Honda Odyssey Tow Vehicle

M

Mulv80

God
Ok, before you call me crazy heres the math I used:

V-20 Outboard - 1920 lbs
Johnson 150 - 370 Lbs
Single Axle Trailer - 700 lbs (direct from Loadrite)
40 gallons Fuel - 250 lbs
_______
3240 lbs

I don't take a ton of gear so I havent included that in my calculation. The Honda Odyssey has a max towing capacity of 3500 lbs with 2 people in the vehicle. I realize thats close to the limit, however I tow aprrox 6 miles to the ramp on the flat Garden State Parkway. No hills, no stopping and starting and the ramp is excellent.

So what do you guys think?
 
You're crazy!

Just kidding. Considering the short distance and conditions, you'll probably be fine. I might be more concerned about braking ability than towing, so keep a LOT of distance and to paraphrase John Muir, drive as if you were strapped to the front bumper.

You say the ramp is excellent? Good, as my other concern would be pulling the V out of the water with front wheel drive.
 
I had towed my sailboat a few times with my wife's Escape and it was also close to the towing limit. Yes it did the job, but I was not that comfortable with it and the wife didn't like the extra wear and tear on her "truckette". Albeit, I didn't tow it that often and had a much longer ride. Towing with my F250 is like night and day compared to with the Escape.

If you can't afford and/or are not wanting a bigger vehicle, hopefully after a few trips you should get used to the trip and be comfortable. Do a few practice brakes before you really have to stop.

rkc
 
I have an Odyssey and have been hesitant to go this route due to their delicate trannys and in my case needing a tranny cooler which you prob. already have if you got the towing option.

Consider reading at www.odyclub.com and seeing what others say based on the year of your odyssey as certain years were more prone to the tranny issues than others.

On a good note, I saw a guy pulling out approx. 23' Formula with his Odyssey no prob.
 
randlemanboater said:
Same drive train as my wifes Pilot....it does fine.
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Hi Randle, I dont mean to hi jack mulvs thread but how do you and your wife like the pilot me and my wife were thinking of getting one ..... rite now we have a 850 volvo amd we love it but something a little higher off the ground would be nice.
 
lumberslinger178 said:
Hi Randle, I dont mean to hi jack mulvs thread but how do you and your wife like the pilot me and my wife were thinking of getting one ..... rite now we have a 850 volvo amd we love it but something a little higher off the ground would be nice.
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Have ya considered a set of 22s on the Volv??...:party::happy:
 
lumberslinger178 said:
Hi Randle, I dont mean to hi jack mulvs thread but how do you and your wife like the pilot me and my wife were thinking of getting one ..... rite now we have a 850 volvo amd we love it but something a little higher off the ground would be nice.
Click to expand...
Butting in on your hijack of mulv's thread.....but have to give my opinion on the Honda Pilot. We have an '07, and it's the most versatile vehicle I've ever owned. We live in the mountains of New Hampshire, and when wifey said she wanted a Pilot I figured it would be some kind of sissy 4wheel drive SUV. Couldn't have been more wrong if I tried. It's a mountain goat. I've driven it in snow so deep I was 'plowing' snow with the front end, and in mud up to the floorboards. It just won't get stuck. I use the Pilot to pull my plow vehicle out when I get it stuck. Only negative I can think of is fuel economy, in the neighborhood of 20-22 mpg highway.
 
I would roll the dice and tow with slow and easy. Just be sure trailer's the tongue weight is set up right. From 2000-about 2005 I used my Jeep Wrangler and it was questionable. I just went "slow and easy" and keep a LOT of distance like Pipe_Dream says.
 
lumberslinger178 said:
Hi Randle, I dont mean to hi jack mulvs thread but how do you and your wife like the pilot me and my wife were thinking of getting one ..... rite now we have a 850 volvo amd we love it but something a little higher off the ground would be nice.
Click to expand...


We like our Pilot a lot as well. Room for 8....if 3 are small, 4wd works well, although it's not used as much down here as in NH. It rides like a car.

Only trouble I see is the independant rear suspension can get a little squirley with much tounge weight....but not a problem now with my new trailer with torsion axles.

Ours is an 05, the last year before the fancy electronics that give it better mileage so we get 18 overall, 20 on the hwy, 10 towing the V.

We have 82K miles with no issues so far, other than the tires are almost worn out.
 
HONDA are really good vehicles,
but be careful of salesmen.

I was told once by a salesman that the CR-V my wife was looking at
would tow my V.
 
I'd be more scared of the front wheel drive slipping on a wet ramp and no way of adding extra weight like you can with RWD.
 
Short trip maybe if it will haul it off the ramp. I had a Nissan pick-up that was a 4 cyl 5-speed stick 2 wheel drive. It did not like pulling my flats boat that is 1000 lbs lighter than the V. Up and down the road was not real bad but the ramp is where it failed. Rev up the motor and slip the clutch to get it rolling then by the time the clutch could be let out 100% the motor would start to loose rpm and die. I glazed one clutch at 1400 miles trying to get a fellow boater off the ramp that was suffering the same issue. Added a leaf spring to handle the tongue weight which helped but never could solve the lack of power on the ramp. Low range would have certainly helped as would the automatic transmission. Not a bad truck, it just wasn't intended to do what I was asking.
Why aren't you getting better mileage with these autos? I don't understand... what am I missing?
 
I tow my V with a 1985 K5 Blazer, which weighs 5300lbs with me in it. Once I took the V out after it had rained so the ramp was slick. As I was backing the boat down the ramp, I went to slow my descent by adding more brake pressure. The inertia of the boat was enough to pull my 4x4 down the ramp until the trailer hit the water. It happened so quickly there was nothing that could be done.

Good luck towing at the limit of your Odyssey,
 
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