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Just a quick update for those who have asked about my RL Towing and those maybe wondering. Simply put I was very impressed how my RL snatched my 21 CC and drove like it was hardly there. I am impressed with this Mid-size Truck every day. I will not hesitate in the least to Trailer her from Fernandina to Keywest and know it will Tow just fine. I believe Honda put a very conservative Tow rating of 5k and she is capable of much more. I will be adding a new Loadmaster 6k Lb Trailer in the near future which will enhance the Towing.
Ok, if you did not happen to open up the link, Honda Ridgeline,,,, Motor Trend Truck of the Year in 06,,, Need I say more,,, Try one out and you will not be disappointed. Then again if your towing a Large boat you will be,,,
Actually the Ridgeline has a closed box frame that is several times more rigid than the Pilot as well as unit body construction. It's one strong truck.
Don't get on here a brag what your wanna be minivan might do . And if you are going to continue to , don't forget to come back and tell us what a new tranny cost or how you slid into cross traffic because you couldn't stop.
__________________ F350 4x4/ Dodge 2500HD 5.9L Cummins
Leaving the Picture of the Ford cuz I miss it
Pacific 2325 cc
Honda bf225
aluminumalloyboats.com
While I do agree that it IS a truck, I wouldn't think you will be very impressed with it pulling a 6K load. I have a Ridgeline too and I pull a 21 CC with it and it works OK, but just OK. It is a true truck, a very nice one at that but a great tow vehicle it is not.
It handles the tow fine if you're on flat land but making lots of hills on a 200 mile trip you'll be sucking up lots of fuel (relative to what you normally get in this truck). My average mileage usually runs about 20 mpg with mixed hills, expressway, and in town. Pull the boat and it dips to ~12 mpg on a highway trip. The handling of the truck during a tow like that is great. It really is a great handling vehicle under all of the conditions I've encountered in the 81K miles I've used it. Braking with the tow has not been an issue at all. Just the mileage really sucks.
I love my Ridgeline for everything it is and offers me.....EXCEPT towing a boat.
My old '04 F150 5.4L three valve would hardly ever know that load was back there but the RL knows immediately.
Last edited by fwood; 09-19-2009 at 08:49 PM.
Reason: handling comments
I agree that Honda's are pretty great vehicles. I've had a bunch of them in my family. The Ridgeline is the best truck I've had for how I use a truck, and I do use it as a truck. If I ever get a larger boat though, I'll need to get a different truck to pull it. If Honda comes out with a diesel Ridgeline...maybe it will be a Honda for my next tow truck.
...Love my Ridge.... ,,,and it should be towing a Canyon Bay 23 w/250 HO E-tech in 2 yrs,,,,
P.S. My 21 CC weighs in approx 4500 lbs give or take a few hundred depending on Gear and fuel. My current trailer is rated for 4k, and this was the trailer that came with the boat. The Ridge towed it much better than my Mountaineer V-8 AWD however not quite as good as my wife's Suburban 4X4. With that said, and anticipating upgrading my trailer to the Loadmaster 6k lb rating, I will tow with the Ridge where-ever I need to go. Next trip will be to Marco Island or the Keys.
I've towed with unibody Jeeps as well and I don't see any major disadvantage to them with boats in the range of 3000-5000 lbs...in the case of the Honda...the thing that I'd be concerned with is the ability of the rear suspension to handle the tongue weight...I have used air bags with my Jeep and they work great with coil springs but you can't use them with independent strut designs or coil overs unless the shock is mounted seperate from the spring...the fully independent suspension can undergo camber change when the suspension loads and unloads which can wear tires as well more than a solid axle...but on the other hand the independent suspension can ride better and more stable which is a benefit. If the powertrain is strong enough...if you could use a WD hitch that would work with the surge brakes then this may be a reasonable tow vehicle for shorter tows at lower speeds...and then you don't have to drive a huge truck with the drawbacks that come with them the rest of the time...
This is why I have stuck with Jeeps myself...don't have the room to park a big vehicle...probably won't ever have bigger than a 22 footer...and the new Jeep with 375 ft lbs of torque...Quadradrive II with locking diffs front and rear...will do a whole lot better than the old one (4.0 Six/Selectrac) which by the way was just fine around here with the 20 footer I have now....
__________________ 1988 Four Winns 200 Horizon
4.3 OMC Cobra
1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee
4.0/NV 242 Selectrac
2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited
5.7 HEMI/Quadradrive II
I believe Honda put a very conservative Tow rating of 5k and she is capable of much more. I will be adding a new Loadmaster 6k Lb Trailer in the near future which will enhance the Towing.
