2014 Honda Pilot and 178/179?
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Topic: 2014 Honda Pilot and 178/179?
Posted By: psikes
Subject: 2014 Honda Pilot and 178/179?
Date Posted: 30 Jul 2014 at 7:48pm
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Just wondering if our new Honda Pilot 4WD is safe to tow either of these. I know the numbers work but would appreciate some real life experiences. I currently tow a 23' TT with a F250 diesel but we have done our big trips and want to scale back a bit. Thanks, Phil
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Replies:
Posted By: Leo B
Date Posted: 30 Jul 2014 at 7:50pm
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Welcome to the group. We tow our 179 with our Dodge Grands Caravan through the mountains of Northern Vermont and New Hampshire without any problems so far. You Pilot should have no problem with either one ------------- Leo & Melissa Bachand 2017 Ford F150 2021 Vista Cruiser 19 csk Previously owned 2015 Rpod 179 2010 Rpod 171 |
Posted By: hogone
Date Posted: 30 Jul 2014 at 8:55pm
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keep the 250 ------------- Jon & Pam 2013 RP177 2010 F150 2017 HD Streetglide 2009 HD Lowrider CHEESEHEAD |
Posted By: CharlieM
Date Posted: 30 Jul 2014 at 8:57pm
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Phil, Here's my personal experience towing a 172 with a 4WD Pilot. There's no problem with the Honda pulling, controlling, and stopping the 178/179. Although they weigh 4-500# more than my 172 there should be no safety issues on level ground at sea level. I purposely chose the 172 because I knew I'd be towing in the Colorado mountains. Hills and elevation are not the small gasoline engine's best friend. So I found the Pilot would tow fine approaching the mountain passes, but 6% inclines were a challenge The gearing on the Pilot is such that 2nd was too high and 1st was too low for some of the steeper inclines. Fortunately some of the same passes were self limiting to 15 MPH and the higher you go the slower you go. That said I went over several 10-11000 ft. passes, just slowly. If you have a good and properly adjusted brake controller, and do it properly, you'll also have no problem coming down. So the bottom line is you can do it, but slowly. And we love the West! Enjoy. ------------- Charlie Northern Colorado OLD: 2013 RP-172, 2010 Honda Pilot 3.5L 4WD PRESENT: 2014 Camplite 21RBS, 2013 Supercharged Tacoma 4L V6 4WD |
Posted By: hogone
Date Posted: 30 Jul 2014 at 9:00pm
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keep the 250 ------------- Jon & Pam 2013 RP177 2010 F150 2017 HD Streetglide 2009 HD Lowrider CHEESEHEAD |
Posted By: techntrek
Date Posted: 30 Jul 2014 at 9:28pm
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I'll repeat what hogone has repeated. You have the 250, keep it. I have a 2010 Suburban with an 8000 pound towing limit, long wheel base, and over 300 hp and torque. The power is great at lower altitudes, but hauls last year over 7000 feet, and this year as high as 10,000 feet left it feeling like it had 100 hp and torque up there. There were long mountain passes in the Rockies where I was in 2nd doing 40, but similar passes in the Appalachians thousands of feet lower I had power to pass anyone. Your 250 is designed to tow - high torque, hp, and long wheelbase. ------------- Doug ~ '10 171 (2009-2015) ~ 2008 Salem ~ http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=1723 - Pod instruction manual 
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Posted By: GingerPod
Date Posted: 30 Jul 2014 at 9:37pm
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Honestly I wouldn't tow any vehicle that is not really designed for towing,regardless of what the manufacturer says it's towing capability is. Sure,mini-vans and small to mid-size Suv's and trucks will pull it,but rapid wear will result as they will be constantly straining,cooling systems maxed out,brakes at the limit,trans running real hot,etc,etc. A full size truck or SUV is what I would recommend for longevity and peace of mind,especially during an emergency when an evasive lane change or panic brake is required. ------------- FOUND OUR NEW-RETRO TEARDROP!!! |
Posted By: psikes
Date Posted: 30 Jul 2014 at 11:01pm
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I could tell some horror stories about my F250 but just suffice it to say that we were stranded three times on our last trip. We would love to lose the diesel and step down to a smaller trailer. I do appreciate all the comments. We will be doing very little mountain driving staying mostly on the coast of Washington and Oregon. Thanks, Phil
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Posted By: techntrek
Date Posted: 31 Jul 2014 at 9:49pm
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I started off towing my pod with a Toyota Sienna. It was fine most of the time. Decent pickup from a dead start, no sway issues, etc. Then I had a long day towing in a very strong headwind. I was literally flooring it to do 45 and my mpgs that day fell through the floor. That's when I knew I needed to move to something more capable. Even though you will spend most of your time inside the envelope, eventually you'll hit a condition which will be outside the envelope. Just something to think about. It is unfortunate if the 250 is unreliable, that does change your situation. ------------- Doug ~ '10 171 (2009-2015) ~ 2008 Salem ~ http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=1723 - Pod instruction manual
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Posted By: psikes
Date Posted: 31 Jul 2014 at 9:58pm
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On days like that, we will just park it and spend the day sightseeing or playing my banjo! Getting stranded three time on the same trip has led me to totally distrust the F250. I am sure reading a lot of posts from people towing with the Pilot and getting good results. At this point, most of our travels will be short haul and restricted to the a West coast. We are almost ready to pull the trigger on a 178, sometime in the next two weeks. Thanks for all the input, Phil
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Posted By: CharlieM
Date Posted: 31 Jul 2014 at 10:19pm
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Ready, Aim, Fire!
