Will a Dog Crate Fit in a Subaru Outback?

A dog crate fits a Subaru Outback, and for small and medium dogs it fits easily. The honest answer is yes up to an intermediate-size crate, and the reason it is not simply 'yes to anything' has nothing to do with the cargo volume the brochure quotes. It has to do with a dimension most people never measure: the tailgate opening.

Here is the installer's first move on any cargo-fit question - measure the opening, not just the floor. The Outback's cargo floor extends to about 75 inches long with the rear seats folded, which sounds like it should swallow any crate. But you cannot load a crate through the floor; you load it through the rear gate, and that gate is the real bottleneck.

The rear tailgate opening measures about 43 inches wide by 29 inches tall, and that 29-inch height is the number that decides everything. A crate has to pass through it, so a tall crate is stopped at the gate no matter how much room waits inside. The rest of this guide maps crate sizes to that opening so you buy one that actually loads.

The mistake almost everyone makes is shopping by cargo volume. The Outback lists 32.5 cubic feet behind the second row and up to 75.7 cubic feet with the seats folded, and those numbers tempt you to think any crate fits. But volume is the space a crate occupies once it is in - it says nothing about whether the crate can get through the door to reach that space.

The tailgate opening is the gate that actually governs fit. At about 43 inches wide by 29 inches tall, the width is generous but the 29-inch height is tight. Subaru's own spec sheets put the rear-gate opening height at about 29.5 inches, with a lower width around 44.1 inches - so the opening is wider than it is tall, and height is where crates get stopped.

An installer treats that 29-inch opening height as the hard constraint and works backward from it. A crate that is taller than the opening cannot be loaded upright through the gate, period - the cargo floor beyond it is irrelevant. This is why two crates with the same footprint can have completely different answers: the shorter one loads, the taller one hits the gate and stops. Measure the opening first, always.

Before matching crates to the Outback, match the crate to the dog, because an oversized crate is its own problem. Standard crate sizes run by length and map to dog weight. A 24-inch crate stands about 19 inches tall and suits dogs up to 25 pounds. A 30-inch medium crate is about 30 inches long, 19 wide, and 21 tall, for dogs 26 to 40 pounds.

The bigger sizes climb fast in height, which is what matters for the Outback. A 36-inch intermediate crate is about 36 inches long, 22 to 25 wide, and 25 inches tall, suiting dogs 41 to 70 pounds. A 42-inch large crate is about 42 long, 28 wide, and 30 inches tall, for dogs 71 to 90 pounds. A 48-inch XL crate stands about 33 inches tall, for dogs 90 pounds and up.

Notice how height tracks with size: 19 inches at 24-inch, 25 inches at 36-inch, 30 inches at 42-inch, 33 inches at 48-inch. That height column is the one to watch against the Outback's 29-inch opening. The moment a crate's height crosses 29 inches, it stops being an Outback-friendly crate - and that happens right at the jump from intermediate to large.

Now the fit answers, from smallest up. A 24-inch crate at about 19 inches tall clears the 29-inch opening with room to spare and even fits behind the raised rear seats, since the seats-up cargo length is about 35 inches. A 30-inch medium crate, at about 21 inches tall, also loads easily through the gate and fits seats-up for a smaller dog.

The 36-inch intermediate crate is the pivot, and it fits with one condition. At about 25 inches tall it clears the 29-inch opening fine, but at 36 inches long it exceeds the roughly 35-inch seats-up cargo length. So the Outback's rear seats must be folded to fit a 36-inch crate - it goes in, but it takes the folded floor to do it, which means no back-seat passengers.

So the practical ceiling for a crate that both fits the dog and loads cleanly is the 36-inch intermediate, covering dogs up to about 70 pounds. That handles most dogs people car-camp with. Below it, the 24 and 30-inch crates are effortless; at it, the 36-inch needs the seats down. That is the Outback's honest crate range - and it is a good one for a mid-size wagon. It comfortably covers the small and medium dogs most people travel with, and only large-breed owners run into the wall the tailgate sets.

Here is the wall, and it is the 29-inch opening height doing exactly what an installer warns about. A 42-inch large crate stands about 30 inches tall, and a 48-inch XL crate about 33 inches tall - both taller than the roughly 29-inch rear opening. Neither can be loaded upright through the gate, no matter how much floor waits inside.

This is the counterintuitive part that trips people up. The Outback's 75.7 cubic feet of maximum cargo volume could physically hold a 42-inch crate once it is inside - the space exists. But the crate cannot get through the 29-inch-tall door to reach that space while standing upright. The volume is a promise the opening will not let you keep for a tall crate.

For a dog that needs a 42 or 48-inch crate - roughly 71 pounds and up - the honest answer is that a standard hard crate does not load cleanly into an Outback. The options are a shorter crate for travel if the dog tolerates it, a soft-sided or collapsible crate that can be angled or folded through the gate, or a different vehicle with a taller opening. A big dog is where the Outback's crate story ends.

