it?

The American way:

"What, you want to tow a 4x4 utility trailer, well you could do it with something other than an Powerstroke diesel F350 Duelly if you want, hey, it's your life so go for it but don't complain to me when you die in a fiery wreck'

The European way:

Same 4x4 trailer get's towed behind a SMART car. Yes I've seen this, unfortunately my camera was in the trunk and I was driving so couldn't document proof.

I had an 88 Cavalier when I still lived in the UK, luckily it was the big engine one, the 1.8L, not the 1.6 or smaller! With that I used to regularly borrow a friends tandem axle trailer. I moved my TR7, a friend Mini, several thousand pounds of industrial shelving. I'm not talking about moving them across town either, I mean from the south cost to my parents in Yorkshire, 240 miles away, round London and up the busiest Motorway in the country. No electric brakes, heck no trailer brakes at all. And guess what? no one died, little fluffy kittens didn't spontaneously combust as I drove past and baby Jesus didn't cry a new world flood needing Noah to build an ark. Some how the world kept turning too!!!

I wouldn't want to tow a race car with a Scoobie these days, but if it's all you've got just go carful.

There is a guy who has been flat towing his 944 race car with his WRX wagon. If you are talking short distances I wouldnt worry. If this is a routine thing you may want to consider an upgrade.

Do you want to maintain 95mph on the DC beltway while towing? Are you towing over the pass into Vail? Are you going to head through LA in afternoon stop and go traffic? Then I would say no.

On my commute home to track, I can maintain 45-50mph on a pretty lightly traveled highway. In that instance, I would have no worries towing with the Subie. Flashers on uphill, lot's of braking distance downhill.

There was a gentlemen over on special stage that towed his GC8 rally car with an Outback wagon. Part of his reason for doing so was to have a parts car with him during the race!

Disclaimer: DO NOT VIOLATE THE TOW RATINGS OF YOUR CAR, YOU COULD DIE OR GET SUED!

You know how I feel about this. Spend time on the Airstream forum and read what the Canadians are towing with. Listen to Adrian and what the Brits tow with. Check out tow ratings for cars in the US vs their counterparts in the UK.

The US auto companies decided that the American public had bought into the 'you need a tow vehicle' to go along with the two or three other cars you need to own. Of course they were happy to sell you a high profit truck. The lawyers then jumped in and said if you don't tow with a big truck and get in an accident, we are going to have your ass.

Be careful, make and informed choice, try not to get in a wreck, and don't be surprised if you do wreck to have the sharks at your door.

(brakes are probably a bit more adequate than your leggy, tho)

Speaking of Soob's towing things... http://www.autoblog.com/2009/12/20/behold-the-power-of-subaru-wrx-sti-tows-semi-out-of-snow/#continued

thanks for the info and ideas, gives mesomething to think about if i had to get an extra car to tow it would have been looking for a amc eagle with a 6 cly anyway, but i might just to looking arround and see what it would cost for a hitch and stuff for the wagon at least, it would save some money and the towing i am looking at it around the state area and meybe to somewhere around indy or so, if i can attand the challange i would get something with a bit more ommp to tow though the mountians anyway and would use a trailer over a dolly to florida from the windy city anyway.

wasn't it a recent GRM where someone was towing his (rally, race, or autocross) car on a flatbed trailer behind a 5-series bmw wagon?

I remember growing up we drove from Seattle to Virginia Beach in an Audi 90 towing a 20-foot sailboat....no issues there.

LIke stated above, it's all about your brakes really. I wouldn't want to tow anything significant with my subie, but that's only because our 4Runner has some of the most awesome stock brakes known to man...

my parents have towed quite a few heavy things using chrysler minivants. The v-6s have enough power for the mountains. The brakes are decent, they're fairly reliable and comfortable for long cruising and there is tons of interior room to carry all of your race gear, spare parts, and a couple skanky girls to lean against the hood of your car wearing short skirts and cutoff shirts while you're in the pit area....

plus, they're pretty inexpensive and alot of parts interchange between the long production run.

you'll be ok

Although they did use a Lincoln for the big hill...

