I am planning on moving from Nashville to Washington D.C. in the next few weeks. I have installed a 3,500 lb hitch to the Outback thinking that I could save time/money by renting a U-Haul trailer but now that I have read more and more about the potential damage I could do to the car’s engine and transmission over that 660 mile distance I am beginning to think it is time to cut my losses and just rent a truck and have my Fiance drive behind me in the Outback. I only plan on hauling 1500 pounds of junk.
I purchased the car after leasing it for three years and only putting 25K miles on it.
I have found the capacity to be about 2700 lbs. W/O towing option transmission cooler. I feel the margin of safety is sufficient at 1500 lbs if you go no higher. The biggest problem IMO would be keeping speed down so OD is not used which should keep towing at the 55 to 60 mph range. If you are willing to do this, I see no problems with a 1500 lbs limit. Make sure your 1500 lbs includes the TRAILER Or very little higher !
The cumberland plateau’s harsh climbs plus the fact that the trailer from u-haul weights an Empty weight: 1,920 lbs really has me second guessing. thanks for your response!
i hope i can use the installed hitch for a small watercraft or something in the future…
Check your owners manual for the rated towing but I rented one once and thought it had a pretty good capacity. Instead of renting one of those Uhaul hogs, why not just buy a 300# trailer at the farm store instead? They’re only about $500 and you could always sell it again.
Great idea. They are great to have around and very easy to tow. Some have as much as 2000 lb capacity and only weigh as little as 250 lbs. In aluminum.