Question about 5000pd towing capactiy and AWD for a 2019 RL Sport AWD

Neil T said:

The Ridgeline's towing capacity is 3500pds in 2WD and 5000pds in 4WD. I want to tow a camper that weighs more that 3500pds, how do I put the truck into full time AWD? Or does the truck figure out that it's pulling more than the 2WD capacity and make the change to ADW automatically?

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Assuming you have an AWD truck, it stays in AWD all the time. You cannot put it into 2wd. In order to get 2wd, you have to specifically purchase the FWD/2wd trim, which does NOT have AWD.

Showkey said:

He says ....”get a life and move on”.....


124,000 Units sold ‘17-‘20. So 24 failed transmission units is .019% failure rate.

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Are you assuming that all transmission failures within the 124,000 sold have been reported on this forum? I think that that's a pretty big assumption, and one that I'd certainly not bet on...

If I were towing over 3000lbs, or a large box trailer, I'd be keeping it in D4. I'd rather the engine scream at 4500rpm all day and pay a few hundred dollars in extra gas as opposed to a few thousand dollars for a transmission R&R. YMMV.

zroger73 said:

The thermal mass of a heater core that only weighs a few pounds is far less than that of a transmission filled with two gallons of oil and is made of 250 lbs. of steel and aluminum.

Also, when the climate control will delay the ramp-up of blower speed (and thus the amount of heat removed from the engine coolant via the heater core) until the engine warms up.

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It's things like this that make me ask open-ended questions, like 1) if I put an aftermarket block heater on my transmission and plug it in when temps are below freezing, will my truck be more efficient when I go for a drive?, and, totally unrelated, but 2) if I put tires on the front that are 2.7% larger circumference than the rear tires, will I reduce clutch wear to the point that I could double my iVTM-4 fluid change intervals? Things that make me go hmmmmm...

Pleease said:

3750 without a load? Must be a pretty big trailer, right?

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I believe he is talking about a furnished camping trailer.

Stability of the RWD assist probably also plays a factor, such as reducing sway.

Usability1st said:

Yes, that's correct. I have AWD and of course it's always on. The truck handles 5k lbs with no difficulties. Rock solid. I'd love greater towing capacity, but Honda would have to go V8. I don't see that happening unless they decide to go after the full-size market.

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Number of cylinders has little to do with power in modern vehicles. Honda's own turbo 4 handily spanks their V6 in power/torque output, particularly at lower rpms.

Granted, there would be more stress on the turbo 4 vs the V6 when towing, but the turbo 4 will get there faster. If you're towing at max for a long duration, then the naturally-aspirated V6 would probably be better from a durability standpoint. This is why Ford does not offer the EcoBoost on their HD trucks.

All of that aside, rest assured that power is not the limiting factor in Honda's tow rating. If anything, it may be the likelihood of the transmission and/or iVTM-4 clutches to overheat when towing max loads in strenuous conditions.

HRL383 said:

The 3.5L F150 is rated at 14K lbs towing......that’s pretty ballsie.

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And the base 3.5L (non-turbo) F150 is rated to tow a whopping 5100lbs.

According to most internet truck owners, 5000lbs towing does not a truck make, so Ford gave it an extra hondo for good measure. 😁

HRL383 said:

Have fun looking at Furds. Thanks for keeping it simple Honda. Always great to talk about something that is no longer available. 🤷‍♂️

https://www.ford.com/trucks/f150/models/f150-xl/

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Well, if it makes you feel any better, the 3.3 only tows 5000 in 2wd, but the 4wd ups it to 5100.

HRL383 said:

Oh my, chippy, chippy. I never made a statement about the 3.3L. I’ll re-phrase the statement I did make, regarding the F150 3.5L........when properly equipped, a 4X2 is rated to tow 14K lbs.

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I'm sorry, I thought we had gotten past that already. My apologies.