Maintenance & Restoration

PC Steve · 04-08-2016, 06:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by honda03842

Carl,

We drove almost 4 hours today, more than normal for us. We were targeting a shrimp restaurant in St. Marys that we stop at coming and going thru Georgia. ST/ Marys is a vety nice, liveable town.

9 mpg is a little better than normal, usually it's more like 18.

Restaurant name? Thanks!

honda03842 · 04-08-2016, 06:27 PM

St. Mary's Seafood. Fried Shrimp. 12 Shrimp, 2 hush puppies, fries and a drink. $7.99

honda03842 · 04-10-2016, 06:34 AM

This will be our last T-Mobile report until we reach a place where it doesn't work. Yesterday we drove through the Francis Marion National Forest, an area with very few homes and had excellent service the entire way...Ginny's been comparing signal strength of her Verizon phone to my T-Mobile.

honda03842 · 04-11-2016, 01:35 PM

Driving coastal NC, averaged 18.9 for about 200 miles.

Nut501 · 04-11-2016, 01:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by honda03842

St. Mary's Seafood. Fried Shrimp. 12 Shrimp, 2 hush puppies, fries and a drink. $7.99

Norm,
Did the shrimp taste as good as the Florida shrimp? Ha, just wondering.
Were they really good?
Thanks,

honda03842 · 04-11-2016, 01:56 PM

They were really good. We used to stay in Tarpon Springs and buy off the boat shrimp, They were excellent as well. The place I wrote about in Washington, NC, Rachel K's Bakery is worth driving to eat.

honda03842 · 08-22-2016, 12:03 PM

Ginny and I just returned from the fun Machias, ME wild blue berry festival. Here's an amazing fact: from 32 acres they harvested 200,000 lbs of berries.

The Odyssey did a great job towing for about 500 miles, mostly on Route 1 getting 18.3 mpg.

We drove another 670 miles just out scouting around, not towing, mostly on Route 1 and numerous side roads and got 29.7 mpg.

One road without a single house ended up at 3 abandoned government facilities, each virtually identical. You never know what you'll find at the end of the road.

Kardon · 08-22-2016, 12:29 PM

Hi, we were at the festival on Friday afternoon and Saturday. On Sunday we went over to Campobello Island to see Roosevelt's summer home and then stopped in at the West Quoddyhead lighthouse. We just got back. We had a great time. We stayed at the Cobscook state park. Kr

honda03842 · 08-22-2016, 01:11 PM

Karen and Don

Glad you had a good time. Did you attend the Musical show at the Church?

We spent a week staying at Sunset Point in Harrington, ME, our third visit this year. He provides fresh cooked lobster to your site....

We spent a week there, loving the relatie quiet of Northeastern Maine.

Radar1 · 08-22-2016, 08:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by honda03842

This will be our last T-Mobile report until we reach a place where it doesn't work. Yesterday we drove through the Francis Marion National Forest, an area with very few homes and had excellent service the entire way...Ginny's been comparing signal strength of her Verizon phone to my T-Mobile.

I was pleasantly surprised with our T-Mobile coverage in Canada. Seems we got better data coverage up there than we do in the Northern US states.

honda03842 · 10-20-2016, 12:30 PM

We have been on the road for most of 7 months, going from FL to Newfoundland, to NH, upto northern Maine to NH, out to PA, up thru NY to Northern MN, back thru TN and NC to FL.

We covered some 7500 miles, including towing and exploring with our Honda Odyssey easily towing our Scamp 16. The towing mpg seems to get better with time. On our last run we averaged 22.7 mpg. Not bad for the huge Odyssey.

WE're still pleased with it and find it a comfortable ride with tons of storage space.

Norm

TWelch · 10-26-2016, 01:22 PM

Norm and Ginny, and everyone else who has posted in this thread, thanks for your many detailed and specific posts regarding towing with your Odyssey.

I just got a 2016 Odyssey (off the lot, not ordered), and asked about getting a Class 2 hitch put on it. The service manager said they only installed Class 3 hitches, and that, with a transmission cooler fan and "harness" - 4pin, not 7 pin, would cost $1344.21. . . This is apparently the "towing package" as parts and labor were combined for the cost.

My question: This seems a bit high to me, and wonder if there is a reason to go with the dealership work (probably for the radiator cooler?) rather than finding a body shop in the area to put on the hitch and "harness." The Honda dealership does not do trailer brakes, either. . .

Just thought I'd ask those of you with experience, here, about this . . . I read through page 11 of this thread, but decided to ask the specific question. . .

I've seen the video showing how to attach a hitch, but I don't really feel competent to do this myself. Maybe when I was much younger. . .

