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Turbo a problem for towing??

4654 Views 12 Replies 10 Participants Last post by  soobcrazy
I was camping recently, and talked with a couple that had an A-liner trailer pulled with an outback. 2009 I think. I bemoaned feeling limited by the 1500 pound rating on my '16 ForesterXt, and he said the problem is the turbo! I have heard multiple arguments about towing close to/ above the US tow limit, but none included the turbo being a factor!
If I want to tow a 17-1800 lb pop up trailer 300 miles, am I going to blow up the engine due to the turbo? What if I add engine cooling & the other recommended goodies?
Thanks
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Good rule of thumb for towing is that any trailer over 1000lbs gets trailer brakes. So with brakes I wouldnt worry about 1800lbs even for 1000 miles, without brakes I would choose secondary roads with lower speed limits and not make it a regular thing to go further than a few hundred miles.

Towing 1800lbs for 300 miles one time will not put additional wear on the turbo or the CVT.

Doing a round trip of 300-600 miles, 5+ different times a year for multiple years with 1800lbs should not add appreciable wear to the turbo, it will increase CVT fluid degradation, and probably wear the brakes more than anything else.

So if you do this regularly plan to have the CVT fluid changed by a dealer every 30k (total miles not towing miles) and budget for brake pads more often than usual.

I towed 600-800lbs of motorcycle and trailer about 6000 miles in the first 30k, and noticed the CVT was smoother and got better mileage after getting the fluid changed, dont skip on that service item when towing regularly
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