Weight distribution hitch and sway bars

You have a rig pretty much equivalent to mine. I am assuming you have the 5000 lb rated Pilot, the 3500 lb version is not adequate for a 179.

The answer is that you never actually “need” a wdh because it doesn’t increase your hitch rating above the 500 lbs max limit. That being said you and your Honda will much prefer the ride and handling with a wdh. Most come with antisway features which are good to have although no substitute to properly loading the trailer to prevent sway.

Before all that though you should go weigh your rig so you know what you actually have. Load up both the tow vehicle and trailer as you will be using them, including all fuel, passengers, gear, supplies, water, propane, batteries, etc etc. head over to s public scale (you might be able to weigh at your county waste transfer station for free) and roll through the scales adding each axle weight one at a time. You can then use subtraction to get each axle weight separately. If you have a wdh leave it untensioned so it doesn’t mess up the measurements.

Then disconnect the trailer and take a second pass through the scales getting each tow vehicle axle weight again. trailer weight is the difference between the total weights from the first and second weighings. Hitch weight is the difference between the combined weight of the tow vehicle axles in the first and second weighings.

You can put all your specs and weights in this calculator and it will tell you how much headroom you have if any. It can also tell you how much tension to put on the wdh to readjust the front axle load back to what it was without the trailer (which is the proper setting and will get rid of that 4-5 inches front axle lift).

Calculator

Finally, divide your trailer hitch/tongue weight by total trailer weight. You want that number to be 10% at the very least at all times to reduce sway risk. Note that as you camp you will be adding water to your gray water tank which is behind the axle, so your hitch weight will go down. I like my tongue weight to be around 13.5-14% in my 179 heading out with a full fresh water tank which puts it at about 11% returning with a full gray water tank. I find that my tongue weight is right at 500 lbs outbound and I have to be careful about loading to be sure I’m within limits.