Thanks,
Tonie Welch

redbarron55 · 10-26-2016, 01:52 PM

Norm,

I was very tempted to get the Odyssey to replace the VW TDI being recalled/ bought back, but we looked around and Connie test drove all of the vans and we decided on the 2016 Town and Country. We got a used one with 7800 miles that was on a guaranteed depreciation plan with Hertz in Orlando.
This van had the running gear, heavy duty radiator, electrical system and transmission cooler, but not the hitch and wiring.
I found a deal the hitch and harness for about $225 OEM.
The thing I like is the stow and go seating that drops all of the seats below the floor and a sheet of 4 x 8 plywood or the moral equivalent will slide right in.

Mileage is not quite as good, but we get 28 mpg on the highway with me driving. of course with lead foot Connie driving it is less.

We are hoping we will be as pleased as you are with your Honda, we will see.

I am also looking at the Camco EAZ Lift R3 Recurve weight distributing hitch rated 400 lbs. It is hard to get one with the 2" ball as they are not commonly stocked.

The T & C is rated 1800 lbs for straight ball pull and 3500 lbs with the weight distributing hitch.

While this is in the data with the hitch it is not spelled out in the owners manual, just the 3500 lb rating and 400 lb ball weight.

honda03842 · 10-26-2016, 01:54 PM

Honda's hitch response was a disappointment. I wrote to Honda America about it and on this forum. They put a hitch capable of 3500/350 lbs but would not install a 7 pin connector or a brake controller.

Like you I bought a Odyssey off the lot but ordered it with the transmission cooler, connector and optional hitch. It was all bundled in the purchase price as a result it was well discounted.

When I came to pick it up it came with a 4 pin hitch. I was upset. Who would put a 4 pin connector on something rated to tow 3500 pounds?

They did install the 7 pin connector after some grumbling but would not wire it for a brake controller.

Their transmission cooler is substantial. I would get it. Next time I would not buy the Odyssey unless they fully wired it to tow.

I believe I wrote about this because at the time I was angry and only received partial satisfaction from the dealer and Honda America.

Other than that it's been a very good, useful, powerful, comfortable and fuel efficient tow vehicle.

Shame on Honda on this one.

Sent from my SM-N920T using Fiberglass RV mobile app

honda03842 · 10-26-2016, 01:59 PM

The Honda Hitch seems substantial and is a class II, rated for 3500/350 pounds. It's adequate for the rating of the vehicle. We've towed extensively with class 2 hitches with out any issues, 250,000 miles on the CRV and 50,000 on the Odyssey. It's rating has been adequate.

Sent from my SM-N920T using Fiberglass RV mobile app

Raz · 10-26-2016, 02:31 PM

It seems the only vehicles that come wired or can easily be wired to accommodate a brake controller are pick ups and large SUV's despite the fact that the published tow limits for many vehicles sold exceed the requirement for brakes in all states. I got into the same discussion with Toyota on a Tundra I bought. I was told the truck would tow close to 5000 lbs but adding a brake controller would void my warranty. You pays your money and takes your chances. .

gordon2 · 10-26-2016, 02:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Raz

.. I got into the same discussion with Toyota on a Tundra I bought. I was told the truck would tow close to 5000 lbs but adding a brake controller would void my warranty.

Same here. I put the hitch receiver, trailer lights adapter, and and brake controller all in by myself. Since the warranty was going to be voided I figured there was no need to pay all that extra money. It was a PIA project but saved me a lot by DIY.

I'll bet you can find out all you need to do the same at etrailer.com

redbarron55 · 10-26-2016, 07:09 PM

The T & C I bought had the self leveling suspension and the factory (7 pin) wiring harness (In a bag) had the connections for the taillights and the power and brake wires to the front.
The T&C and new Pacifica don't show a factory brake controller, though.
I'll move the P3 from the VW to the T&C.
Some of the light vehicles don'r allow for weight distributing hitches, but the Chrysler requires one over 1800 lbs and it is probably a good idea.
I am looking into a R3 or R6 Recurve hitch that has built in sway damping.
The R6 is automatic it says. Does anyone have any experience with one?
This hitcj is similar to the Anderson as the whole arm assy. swivels and the friction is set with a clamp or brake ring in the pivot.
My hope is that the V6 will be close to the Honda in mileage and Connie likes the feel of it better. She didn't care for the Sienna at all.
Time will tell. I hope to have the hitch and wiring installed this weekend.

Carol H · 10-26-2016, 07:51 PM

[QUOTE=redbarron55;614938
I am looking into a R3 or R6 Recurve hitch that has built in sway damping.
The R6 is automatic it says. Does anyone have any experience with one?
This hitcj is similar to the Anderson as the whole arm assy. swivels and the friction is set with a clamp or brake ring in the pivot.
[/QUOTE]

Have no info for you on the Eaz Lift Recurve WDH but I can tell you another popular newer style WDH that is easy to use and has built in sway control is the Blue Ox. My current trailer came with a traditional type Eaz Lift WDH and when hitching up on my own I found the bars to be pretty heavy & I had to muster up a fair bit of man power to get it hitched. I replaced it with a Blue OX WDH and I can easily carry both the Blue Ox bars at the same time without any problems as they are very light. Also much easier for me to hitch it up as well as very little man power/strength required.