I’ve got a Subie Forester turbo. It’s more rugged than it looks. I’m planning to get a nucamp T@B Boondock for off-the-grid stuff, but I came up to a snag: steep, long, loose gravel roads (miles long)
I’ve rented a 1,800 pound t@b and driven it the 600 miles to the backwoods of Maine with my Subie. Temps ran a bit high, but if I add some cooling and keep my speeds reasonable, I am confident that the Forester XT will be good for general travel. (Safety is totally fine with the XT’s high perf brakes, heavy duty suspension, and trailer brakes).
My concern is with towing up long steep gravel and dirt grades. Will I have enough traction and will the added “virtual” trailer weight added by the steep hill be a problem? For that matter, is this a big deal for any vehicle towing up very steep gravel grades. Stopping to rest the Subie isn’t a problem on a highway where you don’t need to worry about traction to get started again, but could be a big problem because on a gravel road I may not have the traction to get started again.
This is hard to test without getting yourself into a pickle with your rig and camper (nobody wants to back up for two miles down a steep grade, assuming you can go that far without error) I’m pretty committed to staying in the modified Subie category, so I need mods for Subie and a way to be sure about sizing the camper correctly.
Thoughts I’ve had:
Keep as much weight as I can in the subie
When possible, maintain momentum and rest on flat spots (where they exist)
For emergency, keep come along or even a winch (maybe a stretch)
Find a way to fit knobbier tires than the defenders I have
Drive in the Subie off-road mode
I’ve rented a 1,800 pound t@b and driven it the 600 miles to the backwoods of Maine with my Subie. Temps ran a bit high, but if I add some cooling and keep my speeds reasonable, I am confident that the Forester XT will be good for general travel. (Safety is totally fine with the XT’s high perf brakes, heavy duty suspension, and trailer brakes).
My concern is with towing up long steep gravel and dirt grades. Will I have enough traction and will the added “virtual” trailer weight added by the steep hill be a problem? For that matter, is this a big deal for any vehicle towing up very steep gravel grades. Stopping to rest the Subie isn’t a problem on a highway where you don’t need to worry about traction to get started again, but could be a big problem because on a gravel road I may not have the traction to get started again.
This is hard to test without getting yourself into a pickle with your rig and camper (nobody wants to back up for two miles down a steep grade, assuming you can go that far without error) I’m pretty committed to staying in the modified Subie category, so I need mods for Subie and a way to be sure about sizing the camper correctly.
Thoughts I’ve had:
Keep as much weight as I can in the subie
When possible, maintain momentum and rest on flat spots (where they exist)
For emergency, keep come along or even a winch (maybe a stretch)
Find a way to fit knobbier tires than the defenders I have
Drive in the Subie off-road mode