Towing a Uhaul Trailer with a Subaru Crosstrek Sport

[@jackhuemmler948]

this video caters to a very specific niche but I am part of that niche and very grateful you made it!

[@Kwijibob]

Towed that same small U-Haul trailer across the country with my 2.5l 2021 Crosstrek and it did great even going over the continental divide in the snow and multiple 6% grades. I was definitely pushing the max tow limit rating but had no trouble at all. No mods to the vehicle at all other than adding the hitch. Used the Curt brand hitch and it fits nicely tucked under the vehicle and doesn't impede ground clearance or require removing the bumper to install it. I did the towing in the late fall so there were no cooling concerns. I used the sport mode of SI drive to keep it from using too tall a ratio and hunting for "gears". The only thing I would caution people on is to remember that the brakes on the Crosstrek are going to have a lot more work to do when towing near max capacity. I made heavy use of adaptive cruise control so the car managed engine braking downhill on it's own so I rarely touched the brakes on the highway. You also be very careful in high winds as the trailer catches the wind way more than the car, especially relevant in Wyoming and other areas with high cross-winds.

[@jordankinsey811]

I towed a 350lb tiller on a 600lb trailer with myself, wife, 3 year old, new born, and dog to my parent’s house for Xmas with our 2019 Subaru Forester. The tiller was my Dad’s gift. 40 mile trip, half major interstate, half hilly backroads. I couldn’t imagine pulling anymore weight.

[@omarpulido8502]

I am planning on towing with my 2.0 Crosstrek cross-country and this video was super useful. You saved me so many headaches (e.g. now getting the proper drop/rise hitch instead of using the 2-inch drop hitch that I had handy) and also the scan gauge tool to monitor the vitals. I wish Subaru kept the temperature gauge in the gauge cluster, they added it back for the 2024 model year. I thought about getting a CVT cooler but does look overkill for this car. So many great tips in one 20-minute video!

[@Hexsyn]

Towing a uhaul 5x8 tomorrow for moving purposes in my PYP 21 crosstrek sport tomorrow. Will be reporting back if anything explodes:p For more info: one-way drive distance will be less than 10 miles, no road grades above 3%, using a self-installed curt class 3 hitch with a 2 inch ball receiver that has a 2 inch lift. Self-installed towing wiring harness used. Highest speed will be 60 mph for about 1 mile at max. No additional cooler or cameras will be used. Max temp tomorrow is 48 degrees Fahrenheit. Honestly I will be surprised if we get even close to 1500 lbs total towed because the trailer will primarily be used for a few pieces of furniture at a time that are too big to fit in the crosstrek rather than packing it full to capacity with boxes. Since the move is so short, it will be several short trips rather than one big over-loaded haul. I am so glad to see this video because so much feedback I've had on my plan seems to come from rich, overly cautious doomsday preppers who believe anything besides overkill is inadequate, and anything less than triple redundancy is a request for nothing short of a agonizing death. I must say that I am fortunate enough to be in a place where exploding my cvt won't run my bank into the red, so that said, I am willing to put my research and pride on the line such that, if I need to spend 6-9k on a cvt replacement, I am willing and able to take that hit if it must be done. Assuming the much more likely outcome of nothing going wrong, however, I am happy to back up your video and encourage other crosstrek owners not to go overboard, but also not treat their subaru like a porcelain plate.

[@Kludgecast]

I tried to make this point in the video, but if you're burning up this motor or transmission in the process of hauling something, you're probably over the tow limit anyway. I did watch one video where a person was towing the larger 6x12 trailer across the country with what appeared to be a 2.5 Outback (so same size motor, but in a heavier vehicle, towing a heavier load). They did fine in hill country, but when they started doing turnpike speeds in the Oklahoma heat, with the A/C on, the coolant boiled. Some could look at that and say they needed an oil cooler or something, but in reality they just needed a measure of the coolant temp to tell them to pull over and rest for a bit. It's a shame Subarus don't come with temp gauges anymore. Anyway, thank you, and good luck on your move! Let us know how it went.

[@Hexsyn]

@@Kludgecast yeah I think a lot of people online mean well when they underestimate the towing ability of the crosstrek because they have to assume they are advising somebody who has done little to no research, but it is still really annoying to have people freak out at the notion of towing anything at all. As for the larger trailer (assuming the one with two wheels and trailer brakes) I know that only the outback and ascent are allowed to pull those since those are the only subarus that have a wiring harness that allows for using trailer brakes, which is also core to the 1500 pound limit of the crosstrek and forester in the US--not allowed to advertise pulling more than that unless your vehicle has the electronics for braked towing vessel.

[@AtariVideoMusic]

Would you have confidence towing a 4’x8’ uhaul trailer from Georgia to San Diego behind a stock ‘15 Crosstrek? I’m having to do this move last minute so I don’t have time to install a trans cooler. Just putting on a Curt class 3. Only putting about 800lbs in the trailer. Thanks!

[@Hexsyn]

@@AtariVideoMusic hard to say for sure since you have a bit of a different use case but honestly based on my experience, as long as you don't have many crazy-steep hills to deal with you should be fine as long as you drive defensively. Not sure how much the loss of 30 some HP from my model will impact ya

[@AtariVideoMusic]

@@Hexsyn Thanks for the quick reply. Hell, what's the worst that can happen? Second though, don't answer that...

[@shakeknbake]

Awesome video. Thanks for all the info brotha. My wife and I are about to haul a 4x8 with our 21 crosstrek sport from WA to VT. Wish us luck! Your video made me feel a bit more confident in the Crosstrek.

[@richardfadera9785]

7:30 that's me... installed the CVT cooler myself and no problem since then :)

[@richardfadera9785]

How did you program the Scanguage to show the oil temperature? I set mine to show air temp, cvt temp, water temp and battery voltage.

