towing 13 ft versus 16 ft

[Bob Miller]

In reply to Norms experiences, not all vehicles are as forgiving when pressed into towing over recommended limits, as apparently the early Honda w/std transmission proved to be.

[RogerDat]

Any trailer or vehicle can cause the driver to lose control if they do not drive within the limits that the laws of physics impose on a moving mass.

5th wheel may not fishtail but if the driver swerves sharply with tow vehicle and trailer mass keeps going straight loss of control is a good bet to be the results. Some would say they jack knifed, I prefer the way the MDOT safety instructor put it. "swerving sharply is just inviting the elephant behind you to suddenly decide to lead the parade" See Norms comments on gentle movements.

Every winter here in Mich. you see lots of 4 wheel and all wheel drive vehicles in the ditch and in accidents. The drivers forget just because you can make it go that fast does not mean you can control it, especially if anything goes wrong. Same holds true for a trailer driving in any road conditions.

[honda03842]

Karalyn,

Our Honda CRV was very sturdy and easily towed our various trailers. It had over 225,000 miles when we traded it in. It had no problems when we traded it in, sold it because of age and miles.

One of our sons a tows a Scamp 13 with a 2005 automatic, 4 cylinder Honda Accord with a transmission cooler. He lives in WA and has had no problems.

Our other son towed a Casita 16 with a 4 cylinder Honda Element. Again no issues.

The number of Hondas in our extended family is huge, mostly CRVs and Accords, personally I think this is our 7th Honda, really bought because their drive line has been so strong.

We purchased an automatic Honda Odyssey to tow our Scamp this spring. It tows really well and is more comfortable than the CRV (Ginny says were getting older and need a little more comfort and an automatic). Our tongue weight is still in the 7-8% range.

Not selling Hondas, we've had a few other cars that were reliable and today's vehicles are all stronger and more efficient than past vehicles.

Safe travels

No matter what trailer you buy, I believe it should have it's own breaking system and not depend on the tow vehicle for stopping. We also have added a break away switch to our Scamp .