------------- Charlie Northern Colorado OLD: 2013 RP-172, 2010 Honda Pilot 3.5L 4WD PRESENT: 2014 Camplite 21RBS, 2013 Supercharged Tacoma 4L V6 4WD |
Posted By: hogone
Date Posted: 01 Aug 2014 at 6:48am
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at the pilot, wouldn't phase the f150 ------------- Jon & Pam 2013 RP177 2010 F150 2017 HD Streetglide 2009 HD Lowrider CHEESEHEAD |
Posted By: Budward
Date Posted: 01 Aug 2014 at 7:31am
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psikes- I'm curious what year and engine is your F250? I have a 96 F350 diesel with over 200,000 miles and it has been one of the best vehicles I've ever owned. ------------- 2014 179 Towed by a 2015 Ford Transit Diesel Supervised by a German/Aussie mix and a Labradoodle! |
Posted By: Leo B
Date Posted: 01 Aug 2014 at 7:37am
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200,000 miles.........just getting broken in!! ------------- Leo & Melissa Bachand 2017 Ford F150 2021 Vista Cruiser 19 csk Previously owned 2015 Rpod 179 2010 Rpod 171 |
Posted By: psikes
Date Posted: 01 Aug 2014 at 10:46am
| Ours is a 2006 with the 6.0 engine. Since we have owned it we have kept it serviced properly, used it but not abused it and overall love the truck. I just do not trust it to pull our 23 footer any longer. We have lost 2 turbos, a turbo boot, three FICM modules, one wiring harness to/from the FICM and cam sensors. Other than that it is a great truck with only 105,000 miles on it. |
Posted By: Hairy Podders
Date Posted: 01 Aug 2014 at 12:47pm
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The 6.0 liter diesel is the red-headed stepchild of the Power Stroke series. Some people have great luck with them. Most do not.
The 7.3 was a great engine.....I've been working on a couple of wrecked '11 F450's. They run like a scalded dog! But you can NOT work on them easily. ------------- Darryl, Julie & Lindsey Cooper & Libby- Devoted Canines 2014 RP178 2006 Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon |
Posted By: psikes
Date Posted: 01 Aug 2014 at 1:17pm
| If I had known about the 6.0 I never would have bought it at the time. |
Posted By: r-Griz-pod
Date Posted: 08 Aug 2014 at 11:30pm
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We just purchased our 177 a couple of weeks ago and plan on pulling it with our 2013 Pilot. We haven't been able to take it on the road yet but the trip home went better than expected. We had plenty of power even at highway speeds of 70 mph and a couple of small hills. MPG was not good at that speed but we wanted to check how the Pilot did as well as how the pod towed. We look forward to our first trip next weekend to see if the extra weight of the pod loaded makes any difference.
------------- r-GRIZ-pod |
Posted By: Budward
Date Posted: 09 Aug 2014 at 6:47am
Ditto. I don't get why Ford didn't just keep improving the 7.3, 4 valve heads etc.. I'll probably keep my 7.3 until either me or the truck dies... Mine has a couple of mods- added an aftercooler (what a job that was), mild chip, and the exhaust downpipe replacement with a round one instead of the squashed factory one. Also had the E4OD (re)built (before it died) by the well known BTS in Lead Hill AR. To duplicate it with a new one? $60k- I don't think so  ------------- 2014 179 Towed by a 2015 Ford Transit Diesel Supervised by a German/Aussie mix and a Labradoodle! |
Posted By: psikes
Date Posted: 09 Aug 2014 at 12:34pm
| Back to the Honda world. We just pulled our new 178 home with the 2014 Pilot Touring and it did a great job. Plenty of power to get up the short but steep hills and very well behaved with the E2 hitch. I think we have a winning combination here. |
Posted By: k4fcp
Date Posted: 12 Aug 2014 at 8:17pm
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I'll jump in here with the others and just say there is no way I would tow with the Pilot for many reason, but my 178 weighs 3,000 lbs when it's travelling (weighed it) so you are towing essentially a 3,000 lb trailer with a 4,000 lb vehicle. Yes it will stop, but what will it do in a panic swerve, stop etc. I'm ignoring hills, mountains, etc. The 250lbs of torque seems weak to me and I would think you're tranny and engine will get a real workout. I do have 40 years of trailer experience and a very recent experience made me glad I was towing with an F 150, v-8, weight distribution, and sway bar, and the F 150 also has a built in sway control. I would most likely have been upside down with both vehicles had I not had this setup. I should even post the situation as it could happen very easily/ Anyway, just my .02 worth. ------------- Rich 2013 R-177 2013 Ford F 150 4X4 (yeah, bought a new truck)! |
Posted By: Escape Pod
Date Posted: 15 Aug 2014 at 8:01am
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We are pulling our 178 with a 2004 Pilot. It pulls and stops fine. We use a Curt WDH and brake controller. No sway bar attached. The gas mileage sucks and we haven't had to cross any 10,000 foot passes. Other than that, no problems so far. If something changes, we'll let you know. We tend to be weekend campers and use it as a camper and not so much as a travel trailer ( ie no long distances). So that my be a factor for you. Good luck with whatever you use. ------------- Jim and Diane 2014 RPod 178 2011 Silverado 1500 Z71 |
Posted By: psikes
Date Posted: 15 Aug 2014 at 9:19pm
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We will be using the new Pilot and like you, it will be used for mostly short haul trips. We got the E2 hitch and Prodigy brake controller installed. We do pack lightly nowadays and do not anticipate any problems. We pulled our last travel trailer, a 23 footer, close to 40,000 miles with no problems with the trailer. The F250 on the other hand was a serious pain. ------------- 2015 178 TV 2014 Honda Pilot Touring |