towing capacity legacy wagon 2.0 GL AWD manual shift (2002)

[guyc]

Hello all

 

Can anyone let me know what is the towing capacity in kg of our legacy wagon 2.0 GL AWD manual shift (2002)?

 

Or, let me put it this way: I towed a trailer (trailer + load together approximately 1900 kg). Maximum speed was 75 km/hour. The trailer load was not evenly distributed; therefore there was more weight on the front wheels of the car.

 

I'm wondering if there could be something broken. I explain myself:

• I was manoeuvring the car with this heavy load on the trailer into a prairie. I got a phone call, and a friend of mine continued the manoeuvring without me noticing. When I came back, there was an ugly smell (which could be compared to the smell of overheated brakes). I don't know how he did the manoeuvring.
  
• Today my wife was driving with a very light trailer. Because she got stuck in a one-way street, she had to drive 500 m in reverse; she asked my brother-in-law to do this. I don't know how he drove, but since he was driving, there was the same ugly smell. It even lasted while driving on the motorway afther this reverse driving, but it decreased.
  

 

Do you think, according to this info, that I wore out the clutch or something else? When my wife came home just now, I accelerated the car (with empty trailer) as fast as possible, but couldn't notice a problem with the rpm going up without the speed going up too.

 

Could anyone give me some answer and feedback please?

 

Thanks and greetings

 

Guy, Belgium

Edited July 9, 2012 by guyc
added one word for clarification

[idosubaru]

the clutch is burning up like crazy, don't try to reverse with such heavy loads. my full size truck will burn up the clutch if trying to push trailers to hard in reverse that I routinely pull.

[guyc]

Thanks for your reply.

 

don't try to reverse with such heavy loads. my full size truck will burn up the clutch if trying to push trailers to hard in reverse that I routinely pull.

 

Why is the clutch wearing (faster) in reverse? Why less while driving forward?

 

Remember me writing that the last time, it was a light trailer (in fact: that trailer was empty).

 

How can I check if my clutch needs to be changed or not? Can I check this myself (I'm not a mechanic)? The only check I did, was driving and accelerating to see if the rpm were going up and the speed not.

 

Greetings

 

Guy, Belgium

[idosubaru]

Why is the clutch wearing (faster) in reverse? Why less while driving forward?

it's easier to pull than it is to push. the reverse gear ratio is a little less than 1st gear.

 

when backing up with a trailer you are usually doing something with it...turning, lining up, etc, requiring that you feather the clutch. it's not very often when you simply fully let out the clutch and hit the gas pedal in reverse while towing - you'd jack knife the trailer.

 

when going forward the trailer by geometry simply pulls straight behind the car...in reverse it's the opposite you're pushing the trailer and it requires work to keep it in alignment without jackknifing.

 

if it's not slipping your clutch is fine, there is no way to test it short of pulling the engine out and measuring the thickness of the clutch disc. you no doubt lessened the life of the clutch with all that wear, i've done it before too. that's simply the cost of towing and giving it such a work out in reverse.

[guyc]

Hello

 

Thanks for your clear answer. Than there's still remaining my first question:

 

Can anyone let me know what is the towing capacity in kg of our legacy wagon 2.0 GL AWD manual shift (2002)?

 

Greetings

 

Guy, Belgium

[idosubaru]

Hello

 

Thanks for your clear answer. Than there's still remaining my first question:

 

 

 

Greetings

 

Guy, Belgium

 

owners manual

call the dealer

google

this says 1,300 kg:

http://www.uktow.com/towing%20capacity1.asp#tab1

 

lots of information out there. having towed to the limits on Subarus the limiting factor is the cooling capacity, not the engines, trans or brakes. although i'm not sure what a 2.0 can do, i'm used to the larger engines out here and own 2 H6 vehicles.

 

but what the car is rated for is not necessarily what it can do so the numbers aren't very helpful. we have steep mountain grades in 100 degree (38 Celsius) heat with high humidity. in those conditions, which i've towed in, you are severely limited in weight far below what Subaru's recommended maximums are. the engine and transmission hold up fine, but the cooling capacity is not close to handling it, Subarus will overheat. A/C on and they overheat instantaneously, that's not even an option to run the A/C. if you drive without A/C on and turn the heat on high (really nice when it's already 100 degrees outside), it can act as a secondary heat sink/radiator and dump more heat into the cabin and you can carefully maneuver the mountain passes and barely make it...and that's below Subaru's "maximums"...though not much below.

 

so it depends what kind of driving you're doing more than what they say the limits are.

 

that site above says 1,300 and Europe has higher limits than over here. but there's no way you could tow that weight over here in the conditions i outlined above - your car would overheat the first mountain pass you had to climb and blow the motor up if you blindly followed the Euro or US limits....

 

so take the numbers with a grain of salt. it's not like at 1,299 kgs the car drives like it's not towing anything and is perfectly safe...and then at 1,301 kgs it explodes and is undrivable.

 

it's would be approximated as a mathematical curve....the more towing you do, the more grades you hit, the more dangerous situations you may encounter (storms, deer, elk, moose over here), the higher the heat, the higher the humidity....the more the cooling capacity is taxed and the higher the risk factor is for braking, handling, etc.

 

it's a curve not some mystical number that changes everything.