Towing with a Honda Pilot

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bunyvet

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Joined
Apr 9, 2011
Posts
6
Hi Everyone,
We are new to this site and hoping to buy our first popup soon.  I drive a 2004 Honda Pilot whose specs say 3500 pounds towing capacity.  I have read all of the articles and I am still not understanding.  When we were at the RV dealer today looking he directed us to a few different popups and we were told we would be fine towing them, but from I can tell I am not so sure that is true. 
Two examples of campers we looked at are:
Used 2009 Viking Legend 2485 with a dry weight 2620 (which the guy ketp referrring to) and a gross weight of 3508 with a cargo weight of 888 pounds (not sure what this means). 
Used 2009 Clipper Classic with a dry weight of 2695, gross weight of 3507 and 812 lb cargo weight (does that mean maxiumum cargo weight you should carry??)
From what I understand, the dry weight is not going to be at all accurate for what we are towing.  If I take the gross weight though, we are at our towing capacity right there and I am not sure if it means with gear, passengers in the car.
From what I am reading I can see there is some other number a but I do not know where to find that or how to figure that?!?
I am so confused!
Also, when towing a trailer of this size and weight, do we need to have a braking sytem or just the hitch and lights?

Thanks for any help!!
Andrea
 
The gross weight would be the maximum total loaded trailer weight including food, water, toys etc.. Notice that if you subtract the cargo weight from the gross you get what they call the dry weight. To be honest, I'm not sure if pop ups come with brakes or not (maybe someone familiar with them can chime in), but it seems to me like it would be a really good idea given a 3500 pound trailer pushing on a Pilot.
 
Thanks for the quick response!
Does this mean then that we would not really be able to tow this safely as the gross weight is right at our maximum?  Some of the articles were also talking about taking into consideration the number of passengers in the vehicle and the weight of stuff in the vehicle as well,... is this true cuz then would be way over! or is that a different number (the gross vehicle weight rating)?

Does the gross weight of the trailer including all the stuff in it need to be less than the 3500 pound towing capacity? or are these differnt numbers?
and do you then have to factor in tongue weight and things with the hitch as well?

Thanks again!!
Andrea
 
Towing capacities can surely be confusing at first but they are relatively easy to figure.

First off, most towing capacities listed by the manufacturers are unrealistic at best.  Most of them get that capacity with an empty vehicle, a 150 lb driver and a full tank of fuel.

I found the GCWR (Gross Combined Weight Rating) for a 2007 Honda pilot that is also listed to have a 3500 lb towing capacity.  The GCWR is 9,700 lbs.  This means that the combination of tow vehicle and trailer(s) cannot exceed this weight.

First you need to find out exactly what your Pilot weighs.  Load yourself, the family, the dog, etc. into the Pilot and head to a truck stop to use their scales.  Most will allow you to get weighed for a small fee.  My local one is $9.  Don't forget to account for luggage, water, food, toys, etc when you are determining the weight.

Take the weight of your car and subtract that from the 9,700 lb GCWR.  This will give you your actual towing capacity.

Keep in mind that you don't want to exceed the gross weight (GVWR) of the tow vehicle or the trailer and that you shouldn't exceed the rating of your tow hitch.
 
Please see the RV Forum Glossary (button on tool bar above) for definitions of terms.

Yes, it means you will be really pushing the Pilot to its max limits. Plus, the max tow capacity is with an empty vehicle, so the weight of passengers and gear in the Pilot must be subtracted from the max tow capacity.
 
Boy, that's a bummer!  Not sure what we can really accomplish with this vehicle but can't get a new vehicle yet....
We do tend to travel gear heavy and it is us, 5 dogs (net weight only 50some pounds :) and a 4 year old so we need some floor space.
Hmmm, I will have to look at some lighter models or maybe skip the slide to try to lighten up the weight :(

Thanks for the info,
Andrea
 
I am trying to talk my husband into getting a little popup without the slides to lighten us up a bit.  He has us out to buy a whole new towing vehicle instead!  EEK!
I haven't weighed our vehicle plus all the stuff yet, but that is an excellent peice of advice.  I am thinking that sticking with a lighter vehicle shoud be ok, like a 1500 pound dry/2000 pound gross, so i am trying to concentrate on those.

Thanks!
Andrea
 
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