Best WD/Sway equipment for a Pilot + 67 Caravel?

[Corraleno]

We have a 2005 Honda Pilot and have just bought a 67 Caravel (our 59 Pacer was crushed in transport -- long story ). The Caravel is about 60 miles away and we need to bring it home this weekend. We've bought a Prodigy, which will be installed tomorrow, but I need advice on what I should get in terms of sway control/weight distribution. The Pilot has the factory tow package and is rated at 3500 lbs, the Caravel dry wt is 2300, so I'm not worried about weight, but it does get really windy here and we will be traveling on interstates with lots of big rigs, AND we are neophytes at towing, so I want to be as safe as possible.

What would be the safest set up for us in terms of sway control and weight distribution, without being overkill?

Thanks for any and all advice!
Jackie

[thecatsandi]

depends on if you have 1 1/4 or 2 inch reciever. If it is 2 inch either a Reese dual cam or the equalizer will do. if it is the smaller one you will have problems finding something.

[Corraleno]

It's a 2", thanks, I will look into those 2 suggestions.

[Corraleno]

Well, the more I read the more confused I get

Is a Reese dual-cam overkill (or even ineffective?) for a 2300 lb trailer, or is it the best/safest for any trailer of any size?

[Inland RV Center, In]

Originally Posted by Corraleno

Well, the more I read the more confused I get

Is a Reese dual-cam overkill (or even ineffective?) for a 2300 lb trailer, or is it the best/safest for any trailer of any size?

It is "NOT" over kill.

A Reese 550 or 600 pound dual cam, is perfect for your rig.

Andy

[Corraleno]

Originally Posted by Inland RV Center, In

It is "NOT" over kill.

A Reese 550 or 600 pound dual cam, is perfect for your rig.

Andy

Thanks Andy!
(That reminds me -- I need to email you about a quote for fixing the squashed Pacer....)

[thecatsandi]

Originally Posted by Corraleno

Well, the more I read the more confused I get

Is a Reese dual-cam overkill (or even ineffective?) for a 2300 lb trailer, or is it the best/safest for any trailer of any size?

No. Just make sure when you set it up or who ever sets it up you do so with your TV loaded as if you are towing. The trailer and truck must be level.

[BillTex]

I hate to rain on this parade...but I don't think you can use a WD hitch on a unibody vehicle.
I know this has been discussed at length previously...
Best bet; check your owners manual/dealer.

Bill

[overlander64]

Greetings Bill!

Originally Posted by BillTex

I hate to rain on this parade...but I don't think you can use a WD hitch on a unibody vehicle.
I know this has been discussed at length previously...
Best bet; check your owners manual/dealer.

Bill

While not all uni-body vehicles can be equipped to tow, uni-body does not automatically eliminate a vehicle from towing. Honda's towing package for the Pilot includes a class III 2" receiver style hitch. I know that I have towed my Nomad and later my Overlander many thousands of miles with my '65 Dodge Coronet 500 convertible (Resses Hitch) -- and it has uni-body construction -- uni-body Chrysler products of the 1960s and 1970s were among the more popular towcars for Airstreams of that era.

Kevin

[BillTex]

Originally Posted by overlander64

Greetings Bill!



While not all uni-body vehicles can be equipped to tow, uni-body does not automatically eliminate a vehicle from towing. Honda's towing package for the Pilot includes a class III 2" receiver style hitch. I know that I have towed my Nomad and later my Overlander many thousands of miles with my '65 Dodge Coronet 500 convertible (Resses Hitch) -- and it has uni-body construction -- uni-body Chrysler products of the 1960s and 1970s were among the more popular towcars for Airstreams of that era.

Kevin

Kevin, no-one said you can not tow with a unibody...I cautioned against using a WD hitch with a unibody. Some manufacturers do not allow this per operators manual/warranty concerns.

Good day...

Bill

[Corraleno]

Is the problem with using a WD hitch on a unibody vehicle strain/torque of the frame? I was searching around on one of the Honda Pilot forums last night, looking for info on this, and the consensus seemed to be that the light-duty Reese hitch like Andy recommended (<600 lbs), would not unduly strain the Pilot. A number of people have used them without any problems, although some people felt that the heavy duty ones should not be used. But I'm not sure if there are other factors I need to take into account?

Officially, Honda "does not recommend" WD hitches with the Pilot, although they say it does not affect your warranty, and several people on the Honda forum said that they spoke with Honda mechanics, some of whom used WD hitches themselves, and they felt it was fine. Oddly, Honda does recommend using a WD hitch on the Odyssey minivan (also unibody) for any trailer over 1000 lbs, so I'm not very clear on what the issue is with the Pilot.

The folks on the Pilot forum who did not use WD hitches generally used "airbag" systems in the back to level the vehicle, but I thought from reading this forum that those were a bad idea? I don't think there would be more than 270-300 lbs max tongue weight, so I don't think the WD hitch would be shifting a whole lot of weight to the front -- but then again, I don't understand very well how WD hitches work, so I could be wrong.

I just want the most effective sway control I can get, given that we live in a very windy place and will be traveling interstates (like I-40) with lots of semis, so I am open to any and all suggestions.

[Inland RV Center, In]

Originally Posted by Corraleno

Is the problem with using a WD hitch on a unibody vehicle strain/torque of the frame? I was searching around on one of the Honda Pilot forums last night, looking for info on this, and the consensus seemed to be that the light-duty Reese hitch like Andy recommended (<600 lbs), would not unduly strain the Pilot. A number of people have used them without any problems, although some people felt that the heavy duty ones should not be used. But I'm not sure if there are other factors I need to take into account?

