Just bought a camper

[aaronrb204]

Do the new Ridgelines come with a transmission cooler? I had a 2017 ridgeline... if memory serves me correct, Honda recommended a trans cooler for towing over 3000 lbs.

Our 2017 AWD has no mention of any such thing in the manual.

 

[Bennj1]

Interesting, we bought a Honda Passport Feb. 2021. Tow limit was 3,500 lbs. unless we put a trans. cooler on, then we could do 5,000 lbs. Thought this was SOP. We intend to tow a travel trailer, so thanks for the good advice here.

 

[RSIno1]

Usually it was the back bay of Newport beach Harbor; nice ramp nice parking . That was years AGO like 1961-1962.

In the 70s and 80s there was a spot you needed to pull the daggerboard to get over a sandbar - plus lowering the mast to get under the PCH bridge.

 

[RSIno1]

You ever launch out of Cabrillo? It's always good entertainment. Especially after a recent boat show.

The real fun was the ramp in Long Beach that went up by Marine Stadium. It was always fun watching guys boats and trailers and sometimes trucks get caught by the tide and turned sideways.

 

[Big Old Boy]

What I meant was when backing up using the mirrors if the rear of the trailer gets out of your sight in the mirror you are already in trouble Get back under it.

 

[kmoore]

Hey, I deleted my post attempting to say what I thought Big Old Boy meant . My guess was wrong. I should not have guessed, he is able to explain his own words. I apologize to Big Old Boy. And I now know what you meant, which is still good advice.

 

[aaronrb204]

Well we picked it up today. The drive home felt rather labored. I guess it should. We took Rt 1 instead of I95 which made me learn how to brake but I found I was having trouble getting up to speed. It was probably because I was afraid to push my truck to higher RPMs. I am learning. Turning around in our driveway and backing into the car port was an adventure. It only took 30 minutes and there was no cursing or proper yelling between me and wifey. So I count that as a win. Now we have to figure out all the paraphenalia.

 

[Rick Courtright]

Hi,

Does your truck have some kind of a towing setting for the transmission? Might ease the transition to driving with a little heavier foot. A buddy has about a 21 ft rig he tows with an F-150 (still has a V-8 around 5 liters.) He says the towing option is a little thirsty, He didn't have to get used to higher revs. His daily driver, a Miata,, sees numbers in the 5000-6000 range just about daily to inhibit spider colonies from taking over the exhaust

Sounds like you're settling in well!

Rick C

 

[KIR]

My fiancee wanted me to sell my home in order to buy a motor home so we could go traveling around the country. My first thought was, since I was not mechanically inclined I could see it breaking down in the middle of nowhere and us stuck there. So many things to think about, like buying a new home. The rating of the tires??????????? Oh, got rid of the fiancee!!!!!!!!

 

[Kevin]

I see the Honda has a 5,000 pound tow capacity. How much does the trailer weigh?

But good job getting it into the driveway. I used to be able to drive with a trailer, but haven’t for years and it’s one of those things you have to keep up on with practice.

 

[aaronrb204]

The dry weight on the trailer is 4000. Adding in 2 people in the truck if not 3 plus the hitch and some luggage and we are topped out. There is no tow option.

 

[kmoore]

Advice, do not buy any RV by the dry weights. Use the GVWR as what your going to pull. Then take 12 to 15% of that and figure that's close to what your mounting onto your tow vehicle. All RV I have owned have never been at the dry weight empty and I never use them empty. My current ORV 29ft travel trailer printed empty wt. 6600lb, it is not it's 7740. listed dry tongue wt. 695 lb. It's 1100 lbs with just propane and batteries. Even better is load up your trailer and tow vehicle, drive over a scale station and find out what the real weights your towing and carrying. No reason to be guessing scales are at DOT, dumps, recycle places, grain elevators even CAT scales at truck stops. Compare the tow vehicles loaded weight to the max safe vehicle load rating on your vehicles driver side door post. The rear tires of the tow vehicle should be rated to carry the weight you find you have on them. While driving and feeling the vehicle is labored may or may not be signs of to much trailer.
All the RV makers list dry weights and want to sell them listing that not the GVWR. The auto makers all list the max. tow ratings for the vehicle, rarely how much it can carry. Get this, read how they determine what they can tow, they test that by pulling a flat bed trailer. No flat bed trailer will ever tow like a full size RV. Many newbe's into RVing end up with a vehicle to small for the job they wanted it for due to what I beleive is improper marketing.

 

[arfmel]

My experience tells me that you need a smaller, lighter trailer or a bigger capacity tow vehicle.

 

[woodsy]

My practical, been there, experience is to have the towing vehicle rated for at least twice the towed trailer. Otherwise the truck(?) will be downshifting two gears for every hill, and the gas mileage will go really bad. Never mind the life of the drivetrain.

 

[Joe Chartreuse]

Technical stuff aside, you are in for great experiences- and a solid learning curve. I was always a beach guy. No place else I wanted to be. I happened to get an awesome deal on a new old stock 36 foot Thor Citation travel trailer. You have seen them on virtually any TV show that features a trailer. Not a camper, a tow trailer. full bathroom, bedroom, kitchen and dining booth, and a decent sized living room. Electric roll out canopy..
Anyway, I wouldn't call it camping ( I'm an old school tent guy), but while sometimes in the woods we would also go to campgtounds ( my favorite was and is Harmony Ridge in NJ) with a bunch of amenities- all at ridiculously low prices. Lakes, trails, fishing, kayaking, campfire parties all over the place. After my last beach years when I paid a fortune to rent a house and was only allowed in the ocean half the time due to contaminants, or dangerous medical stuff, or jellyfish, or whatever, this was and is a blessing. If not a lake swimmer, most of these places have pools. Love every minute, and hope you do too.. You WILL have to learn some things in regard to maintenance, but soon it will become second nature. Remembering what to turn off and on each time you move, how to hook up, etc.

 

[aaronrb204]

My experience tells me that you need a smaller, lighter trailer or a bigger capacity tow vehicle.

Too late. Hopefully it all goes well enough. Once we get this truck paid down/off we will be looking for something larger.

 

[kmoore]

When buying a RV from any dealer they all should have looked at your vehicles payload and then towing ratings and tried to match it to a RV. In my experience few will do that. Somewhere in the fine print of the sale will be a line that says it's up to the buyer to make sure their tow vehicle is built to safely tow the rv. You likely had to initial that line it's a common way to put all liability on the buyer. That applies to any sale on anything. At the very least you really should know if the rear tires are loaded down over their max. safe weight when all loaded up and going camping. Having a tire fail while towing any trailer is not easy to avoid injury and damage. You may be able to just get a tire with more weigh rating in the same size. Nearly all SUVs come with "P" rated tires meaning passenger vehicle tires. Those all used to gave you the best comfortable ride, not the best/strongest tire to carry a lot of weight. "LT" tires are light truck tires that are made for heavy weight and that makes a rougher ride. Most pickups have LT tires for that reason. RVing is a steep curve to learn all the dos and don'ts. There are many RV forums that can help.
Being a cop for 39 years has proven to me there are many who tow a trailer behind XYZ vehicle and are over loaded, driving to fast, can't stop safely. I will go back to the statement it has a lot to do with improper marketing of tow vehicles and trailers be it boats or RVs.

 

[Armybrat]

One of my sons drove his VW camper all over the western states for several summers back in the 1990s.
His last trip out from Austin was cut short when the engine blew on 1-10 in the middle of West Texas.