Towing a Trailer

7170 Views 16 Replies 13 Participants Last post by Halpal, Feb 14, 2007

Don

Discussion Starter · Apr 13, 2005

Has anyone towed a travel trailer with their Ridgeline and where do you
get extension mirrors? Did you use sway control?I would like to tow my Airstream as soon as I get the towing package.Any suggestions?
Thanks,
Don

1 - 17 of 17 Posts

G

· #2 · Apr 13, 2005

The only thing I have towed so far is my sons 5x8 Karting trailer. I know it doesn't even compare to an Airstream but I can't see the trailer through the side mirrors and as a matter of fact, it tows that thing so well I can't even tell it's there.

shingles

· #3 · Apr 13, 2005

Don,

Someone from another forum towe a 19' Airstream and went on a weekend trip. The person reported to have load distriubtion hitch as well as sway control. This person said that he had no problems at all.

Don

Discussion Starter · #4 · Apr 13, 2005

Shingles;
Were they towing with the Ridgeline?I will use the weight-distrubuting hitch, and have towed the Airstream Bambi with a full size pick-up in the past.
Really think the Honda will do great.

Thanks,
Don

Blue

· #5 · Apr 13, 2005

I wish that I have the money to buy a Airstream CCD International Safari 19 ft and my wife will let me buy it, and I have the time to take it on weekends. Consider yourselves lucky.

shingles

· #6 · Apr 13, 2005

Don said:
Shingles;
Were they towing with the Ridgeline?I will use the weight-distrubuting hitch, and have towed the Airstream Bambi with a full size pick-up in the past.
Really think the Honda will do great.

Thanks,
Don

Hi Don,

Ive attached a picture here. I tried to link it to the other forum, but no go.

Apparantly the trip included going to 1700ft in evelvation.

-S

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rfs830

· #7 · Apr 14, 2005

the Ridgeline just looks like it was made to tow something.

fcatwo

· #8 · Apr 23, 2005

Does the Ridgeline transmission allow the selection of 4th gear for towing? Our 2002 Odyssey doesn't allow that. Locking out 5th gear also locks out 4th gear and running in 3rd means 3800 rpm at 70mph and greatly reduced MPG. I sat in a Ridge at my dealer a few days ago but didn't want to get involved with a salesman so didn't ask anyone there.

Frank

Mr Manxter

· #9 · Apr 24, 2005

Only third gear...by a button on the end of the shifter.

BlackBDR

· #10 · May 16, 2005

Frank,

Page 216 of the owners manual: "When towing a trailer on level roads under normal driving conditions, do not use D3. This will increase the ATF temp and my cause overheating." A few paragraphs later it talks about going downhill: "When driving down hills, reduce your speed, and use D3...."

Hope that helps.

-John

RidgeOwner3

· #11 · May 17, 2005

Yes, in the manual it says D3 should only be used for going downhill while towing.

So I think the answer to the original question about manually being able to lock into 4th is no. But I would wonder if the automatic transmission would take towing into account and not shift into 5th?

Ermieo

· #12 · Aug 10, 2006

My wife and I just returned from a 6 day trip covering about 500 miles in the mountains of Montana and British Columbia. We were pulling a 2007 23 ft Zeppelin 186 that weighs 3600 #s dry and has a hitch weight of 500#s. I talked with the service manager at my dealership and he said to use a weight distribution hitch. The ridgeline handled it without a problem The only time it worked hard was on very long uphill grades. I did not lock the transmission down as it seemed to like to travel in forth. I did notice that if I drove at 55 mph it stayes in forth or fith gear. As soon as I tried to pull at over 60 it would shift down to 3rd. I only got about 11 mpg, last year pulling a trailer that weighed 2000

# dry with a Jeep Grand Cherokee Ltd I only got 12 mpg so I am happy. I will post some pictures as soon as I get them taken after I hitch the trailer back up.
Happy Trailering
Ernie & Geri

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Webwader

· #13 · Aug 11, 2006 (Edited)

But I would wonder if the automatic transmission would take towing into account and not shift into 5th?

The transmission doesn't know where the load on the engine is coming from (it could be a full bed and 5 passengers going uphill) so it shifts to the appropriate gear for the load. On a relatively flat surface the RL is usually in fifth gear when towing my folding trailer. Why would you not want it to shift into fifth if it can handle the load?

Ermieo

· #14 · Aug 11, 2006

I do want it to shift into 5th and that is why I let the transmission figure it out. I believe at 55 on a flat road the wind resistance of my trailer plus the weight will keep it in 4th if we go downhill it shifts to 5th. However if I try and maintain 60 it appears to need to stay in third given the load and wind resistence. The front of the trailer is quite slanted so others may experience different shifting patterns given their circumstances. I have thought about adding the K&N air induction and changing the chip. Has anyone any experience in this regard.

Hound

· #15 · Aug 11, 2006

I have towed through the Black Hills in SD and can report shifty behaviour on the part of the tansmission when traveling at interstate speeds (down to 3rd over 60mph at times. However, I find that my mileage improved hugely when I allowed the RL to slow down a bit on grades so that it stayed in 4th. In fact, keeping the revs below 3,500 seemed to help out a lot.

Also: I found the cruise control seemed to like using 3rd a lot, so I went without.

Oddjob

· #16 · Aug 12, 2006

From central FL to Lynchburg, VA I pulled a single axle U-haul 5 X 8 trailer. Loaded with an approx tounge weight of 200 - 225 lbs. It pulled great, left the transmission selector alone, pulled up hills and down hills around mountains and through them, never got hot or skipped a beat, I did miss calulate my oil life and had to have it changed in South GA, on the way back as it was at 15% and I was not sure if I would make it home, so while eating breakfast I had the oil changed at a Honda dealer. Gas mileage did go as low as 10.5 mpg on one fill up, but I crusied along with traffic most of the time at 70 mph.... The trip was quick but cost me in fuel.......

Halpal

· #17 · Feb 14, 2007 (Edited)

We just returned from a 1300 mile round trip from western NC to Sebring, Fla, towing a 24 ft Trail Lite camping trailer. Dry weight is 3450 #, and we were packed for a 2 week period, but I doubt that loaded weight was over 4500 #. The Ridgeline performed flawlessly the entire time. I did use the weight dist hitch and sway bar. We felt some pretty good sway when a tractor trailer would pass us at 70-75 mph, but nothing really bad. We ran about 60-65 most of the time, about 2800 rpm. A few times, the transmission would shift to OD and rpm would drop to 1800. I did not lock out the OD. Just let it shift when it could. MPG was roughly half of what I normally get, or 9-10 mpg vs 18-20.
I plan to drag the trailer over the mountains to Ohio later this year. I suspect the mileage will drop to 7-8 on that trip.

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