Subaru Outbacks and Brakes

[KA]

Hi Subaru Owners,
Those of you who are towing with your Subaru Outbacks...Did you add brakes? If so, what kind? How close were you to your tow vehicle limits...over or under? Any final weights for 5X8ish Benroy style trailers?
Thanks.
Kris

[madjack]

Kris, another fact to consider is your location, which will cause you to do a fair amount of mountain drivng...trailer brakes in that situation can add GREATLY to both saftey and peace of mind...
madjack
p.s. it will cost you around a buck andda quarter for the contoller and another hundred or so for adding the brakes to your axle....that one time cost of 250 bucks is cheap insurance, in my book, for your situation...

[KA]

You are probably right Madjack. I plan to go up and over the mountain passes a lot. I think I'll just get the brakes.

Thanks.
Kris

[Finntec]

I have a 2006 Subaru Forrester. When we left last month on our trip to AK from NY I could barely tell the TD was hooked up. Near the end of the trip (10,200 miles)I could notice a little wear on the brakes. On my next build I will put brakes on the TD for extra safety.

If I was using a non-Subaru tow vehical I would not hesitate to put brakes on the trailer. I think the Subarus let you get away with things other cars would not handle as well.

On our trip I never felt like I needed more braking ability. I also never felt unsafe. There were some very big hills up there. Remember, you can always downshift to 3rd. I did that quite often. I was a little reluctant about my Subaru purchase before the trip. Now I am very comfortable in it's ability and happy with towing the TD.

BTW we had about 200 lbs of gear in the car and our TD weights about 600lbs with about 100 lbs of gear in the TD.

[KA]

Thanks Ray and Debbie,
I'm pretty sure that I'll be adding brakes to my build even though it sounds like I could get away without them.
Kris

[pgwilli]

Hi Kris,
We are on our way back from th IRG and noticed our campground has wifi.
We are towing a 5 x 10 Hunter Fat Shadow with a 2005 Outback.
We had brake installed when we ordered our Tear even though the spec weight was only 800 pounds, 200 below the weight when Subaru requires them....I'm glad we did.
Once we load the Shadow up for a trip, it weighs around 1300 pound IF we are carefull with what we bring.
The trip to the Redwoods was a breeze and we've been averaging 21.4 mpg.
Glad we had the brakes for all the long hills.

[Finntec]

Not to change the subject, but we got 21 mpg on our trip too.

[KA]

Thanks Paul and Norma and Ray and Debbie,
I've pretty much decided to get the brakes. It is good to hear about the weight difference from loaded to unloaded and also good to hear that the gas mileage stays up.
Glad you had a good trip.
Kris

[bledsoe3]

Kris, I too just returned from the IRG in my '04 Outback. No brakes and had no troubles. 21 mpg.

Thank Paul and Norma for everything.

[KA]

Hi Jim,
Glad you finished the tear and were able to make a successful trip. Thanks for the info on the trip without brakes.
Kris

[Katie&Craig]

Kris,
I noticed in a previous post that you were thinking of getting a torsion axle from Six Robblees (if I remember correctly).

Something to consider is the difference in price for getting brakes when you order the axle and getting them later. We were quoted an extra $100 if we got the brakes with the axle and $160 if we wanted to add them later. The difference in price has to do with having to change out a part (hub?? - sorry don't know much about axles).

We ordered ours w/o brakes because I couldn't make up my mind and thought we would be getting to building soon. Haven't yet begun to build, but have a lot of the pieces collected! Depending on our final weight, we probably will spend the extra $$and add the brakes later since we do a lot of mountain driving. We have a 2003 Subaru Forester.

FYI - the people at Six Robblees were extremely helpful and willing to spend a lot of time making sure you get what you are looking for.

Katie

[jmtk]

As another Subaru owner, this thread caught my interest. I estimate my 5x8 sort-of Benroy will be around 850 to 900 lbs loaded for a trip. We'll be towing with our 2002 Subaru Impreza Outback Sport, and up and down some serious mountains. The tow limit on the car without brakes is 1000 lbs, so I've been building with that weight in mind. The car is a manual 5 speed, so we'll downshift if the hill starts to look scary. It remains to be seen if the decision to go without brakes was a good one

For you other Subaru folks, how big is your engine? Ours is the 4 cylinder 2.5 L boxer engine. I know some Outbacks have a V6 3.0(?)L, so was curious what others had.

Jeanette

[angib]

My understanding is that the cost difference for adding brakes to a purchased axle is so small that it would be worth ordering the axle with brakes, just in case you might want them later.

On the fiberglass RV forum folks talk about retrofitting brakes to axles with brake flanges and then the cost is nearly as high as a whole new axle!

None of this is relevant of course if you're using a Harbor Freight or other utility trailer, where brakes are not an economic option.

I know some Outbacks have a V6 3.0(?)L, so was curious what others had.

Surely putting a V6 in a Scooby-Do would be the devil's work? All Subarus have flat fours or flat sixes. (Actually, we have had the baby Subarus that have straight-threes, but you haven't seen them in Merka.)

Andrew

[jmtk]

Andrew,

Oops, indeed you are correct, no V. Hey, at least I got the 6 cylinder and 3.0L part right The question still stands, though, what do most folks have, 4 cylinder 2.5L, or 6 cylinder 3.0L?

Jeanette

[Finntec]

I have the 2.5 4cyl. I would like more power, but the car is fine the way it is. You can never have enough power you know.

Much of my trip, I was driving like I stole it, so concidering that, the car and trailer held up very well.

Going down very steep grades I just downshifted into 3rd and coasted down the hills at 30-45 mph. I have an auto trans.