sgt_mayhem Posted March 4, 2010 Share Posted March 4, 2010 First off, hey everyone! I'm new to the forum and glad I found it because I LOVE my Legacy. I've done just about everything to this car, including live in it for three months, and it's still running strong! But I have a question...I surfed around in another forum board about towing, but they were all talking about later model Legacies...has anyone towed a trailer (13' or smaller) with a 1990 or other first gen Legacy? I'm looking at buying a cheap trailer and I know it's gotta have brakes, but before I did just wondered what people's experiences were. I'm talking something fairly long-term here. Any advice would be great, thanks! ~Shane Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ehsnils Posted March 4, 2010 Share Posted March 4, 2010 I had a '92 Legacy wagon and there was no problem towing with that. Of course - it is a bit more restricted when it comes to the weight you can tow, but it's not a bad car for towing compared to other cars in the class. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Platinum_Racing Posted March 4, 2010 Share Posted March 4, 2010 If you're looking at towing a trailer for the long term, just be prepared to replace the brakes more often than you would without a trailer. If the car is an automatic you should consider more frequent transmission fluid changes than normal as well. If it's a manual transmission, you might notice the clutch will wear faster than without a trailer, and if it starts slipping you may run into trouble taking hills and inclines. Other than that the Legacy 2.2L motor has a good powerband for towing when compared to other similar sized vehicles. It has decent low-mid range torque and a strong transmission (Auto or manual). The drivetrain is strong as well, but the AWD is better for towing. If the car is FWD you should watch for wear in the CV shafts and replace them when they get too sloppy or start to make noise. The process of replacing them takes under 2 hours and only costs about $70 in parts. Just out of curiosity, what type of trailer will you be towing? A pop-out camper, a car trailer, landscaping trailer? The weight is my main concern with regards to the type of trailer, but for an automatic transmission and a well maintained car you shouldn't have to worry. P.S. Welcome to the forums! This is a good, mature place to talk about your Legacy... Better than some of the other forums out there anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sgt_mayhem Posted March 4, 2010 Author Share Posted March 4, 2010 Just out of curiosity, what type of trailer will you be towing? A pop-out camper, a car trailer, landscaping trailer? The weight is my main concern with regards to the type of trailer, but for an automatic transmission and a well maintained car you shouldn't have to worry. Well, I'm thinking about a small-ish camper trailer, not a pop-out. 13 ft or less. However, my car is a manual transmission...a 1990 wagon. It doesn't have a tow kit installed, but I've found one online for fairly cheap. I just don't want to kill it with towing but I'd like to travel in camper comfort if possible. Thanks for the welcome! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ehsnils Posted March 6, 2010 Share Posted March 6, 2010 Just make sure that there are brakes on the trailer and you should be fine. But keep an eye on engine temperature since a camper has a lot of drag and will load your engine more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sgt_mayhem Posted March 6, 2010 Author Share Posted March 6, 2010 Sorry to be a complete n00b, but how common is it for camper trailers to have brakes on them? Is this something I'll have to install? Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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