Anyone tow w/Honda pilot & 17FT. Casita - Page 4 - Fiberglass RV
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Old 11-28-2018, 06:51 AM   #61
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There is one relevant piece of information buried in the rhetoric, often overlooked, and that is tongue weight. As Steve hints, tongue weights of Casita 17's can be quite high, some over 500#, though 400-450# is more typical. I have read accounts of uneven tire wear with this combination- Pilot & Casita 17- due to rear end squat under high tongue loads.

WDH is one solution, but Honda's wording on the matter is ambiguous, and the type of chassis does enter the discussion every time WDH on a unibody chassis is mentioned.

I would estimate 90% of the Casita 17's I see on the road- and I see a lot of them- are being towed by traditional pickup trucks or body-on-frame SUV's. That may say as much about the popularity of trucks as the actual requirements of the trailer.

Still, the OP will need to manage tongue weight and vehicle loading carefully with this combination.
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Old 11-28-2018, 07:18 AM   #62
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Wouldn't it be great if we could somehow easily test tow our trailers with a variety of vehicles? I've only towed with an F150, which has been fine with my Casita 17. I would be hesitant to intentionally give up any capability. And yet I see others happily towing with interesting but supposedly less competent vehicles, usually with WDH. I don't have to commute, haul kids or worry with parking. I can see the attraction of an SUV or minivan for those who do.
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Old 11-28-2018, 07:54 AM   #63
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Originally Posted by GatorCasita View Post
This back and forth about what a real truck is and whether a real truck tows a small trailer better is not helpful to those who are trying to get some meaningful advice and information.

Maybe go to a social media site like FB if you want to have an entertaining debate.
My truck has a tow rating of 10,250 lbs My Casita weighs approx 3300 lbs when loaded for travel with a tongue weight of 420 to 440 lbs
It was purchased new in 2013 and has been to the West Coast , Banff , the East Coast , the Southern US twice , across the UP of Michigan and numerous local destinations
I would not attempt to tow my Casita with a small , unibody , 4 or 6 cylinder SUV or faux truck . It would not work for us both mentally and physically
I am not overly concerned with fuel mileage , if I can park at the mall , if my wife likes my truck , if it’s too big or too tall or what the paint color is
My truck works for me , it hauls my trailer , my stuff , my wife and my dog and I can get in and out of it without pain .


That is my information , my advice and my opinion. If you want to assure you only get answers you agree with , then don’t ask the question

PS ; I don’t do Facebook
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Old 11-28-2018, 12:45 PM   #64
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PLEASE READ

I think any and all advice or experiences are helpful in this discussion for me since I am the original poster.As far as telling people to leave and to go to facebook that is not something that creates a positive environment nor does it encourage people to post their opinions whether we agree or not about them.
I am hopeful others will add to this post and not be afraid to do so.This thread has been very helpful for me and thank you for taking your time to post here.
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Old 11-28-2018, 05:17 PM   #65
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First, I hope Brad bought the red one as they have much higher capacities than some of the other colors!

Second, as long as we've wandered off into the weeds of traditional frames vs. unibody construction, alternate design approaches generally entail tradeoffs. Either approach could entail a well or poorly conceived (or executed!) design. In general, unibody entails more efficient use of material. A beefy ladder frame generally offers simplicity in design and manufacture, but in turn entails the use of a lot of extra metal that is not highly stressed and is simply going along for the ride.

Sufficient hard points could always be added to a unibody design to readily accommodate the stresses of a WDH. However, the language in owner's manuals tends to be a bit opaque, often noting something to the effect that the manufacturer "will not recommend" use of a WDH (as opposed to actually recommending against). So, it can be difficult to decide whether using a WDH would be okay.

I can say that I don't recall ever reading a forum post claiming damage to a unibody vehicle resulting from use of a WDH. In fact, some of the failures I have seen reported were damage to the trailer's frame, which is ironically a "traditional" ladder frame.

I strongly suspect there is simply a basic reluctance on the part of vehicle manufacturers to incur any potential liability in association with recommending use of an after-market product manufactured by other parties to unknown standards.

My (unibody) Jeep's manual seems to be an exception in that it specifically notes: "If the gross trailer weight is 5,000 lbs (2,267 kg) or more, it is recommended to use a weight-distributing hitch to ensure stable handling of your vehicle."

It also goes from there to "helpfully" add "If you use a standard weight-carrying hitch, you could lose control of your vehicle and cause a collision."

But, that's another story for another day, eh?

On edit: Thinking about this, our Jeep's hitch and receiver assembly was installed at the factory, so I guess they can be correspondingly confident about its ability to handle the stresses imposed by a WDH.
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Old 11-28-2018, 06:00 PM   #66
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my F250 has much the same, only its above 6500 lbs where a WDH is required/recommended/whatever.