There are three parts to safe towing:
1) Getting the rig moving and keeping it that way.
2) Controlling the rig. You don't want the tail wagging the dog, and it can happen far too easily with short wheelbases, heavy trailers, wet roads, and strong crosswinds.
3) Stopping the rig. Good trailer brakes help, but surge brakes and salt water don't mix well, something you might not find out about until you need them. At that point, your truck is on its own persuading the trailer to stop.
So far you're just looking at #1. Fair enough. Under the right conditions it doesn't take much to get things going. YouTube has videos of F350s pulling semi-trailer trains. I suspect even the Australians don't allow this on the road though.
For #2 and #3, towing capacity is matter of engineering, not belief. The North American truck manufacturers play a number of games to keep the towing capacity as high as possible; I'd be surprised if Toyota didn't do the same thing trying to compete. Once you exceed their ratings you remove any margins of error they built into the system, however slim. 5k is 5k.
By way of disclosure, I've towed small boats (13' to 28') on trailers thousands of kilometres for work. (For you non-metric types, that's dozens of miles.) I've had a few "nearer my God to Thee" moments and done far stupider things than exceed towing capacity by a mere 20%. If you push the envelope long enough things will catch up with you. Hopefully it will just be a toasted transmission.
I love Honda and Toyota engineering. I just wish the Toyota 3/4 and 1 ton diesel pickups were allowed into North America.
I tow with a R/L as well, but my boat/motor/trailer probably weigh in at about 3800 lbs. (18 foot parker).
It does the job just fine, but I would definitely not go over the 5k limit.
I had the truck before I had the boat, but If I was to buy a new tow vehicle, I would go full-sized v-8.
Yeah its a minivan with a bed, but it rides pretty sweet.
Scott
Honda makes great cars. If I were in the truck business, I would worry that someday they may build a truck..... That day however has not come yet.
Your right !! If they decide to Build a full size Truck they may just take a Bigger piece of the Truck market. Stretch the Ridgeline out, V-8 with 320 HP +, Tow capacity of 8k + and yield 18-22 mpg and I will be trading mine for it. I do like the new re-designed Ram 1500 and I almost pulled the trigger on it or the Titan. However, when I read all the reviews and test drove the RL, my mind was made up. ,,,and at 5k tow rating, it is within limits of my current boat and the one I have my eye on for my next upgrade.
1) Getting the rig moving and keeping it that way.
2) Controlling the rig. You don't want the tail wagging the dog, and it can happen far too easily with short wheelbases, heavy trailers, wet roads, and strong crosswinds.
3) Stopping the rig. Good trailer brakes help, but surge brakes and salt water don't mix well, something you might not find out about until you need them. At that point, your truck is on its own persuading the trailer to stop.
So far you're just looking at #1. Fair enough. Under the right conditions it doesn't take much to get things going. YouTube has videos of F350s pulling semi-trailer trains. I suspect even the Australians don't allow this on the road though.
For #2 and #3, towing capacity is matter of engineering, not belief. The North American truck manufacturers play a number of games to keep the towing capacity as high as possible; I'd be surprised if Toyota didn't do the same thing trying to compete. Once you exceed their ratings you remove any margins of error they built into the system, however slim. 5k is 5k.
By way of disclosure, I've towed small boats (13' to 28') on trailers thousands of kilometres for work. (For you non-metric types, that's dozens of miles.) I've had a few "nearer my God to Thee" moments and done far stupider things than exceed towing capacity by a mere 20%. If you push the envelope long enough things will catch up with you. Hopefully it will just be a toasted transmission.
I love Honda and Toyota engineering. I just wish the Toyota 3/4 and 1 ton diesel pickups were allowed into North America.
I think I know a little bit about Gross weight & Towing. I use to drive and haul them Big Rigs I think they call em.... Like up to and including the Federal Dot limit of 80,000 gross lbs without a special permit to haul heavier. ,,,,and yes you are absoultely right about stopping... Especially when those 4 wheelers like to cut in front of you and think you can stop on a dime you know ?? I wish I had a video mounted on the cab so I can play it back and show a ton of people the near misses on a daily basis. Thats why they started having State Law Enforcement ride and issue numerous tickets to these hot rodders. ...And Safety, it is paramount and I totally agree with all who note the safety aspect of towing.
Anyway, I will enjoy my Minivan with a Bed and hopefully she will serve me good n safe for several years til I turn her over to my daughter to enjoy.
RL Towing 
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