Crv & bolers

[samanthasamantha]

Hey all,

So this might be lengthy but I'm looking for clarification. I've been researching for the past few days but can't seem to find exactly what I'm looking for.

My hubby and I rented a boler as a trial prior to buying. Our TV is a 2019 Honda CRV with a tow capacity of 1500 lbs.

It tows like a dream. We have had no issues going across Canada hills/mountains and all. Until.

We hydroplaned outside of Toronto. Slightly terrifying however we survived. Upon checking our tires, both rears have worn flat since we began our trip (and evenly before anyone asks &#128517.

Full disclosure. We did not weigh the Boler and took the renter at his word. Maybe an error but here we are anyway. We weighted the back of the Boler up and it's helped with the hydroplaning, however I'm at a loss where to go from here. I would really like to purchase a boler, but I can't afford to replace my tires 10x a year so I'm trying to figure out how to decide if we can safely tow a boler as it seems to primarily be a weight distribution issue. Bear with me as this is where my knowledge is shaky. I hesitate to place blame immediately on weight given how easily it has been towing, but I'm not sure if this is a fair assumption. If we do buy we will obviously have to doublecheck weights. If it is within our weight capacity what else can I look at to distribute weight more evenly? We had someone mention a sway bar. If we placed more weight in the back is this a viable solution? I'm unsure of where to go from here as it seems crvs do tow bolers without issues... But it's a fairly big purchase that I'm nervous to make if it may be an unresolvable issue.

I tried to do all my due diligence in research so I'm a bit bummed with this development and I'd really appreciate any insight you may have!

[AlanKilian]

Do you have a bathroom scale at home?

If so, jack up the front of the trailer, put a piece of wood between the tongue of the trailer and the scale, and jack the front of the trailer back down.


What does the scale say?

This important number will let you know if your tires wearing are caused by excessive tongue weight or was caused by some other thing.

[Jon in AZ]

I don't know what the person who rented the trailer told you, but most Bolers have a loaded weight between 1500-1800# ready for camping, and carry about 200# on the hitch. For that reason it will likely be a very marginal situation at best. Either the base 2.4L or the 1.5L turbo should give you enough power, but the real limitations are (1) the CVT transmission and (2) engine and transmission cooling.

As a general rule, a travel trailer should carry 10-15% of its total weight on the tongue. Too little tongue weight is very dangerous and can result in uncontrolled sway leading to a crash. For that reason, adding or moving weight to the back of the trailer without knowing your actual loaded weights is not a good idea.

Use a bathroom scale to determine your tongue weight as a first step. If it's over 200# you can safely redistribute weight to reduce the tongue weight. I wouldn't go below 200# without first weighing the whole trailer at a vehicle scale. Consider what you are carrying in your vehicle as well. Tow ratings include the driver and front passenger (@165# each), but any additional people or gear reduces how much trailer you can safely pull.

Even assuming you are pushing the weight limits by a modest amount, I'm at a loss as to why you wore out a set of tires on one trip. Furthermore, when an independent rear suspension is overloaded, you typically see inside tread wear. Were these the original tires? How many miles were on the vehicle before the trip? How far did you tow?

As a general rule, it would be a good idea to increase the pressure in your rear tires 5 pounds or so for towing.

We have two 1500# rated SUVs, a 2006 CR-V and a 2018 RAV4. If I were looking to tow with either of them, my trailer choice would be a vintage Eriba Puck, dry weight about 900#, or its modern clone the Meerkat. We tow our 13' Scamp with a larger 2011 Pilot.

[ShelbyM]

Your experience shows this is not a good match. You need either a lighter trailer or a more capable tow vehicle. Remember that you can't tow a 1500# travel trailer with a 1500# tow rated vehicle. The ratings are based on a different kind of trailer with less frontal area.

[John in Santa Cruz]

bald car tires in how many 1000 miles? that sounds highly suspicious. I use premium tires on all my vehicles (generally Michelin Premier or Pilot Sport All Seasons or Bridgestone Potenza all seasons on my passenger cars, and bf goodrich all/terrain on my 4x4 trucks) and get many 10s of 1000s of miles out of a set, and I replace them early.

[samanthasamantha]

Thanks for your responses, I really appreciate it! Unfortunately we have returned the Boler already but will definitely keep that protip in mind if and when we decide to buy a Boler.

I suspect the tires may be part of it as well however my information is limited. We bought this CRV used a few months ago and the tread was fine (I just had it in for an inspection before our trip). They are hankook 235/60r18 103h which wouldn't have been my choice based on their reviews. There were roughly 30000 kms on the vehicle, and we put on roughly 6000 km's this trip pulling the Boler.

I appreciate the other camper suggestions. Unfortunately neither appear to be readily available in Canada. I have looked into teardrops but we have two large breed dogs so I was looking with something that would fit them at night too.

From my perspective it seems like a boler is possible if we are more mindful and knowledgeable about the units weight? But as someone said even if we were outside our recommended tow weights the tire wear is perplexing. I am, however, thankful (?) it occurred as it's lead me to try to educate myself a bit further and explore other options at the very least.

[Jon in AZ]

I’m going to guess that “fine” simply meant they met the minimum legal tread depth, not that they were like new. Poor quality tires already well worn plus extended towing led to failure.

