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Towing with a Forester

97 messages,  Last post on Apr 21, 2008 at 6:24 AM

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#31 of 97 Re: Towing [paisan] by xtop Oct 11, 2007 (6:21 pm)
Replying to: paisan (Oct 10, 2007 8:10 pm) The TB trailers have a 7-pin plug so I am using an adapter. I notice the 4-pin to 7-pin adapter has has some extra wire pigtails and I assume they are for electric brakes, etc. The TB uses surge brakes which eliminates the electric brake connection. Now I have to figure out how to hook it up so that the car alternator charges the battery in the TB through the 7-pin plug. The manual shows this but I will have to investigate this feature further when we get the trailer home. The manual shows the bathroom scale method of checking tongue weight. It should work well for what we are doing.   We are picking the trailer up tomorrow. It will be interesting. Replies to this message: kavoom (Oct 12, 2007 4:56 am)
#32 of 97 Re: Towing [xtop] by kavoom Oct 12, 2007 (4:56 am)
Replying to: xtop (Oct 11, 2007 6:21 pm) They have to run wire from the battery to a converter box I can't think of what it is called but it is separate from the controller and is in line. They run the wire along the frame and then hook into the four pin connector that then goes out of the grommet.   Perhaps I should have said "relatively" easy or "comparatively" easy as compared to a vehicle that has nothing. I can only comment on what two installers said to me.
#33 of 97 Battery Isolater on Subaru by xtop Oct 12, 2007 (9:03 am)
Has anyone installed a battery isolater on their Subaru? Any suggestions as to brand, wire gauge use to go to the trailer, etc. would be appreciated. I have found several including kits using 8-gauge wire. The alternator is not over 70 amps in our Forester, I believe, which determines the wire size.   We are picking up the trailer today and I will ask the dealer about this as well. Any first-hand experiences will be welcome.   Fred Replies to this message: kayakingsue (Oct 23, 2007 6:32 am)
#34 of 97 Re: Moving cargo [xtop] by aatherton Oct 13, 2007 (7:05 am)
Replying to: xtop (Oct 09, 2007 1:28 pm) "... load up the storage at the rear of the trailer itself to cut the load on the back of the Subaru."   But you should be sure that at least 6% and preferably 10% of the trailer's weight is on the tongue, up to the car's limit of 200 lbs. Otherwise the trailer will tend to wiggle and fishtail. Replies to this message: xtop (Oct 13, 2007 3:24 pm)
#35 of 97 Re: Moving cargo [aatherton] by xtop Oct 13, 2007 (3:24 pm)
Replying to: aatherton (Oct 13, 2007 7:05 am) We have towed it home now. It tows wonderfully and stops perfectly. The mileage definitely dropped and I had to shift down to 4th for most of the hills but it pulls very nicely. I will be weighing the tongue load in a day or two to see where it is at present. I will probably load it to 150-200 lbs. which is around 10% of its weight. We had to run antifreeze into the water pump as it will be freezing here at 9100 feet of elevation tonight. We are delighted so far. I will be installing the battery isolater and power cable to the trailer from the car in a week or two. I really like the idea of charging the trailer battery as we drive. We also looked at the solar charging panels at Camping World. Is anyone using those?   Thanks for all the good advice. We do appreciate it.   Fred
#36 of 97 Re: Forester towing misc. [paisan] by aatherton Oct 21, 2007 (12:05 pm)
Replying to: paisan (Oct 07, 2007 6:01 pm) "... As for the rear suspension, the easiest thing to do is to move anything inside the trailer to the rear to reduce the tounge weight."   This page shows the tongue weight for the TB trailers is 110 to 145 lbs. http://www.tab-rv.com/specs/dimensions.php   TB has probably balanced the trailers to have enough tongue weight so the trailers pull in a stable manner, and the weights do not seem excessive for a Forester suspension. I would be careful about loading the rear of the trailer to reduce tongue weight, as it might be dangerous. Replies to this message: xtop (Oct 21, 2007 12:20 pm)
#37 of 97 Re: Forester towing misc. [aatherton] by xtop Oct 21, 2007 (12:20 pm)
Replying to: aatherton (Oct 21, 2007 12:05 pm) Thanks for that information. I should have looked on the site myself, duh! It pulled perfectly off the dealer lot so I will try to maintain the tongue weight it has at this point. I would not change the tongue weight balance with loading and I will be weighing it soon. It has been snowing so much that I haven't been able to do that yet. We are taking it on an inaugural 1,000+ mile trip this week to get out of the snow for a bit. We hope the mileage improves as it only got 13.3 MPG on the trip home. I should mention that we gained 4,000 feet in elevation and passed over a near 11,000 foot crest to get here from the Colorado plains. Most of the trip this week is much flatter than that so it should be a good indicator of the fuel economy we will get in future.
#38 of 97 Checked the tongue weight today. by xtop Oct 22, 2007 (8:52 pm)
The bathroom scales registered 225 lbs. I think I will try to balance it out at around 150-175 lbs on this first trip and see how it tows. There is lots of storage in the rear of the trailer so it should be simple to lighten the tongue load just a bit. I can see where the load is coming from as the heat pump is in front of the trailer axle along with the water tank, LP tank, and battery. After this trip, we are planning to store the trailer for the winter so we hope to find out a few things about it before that.   Thanks to everyone for all your help. Fred
#39 of 97 Re: Battery Isolater on Subaru [xtop] by kayakingsue Oct 23, 2007 (6:32 am)
Replying to: xtop (Oct 12, 2007 9:03 am) How did your trip go? What does a battery isolater do?
#40 of 97 Leaving tomorrow on the trip. by xtop Oct 23, 2007 (6:50 am)
The trip starts in the morning.   A battery isolater allows me to charge the battery in the trailer using the tow vehicle alternator without risking discharge of the tow vehicle battery. It's a one-way switch.   Fred Replies to this message: ateixeira (Oct 24, 2007 7:50 am) xtop (Oct 26, 2007 6:39 pm)

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