Towing at the limit

[crownie]

I am considering a Ridgeline but am concerned with the low tow rating of 5000 pounds. We have a boat that is about at the 5000 pound mark...would say it is within a few hundred pounds of it...may even be as high as 5500. My trailer has disc brakes on all 4 wheels that work very well, so stopping shouldn't be too bad...plus is all Aluminum saving on weight. I am concerned that the small engine may not have enough torque to tow this load adequately. Most towing will be local short trips, but we have on occation towed the boat out of state upwards of 1000 miles to different lakes. Anyone towing this kind of weight? I think I am going to take the boat to a set of scales tomorrow and get a true weight on it before I decide for sure.

We have a Ford truck now with the extended cab. We want to get a true four door vehicle, and hope for a little better fuel milage that the fords. Bought a Civic back in October and is a great economy car for the buck, hoping to close the deal on a RL.

[csimo]

If your boat/trailer is roughly 5000 lbs. then it's not unrealistic to find yourself towing 6000 lbs. when you add all the extra fun stuff. Things add up fast.

The problem with towing a boat is getting it up a steep, slick boat ramp.

I'm sorry to tell you that I would not select the Ridgeline for this application. It's a great vehicle, but I think you could easily exceed both the performance and design limits with a heavy boat.

Best of luck!

[hofffam]

I recently towed my 22.5 ft. Mastercraft Maristar with the Ridgeline. I have a double axle trailer (not aluminum) with brakes. I am just guessing that this combo is near 5,000 lbs.

The Ridgeline had no problem pulling it out of the water. Here in hilly Central Texas the Ridgeline downshifted on hills, sometimes twice, but it kept up with highway traffic (~60 MPH). Braking was excellent. I had AC on because it was hot that day. No signs of any temperature problems at all.

I don't tow my boat often. It stays at the lake. That's why I'm comfortable with the RL. I have not towed the kind of distance the OP is talking about. The RL will have to work a bit - and consider too that you may have passengers and other gear on a 1000 mile trip.

I was actually surprised how well the RL did. I used to have a F250 SD V10. That was an excellent towing vehicle. The RL is not in that class but surprised me with its boat ramp performance and its stability.

[shovelhd]

Nice boat. Must ski like a dream.

[hofffam]

The boat is a V-drive - so the engine is at the rear but it still has a driveshaft and rudder like a true inboard. I bought it ten years ago because we wanted something with better skiing ability than the typical stern drive. But I didn't want the true inboard design and ride. So it is a compromise but a good one for us. I'm old so I don't care about wakeboard performance. It flattens out nicely at 30-32 MPH yet my kids like the bigger wake at 20.

I like the fuel injected LT1 best of all. Starts almost instantly and pulls like crazy.

[beerkat]

I tow at the limit all the time. Trailer with car go about 4600. Two people with gear for the weekend and a second set of tires in the bed of the truck with tools, jack , jack stands. You get the picture. My truck does a great job. I may be doing a 2200 mile round trip this summer. I will let you know how it does then.

[shovelhd]

hofffam, a good friend has a Master Craft V-drive, but it's a little smaller with a smaller engine. He has a wakeboarding tower on it. I like it around 22mph but his kids like it flat out for the speed.

[beast644]

I have a 20' Grady with a Galv Trailer and its somewhere just south of the 5000 mark. The Ridge hasn't skipped a beat, not a single slip on the ramp. The dynamic 4wd system does its job beautifully. I have had to jump in the bed of F150's towing less to get them up the ramp. I also did a 2K mile trip towing a trailer that I weighed at a truck stop and came in at 5600, no problem cruising at 80. Your mileage will be better than the F150 during normal driving but don't expect it to be much better when towing that 5500lbs. The Ridge is an impressive machine!!

[zroger73]

I hauled my largest load so far this weekend - 480 lbs. of bagged concrete and 11 water-soaked 4x4x10's from Lowe's. I estimate around 800-900 lbs. The front end raised up a couple of inches as the rear end squatted a couple. I couldn't tell any real difference on acceleration. The ride was much smoother than when unloaded, but stability was compromised. It was hard to keep the truck going straight and I could definitely tell I had to push the brake pedal harder. The transmission must have shifted between 5th, 4th, and 3rd dozens of times along the lightly-graded 20-mile trip. Although it served the purpose well, I can only imagine how busy and strained the engine and transmission must be when towing at the RL's limits. I felt sorry enough for the transmission with this "light" load - let along 5 times that weight. I was taken back to the days of my mom's new-at-the-time 1981 Olds Cutlass that contantly hunted between 3rd and overdrive.

[MikeT]

Originally Posted by zroger73

I hauled my largest load so far this weekend - 480 lbs. of bagged concrete and 11 water-soaked 4x4x10's from Lowe's. I estimate around 800-900 lbs. The front end raised up a couple of inches as the rear end squatted a couple. I couldn't tell any real difference on acceleration. The ride was much smoother than when unloaded, but stability was compromised. It was hard to keep the truck going straight and I could definitely tell I had to push the brake pedal harder. The transmission must have shifted between 5th, 4th, and 3rd dozens of times along the lightly-graded 20-mile trip. Although it served the purpose well, I can only imagine how busy and strained the engine and transmission must be when towing at the RL's limits. I felt sorry enough for the transmission with this "light" load - let along 5 times that weight. I was taken back to the days of my mom's new-at-the-time 1981 Olds Cutlass that contantly hunted between 3rd and overdrive.

Really, wow. I had to make four trips picking up two pallets of sod recently (1/2 pallet each load @ ~1200lbs). On the last load I added in 400lbs of top soil. Although the last load did make a difference on accelleration, none of the loads made the braking feel any different. The truck squatted a bit (~3.5"') and I filled the tires to 40psi to compensate for the extra weight. I never noticed any front end lightness or changes in steering.

Did you add air to the tires to compensate for the extra load?