Honda ridgeline towing

Hey everyone! My wife and I are getting ready to make our first TT purchase. The ridgelines max towing is 5000LB, so that puts us in a smaller trailer. We have been looking at various jayco,winnebago and forest river products. Do you guys have any suggestions, in terms of weights to stay under? The jayco 174bh( and 184s) are all under 4000LB totally loaded. Other rigs such as a winnebago micro mini has a dry weight of 3780. The max GVWR, is 7000LB, which is well over the ridgelines max, but if one didn't overload the trailer, I thought it shouldn't be an issue. Am I wrong in this thinking? 

Can you guys educate me on this?

A rule of thumb is that the trailer GVWR should be 10-20% less than the vehicles max tow rating.  It's a guesimate that is intended to allow for passengers and gear in the tow vehicle, the weight of the hitch itself, and give some safety & performance margin as well. The 20% probably does all that, while 10% is more suitable if you know the tow vehicle will be lightly loaded, the terrain not too steep, etc.

The truck has to carry the trailer tongue weight as well as passengers and gear, so its payload (cargo capacity) has to be sufficient as well as having adequate Max tow rating. Check the label on the driver door frame for the carrying capacity and estimate the weight of passengers and gear you will be carrying. Then consider that the trailer tongue weight has to be at least 10% of its loaded weight (12% or more is better) to insure safe towing manners and prevent swaying.  That's 400-500 lbs of tongue weight for a 4000 lb trailer. 

I think a trailer of 4000 lbs or less GVWR will be fine, but get the cargo capacity and tow rating numbers for your specific Ridgeline and do the weight arithmetic for each trailer you are considering.  Every trailer will have its on federally-required weight placard showing its actual weight as it left the factory and a max loaded weight (GVWR).  The brochure or website numbers are for the most basic configuration and sometimes are unrealistic.  Specs also change almost at whim but the published info does not get updated quickly.  Always check the specific trailer weight placard.

Perfect. Thank you!!

Gary was his usual diplomatic self, and correct.  I am more basic numbers oriented.

First IGNORE DRY WEIGHT!  When you go camping, you will have filled the Propane tanks, added a battery, loaded sheets, blankets, pillows, clothing, shoes, towels, soap, shampoo, food, pots and pans, silverware, plates, glasses, cups, lawn chairs...  USE THE GVWR FOR THE CAMPER.  Your actual weight will be much closer to GVWR than it will dry wt.  If you can safely carry the GVWR and pack light, you have a safety margin.

That 5000# Max tow assumes NOTHING in the vehicle except two passengers at 150# each and a full gas tank.  Every pound above that - including the WD hitch (80#) reduces the max towing weight pound for pound.  This is where that 10% - 20% reduction of max tow comes in to play.

Another way to do the calculation is to start with the yellow placard Gary referenced on the driver door latch post.  It gives the max load the truck can carry (Payload).  Add together the weight of all passengers (no allowance here) and cargo including the WD hitch and 10% - 12% of the GVWR of the trailer as best estimate of hitch weight.  This number MUST be LESS than the truck's PAYLOAD.

The Ridgeline is a GREAT little vehicle.  I LOVE Hondas.  I have owned several and currently have a Civic.  However, the Ridgeline is designed first for passenger comfort, nimble handling and good fuel economy.  It is great for weekend trips to the lumber yard.  It is not designed as a heavy hauler.  As such, the trailer it can safely pull is very limited compared to a F150 or 1500 pickup.  Personally, I would stay under 4000# GVWR for the camper.

DO NOT trust the salesman.  Here is why.
http://www.rvforum.net/SMF_forum/index.php/topic,90933.0.html

Ask Honda about the Total Frontal Area used in their tow ratings.  Maximum tow ratings are often figured using a trailer with a small frontal area like a single horse trailer or a small utility trailer that offers little additional wind resistance.

Most RV trailers (except those that collapse into a smaller package for towing) have much larger frontal areas, thus they require more power to carve a hole through the air.  For example, a trailer that's 8 ft. wide x 9 ft. tall has 72 square feet of frontal area.

That's another reason experienced RVers try to keep the trailer weight at least 20% below the maximum rating ... to reserve extra power to move air out of the way instead of using it to move weight down the road.

Ford addresses this in their excellent 2018 Towing Guide.  Page 15 shows their Tow Ratings use Frontal Areas ranging from 12 square ft. for their cars up to 60-75 square feet for their large pickups ... i.e. trailers basically not much wider or higher than the vehicle itself.  Anything larger "may significantly reduce the performance of your towing vehicle."

I couldn't find any similar information from Honda.

