3000 towing capacity

[OnSabbatical]

I have a six cylinder suburu outback with a towing capacity of 3,000. I've seen some used pop-ups with dry weights of 1,700 to 2,000 lb. Is this car feasible for towing pop-ups or is there something I'm not getting?

 

[SpencerPJ]

Sure, that car can pull a small popup.  I would pay close attention to payload, or carry capacity.  It's really easy to say a trailer (empty) weighs 2000#, hence about 250# tongue weight, but then add a battery and full tank of propane and it's more.  Very easy to loaded a popup with extra weight.  Hop on a Subaru Forum and see what others say  )

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

Adding to what SpencerPJ said, the Suburu may be able to tow it but that doesn't mean you will like the performance and handling. Remember, you will have people and gear in the car as well, so the total load is likely to be pushing its max limits.

 

[OnSabbatical]

Does the tow capacity include the weight of the people and gear in the car itself?

 

[darsben]

Does the tow capacity include the weight of the people and gear in the car itself?

No that is payload capacity. A 3000 lb popup would reduce your payload capacity by 300 - 450 pounds depending on tongue weight

 

[Oldgator73]

We purchased a Winnabego Winnie thinking the 2500 pound dry weight wouldn?t be a problem for our Nissan Quest with a tow rating of 3500 pounds. After several trips I told my wife we?re going to have to buy something a bit more hefty. Ended up with Nissan Frontier. You?ll be surprised how fast you?ll get to the tow capacity of your Subaru once you get all your gear, food, people, dogs and anything else you want to take loaded up.

 

[Ex-Calif]

What year subaru and how did you determine the tow capacity? Rating of trailer hitch installed or from the owners manual?

My I regularly tow 3-4000 pounds with my 3.7L Jeep with a 5,000lb hitch.

You should have no issue with a 2,000 pound pop-up. I towed 2,000 pounds from Cincinnati to Denver with a Hyundai accent.