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Ridgeline's can tow (photos)

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#1 · (Edited)
Ridgelines can tow (photos)

Here's a few examples of Ridgelines towing trailers. Do you have any to add?!?
 

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#369 ·
Here’s a shot for some motivation! We absolutely love to camp along the beach even for a day trip! There is some cell activity off the southern tip of Louisiana but it’s really a small pattern;
Intellicast - Radar Summary in New Orleans, Louisiana (70112)

Good Luck with the weather and post up some beach photos.

 
#370 ·
This is on the way home from Yellowstone Nat'l Park just south of the park entrance. The mountains in the background are the Tetons (Grand Teton Nat'l Park). I'll post a towing report later (the truck did fine, even over numerous crossings of the Continental Divide). Although the trailer is 25' long, the angle of the picture makes the trailer look particularly large in relation to the truck.
 

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#371 ·
Getting ready to go to the track, (400+ mile trip one way). First time pulling with the RL, (doesn't even have plates yet, but does have 700 miles on it.). Trailer and car weigh in at 4200# and there's about 200# in the bed/trunk. I'll try to get a better pic when i'm out on the road and have a little more open space to snap a few pics. I'm pretty impressed with the suspension, the back hardly drops at all. Much better then the f150 I traded in did. :)

 
#376 ·
Here's my Ridgeline with my 17' Proline center console boat. Pulls it with ease on the road and the ramp.
 

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#380 ·
Posted pics in another thread but thought I should put some "official" ones here. '07 StarCraft StarStream SS21RB - 21 footer - 4400 lbs loaded. For those in the SF Bay Area, I tow this over the Altamont Pass (steep series of rapid climbs with lots of wind) without issue. Easy to maintain 60mph. We've now towed this rig over 4,000 miles (over two years...) without incident.
 

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#382 ·
What kind of mpg do you get? I towed 3 quads and gear 400 miles from SE PA to Northern PA, quite a few hills (actually all hills) Got 9.5 to 9.7 mpg on 93 octane. BTW I was not light on the gas either. Only from a dead stop did it ever have a hard time and that was on 600ft rises in about .25-.5 miles hills.

Trailer and quads are pushing over 3200#s, plus 3 people and gear.
 
#390 ·
I have an 07 RTL that I installed a Putnam hitch on... do I need to go crazy and by the whole harness kit from Honda or is it much easier to get my wiring accomplished another way?
I had an aftermarket 7/4 pin harness installed at a hitch shop. You don't need to go OEM
 
#395 ·
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There was 1000 lbs of sand in the bed

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The trailer had 2145 lbs on it with the 16"x16"x2" pavers

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All in all it was a very smooth ride:)
2145# in what looks to be a 1 ton trailer. Add the weight of the trailer onto the 2145#s and adds up to way overload and illegal in 49 states.

The pics i have seen on here makes me want to stay off the road when you are on the road. Accident and lawsuit waiting to happen.

The worse I saw in person was a guy trying to load 3600#s, 4 adults onto his little F150. Needless to say I got the yard to stop them before leaving. I am not driving on the road with someone who puts me or my family and friends in danger and at the very least waste my time while they clean his mess off the road.
 
#407 ·
Beautiful rig david! That camping trailer is a gorgeous classic Thank you so much for posting your photos.

J, your Beemer looks stunning and is a perfect color match with your new tow vehicle. Great first post! :cool: Thanks……
 
#408 ·
Jduncan - what BMW model are you towing. Really like the design.
 
