Anyone tow w/Honda pilot & 17FT. Casita

[Uplander]

Glenn, I don’t know what you got with your “paint protection plan” but back about 10 years ago I got some extra commission whenever a buyer signed on for paint protection, fabric protection, or an extended warranty.....just another way to boost income for the salesman and the dealership.

Someone asked what trailer I tow...right now none...sold my most recent travel trailer and now am considering one of the new generation Class B motor homes like the ones built in Canada on the Mercedes Benz delivery van platforms by the folks at Leisure Motorhomes.

[Vtec]

Originally Posted by John in Santa Cruz

this was my invisible turbo.... I regularlly cruised 85-105 mph on rural highways, and got very few tickets, and those were always something dumb like 40 in a 35.



ok, ok, way off topic, so....

p.s. it was rated to tow 3500 lbs, and probably would have handled a casita 16 hah hah!

Sorry to burst your bubble but that car was not invisible, the cops just assumed the driver was north of 65 years old driving it and not worth the effort to rehabilitate grandma for speeding, the typical Volvo station wagon driver, lol.

Just kidding, please take no offense, but truth be had, I used the "Minivan Pass" many times. That one is the cops know you are a Dad or a Mom driving the "Mom Bomb" losing track of your speed in a tourist area. I was near Jackson Hole, WY enjoying the view and looked up to see a State Trooper waving his arms out the window in a downward motion. I was doing far north of 80mph.

[Bolerpete]

We own a 2016 Pilot touring with the 9 speed transmission and got the 5000# tow package which is essentially a transmission cooler. We have a 1979 boler 1700 (17 foot model) which is full of stuff and redone in and out. Basically, it probably weighs 3000# + when camping with all of our add ons.

The pilot has no problems whatsoever with this in mountains etc., as it has 30 more hp than the previous Pilot models and weighs 300# less. The new generation dreamworks engine does not go through oil like previous models.

We are a family of 5 with an 85# labradoodle .... lots of stuff/weight.
...........no problems at all.......great vehicle and fun to drive
pete

[jimiller5]

What's your mileage, Pete?

[Bolerpete]

Mileage on our Pilot is about 50,000 km. Fuel consumption while towing is about 10% more on similar grades than driving without the trailer. We do not have a stabilizer hitch and keep the hitch weight at about 300#. You don't notice it while driving at speed and feel a slight tug upon acceleration, but you can come up to speed quickly with the Pilot towing our Boler.
We found that about 110km/hr is the safe max for this rig and that at speeds above this the trailer can start to move especially in crosswind conditions. Slow and steady wins the race.
Hope this helps
Pete

[John in Santa Cruz]

Originally Posted by Bolerpete

We found that about 110km/hr is the safe max for this rig and that at speeds above this the trailer can start to move especially in crosswind conditions. Slow and steady wins the race.

so basically under 70 MPH, yeah, I think we all try and stay under that mark. I get much better MPG at 60 MPH (96 km/h) in either of my last couple tow vehicles.

[EggRoll]

Originally Posted by Bolerpete

We own a 2016 Pilot touring with the 9 speed transmission and got the 5000# tow package which is essentially a transmission cooler. We have a 1979 boler 1700 (17 foot model) which is full of stuff and redone in and out. Basically, it probably weighs 3000# + when camping with all of our add ons.

The pilot has no problems whatsoever with this in mountains etc., as it has 30 more hp than the previous Pilot models and weighs 300# less. The new generation dreamworks engine does not go through oil like previous models.

We are a family of 5 with an 85# labradoodle .... lots of stuff/weight.
...........no problems at all.......great vehicle and fun to drive
pete

Wondering if the Pilot with the 9-speed transmission is constantly hunting for the right gear when towing? We tow our '17 Casita with a '17 Ridgeline AWD which has the 6-speed transmission. If towing at legal highway speed (55mph in California) the RPM is about 1,900 if left in drive, which gives really good fuel mileage on the flats, roughly 17.5-18.1mpg and upshifts when necessary. If we use the transmission lock into 4th gear the RPM between 55-60mph is in the 2,800-3,000 RPM range where the engine seems to offer lots power and torque and great for hilly terrain. Not sure which is better for the engine.

[Bolerpete]

Since the Pilot Touring has a 9 speed transmission, you can get stuck in a too sluggish gear for those looooong hills. We have the Coquihalla highway in B.C. which has 30 km long continuous and fairly steep graded climbs. I choose the sequential option on the electronic transmission selector which can lock a gear without shifting. Upon acceleration or deceleration you can manually upshift or downshift and lock the gear that best suits your needs.
In this mode there is no searching for gears as you would have in other automatic transmissions.
Peter

[Glenn Baglo]

I have a RAV4 with a five speed transmission. I put it in 4 ( as per the manual ) and when I need to go faster, I press heavily on the gas pedal. It gears down to 3 and is not sluggish ( just noisy - as it would be ).
The grade in question on the Coquihalla is 17 kiloimeters with up to 8 per cent grade.

[mizterwizard]

In regards to whether it is best to use a lower gear and more RPMs while towing or whether to use a higher gear and fewer RPMs, I am in favor of keeping the RPMs up.

Every time the piston goes up and down there is a little wear. It isn't much but it isn't nothing either. Higher RPMs also mean more inertia loads on the engine. Those increase as the square of the speed so they build up quickly.

On the other hand, lower RPMs mean you need more torque which means higher cylinder pressures and temperatures. More cylinder pressure makes the rings press against the cylinder walls harder which also leads to more wear. This is probably more important than more revolutions. Higher temps make the oil thinner and everything weaker leading to increased wear and increased stress.

On balance it is better to run the engine near it's midrange than near the maximum RPMs and at mid throttle rather than full throttle. Not only is it better for the engine stress-wise but it is better for economy and driveability.

When running empty and light it is possible to have low RPMs and low throttle at the same time which gets the best economy and wear. When towing though it is often the case that you have to compromise one or the other. By staying near the middle on both you can minimize the adverse effects.

An automatic transmission almost never wears out the gears inside. When a transmission goes it is the clutches that die. Clutches only wear during a shift. Once the shift is done the clutches don't wear at all. Clutches that shift a lot absorb a lot of power and get hot fast. If a transmission is constantly hunting back and forth between gears, the clutches can get hot enough to be damaged even if they aren't worn out.

For this reason it is a good idea to shift an automatic transmission into a gear it can live with and let the engine take a little more wear instead.

I have a car that tries to figure this out for me. It does an okay job but using a tow/haul button works better. By using tow/haul mode you cause the transmission to calculate shifts with a different goal in mind. The computer tries to protect the transmission by staying in lower gears and shifting less.

As far as the transmission is concerned, a really firm, borderline harsh, sift is best because it involves less slipping and so less heat buildup. People don't like to even feel that the transmission is doing anything. We like slow, gradual shifts that we can't feel. These are pretty hard on the clutches.

It isn't easy to make a drive train that will do everything any of us can think of and do it well. Things are pretty well sorted right now but when we have all electric vehicles we will wonder why we ever put up with all of this nonsense.

[sfmiguel]

Little late with this response, but to Montana Brads original query. We tow a 2017 17'Casita Spirit Deluxe with a 2017 Ridgeline and have no complaints. I am conscious of my mpg and drive conservatively. Probably average 63 mph. We just got back from a 1600 mile trip, Santa Fe NM to Palm Springs, and averaged 18.2 mpg. We have averaged as high as 19 and as low as 17.8 on other journeys.