Good morning folks, I have a 22 Ridgeline rtle. Really do enjoy it but I have a question. My wife and I are preparing to get a horse trailer. I know that the towing limit is 5k, but, am I going to kill my ridgelines transmission? We're not going to be using it that often. Just wanted to have a trailer that we could move our horse around comfortably if we needed to. Forward to hearing y'all's comments on this. Thank you
Ridgeline towing capability, real world
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- towing capacity
tstott1962
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Good morning folks, I have a 22 Ridgeline rtle. Really do enjoy it but I have a question. My wife and I are preparing to get a horse trailer. I know that the towing limit is 5k, but, am I going to kill my ridgelines transmission? We're not going to be using it that often. Just wanted to have a trailer that we could move our horse around comfortably if we needed to. Forward to hearing y'all's comments on this. Thank you
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1,201 Posts
I towed horses for years, single horses and multiples, both just a few miles down the road as well as half way across the country. My vehicle of choice was a 1 Ton HD diesel duelly that had a tow capacity 6 times higher than the Ridgeline.
As for the transmission, will it die is not the question, rather the question is when will it die.
As for the transmission, will it die is not the question, rather the question is when will it die.
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Understood, if I had known we were going to be getting a horse, I would have gotten a larger truck. Looks like I may need to do that here sometime. Fortunately this 22 is not our primary vehicle and it only has 22,000 miles on it. I feel like I can get a good price for it if we elect to sell it
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I would not use a RL to tow a horse. Most horse trailers are two horse at least(I don't know what you have), plus the weight of the horse and tack will be a struggle for the truck. Keep in mind, towing a live, standing animal is different than 1500 lbs of mulch in a utility trailer. I have family that are in the horse business and though they typically tow a 4-horse trailer with room for tack and sleeping, they use at least a 3/4 ton truck to tow just one horse.
They burned up several trucks in their early years as they were coming up in the business. Their current rig for towing the big trailer is some type of commercial truck that looks to me like a slightly scaled down semi. I don't know much about trucks once you get past the 1 ton range and I'm sure it is quite a bit above that.
They burned up several trucks in their early years as they were coming up in the business. Their current rig for towing the big trailer is some type of commercial truck that looks to me like a slightly scaled down semi. I don't know much about trucks once you get past the 1 ton range and I'm sure it is quite a bit above that.
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5,609 Posts
If properly maintained and you stay within the towing limits of the Ridgeline you should have no more problems than any other tow vehicle that is used to tow within its design parameters.
What is the hitch weight and tow weight of the horse & trailer?
www.farmhousetack.com
What is the hitch weight and tow weight of the horse & trailer?
Ultimate Guide to Horse Trailer Weights, Types, and Sizes
To help you choose the best horse trailer, we've partnered with our friends at Ken Feagin Truck & Trailer for create a guide with everything you need to know.
www.farmhousetack.com
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I've seen Odysseys successfully tow triple-axle Airstream travel trailers that weigh well over twice the vehicle's tow rating and Ridgelines successfully tow over 7,500 lbs. of trailer and heavy equipment without transmission failure (even with severe maintenance neglect) - and the 9-speed transmission in the Ridgeline has a higher torque rating than either of those vehicles.
Honda designed the Ridgeline to tow 5,000 lbs. all day every day and still last longer than the longest Honda Care vehicle service contract, which is 8 years or 120,000 miles. Honda doesn't say "for occasional towing only" or anything to that effect. The only difference is more frequent maintenance than what the Maintenance Minder prompts for if the vehicle is "regularly" driven under specific, severe conditions listed in the owner's manual.
Can the vehicle tow more than 5,000 lbs. reliably? Sure. Should you? NO - it's neither safe nor legal.
Can the vehicle tow as much as 5,000 lbs. reliably? Absolutely.
Honda designed the Ridgeline to tow 5,000 lbs. all day every day and still last longer than the longest Honda Care vehicle service contract, which is 8 years or 120,000 miles. Honda doesn't say "for occasional towing only" or anything to that effect. The only difference is more frequent maintenance than what the Maintenance Minder prompts for if the vehicle is "regularly" driven under specific, severe conditions listed in the owner's manual.
Can the vehicle tow more than 5,000 lbs. reliably? Sure. Should you? NO - it's neither safe nor legal.