Jeff wrote: You know how I feel about this. Spend time on the Airstream forum and read what the Canadians are towing with. Listen to Adrian and what the Brits tow with. Check out tow ratings for cars in the US vs their counterparts in the UK.

After you do that, check and see if the transmissions and braking systems are the same. I'm not saying they aren't, but I don't know if they are. Most of the small cars in the UK have diesel engines. Diesel means way more torque to get things moving, way more torque means stronger trans and axles most times.
Those all go into tow rating.

I have towed with 88 sedan across chicago some 300 miles on more than one occasion. (and all that slick dizzy mentions)

i have used the same legacy mentioned to tow u-haul trailers, and empty auto transport trailers that weigh 2000 lbs.

i would tow the monte on a tow dolly. make sure your soob is properly weight balanced for handling, and you know what you are doing. going with a flat trailer is too much tongue wheight

i have had towing combinations that have pushed me around as well, you got to know how to pull out of sway and use the gas for control

it can be done, i would recommend short distances, unless you have nerves of steel, and know what to expect

u-haul sells hitches that fit the legacy, you can get 2500 lb, with 1/14 receiver. there may be a 2 inch receiver available, if so, use that.

u-haul will not approve the towing combination for the subaru. you will have to use another vehicle to get the rental contract first, or purchase a towdolly for around 500 bucks

yes.. americans are "sold" on using the biggest possible truck for towing the smallest possible trailer.. soon we will be using peterbuilts for taking the trash to the dump.

For years, I used an escort wagon with a trailer for delivering theatrial equipment.. aside from dodgy braking under load (I did eventually stuff the car under a pickup trying to avoid an accident) and ONE time where the tail wagged the dog.. I had no issues in almost 40,000 miles of towing.

after I stuffed the wagon under the pickup, I threatened my boss with buying a ranger for towing.. he went out and got our first big box truck.. which made is a LOT of money and gave the company a much needed boost in looks.

I would like to add that you should use trailer brakes. I think they are necessary for any load over 1000 LBS.

I did check engines when I compared US to UK models. In all cases I checked, the US models had more HP and more torque.

What you're suggesting seems more than a little risky.

You probably should invest in something that can tow your racecar without endangering yourself and the general public, and slaughtering a perfectly good Subaru in the process. I'm not suggesting you get a Peterbilt, but you should really think about getting a decent half-ton truck, or at least a V-6-powered Toyota 4Runner or Tacoma, and there are a lot of good used ones available.

In virtually all states, and Illinois is one of them, any trailer over 3,000 pounds is required to have its own brakes. Illinois also requires insurance on its trailers. And by the time you pull a Monte Carlo, tools and two or three people, you're also greatly exceeding the GVWR of the Subaru. I can smell the clutch and brakes now. There also is the issue of transmission damage in the towed vehicle, unless you disconnect the driveshaft.

I just launched a Web site that might be helpful to you or anyone else who needs information on towing trailers. For more information, visit www.OnlineTowingGuide.com. Thanks.

There are lots of places in the world (including Canada, Europe, etc) where the legal system is not as rigid as here.

We live in a litigious society. Keep it in mind.

I really doubt most of the people posting in this thread have ever lost control of a trailer. I have. It doesn't take much.

I tow regularly (averaging 200 miles per week towing). I have towed hundreds of different trailers with hundreds of different types of rigs logging hundreds of thousands of miles over 30 years of towing. I have still lost control of 2 trailers. Both were being towed by adequate tow vehicles, but got squirrely because they were imbalanced.

It's not hard to screw up.

I have also towed with a VW Bug, and a motorcycle, so yes, I understand towing with small vehicles.

You are overloading the car. Seriously. It's dangerous.

Will you be able to stop adequately when a little kid on a bike rides out in front of you?

Is it worth the risk?

Actually Paul that is a really good question. Can a Subie with a braked trailer out brake a big truck towing the same weight trailer. A Subie will by far out stop the truck unloaded, does it get bad enough with the braked trailer attached to match the truck?

as of right now its still being debated anyway, since the race car is not done yet and i do hope to get it down this spring anyway. the way anything goes depands on cash for doing anything anyway. knowing my luck i will have done car and no money to even attand a local autocross....