My understanding is that you cannot tow with a dolly, all 4 wheels must be on the ground and recommended using a flatbed.

Others will chime in, but I just read that somewhere....... here it is

Can I tow a Subaru behind my motorhome?
AWD Subaru vehicles with manual transmissions can be towed with all four wheels on the ground and the transmission in neutral. STI vehicles with 6 Speed Manual Transmissions can also be towed with all four wheels on the ground and the transmission in neutral. In addition, STI vehicles with 6 Speed Manual Transmissions require that the Driver's Control Center Differential (DCCD) is set in manual mode and the DCCD control dial set to the furthest rearward position.

Please refer to your owner's manual for additional important information on towing vehicles with all four wheels on the ground.
AWD Subaru vehicles with automatic transmission can only be towed with all four wheels OFF of the ground. Therefore, if you are interested in towing a Subaru behind your motorhome, we would suggest purchasing a manual transmission Subaru.

 

All AWD subarus need to have all 4 wheels on the ground or off the ground. Automatic subarus need a trailer all 4 off the ground. Manual's work just fine with all 4 on the ground with a tow bar.

A good friend has a Forester manual they have towed all over the US behind their RV - no issues and its the daily driver at home. They got the manual specifically to avoid a dolly of any type.

The Automatic can be towed with all 4 wheels on the ground but its only for very short distances and at very slow speeds to prevent heating up the transmission and damaging it. For an RV your options are manual transmission and a tow bar - or an AT on a flat bed trailer with no tires on the ground.

 

i think you can rent a flatbed trailer from places like uhaul and tow it that way, just make sure not to exceed your RV towing capacity and if you can get a trailer with brakes.

 

The large diesel pushers generally have a 5000lb capacity - though yes you need to make sure that your within your RV tow limits

 

So any market for a sets of wheels for automatic subarus with a bearing somewhere between the hub and the tire?

Fun to think about, but I bet you could build something cool that would work.

You just have to change out all 4 wheels to use the car (gee, that's all...).

Allow for extra width at the axle and you could make a locking hub.


Dave

 

Thanks I was afraid of that, as I added to my Subaru fleet, my kids dumped the Civics, now I am left with all AT vehicles, sure do not want to tow my antique 90 GMC Suburban

 

Towing an Impreza WRX manual 4 wheels on the ground works fine.

You WILL chew up the front tires prematurely, but that is common to all TOADs.

Normally, the driving force of the motor pushes the front tires inwards, so that's the way wheel alignement is biased. When you tow the vehicle 4-down, then the fronts tend to push outwards, leading to scalloping.

If you tow, rotate your tires religiously, regardless of the brand of auto.

 

can an '05XT 5MT tow a '11 wrx hatch or is it too much?

 

It's about 200lb overweight, even before you add the tow bar and brake actuator to the WRX.

 

so its not possible? just asking so that if and when we have to evacuate i can tow the wrx and take the family in one car and then important items in the other.

 

Only one driver?

 

two people in the XT and a baby. two dogs and two birds

 

You fill both cars full of stuff and have two drivers drive them out. Try owning three cars and having two drivers. We live in a high fire danger area you recall the Oakland Hills Fire in California? I'm 3 miles from there. We have open land/space across the street. Our plan is pack both the larger cars and our small trailer and get the heck out of dodge with certain yard sprinklers set to cycle every 10 minutes to keep certain areas near the house wet. Oh and cut down two small decorative trees next to the house which would take me all of about 10 minutes with a hand saw.

House has spannish tile roof and stucco the biggest threat are the homes around us that still have their 40yr old wood shake roofs on them those go up our home would no doubt probably burn down. Still waiting for the day when Home owners insurance will not cover a property unless the old wood shingle roofing is replaced with a far superior fire resistant product.

