Mountain Towing With Honda Pilot
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Forum Name: Camping Adventures
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URL: http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=4098
Printed Date: 15 May 2024 at 6:57am
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Topic: Mountain Towing With Honda Pilot
Posted By: CharlieM
Subject: Mountain Towing With Honda Pilot
Date Posted: 12 Oct 2013 at 11:10pm
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Who says the Honda Pilot (3.5L 4WD) can’t pull a Pod up the Colorado mountain passes? We just completed a 5+ week, 5434 mile trip through 12 states including the mountains of Colorado. The pictures are on Owl Creek Pass at 10,114 feet with snow and mud. No problem for the Pilot. The real tests were Red Mountain (11075 Ft) and Wolf Creek (10856 ft) passes with grades of 7%. These are some of the highest and steepest Colorado passes on paved highways and the Pilot did fine going up and coming down. Some first and second gear time, but no transmission temperatures over 233 degrees. The slow speeds were fine for the encountered road conditions. We averaged 12.7 MPG.
We spent three nights dry camping at 9500 feet and all appliances worked well. One night it got down to 26 degrees and nothing froze. An occasional flush during the night insured the fresh water line from tank to pump did not freeze. The rest of the water lines are inside the Pod. ------------- Charlie Northern Colorado OLD: 2013 RP-172, 2010 Honda Pilot 3.5L 4WD PRESENT: 2014 Camplite 21RBS, 2013 Supercharged Tacoma 4L V6 4WD |
Replies:
Posted By: retiredtraveler
Date Posted: 13 Oct 2013 at 9:50am
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Sorry. I have a real issue with this kind of nonsense. You're vastly exceeding your vehicle capacity and you might well be able to accomplish the trip you did, but you're definitely straining your vehicle. The real issue is safety. You don't have the braking power to easily stop if someone steps out in front of you while you're exceeding your limits by at least 50%. I don't care if you endanger yourself but you're putting others in danger by towing overcapacity. ------------- Looking hard at a pod 2006 Jayco 1206 (pup) with slideout, shower,solar 2005 Nissan Xterra (probably going to new Nissan Frontier) Into hard-core hiking and biking |
Posted By: Craneman
Date Posted: 13 Oct 2013 at 10:20am
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I'm probably wrong but I just read on honda's official site that Honda pilot 4wd has a 4500# towing cap. Must have read it wrong. Moe ------------- Jo and Gary, 2010-174,2011 F150 
Jo and Gary 2010 174 2011 Ford 150 |
Posted By: Keith-N-Dar
Date Posted: 13 Oct 2013 at 10:28am
Looking up the towing capacity of a 2010 Honda Pilot it seems that a 172 is within specs. If it is 4wd then it is rated at 4500 pounds, and unless the pod is loaded heavy it is in the ballpark. A 2wd version is rated 3500 pounds, and will be close, but hardly exceeding limits by 50%. I am also going to assume that the OP knows how to adjust his brake controller, so brakes on the pod will handle most of the extra braking. The danger to the OP and others is minimal. ------------- Keith-N-Dar Boris & Betty (Boston Terriers) 2011 R-Pod 177 2010 Ford F-150 |
Posted By: CharlieM
Date Posted: 13 Oct 2013 at 10:29am
So, please explain your reasoning for "exceeding your limits by at least 50%" The 4WD Pilot is rated at 4500# towing. The GCVW is 9579#. My combination is within both of these ratings, confirmed at the CAT truck scales. Altitude affects only engine pulling power, not braking, frame, hitch, transmission or other safety ratings. So please explain. ------------- Charlie Northern Colorado OLD: 2013 RP-172, 2010 Honda Pilot 3.5L 4WD PRESENT: 2014 Camplite 21RBS, 2013 Supercharged Tacoma 4L V6 4WD |
Posted By: Sleepless
Date Posted: 13 Oct 2013 at 10:48am
All comments like this do is irritate the readers. Especially if you don't know the facts. The towing capabilities of this particular TV have been discussed before and Charlie is probably more safety conscious than most of us. ------------- 2014 R-Pod 178 (OUR POD) 2009 Chevrolet Avalanche |
Posted By: sailo25
Date Posted: 13 Oct 2013 at 9:59pm
| The way I read my manual in my 2013 pilot that the towing capacity is 4500 lbs for pulling a boat, but 3500 for all other trailers. I am sure this is do to the frontage or wind blocking caused by a trailer like the pod. I pull a 151 with two kayaks on the pilot and have a good time traveling and feel safe with a brake control and sway bar |
Posted By: P&M
Date Posted: 14 Oct 2013 at 8:15am
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(and now for something completely different ...)
