Towing a Series 3 88

[srady]

I have been transfered to Mobile, Al and would like to tow my Series 3 there. I have a 05 Subaru Outback w/ a class 2 hitch and it is four cylinder. Any suggestions or warnings?

Thanks,
Scott

[greenmeanie]

I'll let others with more towing experience comment on realtive weights of the two vehicles. You may do better towing the Scoobie with the truck as either way you won't be going too quickly.

If your going to flat tow your truck pull the prop shafts and you'll avoid all the usual issues about potential gearbox damage.

Cheers
Gregor

[martindktm]

I was told by others here and its also written on the instruction plate in the Land rover to put the transfert case in neutral and put the gearbox in fourth to towing it..

[Tom Santoli]

I was under the impression that a vehicle should not tow more than 80% of its' own weight on an unbraked trailer; this suggests the Land Rover is too much for the Subaru.

Tom

[badvibes]

srady-

I've towed my 2A about 100 miles with a 1/2 ton pickup. Did the t-case in neutral, tranny in 4th bit. No problems. If I understand correctly that you're in Florida you're looking at about a 500 mile tow. I don't know if I'd look forward to towing either of your vehicles 500 miles with the other. Not saying you couldn't do it, it'd be a slow ride though. It's not much fun to be chugging along the highway pulling an old truck with people flying by. I think I'd try to locate a truck to tow with or drive one to Mobile and fly/ride/swim back to Florida and drive the other out. What about a 2nd driver to caravan with? Have a lot of respect for your line of work. Good luck.

Jeff

[SafeAirOne]

For What it's worth:

From the U-Haul website:

Class 2 (Class II) hitch

Trailer hitch with weight-carrying rating of up to 3,500 lbs gross trailer weight and 300/350 lbs tongue weight.



What's an 88 Weigh? TeriAnn's site says 3281# for an 88 station wagon with 5 galons of fuel and nothing else.

What's an Outback weight (I dunno...)

[xsbowes]

Personally I wouldn't do it, I felt nervous with a class III pulling an autohauler with a Lightweight 240 miles, but that was through Snoqualmie Pass in December. When I moved my 88 from Norfolk VA to Whidbey Island WA, I used my Dad's F550 flatbed towing a boat behind it. Couldn't even tell there was an additional 5000 lbs of weight.

[galen216]

I was told by others here and its also written on the instruction plate in the Land rover to put the transfert case in neutral and put the gearbox in fourth to towing it..

It is easier and safer to just pull the driveshafts. It really doesn't take that much time to do so.

[Tim Smith]

I wonder if the clutch in the Subaru would have anything left after a trip like this. The subi motor is made for high revving power so you'll probably be slipping the clutch a lot just to get rolling from stop lights.

The rover would be able to pull away from stop lights with relative ease but your top speed would probably be limited to 45 miles an hour with the Subaru in tow and that is on a good day on flat land.

Either arrangement would have braking problems.

I'd avoid this tow trip unless there is absolutely no other way.

[Leslie]

I like Gregor's idea, put the Outback on the trailer, and tow it w/ the Series..... ;) (No, not really, but, I'd do it before using the Outback as the towing vehicle.)


Seriously, as Mark started to point out, you're not going to tow another vehicle w/ a class II hitch. At least, I wouldn't....

My suggestions are: drive the Series on its own, tow it w/ the moving company's truck, or, have a hauler take it.

[srady]

Thanks for the answers. I was not sure about towing it, but now I know I won't. I'll figure a way to get it there.
Thanks again,
Scott

[EASTTNROVER]

Thanks for the answers. I was not sure about towing it, but now I know I won't. I'll figure a way to get it there.
Thanks again,
Scott

Scott,

Sounds like your in the service, not sure about your branch but the Navy will ship your 2nd vehicle vice paying per diem and mileage for 2...that is how i will get mine back to TN. Hit me up if you are...I will go find the instruction for you.

[Firemanshort]

FWIW - I flat towed my old Series III 88 behind my Honda Pilot for short test run. There were a lot of circumstances (wet roads, speed, hitch configuration) but I ended up jack-knifing the arrangement because the pilot could not hold the Series III back. I will own up to all of the driver error - but I must be allowed to say that this tow combination was not very forgiving - very little margin for error. The Honda has a little more grunt that your Scoobie (not much - but a little).

I have towed the series III 88 and the Stage One 109 with 3/4 ton pick-ups with success (as expected).

[JimCT]

I broke a layshaft in Burlington VT one snowy weekend, and towed my '88 to RN with a uhaul tow bar and an Audi Fow, and in the snow....was that an adventure! Not for the sane, I can tell you that. But Mark let me change gearboxes in his shop while his family had Thanksgiving dinner, and we have been big RN supporters ever since.

[SafeAirOne]

Heavy trailers and light tow vehicles are um...a challenge. I've seen an empty pickup truck get jacknifed by the boat he was pulling just because the light truck was braking while cornering. The heavy boat wanted to keep going straight.

[Moose]

I've flat towed several 88's and a 109 with my 88, and they were all scary adventures. The 109 was in the rain and on one corner, it started to push the back end of my 88 around. I'm still not sure how we didn't jackknife and end up in the ditch. With a tow bar, you have no addition weight on the tow vehicle, so if it's light, it will get pushed around.

Brett