#409 ·
Hi to all you fellow Ridgeline owners. I have been reading posts on the ROC forum for over a year now, and have learned a great deal. Many thanks to all of you who take time to share your experience and knowledge.
I thought it was my turn to share my own experiences, since I have a bit over a year living with my Ridgeline, which includes recently towing a trailer for a bit over 4,000 miles.
I read with great interest the experiences of those who were towing various trailers, along with the discussions concerning Honda's stance on equalizing hitches.
Here is what I found from my own experience.
My trailer is a Fleetwood Orbit Ultra-Lite. As equipped and loaded it has a tongue weight of 490 Lbs., and a tow weight of about 4150 Lbs. (with 1/2 tank fresh water, and everything loaded for a long trip.
My first experience towing it was the drive home from the dealer. The hitch (all Honda) was too low for this trailer, and it made the truck appear to be overloaded, and by the time we got home, it was dusk, and most people driving toward me thought i had my brights on, due to the trucks tail-low attitude.
A few weeks after, we set up a shakedown cruise for the purpose of checking everything out. I flipped the hitch and re-mounted the ball, so the hitch height was much closer to the height of the (level) trailer tongue, and the truck dropped about 2-1/2 inches when the trailer was dropped on it. Looking at the truck, it appeared to be improperly loaded, but it drove fine. Driving at freeway speed was okay, but passing semi's did cause sway that was somewhat disconcerting, but easily managed. For info., I have a Tekonsha P-3 brake controller.
After reading some of the experiences on this forum, I decided that I would try a different hitch. I replaced the hitch with a Draw Tite SC Pro equalizing hitch. I adjusted it (by tilting the ball & torsion-bar mounts downward) such that the truck hitch height was 1/2 inch below the unloaded height when the torsion bars were put into the friction mounts.
This made a world of difference. The truck handled as if there was nothing attached. We drove from the S.F. bay area through Arizona (I-40); New Mexico (down to I10); into the heart of Texas; back up to Colorado, over to Utah, through Nevada (I50) to N. Calif., and back to the bay area. The trip was a real pleasure. The Ridgeline was a joy to drive. We almost always had the air on, and several climbs required the gas peddle be held to the floor for 5 mins. (4500-5500 RPM) to keep up with traffic. The temp. guage barely moved. I used about 1/8 qt. of oil for the entire 4,000+ miles, and the gas milage was 11.23 using 90-91 octane.
The truck is my commute vehicle, and my average mileage (23 fill-ups) is 19.43.
I use Amsoil 0w-30 oil, Amsoil Universal ATF, Amsoil 75w90 EP GL5 in the transfer case, and I changed the transmission fluid (3 drains), differential and transfer case all at 9,000 mi.
The only other truck I ever had was a 1971 GMC 3/4 ton with a granny manual transmission, so I can't really compare the Ridgeline to any competive truck, domestic or otherwise, but I look at it as a nice 4-door SUV/sedan, which can do some neat other things.
Thanks again to all who shared, and in doing so, made many things easier to do and understand.
 
#410 ·
I use a equalizing hitch & swaybar on my setup. I think the reason Honda doesn't like them is the brakes and TC need to see a change in bed hight to axle to tell the brakes you are loaded and to change the 60/40 front to back braking to 40/60. If you lift the back up any it could be bad. I think you got it right.
 
#411 · (Edited)
I was definately pleased with how the truck handled. On one occasion, I almost passed a right urn, and reacted instinctively to slow down abruptly, and make the turn, forgetting I had 4200 pounds of trailer behind me. I knew there was nothing behind me for at least a mile, and the whole rig made the turn without any indication that anything was amiss. My wife gasped, but after was far more confident (as was I) in the correctness of the setup.
BTW, another thing which was controversial was whether or not to grease the ball. Some said never; some said always; some said never on dusty roads, but okay on pavement. I used a CV joint grease, and very liberally at that. After the trip, my ball is still shiny and has no mars at all.
One more thing. When I changed the transmission fluid (at 9600 mi.), the fluid was slightly brown, and had a distinct burnt smell. The magnetic plug had a buildup of very fine metal particles... maybe 1/2 a thimble full. I didn't expect that so soon, as I had only pulled the trailer about 120 mi., and am not a hard driver. I would advise all to look closly at their transmission fluid well before the normal change time.
 
#413 ·
Here's my '07 Ridge with a 2008 KZ Coyote 20C. Gross weight (3,300 lb.) and tongue weight (420 lbs.) are comfortably within recommended range, though I take care not to pack too much stuff inside the trailer and it's only me, my wife, and young son in the vehicle.

Along with an OEM Honda hitch, I'm also using a friction anti-sway bar and electronic Prodigy brake controller, the latter of which is cool because you can see the voltage sent to the trailer brakes as you apply different braking forces via the pedal. I can certainly feel it when going up hills and my gas mileage does take a pretty big hit, but besides that it feels comfortable behind me. We've had a lot of fun with it...
 

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#417 ·
We sold our Winnebago Rialta 22' RV (front end was VW Eurovan) almost two years ago and bought the Ridgeline and a Cruisers RV "Fun Finder 240X" travel trailer (3725 weight w/o our belongings, water, propane, etc). Towed it from Fayetteville NC to Key West in January, where we've been staying for two-months each winter for the past few years (staying at RV camp at Navy Base).
Had no problems towing it but the rear of the Ridgeline and front of trailer were low to the ground and I did have to step lightly on the gas pedal when at interstate speeds to keep the gears from shifting down. After we returned back home, I bought an Equalizer weight distributing hitch and the vehicle and trailer are level now when connected. Have not yet taken any trips with that WD hitch installed but expect it will handle much better going to Key West this year. I got about 10-11 mph towing the trailer.
The photo shows our FunFinder 24 set up with our 10'8" porte-bote folding boat in front. I folded and transported the boat inside the trailer.
We also had an ARE cap installed over the pickup bed. Very satisfied with this. Enables us to transport our items and secure them. The Ridgeline looks somewhat like an SUV now.

Reid Gantt
 

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