For crates right at the edge, technique buys a little room, and this is where an installer's tricks matter. A crate that is close to the opening height can sometimes be angled in - tilted on entry so a corner leads, then settled flat once past the gate. It does not defeat the 29-inch limit for a truly tall crate, but it helps a borderline one clear the frame.

Soft-sided and collapsible crates change the math entirely. Because they flex, they can be partially collapsed or squeezed through an opening that would stop a rigid crate of the same nominal size, then set up inside. For a dog on the boundary between intermediate and large, a quality collapsible crate is often the difference between fitting an Outback and not.

Wheel wells and the load height are the last details to check. The usable width between the rear wheel wells narrows to about 41.5 inches, and the rear liftover height is about 28.4 inches, so a heavy crate has to be lifted that high onto the floor. A dog crate sized for an SUV cargo area that respects both the 29-inch opening and the 41.5-inch wheel-well width is the one that loads without a fight.

Once a crate clears the gate, the Outback's floor is genuinely accommodating. With the rear seats folded, the cargo floor extends to about 75 inches long and about 44 inches wide at its widest, on 75.7 cubic feet of maximum volume. That is a long, mostly flat platform - plenty of room for an intermediate crate plus gear alongside it.

Height inside is comfortable too. The cargo area measures about 30 inches from floor to the cargo-cover area, and up to about 33.5 inches floor-to-ceiling with the cover removed. So even a crate that stands near the opening height has headroom once it is inside - the ceiling is not the constraint, the gate is. Remove the cargo cover for the tallest crates.

The takeaway is that the Outback's interior is more generous than its opening. Get the crate through the 29-inch gate and the 75-inch floor and 33.5-inch interior height give it a good home. That mismatch - roomy inside, tight at the door - is exactly why measuring the opening first saves you from buying a crate that fits the space but not the entrance.

If you are car-camping with the dog, you need room for both of you, and the Outback makes this tight. With a 24 to 30-inch crate positioned to one side of the roughly 75-inch folded floor, about 45 to 51 inches of length remains for you. That is short of the roughly 75 inches an adult needs to lie flat, so the space has to be shared cleverly.

Two layouts work. Sleeping diagonally across the folded floor buys length by using the corners, letting a person stretch further than the straight measurement allows with a small crate tucked into a corner. Alternatively, placing the crate forward - up against the folded seatbacks - frees the rear of the floor for a longer, straighter sleeping stretch. Either way, plan the layout before dark.

The honest limit is that the Outback is a one-person-plus-small-crate sleeper, not a spacious kennel-and-bed setup. A medium dog in a 30-inch crate leaves a workable diagonal bed for one adult; a larger crate leaves little room to sleep alongside at all. If you and a big dog both need to sleep inside, the Outback asks you to compromise on the crate size or the sleeping position.

A crate that fits still has to be anchored, because an unsecured crate becomes a projectile in a hard stop. The Outback's cargo area has tie-down points, and a crate should be strapped to them so it cannot slide forward into the seatbacks or shift on cornering. This matters as much for the dog's safety as for yours.

Position the crate against a fixed surface for extra stability. Pushing it forward against the folded seatbacks, then strapping it down, keeps it from building momentum in a stop - the seatback becomes a backstop and the straps handle the rest. A crate that can only move an inch is far safer than one free to slide the length of a 75-inch floor, and your dog will ride calmer for it too, without the crate shifting under every corner and stop.

Match the strap points to the crate's frame, not just its door. Running straps through the crate's structural corners rather than a flimsy panel keeps the anchor solid under load. Get the fit right at the gate, the crate secured to the tie-downs, and pushed against a backstop, and the Outback carries a dog crate as safely as it carries anything - within the size limits the 29-inch opening sets.

A dog crate fits a Subaru Outback well, as long as you shop to the opening and not the volume. Up to a 36-inch intermediate crate - covering dogs to about 70 pounds - loads and rides comfortably, with the smaller 24 and 30-inch crates fitting effortlessly and even sitting behind the raised seats. For most dogs people camp with, the Outback is a genuinely good crate hauler.

The limit is the roughly 43-by-29-inch tailgate opening, and specifically its 29-inch height. A 42-inch large crate at about 30 inches tall and a 48-inch XL at about 33 inches are simply too tall to load upright through that gate, even though the 75.7 cubic feet inside could hold them. For big dogs, the answer is a collapsible crate, a shorter travel crate, or a taller-opening vehicle.

So measure the opening, map your dog's crate height against that 29 inches, and fold the seats for anything 36 inches long. Do that and the Outback earns its reputation as a dog-friendly wagon - roomy floor, flat platform, and easy fit for the small-to-intermediate crates most campers use. Just remember the installer's rule: the door decides, not the cargo number. Measure once, buy the right crate, and you will never have the frustrating experience of wrestling a too-tall box against a gate it was never going to clear.