The AUSubaru.com.au Forums

Hey guys,

a friend of mine just picked up an auto outback and is looking to head up to fraser over xmas. He doesn't have any recovery hooks/points and not even a towbar.

How strong are the tie-down points ? Is there a bolt on spot for a recovery hook to be bolted to? I had a look but couldn't see anywhere obvious.

DO NOT use the tie down points as a recovery point alone as you will tear it out of the body, if you had to use the tie down points on the front use both at the same time and be gentle. There should be a tow point at the front bar for the rear i cant think of any off the top of my head but for a tow bar and its all good.

I dont know if a Gen2 is the same, but my gen1 has a really solid tow point off the drivers side chassis rail, and a towbar on the rear is the best way to go

Just make sure he points out to whoever tows him that the car isnt real strong, and could they please try the gentle approach fist. You usually dont have to snatch a suby very hard to get it moving, but this fact can be lost on guys who are used to snatching out 3 ton rigs..

I had to get a monster trucked turbo diesel cruiser to tow Jan Watts out at DI last month (04 forester) and i was worried he was gonan tear the car in half (he was a bit of a gung ho driver) but thankfully he listened to me and towed her out real gently, no damage done.

Reminds me of DI last year i was helping a guy in a bogged vitara, this guy rocked up in a big cruiser, hit him way too hard and ripped the rear bumper off the vitara!

If its an auto outback he shouldnt need towing unless he is a complete newbie they are pretty hard to stop

he is a complete newbie. He booked to go to Fraser and the ferry operator told him an outback won't be able to get around on fraser and would bog right on the beach and hold up the rest of the cars on the ferry.

I'm taking him to DIP on friday to show him the ropes, so that should help him, but I want to make sure if he needs it, he's recoverable.