2010 Subaru Outback 2.5L Towing and Tongue Weight Capacities

Updated 04/24/2020 | Published 04/23/2020

Question:

I am completely torn on information for towing with my 2010 Subaru Outback 2.5L. All I need to know is, am I safe to tow close to the tow capacity or not, or should I get a smaller camper for peace of mind? Here are my specs: 2010 Outback 2.5L Tow Capacity 2700lbs Curb Weight 3564lbs Gross Weigt 4585lbs Cargo max 900lbs? Tongue Weight 200lbs With all our stuff, our gross weight will be around 4100lbs The trailer we want is 2450lbs dry with our Gross puts us at 6550lbs I cant find the GCWR, but Im assuming it is 4585 + 2700 so 7285lbs That leaves us with 735lbs left before absolute max? Also, if the tongue max is 200lbs, at 9 that would make the max trailer weight at 2222lbs? Can you safely go over the tongue max as long as you keep the tongue weight about 10 of the trailer weight? I plan to get a seconday tranny cooler, and 7pin outlet with brake controller. With all of that, should I have a clear mind to pull 2450lbs or will it be a white knuckle stress trip every camping outing? Thanks in advance and your site/help articles are great!

asked by: Jordan

Expert Reply:

You are safe to tow up to the full rated capacity of your 2010 Subaru Outback 2.5L. The online owners manual states a maximum loaded trailer weight of 2,700 lbs with a maximum tongue weight of 200 lbs. The manual states this is 8% of the maximum trailer load with is definitely on the low end. Most trailers will have 10-15% of the weight as tongue weight so you will need to be cautious in how you load the trailer to make sure you are within both total weight and tongue weight capacities on your trailer.

In the online owners manual this is found between pages 8-18 and 8-23.

expert reply by: Jason S