Gravel road rated

It's really up to poohbill to determine what fits his needs best.  I am sure he is perfectly capable of calculating his weight situation, especially if he uses one of the trailer weight apps.  The problem is getting the data from the manufacturers to make the calculation.  Some are a little vague about the CVGWR.

I too thought my 179 and Highlander (pretty much the same specs as the Ridgeline) combo were very well matched. We could carry everything I needed to and nothing else.

Here is a good towing calculator. All the specs for the TVs are quite readily available, including for the Ridgeline.

The main issue is to know your actual TV and trailer weights. No good way to really know that without going to a public scale, so it's best to do that with the TV, people and gear and just use the trailer max weight if you don't own the trailer yet.

I've yet to see an actual trailer tongue weight that is in line with published numbers. That is especially true when boondocking and carrying water, propane batteries, etc.

If your tongue weight is really the listed 400lbs on a 4400 lb trailer then it's too low at only 9%. You need a high tongue weight to counteract sway tendency, so the heavier the trailer the higher the tongue weight needs to be. I would just assume 13-14% of the max trailer weight for a trailer I couldn't weigh. This allows for weight to move further aft depending on how you load and still stay above the 10% number considered to be the bare minimum. My 179 ranged for 11 to 14 percent tongue weight depending on which tank(s) had water in them.



towing calculator

It would be very difficult to get recourse with a trailer manufacturer for stating too low a tongue weight.

The listed tongue weight is typically an unloaded trailer figure. That is because the DOT sets the gross trailer weight rating to be equal to the axle rating plus the lowest listed tongue weight. If the manufacturer were to state a higher tongue weight it would have to reduce the axle rating to avoid having tóo high a GTW.

In practice what that means is that while the manufacturer is responsible for stating an appropriate axle and GTW the user is responsible for keeping the tongue weight in range. After all the manufacturer can't control how he or she loads the trailer.

As for whether it's ok to load right up to the manufacturers limits, it's certainly legal to do so. But most folks with experience towing wouldn't do it, at least not for more than a short trip in good conditions. There is no reserve capacity left to maintain control for the weather, traffic or the other fun on the road surprises we have all experienced.