Brewsterivy, I don't have any experience with Casitas, but have done some campground discussions with Casita owners. They report better mileage and easier towing due to the Casitas' less wind drag, as they push less wind from hiding better behind their tow rigs. Casitas do give up some in the areas of elbow room and sleeping space. They are, I've heard and seen, nice trailers.

 

RVing is so much fun and sometimes so frustrating. What fits perfectly for some is a major pain for others. 

I'll re-tell my story - when I bought my Pod I had a 2008 CMC Canyon (like the Chevy Colorado) and it had a 3200lbs towing capacity.  My Pod was the RP173 and the weight sticker said it weighed about 2350 (plus the weight of the propane, battery and any "stuff" that I wanted to carry).  I "guesstimate" that I was pulling about 2500-2600lbs.  I traveled as light as possible - I didn't carry the R-dome, dinette table and I even frequently removed the tailgate from the truck to save weight.  I did make it to the Rocky Mts. and back, but most of the time, it was really working hard to do 60mph even on flat terrain, here in Indiana.  Any head wind or incline to the road, and the truck would want to shift from 3rd gear (I didn't even attempt to put it in "Drive") to second gear.  In 3rd gear I would turn about 3200-3300 RPMs.  When it would downshift, the RPMs would jump over 4000.  Not good for a motor (and the Canyon/Colorado motors have a reputation of having weak valve springs).

 

To sum it up; it can be done but, I didn't enjoy it and am fairly confident that the truck would have been  in the shop a lot.  I bought the Pod hoping  that with it's lighter weight and narrower frontal profile, that it would work.   For me, it didn't.  I want my travelling/camping experiences to be relaxing.  I want to go wherever I want, whenever I want, regardless of wind and road conditions.

 

I am not familiar with your particular vehicle but, I suspect your experience would be similar to mine.  Much of the time the performance requirements would exceed the performance capabilities of the vehicle.

I'm not "dissing" the Pod; it is what it is.  We are talking about tow vehicles and there is a great difference in them.

 

Take the posts from David, photog, and TerryM very seriously. I live a hundred miles or so north of Portland. If you're going to use your RPod steadily, you need a pretty able tow rig in this area. I, like David, underestimated my tow vehicle when I bought my RPod, and it had a 4800 lb. tow rating with a complete tow package. My Dakota had the smaller engine than photog's, but the engine wasn't the major problem. The transmission didn't have enough gears (4) to properly tow all of the elevation changes we deal with in this area.

 

My '06 Toyota Tacoma, with a 6500 lb. rating does a pretty good job with the hills and passes here, and I totally agree with David--double the rating is good. I towed small travel trailers with 2 different F150 4.6 v/8 engines, and they certainly weren't overkill for towing in the PNW.

 

Whatever you buy, I recommend that you make sure that you get a factory tow package. Trying to upgrade is like throwing dice--there are just too many variables that are easy to overlook when you try to upgrade a tow rig. Read David's post closely. Good luck and don't forget your rain gear when you move to Portland.

 

There are a whole bunch of varibles to consider, if one wants to approach the matter "scientifically".  Total horsepower and torque, horsepower and torque curves (where they peak in the RPM range), transmission gear ratios, differential gear ratios, etc., etc.

 

I had an "old timer" tell me years ago to get twice as much towing capacity (in weight) as you need; ie: If your trailer weighs 3000lbs, get a TV with a 6000lbs rating - and you'll do OK.  I violated that advise when I bought my Pod and it cost me a bunch of money to upsize....lesson re-learned.  My $.02.

 

 

Once you are used to towing with a larger vehicle like your F150, towing with a smaller vehicle will be different, even if the power would be the same it will feel less stable.

 

The Honda Pilot is a nice vehicle, 3.5 l V6 and rated at 3500 lbs in two wheel drive version and 4500 lbs in 4 wheel drive version. If you stay in relative flat country it should be fine but for mountainous terrain it is, IMHO underpowered. Our Dodge Dakota has a 4.7 l V8 and for where we live here I would not want anything less.

 

Another thing, if you ever would want to upgrade to a larger trailer you would need a larger TV anyway. Just my 2 cents (cdn).

 

Take care,