|
|
Post Reply 
|
Page <12345 11> |
| Author |
 Share Topic Printable Version Google Delicious Digg StumbleUpon Windows Live Yahoo Bookmarks reddit Facebook MySpace Newsvine Furl Topic Search  Topic Options
|
Pod People 
Senior Member 
Joined: 22 Sep 2011 Location: Chapel Hill,NC Online Status: Offline Posts: 1065 |
 Topic: Introduce yourselfPosted: 04 May 2020 at 8:15am |
|
for what it is worth, I will give you my personal experience. We have traveling partner friends who tow a 179 with a Honda Pilot touring model. I don't know the actual weight of their Honda, their 179 or their capacities. We were traveling together and he got sick. I ended up driving their rig from New York to Atlanta. It was not a pleasant experience. the Honda has a very small gas tank-stopped for gas very frequently. the Honda engine was overmatched as was the the brakes. The transmission had an accessory cooler, but still ran at higher than optimum temps. at times I felt like the trailer was pushing the Honda around. Overall, I would NOT recommend towing with a Honda Pilot. As a side note, I own a 2015 Honda Pilot as my daily driver-I love it, but will not tow with it. Vann
|
|
|
Vann & Laura 2015 RPod 179 
|
|
 |
|
|
chenschel
Newbie 
Joined: 02 May 2020 Location: IL Online Status: Offline Posts: 6 |
Posted: 04 May 2020 at 8:44am |
|
Thank you all for the hearty welcome as a newbie to the rpod forum! I appreciate all of your experience and comments. That said, We plan to give our first season a go with our 2016 Highlander Hybrid and our new (to us) Rpod 190. The Toyota manual says it will work and we will get to know it and see if it is suitable or requires an upgrade to a larger TV. We will have a weight distribution and sway control hitch and we will be careful with how much we load and where it is distributed. Time will tell.
Best to you all and happy safe rpoding! Chuck & Diana
|
|
|
Lucky CHUCK :Y:
|
|
|
|
|
Andyrpod190
Groupie 
Joined: 03 May 2020 Location: NH Online Status: Offline Posts: 40 |
Posted: 04 May 2020 at 8:46am |
|
So here are more details:
The Max allowable weight (GVWR) of the vehicle, all occupants, cargo, and gear is 6,096 GAWR = 2,921 front axle - 3,362 rear axle Max Tongue Load = 450 lbs (recommended tongue load should be 8 - 15% total trailer weight for trailers) so for a 3700 pound trailer using 12% that = 444 lbs. Max Total Trailer weight = 4,500 lbs including 2 passengers Are these R-Pod trailers off balance so that even within towing parameters the tongue weight is messed up on the R-pods? The WDH distributes the weight evenly over the 4 wheels of the pilot. How do I find out what the tongue load is with the R-Pod 190 loaded with 3700 pounds?
|
|
|
AC
|
|
|
|
|
lostagain
Senior Member
Joined: 06 Sep 2016 Location: Quaker Hill, CT Online Status: Offline Posts: 2586 |
Posted: 04 May 2020 at 9:02am |
|
Andy, you are caught in a very common problem that many find themselves in. Buy a trailer to fit the TV or buy a TV to fit the trailer. For most of us, we are trying to balance the family budget and trying to save where we can, yet still get the comfort we want. When we bought our original 172, I had purchased a used truck with the capacity to tow it, a Dodge Dakota. As we camped over the next couple years, we found that we wanted a slightly roomier trailer, and ended up getting a trailer very similar to the 192 without the murphy bed. The trailer fits our needs, but our Dakota really didn't do well with it. We ended up having to unexpectedly buy a new TV rather than wait half way into a trip to get the engine problem fixed only to still have a truck that was too close to its maximum capacity with more problems inevitable.
