Subaru Forester Owners Forum banner
Cancel
Create thread New Garage Forums

1998 - S 5MT - Towing questions? - SOLVED!

('98-'00)
Tags
car trailer hitch towing towing forester
Jump to Latest
  • The "Garage" feature is for images of YOUR VEHICLE/S only - no blanks or other unrelated images please, thanks
1 - 19 of 19 Posts
Y

y42bG

· Registered
1998 Subaru Forester S 5MT
Joined
·
5 Posts
Discussion starter · #1 ·
Vehicle Details:
1998 AWD
Transmission:
Manual
I have a 1998 Subaru Forester, almost 300K on the clock. I need to tow my project car alot and Uhaul wont rent me a trailer for my V8 Explorer. But they will for this? I have the 2" Uhaul reciver on it (previous owner) rated for 3500 lbs. My project car weighs about 2100 pounds. Uhaul said its safe but I need advice on this.

I am not going to tow with it currently as it has a few issues, Bad lower ball joints. And my struts are blown out? If I hit a bump or jump on the rear bumper the car will jump into the air. Once they are fixed would it be safe to tow with it? is it even powerful enough?

Forgot to mention we spent about 4k getting it running correctly after buying it, timing redone, new clutch, slave master cylinder, brakes etc.
 
owns 1998 Subaru Forester S
5 Speed, Bought for 500$ as my first car.
#3 ·
Why wouldn't they rent you a trailer with a V8 Explorer? That's far more suited to towing vs your Forester

How far are you planning on towing the tailer?

Anything over 1500Lbs and it is very strongly recommended to have trailer brakes and keep her under 65mph.
 
Discussion starter · #6 ·
TMX said:
Why wouldn't they rent you a trailer with a V8 Explorer? That's far more suited to towing vs your Forester

How far are you planning on towing the tailer?

Anything over 1500Lbs and it is very strongly recommended to have trailer brakes and keep her under 65mph.
Click to expand...
Less than 30 miles. And its due to the explorers rolling in the 90s. Firestone sent out faulty tires that would come apart and cause explorers to have life ending crashes. And people tried to sue Uhaul over it so its now the only car they have ever banned. I'm not sure why my little Forester is allowed to tow a car with them compared to it but rules are rules. And I'll invest in some trailer brakes.
 
#8 ·
y42bG said:
Less than 30 miles. And its due to the explorers rolling in the 90s. Firestone sent out faulty tires that would come apart and cause explorers to have life ending crashes. And people tried to sue Uhaul over it so its now the only car they have ever banned. I'm not sure why my little Forester is allowed to tow a car with them compared to it but rules are rules. And I'll invest in some trailer brakes.
Click to expand...
Forester is allowed because they don't have a warning sticker regarding roll-over hazards which is why the lawsuit was filed in the first place. The Ford Explorer was notorious for roll-overs even without pulling a trailer.
 
#11 ·
The U-Haul toy hauler trailer weighs 3,155 pounds before you load your 2,100 pound car.
Over 5,000 pounds is a lot of weight to haul with a Forester. Renting a U-Haul truck to pull the trailer might be a better plan.
 
#12 ·
Well it sounds like you don't have a choice. If they will only rent the Tow Dolly for your Forester, it sounds like you have no choice. Plus from what you are describing since the car you are towing doesn't weigh alot I'm pretty sure your Forester can handle it. But like others have said you may wear out your clutch sooner than you would like.
 
Save
Like Like
#13 ·
Personally, there is no way I would tow that kind of weight with a 4 cylinder. I wouldn’t even tow that much with my V6 van.

Better option is to just rent a Uhaul truck to tow it when it needs to be towed. Easier on your Forester, and safer for you and everyone else around you on the road.
 
#14 ·
Only going less than 30 miles you could use a tow-dolly, you would need to disconnect the propeller-shaft from the rear differential to safely tow with the rear wheels on the ground. Slow and easy should be your best friends on this tow.

Have fun and a safe trip.
 
Save
Like Like
#15 ·
Keep at least in the back of your mind, that if you tow something that weighs more than your car's owner-manual-stated max towing weight, and you then get in an accident that leads to a lawsuit against you, it seems possible (probable?) that the jury won't be happy with you. And probably not your insurance company, either.
 
#18 ·
y42bG said:
Its a pain because my explorer has no Firestones on it and its much more capible than my Forester lol
Click to expand...
Rent the trailer using the Forester, bring it home and swap-out/use the Explorer as the tow vehicle. After all, it's much better suited for the task.
I've got a 98' Forester MT, love it, and would never ask it to do something it was never designed for, I like it too much to abuse it. I towed a friends big 'ol Honda Goldwing on a trailer with it, and I could definitely feel the weight pushing when trying to stop. Anything other than light weight loads, I use my F-250. It's more job rated.
 
#19 ·
The above advice would most certainly violate Uhaul’s rental agreement and therefore would not be recommended. I know for a fact that when I have rented a Uhaul trailer the agreement specifically stated that you could only tow it with the vehicle stated in the agreement.
 
1 - 19 of 19 Posts
You have insufficient privileges to reply here.
About this Discussion
18 Replies
10 Participants
Last post:
maller01
Subaru Forester Owners Forum
posts
2.6M
members
209K
Since
2006
We’re the best Subaru Forester Owners Forum to talk about the best years of the Subaru Forester, modifications and reliability history of the Subaru Forester.
Full Forum Listing
Explore Our Forums
General Troubleshooting and Technical Help Interior Europe Members' Journals General Forum