CharlieM, love the pics and it sounds like you had a great trip. That was some high-altitude camping for sure. I am envious of you and others that can take that kind of time off for longer Pod trips, and look forward to when we can do that ourselves! ------------- P & M ... and Comet too! 2012 171 -- The Monkey Pod 2018 Ram 2500 |
Posted By: Markie
Date Posted: 14 Oct 2013 at 8:49am
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Hey Charlie, congrats on a successful trip. I'm getting close to retirement and plan on a similar trip sometime in the near future. We just bought our 178 and we too pull with a Pilot ( 2013 touring). We bought the 2500 lb pod specifically to be towed with the Pilot with a 4500 lb. towing capacity. My concern was not knowing the weight of our "stuff". I didn't want to push the total weight limit . I know manufatures sometimes over rate their product to make it more appealing. I didn't want to find out the hard way that the Pilot just didn't have the stuff to pull. After our trip last weekend I am alot more comfortable. It was the first time out and we camped locally but I got a good feel for the rig and have more confidence we made the right decision, espescially after reading your post. I wish I would have seen a similar post before our purchase, I would have slept a lot better the night before the sale. 
------------- Mark & Vicki R-POD 178 & 2015 Silverado 5.3L Weimeraner "Zeke" |
Posted By: CharlieM
Date Posted: 14 Oct 2013 at 9:24am
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Sailo25 - My 2010 Pilot book makes no mention of boat vs other trailer, but I think Mfg'rs are becoming aware of the parachute effect of RVs. I'm reading about similar notations on other TVs. P&M - Trust me. Retirement is great and worth waiting/saving for. I don't know how I ever had time to go to work. Having too much fun now. Have faith...it'll happen to you too. Markie - Glad you are OK with your 178/Pilot combo. I was convinced my rig was safe (brake controller, sway, WDH), but I was unsure about pulling steep grades at altitude. This trip was the test with 7% grades at 11,000 feet. My post was to answer this question for others who were asking the same question. All went well, albeit, slowly. Honda's 4.73 axel ratio helps overcome the 3.5L engine limitation. ------------- Charlie Northern Colorado OLD: 2013 RP-172, 2010 Honda Pilot 3.5L 4WD PRESENT: 2014 Camplite 21RBS, 2013 Supercharged Tacoma 4L V6 4WD |
Posted By: Markie
Date Posted: 14 Oct 2013 at 8:49pm
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Hello again Charlie, I do have a couple questions if you don't mind. 1. How many passengers do you have on board 2. What was your total weight of TV and trailer? Anywhere close to the 4500lbs? 3. What WDH model and Anti-sway do you have? Markie ------------- Mark & Vicki R-POD 178 & 2015 Silverado 5.3L Weimeraner "Zeke" |
Posted By: CharlieM
Date Posted: 14 Oct 2013 at 9:07pm
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Markie, Passengers = two Total weight of TV and TT = 8720# including 150# of waste/fresh water. The rated Gross Combined Vehicle Weight at sea level per Honda = 9579#. This is the more important rating vs the 4500# trailer weight. I use the E2 WDH which includes anti-sway. It works very well. ------------- Charlie Northern Colorado OLD: 2013 RP-172, 2010 Honda Pilot 3.5L 4WD PRESENT: 2014 Camplite 21RBS, 2013 Supercharged Tacoma 4L V6 4WD |