Do yourself a favor. If you can't comfortably drop down to one of the 170 series of rPods, then get the trailer you are most comfortable with (in my view a better long term choice) and plan on getting a TV that can handle the weight of the trailer you like. I realize that it means more cost. I truly appreciate that, since both our Pod and our Dakota were payed for and now we are stuck with an unplanned truck payment, which I detest. But I can't take the money out of the retirement account to pay for it, especially now. You won't be happy with the results of a TV that can't manage the trailer you want. +1 to what OG has said about the weight sneaking up on you.
|
|
|
Never leave footprints behind.
Fred & Maria Kearney Sonoma 167RB Our Pod 172 2019 Ford F-150 4x4 2.7 EcoBoost |
|
|
|
|
mjlrpod
Senior Member
Joined: 27 Sep 2016 Location: Massachusetts Online Status: Offline Posts: 1214 |
Posted: 04 May 2020 at 9:58am |
|
Andy, I know many are telling you your pilot can't tow this. I believe it can. I've seen many do it. I've seen many, some here, that use a 3500 pound capacity tow vehicle. I would not support that choice. Your situation matters greatly in this as well. Use a distribution hitch for sure. If you want to be able to load up with all kinds of stuff, and travel all over, It's not a good idea. If you intend to cross over very hilly, mountainous terrain often, It will be rough. If you are towing 2 or 3 times a year to the campground an hour away, you should be fine. The most important thing for you to do, is understand your tow capacity is close, so be careful, and be smart about cargo. Pack light, drive cautiously. That's my opinion.
|
|
|
2017.5 Rp-172
2020 R-pod 195 2015 Frontier sv 4.0L 6cyl I'll be rpodding |
|
|
|
|
StephenH
podders Helping podders - pHp
Joined: 29 Nov 2015 Location: Wake Forest, NC Online Status: Offline Posts: 6285 |
Posted: 04 May 2020 at 11:27am |
|
When we got our RPod 179, we were towing it with a 2016 Ford Escape with the towing package. It had a 3,500 lb tow rating. With the Equal-i-zer hitch, it towed pretty well as long as we kept the speed at 60 mph or below. Above that, it started to get uncomfortable, especially if there were a cross-wind. It was front wheel drive, and that was a problem as even with the WDH, it was easy to spin the front tires on takeoff. I made it a point to avoid dirt roads as I knew it would be a problem getting started if we had to stop on an uphill slope. The best thing about it was the 2L Ecoboost engine. It had quite a bit of torque and sufficient horsepower to move our 179 comfortably. The small gas tank though meant that we were stopping every 100 to 150 miles for premium (expensive) gas. The short wheelbase was not an issue as the distance between the center of the rear axle and the hitch ball was only three feet. We had an accident where we hit ice with a crosswind I wrote up the experience, Fuel economy is also worse with the Frontier. Once I figured out that I needed to limit my speed, I was getting acceptable (12-14 mpg depending on wind and terrain). With the Frontier, it is more like 11-12 mpg. I also got a wind deflector (Purpleline AeroPlus) which really helped with the Escape. However, it does not help with the Frontier because it is too far forward. If we had a cap on the Frontier instead of the tonneau cover, I could place it farther back and it would likely help. However, I don't so I end up not using it. I don't know if it would work if I could figure out a way to mount it on the tonneau cover toward the back end of the truck. That is a project I need to tackle as I don't want to drill holes in the tonneau cover. One would help with the Pilot if you have a roof rack to which it can be attached. If not, then the Icon AeroShield would be a better choice. All of this is to say that you can tow with the Pilot if you understand the limitations. Whether you should is for you to decide.
