TV - RPMs

All V8 Durangos of my vintage come standard with heavy duty trans cooler, power steering cooler, tow haul transmission shift override. Really the hitch and wiring is all it's missing. And brake controller.

Thanks for all of the input. Good news/bad news. Good - my Odyssey can handle it and more RPMs is fine. Bad - I have 137,000 miles on it and keep hearing that Honda transmissions may fail. Good - I may get a new TV out of the deal. Its only money. Its amazing how these hobbies seem to have a cascading effect.

All transmissions fail eventually :). If I had a vehicle that towed the camper very well, but I had to replace the transmission every 100k, I would still do it if the vehicle suited my needs more than any other. The Ody didn't tow it what I would consider "very well".

I totally agree with Podster - a lot of money will flow towards the camper for a while, but when you get it set up the way you want, it stops.

True also about the tow vehicle. The Odyssey can tow the camper, but I never felt very comfortable driving it. Just seemed like the Odyssey wouldn't be a confident vehicle if something scary happened. I don't know if things will be better with my Durango, but it weighs a 1000 pounds more than the Ody, so that will feel a bit more stable.

I have driven several truck and trailer setups at work, and towing with the F450 dump truck is my favorite. But not very practical for a family :). Seems the heavier tow vehicles will feel better towing. Someone else posted above said that power isn't everything, balance is more important. For example, a Mustang has a lot of power, but would make a horrible tow vehicle. Towing a 3000 pound camper with a 5500 pound vehicle will lend more control than a 4300 pound vehicle.

That tag is missing on mine. I see evidence of where it was in the glove box. I might have give the VIN to Chrysler to find out or crawl under there and look at the pumpkin. While reading my manual, I noticed that it said tow/hual mode cuts off 5th gear and stops at 4th. It also changes the shift points. Is that a difference between 04 and 05? I'll have to go out for a drive and count the gears today between modes. 

On Chevys the tow-haul does change the shift points, it holds it in a given gear longer before upshifting, downshifts more easily, and increases the line pressure to reduce wear on the clutch packs.  It also modifies the "single tap on the turn signal" from 3 flashes to 6, and supposedly upps the alternator's voltage but I've never seen that on the dash gauge.  Finally it activates a more aggresive engine braking mode.