Sport 22 Tow Vehicle

[Isuzusweet]

Originally Posted by MSL

Sailor12 - do you travel with a full size spare? One of the annoying things about Ridgeline is it cannot stow a full size spare.

Yeah, and my 2012 Pilot had a temp spare as well, until I found out that by removing a spacer, I was able to mount a full size spare. Unfortunately I don't think you can do that to the Ridgeline.

Cheers
Sidekick Tony

[twbucksr]

Originally Posted by MSL

Thanks very much for the info. Here's how I was calculating potential weights, which has me concerned:

Tongue Weight: I'm assuming we'd be in the 500 - 550# wet (full fresh water tank + battery + propane), maybe even higher with cargo in the trailer because most of the storage is under the bed and in front of the wheels. This is about 90% of the Ridgeline's 600# tongue weight spec.

Tow Capacity: With full fresh water tank, we'd be at about 3,800#, then with maybe 250# cargo we'd be at 4,050#. This is a bit over 80% of the Ridgeline's 5,000# capacity.

Gross Combined Weight: I think the Ridgeline has about 4,500# curb weight, the two of us (350#) plus tongue weight (550#) plus cargo (200#) plus rigid tonneau cover (guessing at 75#) to secure full size spare in bed (guessing at 50#) plus the trailer (guessing at 4,050#) brings us to GCW of 9,775#, 98% of Ridgeline's 9,987 capacity.

Since you are really doing your homework MSL, I’ll go into a little more detail for you. First of all, we never traveled with anything in the uncovered bed of the truck. I did spend time and money placing different things in different places in the truck and the 22FB while on the scale which determined what we could and could not bring with us. The scale sheet I attached reflects the following “required” accessories weighing over 10 pounds for the week long trips we took.

Full fresh and propane tanks
Honda e2000i converted to propane
Tote with water hoses and filters
Tote with surge protector and chords
Weber Q
Yeti 50
Pancake air compressor
Golf clubs in a carry bag

The payload capacity of our RTL was 1487 pounds. The curb weight specified was 4563 pounds. This ticket documents a payload of 957 pounds that included 2 adults, golf clubs under the back seat and the pancake air compressor in the trunk. 450 pounds total. My tongue weight calculated to 507 pounds with weight distribution. I also had the flexibility to move the Yeti 50 or any other single loose item to the back seat and still be within payload limits. Overall it configured out at 95% of the GCWR of 10,085 pounds.

We never exceeded 65 mph in this configuration, used a TPMS, and enjoyed every mile as we traveled to 9 different state during the 2 years we had it.

[Thonevan]

I have a 2008 Ridgeline and a 22 sport. I have not been very far and mostly flat, it tows fine. I bought a 22 International 4800lbs tandem axle and have towed that too. But and I say But I bought a 5.7 tundra. It gets better milage then my Ridgeline and tows way better.

[AlbertF]

[QUOTE=Glampman;2233075]



We do not force the Pilot to RPMs higher than 3000 when climbing and are content to stay in the slow lane when traveling through the mountains.



Enjoy!!![QUOTE]



3000 rpm is very conservative. The engine would do fine with a sustained 4500 or higher. Torque peak is probably over 4000 rpm. The power peak will be in the 6000 rpm range.

It’s a Honda! They like to spin. If oil pressure and coolant temperature are within a normal range, running it hard will have no discernible effect on engine life.

[Prettygood]

Expect the Sport tongue weight to be 480-525 wet. Should be fine with the Pilot, but will be close to the top of capability. I have a VW Atlas with very similar specs to the Pilot. Plenty of power and a smooth transmission... lacking a bit in the rear suspension. The Ranger would be a great choice if you want a small truck.

[mtroulis]

I tow a 16' Airstream with a 2017 Honda Ridgeline. Here's a review a did a while back after towing up a very steep hill:

Review

Mike

[LiamG]

Factory towing guidelines are drastically over-cautious. If you have access to a hitch welder who knows what he’s doing, you could tow a 22’ airstream with a VW Jetta.

We pull our 34’ Classic with a V6 3.5L Flex and have never had an issue.

So just go with whichever vehicle you prefer for its non-towing qualities would be my advice.

[Jimroll]

I had a 2007 Ridgeline and it worked well for me. However I am pulling a 22 foot 1962 Safari that weighs 3200 lbs. With a 450 lb tongue weight. With the Ridgeline it worked the engine and did not feel stable. I have since upgraded to a F-150 and it is a much better to vehicle. There are many things I miss about the Ridgline but when I travel out west I will be better served with the F150. Keep in mind my Ridgeline was a 2007, the new version is probably considerably better.