|
|
|
StephenH
Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,... ouR escaPOD mods Former RPod 179 Current Cherokee Grey Wolf 24 JS |
|
|
|
|
offgrid
Senior Member
Joined: 23 Jul 2018 Online Status: Offline Posts: 5290 |
Posted: 04 May 2020 at 2:49pm |
Look up the max combined gross vehicle weight rating for the Pilot. That is the total allowable weight of tow vehicle and trailer, not the max gross vehicle weight rating of 6096 which is the Pilot alone. The MCGVWR number should be in your manual somewhere. Load up the Pilot, including people and a full gas tank, and any stuff you want to take. Go to a public scale and weigh it, getting first one then both axles. Take the total that your dealer (make sure he actually weighs it) gives you for the trailer, add the water and supplies you plan to take. And a reasonable safety factor, maybe another couple of hundred pounds, to that in case you end up underestimating your gear. Add that all together and be sure you aren't over the MCGVWR. I personally like to stay well under, like 800 lbs under. As for tongue weight, I'm about 500 on my 179 which is somewhat lighter than a 190. That's with a full fresh water tank, 2 batteries, and one propane cylinder. I doubt a 190 with the same water, batteries, and propane will end up less that that so I think you'll be over 450. is that messed up? Not really. The total trailer weight is about 3800 lbs so that's 13.1% which is a good place for the trailer. But 500 plus pounds on a tow vehicle rated for 450 is not a good place for the TV. Where did you get that an 8% tongue weight is OK? Generally accepted minimum is 10%. I wouldn't tow an rpod below 10%, there are known cases of sway that have occurred below that. I doubt that too low tongue weight will be your problem though. How do you find out what the tongue weight is on your 190? You load it and weigh it, not another good way to do it. I thought you were having the dealer do that? If not, you can get the number by going through the public scale with the trailer and getting the weight of each axle one at a time. The tongue weight is the difference between the total weight of the Pilot you already have determined above and the combined weight of the two Pilot axles with the trailer attached, but not including the trailer axle. If you measure this then do it without the weight distribution hitch tensioned up or it will mess up the numbers. As to those who say you can do this, my question is, how would you know without measuring the weights and checking them against the specs? Nothing like actually knowing the facts so you can make an informed decision. |
|
|
1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft 2015 Rpod 179 - sold |
|
|
|
|
offgrid
Senior Member
Joined: 23 Jul 2018 Online Status: Offline Posts: 5290 |
Posted: 04 May 2020 at 3:09pm |
I didn't realize you had a hybrid. You've obviously made a decision to do this so to be clear I'm not arguing with you about that decision, you can do whatever you want of course. But I do disagree that the Toyota manual says it will work. I was originally going to buy a Highlander Hybrid and decided not to because of its limited towing capacity. The 3.5 V6 Highlander has a towing capactity of 5000 lbs and a hitch capacity of 500. The Hybrid had 3500 and 350. How do you keep those two numbers within those limits with a 190? Even FRs highly optimistic tongue weight for a dry, empty trailer with no batteries is higher than that. Also what about the MCGVWR? |
|
|
1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft 2015 Rpod 179 - sold |
|
|
|
|
LAFN
Newbie
Joined: 08 May 2020 Online Status: Offline Posts: 2 |
Posted: 08 May 2020 at 4:11pm |
|
Reading this with interest as I currently have a Honda Pilot. We are looking for a used RPod and are limiting ourselves to a 171 when I can find one. The other can of worms here is that last I knew Honda does not recommend a weight distribution hitch be used on the Pilot.
|
|
|
|
|
StephenH
podders Helping podders - pHp
Joined: 29 Nov 2015 Location: Wake Forest, NC Online Status: Offline Posts: 6285 |
Posted: 08 May 2020 at 5:45pm |
|
Not taking the Pb-Acid battery and going for a LiFePO4 battery not mounted on the tongue, but further back inside like I did with our 179 would help, but I agree that the hybrid is probably not the best choice of tow vehicles for a 190.
|
|
|
StephenH
Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,... ouR escaPOD mods Former RPod 179 Current Cherokee Grey Wolf 24 JS |
|
|
|
|
Post Reply
|
Page <12345 11> |
| Forum Jump | Forum Permissions You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot create polls in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum |
Introduce yourself