I’m considering purchase of a 2023 Outback to carry a 16’ sea kayak, so front and rear tie down points are important. In past, on other cars, I used eye hooks attached to the front and rear bumpers. I see that Subaru provides owners with tow hook receptacles, but the Outback manual cautions that you should NOT use the tow hook on the front for purposes other than towing. “Leaving the towing hook mounted on the vehicle could interfere with proper operation of the SRS airbag system in a frontal collision.” Likewise, on the rear, the manual cautions “Leaving the towing hook mounted on the vehicle could interfere with proper operation of the fuel pump shut off function when the vehicle is struck from behind.”
TWO QUESTIONS:
TWO QUESTIONS:
- How serious are these concerns? What is the likelihood that using a front or rear eye hook would really interfere with crash sensors? Is it possible that Subaru includes these cautions out of an abundance of caution and to minimize liability?
- If you can’t use eye hooks to tie down a long boat, what can you use?