[@Scubroo]

I too have a 2021 Crosstrek Sport, installed an EcoHitch Stealth tow bar, added a 7-pin/4-pin combo connector, and run the ScanGauge II. Like you said in the video, the SGII causes the Starlink to throw an error. I found out that's because Starlink is very chatty and wants to be first going through the ECU when the car is started. I contacted the technical support side of ScanGauge (Linear Logic) and they told me they had a fix for that issue. I just needed to send my gauge in to them and they would mod the code, which basically delays the SGII from turning on for 10-15 seconds after the car is started. Turns out that Linear Logic is located in Tempe, Arizona, about 4 miles from my house so I made arrangements to stop by their office. 10-15 min later, my SGII was reprogrammed with the modded code and has never thrown a Starlink error since! As a side note, I recently purchased a 2019 nuCamp T@G Boondock Lite teardrop trailer and will be taking it out on my first camping trip this coming weekend! I'm pretty sure I'm going to end up making the CVT cooler mod (you posted in another video) shortly after that test run! Thanks for sharing your knowledge! @Scubroo on IG & FB

[@brandonyoung367]

Great video, hit exactly the points I was interested in, thanks. Planning on using my 2024 sport to go from Jacksonville FL to Charlotte NC with a 4x8 UHaul carrying a washer and dryer.

[@SanMartianRover]

We had the nightmare UHAUL experience, kind of. Reserved a truck at location A for X time the next day. Showed up and the facility was fkng closed. No one showed up to open. We had to call around and drive 20mi away to another UHAUL location to, luckily, secure the same truck. Doesn't surprise me other people have had similar experiences. UHAUL just lets anyone run their franchises and the experience can be incredibly varied.

[@abitofapickle6255]

The Corsstrek PYP color is the greatest car color ever. I own a 22 model

[@johnhenry5197]

I realize this video is a year old, but I have some hopefully helpful information to add regarding the ScanGauge 2 that you are using. I heard about the Starlink issue and that there is a fix for it. I called them and inquired about it. They were aware of the issue. They can do an update that will add a delay to the startup of the ScanGauge. Evidently that will solve the trouble. It allows Starlink to boot up before the ScanGauge does. If you buy the gauge directly from them and put the word STARLINK in the coupon code box, they will do the firmware patch before they send it out to you. If you purchase the gauge elsewhere, you will need to send them the gauge to be updated. **This is not just a newer software. It is a patch particular to Subaru and GM vehicles.** You will have to pay shipping to them, but they will pay the return shipping. I just bought one direct and the receipt noted the particular Starlink update. I just received this and have yet to install it in the car. I have a '22 Crosstrek Limited. I have the factory receiver and hope to do some towing within the limits of the 1500 pounds eventually. Toward that end, this seemed a good idea to monitor temps. Another note: The ScanGauge 3 has a menu where you can program the delay yourself. Much less compact and a higher cost, but if you don't mind something more the size of a dash mounted GPS, this might be an option. (I wanted the smaller unit myself.) edit: Installed this morning, 1/25/24. 4.54DL is the revision listed on the paperwork. Everything is functioning without trouble. The startup delay seems to have resolved any Starlink issues.

[@raulcruzquintanilla9834]

Thanks for making this vid man I’m considering getting a crosstrek bc I’m moving cross country next year

[@scothendrickson9877]

Great instructional. I would greatly appreciate a picture or some other info identifying hose routing through the crash structure...please.

[@deityreefer6617]

Remember your cooling system is pressurized to about 16 psi so your boil temp is much higher I can’t remember the exact temp but I know pressure correlates with the temperature a liquid can boil at

[@tymobyrne4451]

Its my best guess foreign towing numbers are different because brakes are required on more trailers then usa.

[@TheBob204b]

Do you Know what was the Weight of the trailer with your stuff it ? thanks

[@norbertmaron3635]

Cool video what kinda MPG average did you get on your trip at what was average speed you were traveling!!😊😊😊😊

[@gwangseopshin]

If you are towing with manual transmission crosstrek, would you still recommend transmission cooler?

[@rodbelding9523]

I have a Subaru and honestly I'm terrified to tow anything with it. It's literally so slow, I don't even know how it would move when it's pulling weight.

[@markwilding5108]

Did you add any extra CVT fluid to account for the volume increase in the lines and cooler?

[@omygodish3]

We have a 2020 subaru impreza hatchback and we are thinking about moving across the country and was wondering if it would tow something small

[@Tmoneyhoy]

I just got a 1050lb tear drop trailer that I plan to tow probably about 6-10 times a year from San Diego over the mountains to the desert and back. Should I also get a transmission cooler? Or would a temp gauge and being cognizant of temps (and pulling over if needing to) suffice? Edit: my trailer also has brakes

[@chemuzio-ssir2015]

How much weight did you actually tow?

[@annehuber2735]

Hi! I’m trying to to figure out some thing very basic about towing with my cross trek. I see that Subaru. Limits towing of an unbraked trailer to 1000 pounds, which is only 50 pounds more than the empty weight of the U-Haul 5 x 8 trailer. U-Haul doesn’t seem to offer any trailers with brakes, so I really don’t know what to do. How did you address the brake issue?

[@gwangseopshin]

damn how did you end up towing your stuff? I am in a similar situation and wasnt aware of the unbraked trailers..

[@Kwijibob]

You'll be fine, just use the adaptive cruise control or paddle shifters to engine brake. I pulled very close to the 1500lb limit with no issues even on 6% grade hills.

[@elitewarbeast1]

Cultural reason for sure, there is always someone looking to sue someone. So Subaru America is most likely just protecting them selves. 😅