 

Could I tow my '14 Outback on a dolly if I disconnect the driveshaft at the rear diff.? I don't have the space to store a flatbed trailer, and the total cost for all the parts and modifications to flat-tow is outrageous; I was quoted about $2800 for the tow bar, base plate kit, and brake actuator kit. The tow dolly with hydraulic surge brakes costs a lot less, only about $1600, and I don't have to modify the car at all (other than to unbolt the driveshaft flange). The tow dolly eliminates the problem with premature front tire and steering gear wear that you get with flat towing, and the dolly is less than half the weight of a flatbed car hauler trailer. Plus, I don't have to leave a key in the car's ignition to unlock the steering; leaving a key in the ignition seems like a bad habit to get into, leading to locking your keys in the car, or inviting someone to easily steal the car.

I have also heard of a driveshaft disconnect kit from a company named "Remco", a lot of people dinghy towing Tacoma's and Tundra's seem to have installed this kit, but the company seems to have gone out of business, or at least out of production of these driveshaft kits. I have not been able to find pricing, or availability for a Subaru Outback.

 

just a outside the box idea:

Occasionally on craigslist I see Forester manuals and other cars out there with the tow bar already on them from being towed behind a RV.

(and other favorites of the RV crowd, ...like Chevy Trackers, little Jeeps, Saturns)

my relatives that flat tow are actually getting out of the RV life, = just passed too many physical milestones and can't bend over couple and uncouple the car anymore. (and plan to "make do" with a stationary trailer in florida, and a cabin in NYS, with a 15 year old minivan in between,....someday maybe plane tickets and a old car in each place).

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I mention it, as your old outback is worth top dollar to some people as it is the last of the breed of manual trans.

 

Subaru needs to make a set of locking Hubs for the TOAD crowd. (Like ME!) Much easier and better than having to have a trailer to flat tow it...

 

Or a freely rotating spacer that bolts to the hub, and the wheel bolts to it.
Just have to watch out for the wheels sticking out an extra 3 inches!

 

I've towed 3 outback with AT's home with the front wheels on a tow dolly in the past month or so, and did no damage to the transmissions. Each one was about 70 miles. I expected to toast the transmissions, but I didn't care because I just wanted the engines. In your case, I might try removing the front axles, and putting the rear wheels on the dolly. I read a post here about using a switch to lock the tranny somehow so you'd have locked rear wheel drive. The hot rodders do it. Check with @idosubaru. Backwards steering geometry might not work right on the dolly. In my case, I tow my 5 sp impreza to deliver trucks, but driving it all day gives me a backache, and now I have a couple extra outbacks with AT's and electric seats, and would like to figure out a way to flat tow (4 wheels down) them. I asked a similar question under towing, and I can't find it right now, but someone mentioned the possibility of an external oil pump. I am wondering if you'd stop every 50 or 100 miles, start it up and let the tranny oil circulate for a few minutes; maybe get a trans oil temp gauge. I might try it. Let me know how you make out.

 

I've towed 3 outback with AT's home with the front wheels on a tow dolly in the past month or so, and did no damage to the transmissions. Each one was about 70 miles. I expected to toast the transmissions, but I didn't care because I just wanted the engines. In your case, I might try removing the front axles, and putting the rear wheels on the dolly. I read a post here about using a switch to lock the tranny somehow so you'd have locked rear wheel drive. The hot rodders do it. Check with idosubaru. Backwards steering geometry might not work right on the dolly. In my case, I tow my 5 sp impreza to deliver trucks, but driving it all day gives me a backache, and now I have a couple extra outbacks with AT's and electric seats, and would like to figure out a way to flat tow (4 wheels down) them. I asked a similar question under towing, and I can't find it right now, but someone mentioned the possibility of an external oil pump. I am wondering if you'd stop every 50 or 100 miles, start it up and let the tranny oil circulate for a few minutes; maybe get a trans oil temp gauge. I might try it. Let me know how you make out.

you could disconnect the drive shafts.
@Brucey just towed home a 2005 XT behind his 2017 3.6 outback on a dolly. I wonder if he made a DIY video. or took pics.