Can the vehicle tow as much as 5,000 lbs. reliably? Absolutely.
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To me, depending on the weight of the entire setup full loaded, that would be the answer. Now if the trailer is light enough, the animal small enough etc, then you would be fine, however Animal trailers are deceptively heavy, due to their construction, so a single animal stock trailer would be the only possibility I am aware of, unless of course you talking about a Shetland pony, or a miniature horse of some kind.
This question comes up all the times about can I pull this or that with the Ridgeline. Frankly, IMO people are asking the wrong question. Instead of asking If the Ridgeline would pulls something, the proper question would be SHOULD I pull this or that with the Ridgeline.
I have said this on more than one occasion in threads like this, at the airport we pull 24,000 lb airplanes around with a 22 hp garden tractor. The Ridgeline will pull a whole lot more than 5K lbs, but for how long is a different matter. At the airport the planes are only towed a few hundred yards at a speed of approximately 2-3 mph.
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The main issue we have had with towing is the trailer’s aerodynamics. Our Ridgeline towed our streamlined 6x12 cargo trailer up to the Ridgeline’s 5,000 pound limit, even with the 6-speed, with little issue.. It was only after adding the boxy 8x22 camping trailer to the fleet, even though it is only 4,000 pounds, that we started seeing higher temps with the transmission. But the addition of a larger after market cooler appears to be rectifying that lil situation.
Oh, maybe another thing you may want to be mindful of is your tongue weight. With a cargo or camping trailer it is fairly easy to manipulate the cargo to keep that tongue weight within limits, but I can see where a horse may be a bit more problematic?
With that said, keep your weights within the Ridgeline’s given limits and you should be just fine.
Bill
Oh, maybe another thing you may want to be mindful of is your tongue weight. With a cargo or camping trailer it is fairly easy to manipulate the cargo to keep that tongue weight within limits, but I can see where a horse may be a bit more problematic?
With that said, keep your weights within the Ridgeline’s given limits and you should be just fine.
Bill
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Q1- How much will the trailer and horse weigh?
Q2- How often will you be towing?
Q3- How long will the typical towing distance be?
Q4- How flat/hilly/mountainous is the terrain where you will do most of your towing?
Even before you answer all these questions......if the weight is 5000 lbs or less.....and you are not going to be towing for hundreds of miles each and every month, the RL may still meet your needs.
If you are at the max and will be making multiple long trips each month, I feel a larger truck is what you need.
The 9 speed with S mode is really great at towing things and the low first gear is awesome when pulling away from a stop.
Q2- How often will you be towing?
Q3- How long will the typical towing distance be?
Q4- How flat/hilly/mountainous is the terrain where you will do most of your towing?
Even before you answer all these questions......if the weight is 5000 lbs or less.....and you are not going to be towing for hundreds of miles each and every month, the RL may still meet your needs.
If you are at the max and will be making multiple long trips each month, I feel a larger truck is what you need.
The 9 speed with S mode is really great at towing things and the low first gear is awesome when pulling away from a stop.
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Sounds like a pretty straightforward answer, 5,000 lbs with 2 passengers and I don't know why towing a horse is different than anything else. My BIL and I travel from OK to CO with two horses and they will occasionally shuffle around a bit but hardly enough to matter.
As to "practical limits" setting lower limits than the manual says is specious, you can bet Honda already has a safety factor built into their towing figures.
As to "practical limits" setting lower limits than the manual says is specious, you can bet Honda already has a safety factor built into their towing figures.
I find it interesting that Honda engineered the Ridgeline, Pilot and Passport to all tow exactly up to 5000lbs. Not 4999. Not 5001. No differences due to wheelbase, payload capacities or even powertrain differences... Hmmmm....
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Not interesting at all considering they all share the same J engine, and powertrain.
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Different engine and transmission. The Pilot/Passport are DOHC, 10 speed and the Ridgeline is a SOHC, 9 speed.
We have just one horse now. We did have two and I did pull a trailer with both in it. It was just a simple two horse trailer, but at that time I had a heavier truck (Ram 1500). If you are going to do this a lot, I would go to a full-size truck. It's easier on everything, even the horse. The real danger is even with trailer brakes, if something does malfunction, you may not be able to stop. You simply need weight to pull weight. Something that can tow around 8000# would be as light as I would go, even more if you have a big trailer.
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That's what I call fractional horsepower!
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