Purchase good quality tires- we’ve run Michelin Defenders for years- and bump up the pressure in the rears for towing.

But there’s still that 1500# rating, and two large dogs decrease tow ratings.

Another lighter-than-average option that’s a bit roomier than the Eriba or Meerkat (but equally hard to find) is a Cadet. Like them, it has a lower profile for easier towing, with a pop-top for full headroom.
https://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/...ler-58397.html

[John in Santa Cruz]

Originally Posted by Jon in AZ

I’m going to guess that “fine” simply meant they met the minimum legal tread depth, not that they were like new. Poor quality tires already well worn plus extended towing led to failure. ...

bingo, was going to say the same thing.

and if you're driving in heavy rainfall, I prefer my tires have at least twice the legal minimum tread, and in fact will change them at the start of winter if they are less than that (we get virtually all of our annual rain in 3-4 months of winter, the summer and fall are totally dry). and yes, cheap tires might be fine when new, but once they are below half worn, I've found them to get increasingly sketchy.

re: Michelin Defenders, thats a very long wearing, very hard riding tire in my experience, something I'd only consider putting on an economy car that I'm racking a ton of miles up on. On my nicer cars, I prefer using the Michelin Primacy/Premier or sportier Pilot AS4, these give a smoother quieter ride, superb traction, but won't rack up the really high miles. Its kinda tricky, all the tire makers juggle around their models every couple years, so just when you find a tire you really like, next time around, its not the same.

bunch of reasons I wouldn't want to tow with a Honda CRV. Earlier ones had a very weak rear differential on the AWD models, there's an integrated clutch mechanism that engages the rear drive, and if you actually use it, its going to wear out and die before you hit 100K miles. later ones use a CVT (Continuously Variable Transmission) which just isn't strong enough for towing. All of them are a very light FWD-centric unibody compact car based design, they started with a Honda Civic that was turned into a mini-SUV.

[k corbin]

This issue is really not about the engines ability to pull more than 1,500lbs. The issue is loss of steering control at the front wheels due to an overloaded and undersized rear suspension.

All the small and medium Hondas have very poor rear suspension components that make it a very bad situation for towing. Especially if you are exceeding the tongue weight, which the Boler is doing. It overloads the rear suspension and the front end of the vehicle is then under-loaded which can cause a loss of steering control which no doubt contributed to the loss of control in that hydroplaning situation. It is also causing excessive wear on your overloaded rear tires versus the wear on the under-loaded front tires.

Do not attempt to use your CRV to tow anything it is not rated to tow. If you do find a lighter trailer that is within its ratings such as the Campster then invest in aftermarket, beefier, rear springs and a 1" lift on the rear to keep the rear and the front end at the correct heights. I suggest if you really want to have a Boler trailer then you should get a better vehicle for towing. Your CRV, while it is a terrific car, is simply not up to the task, and even improving the rear suspension will never make a CRV safe for towing a Boler.


I tow a Campster with my Honda Element. I have had to add rear spring helpers but even that while a big improvement is not quite enough to level out the load on the front suspension versus the rear suspension. So next it will get aftermarket heavy springs and a 1" rear lift. I have also put trailer brakes on my Campster and a brake controller in my Element. That saves on wearing out tires and brakes on my Element when going down hills and mountain passes. But it is costly to make that transition to installing trailer brakes and the controller and costly to improve the rear suspension and even then if you made those improvements to your CRV towing a heavy tongue weight and overweight Boler can cause loss of vehicle control. So bottom line, go shopping for a decent tow vehicle and do not make it a Honda due to undersized rear suspensions on them.

[Jon in AZ]

Originally Posted by John in Santa Cruz

re: Michelin Defenders, thats a very long wearing, very hard riding tire in my experience, something I'd only consider putting on an economy car that I'm racking a ton of miles up on. On my nicer cars, I prefer using the Michelin Primacy/Premier or sportier Pilot AS4, these give a smoother quieter ride, superb traction, but won't rack up the really high miles. Its kinda tricky, all the tire makers juggle around their models every couple years, so just when you find a tire you really like, next time around, its not the same..

The Defender is one of Michelins longest running tire models, and for good reason. It’s not an enthusiast’s performance tire as you say, but for the average driver, there's plenty of dry and wet traction, and ride quality is good. I was carving the Salt River Canyon this morning in our Defender-shod Pilot at 10-15 mph over the speed limit without a squeal or hint of understeer. Biggest weakness is snow and ice, where the harder rubber formulation shows.

And yes, we do rack up a lot of miles, so the long wear is good for the budget.

[John McDonald]

Originally Posted by samanthasamantha

Hey all,


My hubby and I rented a boler as a trial prior to buying. Our TV is a 2019 Honda CRV with a tow capacity of 1500 lbs.

It tows like a dream. !

When she is driving, my wife says she can’t tell our trailer is back there! I can very easily tell our trailer is back there! We are pulling a 17 ft, 2400 lb (loaded) trailer with a Chevy 1500 4.8 L v8 with sway bar. So with all the extra gear in the pickup we are at about one half or less of the truck’s towing capacity.
My point is that different people have different senses about what a tow vehicle is experiencing.
Cheers John (just a sensitive sort of guy)