I've towed various trailers with various vehicles both with and without a WDH, and towing a 4200lb or so Escape 21 with the F250, it barely even settles an inch when I hitch, its still inches from the overload leaf spring touching its brackets, so I'm not seeing any point in using a WDH on that combination. a WDH helped the ride immensely on our softly suspended Tacoma towing a ~3000 lb Casita 16, but then so did airbags, with a lot less hassle.
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Old 11-28-2018, 06:27 PM   #67
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color

The wife wanted this color :https://www.eisingerhonda.com/invent...yf6h36kb014539
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Old 11-28-2018, 07:00 PM   #68
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We came to a compromise a long time ago
Her car her color choice
My truck my color choice
My truck is gray Why? cause they gave me an additional $500 off for buying the gray truck . Works for me !
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Old 11-28-2018, 07:20 PM   #69
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It was a vehicle that worked for both of us.We picked it out together.I did the initial preview and test drives.We wanted something with color.No black,gray or white.It also had something to do with interior colors.The pictures show a light gray interior but its darker.We would not buy a light tan color interior which came with a dark green model we liked.So it was maroon,lighter blue or dark blue.Maroon was out.So it was light or dark blue.I said whatever to those.
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Old 11-28-2018, 09:05 PM   #70
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I said whatever to those.
Ours has "Granite Crystal Metallic Clear Coat Exterior Paint". And to think I had thought it was just gray paint.

I've been working on responses like "Hey, that sounds great honey!" and "I'd be happy to!". The trick is to say these things with a display of enthusiasm, which is why I'll always be a lifelong learner.

But then again, she does the same thing for me when I talk about all my tedious "guy stuff". So, that's a blessing.
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Old 11-28-2018, 09:37 PM   #71
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Color Now???

Sorry to suggest that your back and forth was not what this forum was/should be about. Clearly now color is an important consideration for those who want to tow a fiberglass trailer. I apologize for suggesting that your posts are less than appropriate.
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Old 11-28-2018, 11:06 PM   #72
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Color-How it is important choice when towing a trailer !

I absolutely think color choice is an important consideration when choosing a tow vehicle.Take white for example.If you are towing and run into a blizzard you may need to rethink your color.Especially if you blend in so well nobody can see you and you are run over by a semi.I am sure other posters with more knowledge than I will be able to add more.
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Old 11-29-2018, 12:32 AM   #73
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I absolutely think color choice is an important consideration when choosing a tow vehicle.Take white for example.If you are towing and run into a blizzard you may need to rethink your color.Especially if you blend in so well nobody can see you and you are run over by a semi.I am sure other posters with more knowledge than I will be able to add more.
Yup, white would be hard to see in a blizzard but in the desert, the normal dust doesn't show up on white...until we get a haboob dust storm. My wife's car is darker green, my truck is white and after a good dust storm my truck looks like it just came out of a car wash, hers is then a tan color .
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Old 11-29-2018, 12:48 AM   #74
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I continue to marvel at the popularity of grey or silver as a colour here in the grey wet southwest ( of Canada ). Blends in with the pavement, the sky and surroundings.

I'd like to know what I got for the $200 paint protection plan I bought into. Flat nothing, near as I can tell.
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Old 11-29-2018, 12:49 AM   #75
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Dave?
I would you think that tan would be a color to avoid should you be towing in the desert? Especially when you run into a haboob!
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Old 11-29-2018, 12:50 AM   #76
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Sorry to suggest that your back and forth was not what this forum was/should be about. Clearly now color is an important consideration for those who want to tow a fiberglass trailer. I apologize for suggesting that your posts are less than appropriate.

Opportunity to start your own forum.
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Old 11-29-2018, 01:28 AM   #77
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Civil,
I asked my wife if the blue color was a factor when she choose it.She agreed with you and said she though it would be aerodynamic so we might be able to get better gas millage.As you know the amount of millage you can get out of a rig when you consider buying a tow vehicle is important !!
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Old 11-29-2018, 03:45 AM   #78
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I continue to marvel at the popularity of grey or silver as a colour here in the grey wet southwest ( of Canada ). Blends in with the pavement, the sky and surroundings.

I'd like to know what I got for the $200 paint protection plan I bought into. Flat nothing, near as I can tell.
I read an article once about things people put on accident reports. The one that sticks with me is also the most succinct. Gray car, gray road, gray day.

Paint protection, carpet protection and seat protection are all just ways for the dealer to make more money. You can get the same products at the parts store or even WalMart for a fraction of the cost.

When the salesman starts talking about how I need paint protection I say,"What, you mean the paint on this vehicle is no good and needs to be protected? In that case I don't want it." They shut up really quickly after that.
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Old 11-29-2018, 11:30 AM   #79
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Montana Brad View Post
Civil,
I asked my wife if the blue color was a factor when she choose it.She agreed with you and said she though it would be aerodynamic so we might be able to get better gas millage.As you know the amount of millage you can get out of a rig when you consider buying a tow vehicle is important !!
Yes, red is the fastest, sky-blue is the most aerodynamic, but black is more heavy-duty.

Green vehicles will run on bio-diesel in a pinch. Yellow ones can carry the most passengers, which is why they paint taxis and school busses that color to increase their capacity.

I don't know if it's true but I heard that in the old days they painted a lot of cars white at the end of the year so they could use up all the smaller quantities of variously-colored upholstery fabrics.

But the rest is all true for sure!
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Old 11-29-2018, 11:37 AM   #80
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my silver grey 84 VW Rabbit GTI, and my silver 92 Volvo 740 turbo wagon, were both nearly invisible to the CHP I got away with so much speeding in those cars, the guys in the bright yellow camaro or red porsche would get the ticket, and i'd glide on by...

Hey, I was so much younger then, i"m older than that now...
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