Good stuff guys! Thank you!! I certainly want to do this safely  and not put my family or anyone else's family in harms way!

scale obsession said:

Hey everyone! My wife and I are getting ready to make our first TT purchase. The ridgelines max towing is 5000LB, so that puts us in a smaller trailer. We have been looking at various jayco,winnebago and forest river products. Do you guys have any suggestions, in terms of weights to stay under? The jayco 174bh( and 184s) are all under 4000LB totally loaded. Other rigs such as a winnebago micro mini has a dry weight of 3780. The max GVWR, is 7000LB, which is well over the ridgelines max, but if one didn't overload the trailer, I thought it shouldn't be an issue. Am I wrong in this thinking? 

Can you guys educate me on this?

Click to expand...

Others say ignore the dry weight,  but the dry weight was important to me, and I based the purchase of my truck with dry weight as a baseline, and the gvwr as the weight only as a reference point if the maximum trailer weight was the weight I was planning to tow with all tanks full, or whether the  trailer just have heavier rated suspension than required,  but that doesn't mean you are going to carry that extra weight.

Don't ignore dry weight, but do weigh your trailer to find out the actual weight, then add the approximate amount to what you are most likely to carry.

I kinda agree, as the last trailer we had grossed at 9650#, but when I towed with a 1/2 ton Ram, I limited the weight to 8200#. It takes a good bit of discipline to not add extra weight once your safe weight limit is reached.

kdbgoat said:

I kinda agree, as the last trailer we had grossed at 9650#, but when I towed with a 1/2 ton Ram, I limited the weight to 8200#. It takes a good bit of discipline to not add extra weight once your safe weight limit is reached.

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This is why I always suggest using the GVWR of the camper.  If your truck can handle that weight, and you do not overload the camper, you are good to go.  I would be very uncomfortable saying SURE, YOU CAN TOW THAT!, then adding lots of limitations on how heavy you can load it.  Many folks would miss the stipulations, then they are overloaded!  For someone like Goat, who understands these limitations, it works well.  For a newbie, KISS and err on the safe side.

Alright guys, We have thrown the micro minnie out the window, and have moved on to the rockwood 1905BH. Heres the specs.
hitch-434 lb.
dry-3368 lb.
cargo-1066 lb.
length-20' 11"
height-10' 6"
width-96"
43 gal.
30 gal.
30 gal.
awning 13'

Does this sound more in line with the ridgelines capabilities ?

Yup.
We pulled a 1989 Skamper 2000-T around for years with our Ridgeline.
Trailer GVWR was 5K#'s.
20'7" length.
Never had an issue.

In summary, you stated the Ridgeline has a max tow rating of 5,000#. 

This camper has a GVWR of 4434# ( dry + cargo) and a hitch wt around 500#.  This weight is below 90% of tow rating, so there is a bit of a margin there. 

With the research you have done, you know the importance of NOT overloading the TT or truck, you should be good with this choice.  Your TT  GVWR is 2000# LESS with this camper.

Enjoy  the GREAT OUTDOORS!

Awesome, thank you!

My next questions are, What is a good quality brake controller, and hitch? Honda advises against using a WDH hitch, so I'm intending to run an anti sway bar.

At 500# hitch wt, you probably will not benefit much from a WD hitch.

While I have a factory TBC (trailer brake controller), it seems the consensus here is the Prodigy series TBC

This guy here?

https://www.etrailer.com/Brake-Controller/Tekonsha/90195.html?feed=npn&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIi_LF79nk2wIVycDACh0RGg--EAQYASABEgLJ8vD_BwE

Yeap, still one of the most capable controllers on the market. 

I would not bother with an anti-sway device unless you are unable to get the trailer dialed in on weight & balance. IMO, the friction sway devices are at best a band-aid trying to compensate for other deficiencies and at worst useless. In many cases, the friction controller isn't even adjusted well enough to make any difference if the trailer begins to sway.
A well-balanced (proper tongue weight) trailer won't sway.

Roger that. Thank you guys.

So jus get the proper ball, and my usual ball mount, and give it a test run?

Well, after much debate with myself, and various travel trailers, I decided the ridgeline was not the proper tool for the job, for the trailer we liked. So She has found a new home. Time to find a tow vehicle.

scale obsession said:

Well, after much debate with myself, and various travel trailers, I decided the ridgeline was not the proper tool for the job, for the trailer we liked. So She has found a new home. Time to find a tow vehicle.

Click to expand...

Very wise move, the Ridgeline has its place in the world but towing is probably not one of its strong suits. When looking at new vehicles remember that yelllow sticker not all vehicles are created equal as you know. Good luck

I'm currently looking at a 2016 crew cab 4x4 silverado. 5.3. 3.42 gears. I can't seem to find an exact towing capacity. Where should one look for this?