 

Flat towing is a lot nicer than towing with a tow dolly. I think that under 3500 pounds you don't legally need brakes. I had a 3500 chevy class C motor home, and the tow dolly with surge brakes didn't really work well at all. And that dolly has hydraulic disc surge brakes. I now have a 5th wheel, and that has brakes that work. I would take it out west.

 

we have a few discussion threads on this.



foresters have shorter overhangs and their manuals seem to be what gets towed behind motorhomes.

considering your back, I would suggest a legacy or outback seat with heat.

maybe swap it into a forester manual, or a legacy or outback manual if it does not have one.

and if you got a bad back already crawling under a car to connect and disconnect driveshaft in all weather may suck too.

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I was just thinking of a car trailer that you could put a subaru on, and tow home with the subaru.
BUT light trailers with heavy cars on them have a tendency to bounce on the road. ....so kind of sucks when you are trying to get someplace faster then 45mph.

 

@BenK maybe you could just put a better seat in your existing impreza manual.
longer seat tracks if it helps you stretch out for a nap.

if looking for a forester. = gen1 1998-2002 suck in the suspension category. 2003 got more civilized and don't lean so much in corners as their predecessors.

 

I am new to this forum. I thought I replied to this thread before, can't find it, and I apologize for not knowing what I'm doing. I flat tow, 4 wheels down, a manual 5 sp impreza 2.5 for part time work delivering trucks. In the past couple of months, I towed home 3 '00 outback auto trans home on my car tow dolly, each one about 75 miles and did no damage to the transmissions. BTW, I got the car tow dolly when I had a motor home, used it once, and decided flat towing was a lot better. Anyhow, I had spun a rod bearing in the impreza, and I brought home car #1, a 2000 ob legacy sedan, but it was too nice to junk. So I brought home #2, a 2000 ob that had engine work with receipts and then wrecked. OB #3 is just to store spare parts and a spare engine. The impreza gives me a sciatic backache, so I use these clumbersom pillows. I'd like to use OB #1 to tow for work because the seat is more comfy and I'd have a spare car, but it has an AT. I've asked this before, and received appreciated, educated answers about burning the AT clutch discs by towing. Now I am wondering about leaving the engine idle in neutral and how that would affect towing? Does anyone have an opinion on engine idle for maybe 5 or 6 hours? Now I have 2 spare AT's. Is the reason I did them no damage by towing them about 75 miles because I used the car tow dolly? would it have been worse having all 4 wheels down? I guess I could find a 2000 OB manual trans, but my wife is about ready to protest my OB junkyard.

 

You've got a lot going on there.

I'll try and separate this as best I can.

Towing an AWD Subaru nose-up on a dolly doesn't directly injure the transmission. It does injure the AWD system, which is physically contained in the rear of the transmission. If you towed a Subaru Outback automatic on a 2-wheel dolly without damaging it, it's because the AWD had already been disconnected or previously damaged beyond the point of useful traction. Lots of old automatic Outbacks have trashed AWD systems and their owners don't even realize it, because they still work quite well as FWD cars. Transparent fallback.

Looking at the other case- flat towing the auto. I don't know if idle RPM is going to give enough volume & pressure to solve the lubrication challenge. Mind you this is not just the AWD components, this is the actual transmission at risk. Also you should think about what you're going to do for monitoring- how will you know when the engine stalls or runs out of gas?

Honestly I think your best bet is to keep dragging one of those automatics around on a dolly. Since the AWD clutches are already toast, you won't do any more damage. It'll tow well and be a useful FWD wagon when you get there.

 

So you've still got a some meat on the clutches. I have no idea how long it takes to grind them down all the way.

 

maybe I figured this out



The first 2 OB's that I towed home on the dolly, I inserted the fwd fuse and put the key in acc position. The batteries were charged. I didn't think that the fwd fuse would make a difference, so the third OB, I didn't insert the fwd fuse, and left the key "off" just so the steering wouldn't lock. To check performance, I test drove each one through the field after arriving home, and now that I think about it, I probably burnt the AWD out the way you described on the third OB, judging by the way the rear wheels would break loose and spin the car more easily during hard cornering.