towing

Thank you.  I'm on the hunt locally for one now.

You can always play it safe and make sure that you and all your passengers wear your helmets, seatbelts, steel toed shoes, teeth guards, and bullet proof vests; and you can buy a semi to pull your rPod. Someday, you and all your passengers will die. You will all die even sooner if you rely on any of those safety measures to keep you from harm. In the mean time, I think you can enjoy your rPod by towing it sensibly with your Pilot.

Originally posted by sammycamper  P.S. I am actually more respectful of the counter opinions than this may appear. None-the-less, it is my firmly held position that the rPod was made to make RV camping possible for those of us with less than a Suburban in our garage and lifestyle.

Thanks, Sam.  Seems like many members frown upon 6 cylinder vehicles as being unsuitable for towing.  However, they rave about the merits of their "larger" TVs ability to tow.

I have mentioned several times that I tow with a 6 cylinder 276 hp AWD Santa Fe, and it is generally scoffed at as a tow vehicle here.  I bought this SUV specifically for towing use and pulled my 1900 pound boat almost daily to the Indian River to fish.  It does great on all of the boat ramps in the area, while many pickups have traction problems when they retrieve their boats on a wet ramp.

Many of the seemingly small TVs are much larger than they appear.  My Santa Fe weighs over 4000 pounds, has a wide track, and has a 106" wheelbase.  My last travel trailer weighed 2800 pounds and on our trip to the SouthWest, it performed flawlessly while climbing the 6 - 7% grades.  Overall, it averages just under 13 mpg.

I see no reason why a Honda Pilot or many similar vehicles would not perform similarly, if properly equipped.   I do speak with a little authority.  I began towing in 1955 (58 years ago) and have towed popups, boats and travel trailers up to 28', and have used tow vehicles ranging from a 1047 Chevy to a 34' bounder.  I chose one of the lightest pod models, but I can say that the Santa Fe tows it better than my Yukon towed the 28'
trailer. 

OK, I will get off of my soap box. 

Bob

Yesterday we traded in our 2012 Jeep Liberty Arctic, because when we pulled our pod in extreme conditions (heat, wind) the transmission would overheat. Jeep does not make a Mopar transmission cooler for the Liberty, and installing an aftermarket would have voided our lifetime warranty.

We loved our Liberty; but when we purchased it, we owned an Aliner that was 1,000 pounds lighter than the Rpod. Add cargo, etc. and we were at just about max capacity (we use the Equalizer 4-point sway control and never felt unsafe about the actual tow, although SLOW was the word). We were in denial from last November (the first two times we overheated) until last month in Nevada with temps of 110 (two more overheats). When we took it into the dealer, they had to change the transmission fluid after only 30,000 because it was already dark. If we weren't overheating and if we could have added a transmission cooler, we would have the vehicle today, but you have to do what you have to do to be an Rpod owner.    

All good comments.  Pod weight was a big consideration when we were shopping for a used one.  We chose the 173 (now discontinued) because of its floor plan which is ideal for 2 people and because of its comparative light weight.  It is wlll below the towing capacity of our Santa Fe and the Santa Fe has a 100,000 warranty on its drive train, which eliminates any concerns about transmission problems. 

The 178 has a great floor plan, but is much heavier to tow. 

Bob