[Bob Altic]

We picked up our new 22 foot Bambi last week and after towing the first 250 miles with our 2016 Highlander, are very pleased with the handling. Yes you have to slow down going up steep hills, but braking seemed very adequate. Would love the new Sequoia but price is steep. I have a friend with a Ridgeline and he loves it. Good luck! Best, Bob

[jwier]

I have a 2017 Ridgeline and a 2019 22FB Sport since August and have driven from Memphis to Tucson, no problem. I like that the Ridgeline is really like an SUV and rides very comfortably and can pull my Sport too.

[jwier]

I have a 2017 Ridgeline and a 2019 22FB Sport since August and have driven from Memphis to Tucson, no problem. I like that the Ridgeline is really like an SUV and rides very comfortably and can pull my Sport too.

[TikiRoom]

We just finished our first real trip towing our 22 with our '13 Pilot. Traveled about 600 miles total and had to cross a couple of passes in the cascades going from western to eastern WA and back. The pilot has 4500 tow capacity and we ran the trailer light. We have a blue ox weight distribution hitch.

All up it tows much better than expected. Up hill was not too bad but I was able to maintain reasonable speeds. I found control pretty stable and did feel wind gusts but it was nothing crazy. I did have to watch my speed on flat segments as it was easy to forget I had this connected object behind me.

One thing I did notice. Putting Premium gas in for the trip made a huge difference. When we picked up the trailer we have regular gas in and I felt the transmission shifting quite a bit. With premium driving was pretty smooth, it was worth the extra costs for us.

The only downside of the trip...a few things shook loose and needed to be fixed up. Bring an Allen wrench set. The shower handle and one of the privacy panes inside the trailer feel off, came loose. needed to tighten the screws to fix and both required the Allen wrench, that of course I did not pack.

[AlbertF]

Originally Posted by TikiRoom

The only downside of the trip...a few things shook loose and needed to be fixed up. Bring an Allen wrench set. The shower handle and one of the privacy panes inside the trailer feel off, came loose. needed to tighten the screws to fix and both required the Allen wrench, that of course I did not pack.

Thanks for the advice. I’ve re-aligned and tightened the set screws holding the panels in our new trailer, but they might move again.

[MacCoroner]

We have had our 22FB almost a year now and a few months ago I realized the set screws on the semi-clear panels had worked loose again.
Locktight seems to have solved that problem nicely.

[SteveNdebbie]

We are probably on the less conservative side towing our 25’ FB ‘06 Safari with our 2011 MDX. Same platform as the Ridgeline. I think what makes it work for us is the Hensley arrow hitch and our set-up done by CanAm. We towed it from Traverse City MI to London Ontario without reinforcement to our receiving hitch which was about 800 lbs on a hitch rated at 500 lbs. While it was a flat, easy drive and no scary moments the balance and stability were vastly improved after the work they did. Towed from Ohio to Oregon coast and to Northern California and back last September and had no towing problems. You can read about it in the Acura MDX Towing thread complete with all the dueling and fireworks for entertainment. Of note, the MDX likes rpm’s around 4000. Below 3500 it bogs down if towing 6500 lbs. uphill on the highway. Also second generation MDX’s have a 3.7 liter 300 hp engine and the third and current generation have the 3.5 L.

[SteveNdebbie]

[MSL]

Originally Posted by twbucksr

Since you are really doing your homework MSL, I’ll go into a little more detail for you. First of all, we never traveled with anything in the uncovered bed of the truck. I did spend time and money placing different things in different places in the truck and the 22FB while on the scale which determined what we could and could not bring with us. The scale sheet I attached reflects the following “required” accessories weighing over 10 pounds for the week long trips we took.

Full fresh and propane tanks
Honda e2000i converted to propane
Tote with water hoses and filters
Tote with surge protector and chords
Weber Q
Yeti 50
Pancake air compressor
Golf clubs in a carry bag

The payload capacity of our RTL was 1487 pounds. The curb weight specified was 4563 pounds. This ticket documents a payload of 957 pounds that included 2 adults, golf clubs under the back seat and the pancake air compressor in the trunk. 450 pounds total. My tongue weight calculated to 507 pounds with weight distribution. I also had the flexibility to move the Yeti 50 or any other single loose item to the back seat and still be within payload limits. Overall it configured out at 95% of the GCWR of 10,085 pounds.

We never exceeded 65 mph in this configuration, used a TPMS, and enjoyed every mile as we traveled to 9 different state during the 2 years we had it.

Thanks very much for your very detailed reply. I guess if I already had a Ridgeline, I would go with it. I ended up deciding to buy a Ford Ranger (750# TW, 7,500 Tow Capcity, 12,500 GCWR); pick it up in a couple of weeks.

My new issue is Ford does not offer Trailer Mirrors as an option, as they do with the F150. I'm curious what others are doing. It looks like I'll have to go with some kind of strap-on mirror (ughh), and hope Ford offers something in the future that could be retrofitted to my model year.

[SteveNdebbie]

Dometic mirrors are helpful and we really like the rear camera on the trailer.