Officially, Honda "does not recommend" WD hitches with the Pilot, although they say it does not affect your warranty, and several people on the Honda forum said that they spoke with Honda mechanics, some of whom used WD hitches themselves, and they felt it was fine. Oddly, Honda does recommend using a WD hitch on the Odyssey minivan (also unibody) for any trailer over 1000 lbs, so I'm not very clear on what the issue is with the Pilot.

The folks on the Pilot forum who did not use WD hitches generally used "airbag" systems in the back to level the vehicle, but I thought from reading this forum that those were a bad idea? I don't think there would be more than 270-300 lbs max tongue weight, so I don't think the WD hitch would be shifting a whole lot of weight to the front -- but then again, I don't understand very well how WD hitches work, so I could be wrong.

I just want the most effective sway control I can get, given that we live in a very windy place and will be traveling interstates (like I-40) with lots of semis, so I am open to any and all suggestions.

Any air bag system made, granted can keep things level.

They are not, by any stretch of the imagination, a substitute for a load equalizing hitch.

In fact if you use air bags, you put all the tongue weight on the rear axle. AND REMOVE IT FROM THE FRONT AXLE.

Best way in the world to get your BB.

Andy

[azflycaster]

The goal of the WD hitch is to distribute the hitch weight between the front and rear axles of your truck. The 300 hitch weight you listed is for a dry trailer with no options. Add some propane, water and other stuff and you are looking at 400 pounds. Still not a lot of weight. The WD hitch when setup correctly will move around 200 pounds forward.

[Beginner]

1. Deflate the air bags.
2. Go to a CAT scale or any commercial scale where you can get the weight on each individual axle.
3. Adjust ball height then weight distribution bars until all axles have the same weight on them, as close as possible (+ or - 50 lbs, 100 lb tolerance.).
4. Pull trailer in a straight line to center every thing. Readjust the dual cam arms.
5. Put air in the air bags when you are hauling wood.
Beginner

[Corraleno]

OK, here's the quote from the Pilot's manual about the WD hitch (don't know why I didn't look this up last night -- duh):

"A weight distributing hitch is not recommended for use with your vehicle, as an improperly adjusted weight distributing hitch may reduce handling, stability, and braking performance."

So it sounds as if they only object if it's not set up correctly. As long as I load the trailer properly and take it to a scale, make sure the weight on the front and back axles are within limits, the tongue weight is OK, the Reese is set up carefully according to instructions, etc., then I assume we'll be fine -- and safer than we would be without it. We won't be carrying much extra weight, since we're just planning to use it for short (3-4 day) family camping trips, and I'm used to backpacking and tent camping and always travel light anyway.

Thanks so much for all the help and advice -- this forum is the best!

[Corraleno]

Originally Posted by azflycaster

The goal of the WD hitch is to distribute the hitch weight between the front and rear axles of your truck. The 300 hitch weight you listed is for a dry trailer with no options. Add some propane, water and other stuff and you are looking at 400 pounds. Still not a lot of weight. The WD hitch when setup correctly will move around 200 pounds forward.

For some reason I thought the dry weight was about 250, so I was figuring around 300 loaded. But I just looked it up and you're right, the hitch weight of a 67 Caravel is 300 dry -- thanks for pointing that out!

[AlbertF]

Originally Posted by Corraleno

OK, here's the quote from the Pilot's manual about the WD hitch (don't know why I didn't look this up last night -- duh):

"A weight distributing hitch is not recommended for use with your vehicle, as an improperly adjusted weight distributing hitch may reduce handling, stability, and braking performance."

That was probably written by a lawyer or risk manager who doesn't understand towing.

Even an improperly adjusted WDH (that is, with insufficient tension) is better than none. Also, it reads "not recommended"; the manual isn't saying that your vehicle would be damaged.

The worst thing that could happen is that the Honda receiver will flex and the weight transfer will be less than totally effective. There are ways to reinforce and stiffen receivers, and lots of OEM receivers need it (like those used on GM pickups for a number of years).

With respect to unibodies - I tow with a unibody vehicle, with Eaz-Lift 1000 lb bars that have plenty of tension on them. The challenge with a unibody design is finding good mounting points for the receiver. Apart from that, I am comfortable saying that unibody is superior to body-on-frame because it will flex only a fraction of the amount that a full frame flexes when the torsional load is applied. A unibody is much stiffer, and a given amount of tension on the weight distributing bars will transfer more weight to the front tires as a result.

I think Inland Andy's recommendation is completely logical. An alternative might be an Eaz-Lift with 550 lb bars, and a single friction sway control.

[Andrew T]

Hi Coraleno

I would agree with Albert to consider the Eaz-Lift 550 hitch, you can put on a sway control but you really won't need one as the Honda is quite stable. The reason I like the 550 hitch is that their torsion bars have the most travel when you go through dips etc so they put the least strain on the A frame of an older trailer. As well Eaz-Lift's shank design allows the ball to be 4-5" closer to the bumper than the Reese cast shank does.

We have many customers with Pilots towing substantial Airstreams with no problems. On larger trailers we do strengthen receiver this is more due to the inadquacy of the receiver than any problem with a unit body. Today unit body's are much stronger than full frame vehicles.

Andhy

[slowmover]

Unibody is superior, period. No dead weight body pieces. One can see in a few places online the old Chrysler diagrams for installing a WDH.