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  #1  
Old 02-05-2004, 04:49 PM
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Subarus as Motorhome Dinghies

Now that I live in the mountainous part of the Southwest, I've started seeing quite a few Subarus being towed on the road behind motorhomes. These are fairly late-model Subies, so I know they're AWD.

Since every AWD Subie owner's manual I've ever seen is quite clear that Subies shouldn't be towed, I'm wondering - how are these guys doing this? Are they just saying screw the drivetrain, I'm gonna tow it anyway?!?!
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  #2  
Old 02-05-2004, 05:01 PM
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Unless they're crawling under them each time to unbolt the prop shaft...

...actually, my Justy spent most of its life as a motorhome dinghy. Of course, it's FWD....
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  #3  
Old 02-06-2004, 08:37 AM
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This is from a 2004 Baja owners manual:

"Towing with all wheels on the ground:

For vehicles with automatic transmission, the traveling speed must be limited to less than 20 mph, and the traveling distance to less than 30 miles. For greater speeds and distances, transport your vehicle on a flatbed truck."

So you can tow the car with all four wheels down, but it is not recommended. What Subaru does warn you about is towing the vehicle with two wheels on the ground and two off.



Dave
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  #4  
Old 02-06-2004, 08:52 AM
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I've had a bunch of Subaru's since 1981 and I had a GMC motorhome. I built a towbar at the time to use my Subaru as a 'dingy' (I used the tow eyes as attachment points for the tow bar). (I've still got the towbar and have used it for various 'emergencies' since with other Subaru's.) However, this was my '85 RX Turbo Sedan which had the 'on demand' 4WD w/ a 5-sp manual transmission. (My '87 RX had the full-time AWD). Worked great as a towable on a trip to CO one year (especially once when we ran out of gas in the MH!).

At the time, Subaru did not advocate towing at all, but they relaxed their stance in later years. I haven't followed since they went exclusively AWD.

There are some tricks you can employ to reliably tow AT vehicles- which should be applicable for AWD, too. One common practice is for a small hydraulic pump to be installed that assures transmission fluid gets circulated while towing to keep things cool and lubricated.

-Mark
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Old 02-07-2004, 12:07 AM
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you can tow a MT subaru w/ AWD and all the wheels on the ground for as far as you desire if the transmission is out of gear
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  #6  
Old 02-07-2004, 08:23 AM
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Quote:
Originally posted by NomadTW
you can tow a MT subaru w/ AWD and all the wheels on the ground for as far as you desire if the transmission is out of gear
That is correct.

Mike
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Old 02-07-2004, 09:43 AM
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Quote:
Originally posted by NomadTW
you can tow a MT subaru w/ AWD and all the wheels on the ground for as far as you desire if the transmission is out of gear
That explains it. Thanks for the info, guys.
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