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2026 Subaru Ascent towing capacity

The 2026 Subaru Ascent is rated for 5,000 lbs in every configuration listed in the maker's guide.

✓ From 2026MY Ascent Owner's Manual (MSA5M2600A), p. 438 ↗Checked 2026-09-292026202520242023202220212020

Subaru Ascent
Photo: HJUdall, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
5,000
Max towing, lbs
5,000
Lowest rating, lbs
1
Configurations
500
Max tongue, lbs

Try it

Will it pull your trailer?

Use the trailer's GVWR (on its VIN sticker) if you don't know what it weighs loaded — the dry weight leaves out water, propane and gear.

Yes, in every configuration

Across all 1 configurations in the maker's guide.

▲ top rating 5,000 lbs

  • Tongue weight ≈ 280 lbs — 10% of the loaded trailer, the figure Ford's towing guide uses (no more than 200 lbs up to 2,000 lbs). It counts against your payload, together with passengers and cargo.
  • Needed at this weight: For trailers over 1,000 lbs – adequate size trailer brakes are required.
  • ✓ up to 90% of the rating · ! 90–100% (little room for cargo, hills, wind — common advice, not a Subaru rule) · ✕ over the rating.

Read this before you buy

Why the numbers differ

  • Same top rating as the 2025 model (5,000 lbs).

In real life

What 5,000 lbs means in trailers

Ford's towing guide sorts trailers into four weight classes; the classes describe the trailer, so they apply to any tow vehicle. With the right configuration the Ascent reaches:

  1. Class I✓ Yes

    up to 2,000 lbs

    Small folding camping trailers and trailers for small boats, motorcycles and snowmobiles.

    2026 Ford RV & Trailer Towing Guide, p. 4 ↗

  2. Class II✓ Yes

    2,001–3,500 lbs

    Large folding camping trailers, single-axle, small- to medium-length (up to 18-ft.) trailers.

    2026 Ford RV & Trailer Towing Guide, p. 4 ↗

  3. Class III✓ Yes

    3,501–5,000 lbs

    Dual-axle or large single-axle travel trailers.

    2026 Ford RV & Trailer Towing Guide, p. 4 ↗

  4. Class IV✕ No

    over 5,000 lbs

    Largest travel and 5th-wheel trailers made for recreation.

    2026 Ford RV & Trailer Towing Guide, p. 4 ↗

Real trailers

Can the Ascent pull these?

7 heavier trailers the Ascent isn't rated for

Weights are what each trailer maker publishes (retrieved 2026-09-27). We compare the trailer's GVWR — the most it may weigh loaded — with each Ascent configuration's rating, and never a dry weight when a GVWR exists.

Fine print, made plain

What the rating assumes

Over 1,000 lbs

For trailers over 1,000 lbs – adequate size trailer brakes are required.

2026MY Ascent Owner's Manual (MSA5M2600A), p. 437 ↗

Equipment

Tongue load should be 8% to 11% of the total trailer weight.

2026MY Ascent Owner's Manual (MSA5M2600A), p. 439 ↗

Tongue weight limit

Maximum tongue load

500 lbs tongue

2026MY Ascent Owner's Manual (MSA5M2600A), p. 439 ↗

Every rating assumes a 150-lb driver and passenger and no other cargo. Add people, gear or accessories and the trailer you can tow goes down by the same amount.

New to towing?

The five weights, in one picture

Tongue weightLoaded trailer weightPayloadGVWR: the loaded truckGCWR: truck + trailer together
Loaded trailer weight — must stay under the towing rating
The rating “It assumes a towing vehicle with any mandatory options, no cargo, tongue load of 10% (conventional trailer) or king pin weight of 15% (5th-wheel trailer), and driver and passenger (150 lbs. each).” Weight of additional options, passengers, cargo and hitch must be deducted from this weight. p. 7 ↗
Tongue weight — the part of the trailer pressing on the hitch
“For trailers up to 2,000 lbs., tongue load not to exceed 200 lbs. For conventional trailers over 2,000 lbs., tongue load is 10% of loaded trailer weight. For 5th-wheel trailers, king pin weight is 15% of loaded trailer weight.” p. 7 ↗
Payload — people and cargo the truck can carry
“Payload is the combined maximum allowable weight of cargo and passengers that the vehicle is designed to carry. It is the Gross Vehicle Weight Rating minus the Base Curb Weight.” And: “When towing, trailer tongue load or king pin weight is also part of the Cargo Weight.” p. 6 ↗
GVWR and GCWR — the two ceilings
“Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR) is the maximum allowable weight of the fully-loaded vehicle (including passengers and cargo).” “Gross Vehicle Weight PLUS Loaded Trailer Weight EQUALS Gross Combination Weight (GCW) GCW must not exceed GCWR.” Your GVWR is on the label on the driver's door jamb. p. 6 ↗

From the maker's table

All 1 configurations

Conventional towing:
EngineMax trailerGCWRSource
—5,0001not listedp. 438 ↗
  1. When towing a trailer without brakes: 1,000 lbs (453 kg).

Weights in lbs. “Not listed” means the maker printed no GCWR for that configuration — we don't estimate one.

More Subaru towing capacities

Questions people ask

What is the towing capacity of the 2026 Subaru Ascent?

5,000 lbs in every configuration Subaru lists.

Does the 2026 Subaru Ascent need a tow package?

For trailers over 1,000 lbs – adequate size trailer brakes are required. Tongue load should be 8% to 11% of the total trailer weight.

How much tongue weight can the 2026 Subaru Ascent handle?

Maximum tongue load: 500 lbs.

Citing these numbers?

Can Tow That. "2026 Subaru Ascent Towing Capacity." From 2026MY Ascent Owner's Manual (MSA5M2600A), Publication MSA5M2600A, PDF modified 2025-10-20. https://cantowthat.com/subaru/ascent

Source: 2026MY Ascent Owner's Manual (MSA5M2600A) (Subaru of America, Publication MSA5M2600A, PDF modified 2025-10-20; retrieved 2026-09-29). Page links open the PDF at the page each number is printed on.

1 ratings checked against the PDFHow we verify