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Old 10-03-2018, 05:13 PM   #21
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I posted this a few weeks ago in another thread:

"We just completed an awesome 6,000+ mile trip to Newfoundland and back with our 2008 Highlander AWD pulling our 19. Being 10 years old and with 170K miles on it, maybe it's not all that interesting here, but I have some numbers to share anyway. We're considering another tow vehicle, and I wanted to see how close we are to the limits of the Highlander. The Highlander has served us well, towing our Escape 38K miles and a Casita before that, but it has required a very expensive Toyota-rebuilt transmission replacement, and I feel like it works pretty hard towing up long rolling hills, which knocks the mileage down to around 13 mpg, sometimes less. It's pulled the Escape through the Eisenhower Tunnel twice, which is quite a pull to 11,000 feet, so it's a very capable car if one doesn't mind it working so hard. Today, my wife and I drove the whole rig, still packed from our trip, to the scales. It turns out the Escape weighs 3720#, loaded. Hitch weight is 440#. Rear axle load on the Highlander is 3100# (3505 max allowed) and front axle load is 2060 # (2955 max allowed). We're using an Equalizer Hitch, by the way."

We ended up buying a 2018 Highlander. The Honda would have worked for us with their 5,000 tow kit, but I guess we're Toyota people. You may still find our weight numbers of interest, especially the hitch weight. We have the storage box with two 6-volt batteries plus assorted chocks, etc. inside. Interestingly, the Highlander manual shows a 5,000/500 pound limit, but then goes on to say that if these numbers are exceeded to use a weight distribution hitch. At that point, it would be a matter of measuring actual axle loads, gross weight, and so forth. To me, that's getting a little too close to maxing things out. Bottom line; I think your Honda should be fine, but I would be a little careful with loading, especially regarding tongue weight. A WDH would be very helpful, probably a necessity.
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Old 10-03-2018, 07:29 PM   #22
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Great news. Thank You. I have equalizers bars WDH ? Really looking forward to towing a more reasonable size so we can get to more remote beaches in Baja.
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Old 10-03-2018, 08:45 PM   #23
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https://www.transwest.com/kansas-cit...towing-vehicle

a few points to consider
.
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Old 10-03-2018, 09:29 PM   #24
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Great news. Thank You. I have equalizers bars WDH ? Really looking forward to towing a more reasonable size so we can get to more remote beaches in Baja.
Not sure if you meant that as a question to ask about the weight distribution hitch (WDH). If you have equalizer bars, that's part of the WDH, so you should be all set.
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Old 10-03-2018, 09:35 PM   #25
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Might be best if you rephrase your question. I don't understand either.
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Old 10-03-2018, 10:07 PM   #26
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Honda or Toyota you can’t go wrong. The Pilot will work fine.
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Old 10-04-2018, 12:54 AM   #27
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Honda or Toyota you can’t go wrong. The Pilot will work fine.
the Pilot is a FWD(AWD optional, which is still FWD with on demand rear wheel assist, this is NOT the same as the traditional RWD based 4x4) Unibody SUV built on the Odyssey minivan chassis. Its fine for light duty towing, but I wouldn't want to tow a larger trailer long distances with one. Honda owners are rabidly faithful to their brand.

Toyota at least has the Tundra full sized truck (and Sequoia SUV based on the same chassis), the Tacoma midsized truck (and 4Runner that shares much of the chassis), as well as the Land Cruiser family, these are all real framed RWD/4x4 vehicles, suitable for towing various loads. I found my Tacoma was at its limits towing an Escape 21 back from Texas on the interstates and over the Sierras, it could pull it ok, but it was pretty much out of payload capacity, so we upgraded to a larger truck.
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Old 10-04-2018, 11:00 AM   #28
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Hi Parker
I was dismayed that you might go over to the Honda side from the Highlander. Then I saw your reason and thought it totally reasonable. Best of luck with your new Pilot if you go that way. I had a 2005 Honda Accord, one of the best cars we ever owned. Though I’ve only had the 2018 Highlander since May, I thought the salesman said the GPS was free, but I did not ask about maps. I usually don’t use them so I’m not too concerned. I do like the blind spot monitoring and adaptive cruise control ( when not towing). The 8 speed transmission and 25
more horses are nice too. Fully loaded 21 towed 1680 miles last week at 62 mph got 14.4 miles per gallon. No brag, no complaint, just a fact.
A point of clarification please. The GPS is 'free' but accessing the map functionality is not? Sorry. I pretty sure I am missing the obvious here... I'm assuming that you can use the maps however if you want to update them annually you have to shell out $250?
Thanks
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Old 10-04-2018, 11:03 AM   #29
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I put the Yakima Landing Pads onto our Highlander (mostly because I already owned the towers and racks for them from the topper of our Tacoma) They are very strong and easy to use - but as you have mentioned they are closer together than I would like. My solution to secure our canoe are the straps that mount under the sides of the hood to secure the front of the canoe along with the Yakima KeelOver canoe mounts.

I tried to negotiate for free upgrades in my purchase price for the ridiculously expensive navigation updates, but ran into a brick wall on that one. Google and Waze are much more accurate for us anyway.
This may answer my question: You can use Google Maps with the built in navigation screen?
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Old 10-04-2018, 11:31 AM   #30
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The GPS comes fully functional in the Highlander. The database is stored on chips accessible in the dash, and are designed to be replaced periodically with updated ones for the excessive cost discussed. We'll probably never upgrade them, or at least not annually, as I find the Garmin more user-friendly anyway.
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Old 10-04-2018, 11:34 AM   #31
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Hi, I just had to pull my 3500 lb. tractor up a 45 degree pitch with the honda pilot and with differential lock it pulled the tractor with no problem and no wheel spin. We did have the Toyota Sequoia with low/high range and we loved it with the v8, but the gas mileage killed us. So I'm hoping this lesser transmission will work in 4W when needed ,but more importantly tow at highway speed without being overworked. Thanks to everybody.
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Old 10-04-2018, 12:06 PM   #32
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This may answer my question: You can use Google Maps with the built in navigation screen?
No - I wish that it did though.
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Old 10-04-2018, 01:29 PM   #33
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This may answer my question: You can use Google Maps with the built in navigation screen?
No, and I doubt that any automotive system does that by itself. The solution which is now common is to connect your phone to the car, so that the car's screen shows what the phone is doing, such as navigation. Honda's web page says that the Pilot works with both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto (on all versions expect the base LX), which are are the current standards for this sort of connection. The standards change and the phones and their software change, so about the only thing that you can be sure of is that whatever you buy today (of any brand) will be obsolete long before the vehicle is worn out.
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Old 10-04-2018, 02:49 PM   #34
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We were intrigued by that feature until we remembered continually hitting our Spectrum data limits while in Canada. We learned that their unlimited plan was only unlimited until hitting the daily limit, whereupon we had the option of increasing our limits for another $5 for the day.
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Old 10-04-2018, 04:11 PM   #35
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Thanks for the feedback.
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Old 10-04-2018, 04:35 PM   #36
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Originally Posted by Brian B-P View Post
No, and I doubt that any automotive system does that by itself. The solution which is now common is to connect your phone to the car, so that the car's screen shows what the phone is doing, such as navigation. Honda's web page says that the Pilot works with both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto (on all versions expect the base LX), which are are the current standards for this sort of connection. The standards change and the phones and their software change, so about the only thing that you can be sure of is that whatever you buy today (of any brand) will be obsolete long before the vehicle is worn out.
I was not aware that connecting the phone to the car such that the car's screen emulates the phone was possible. Wow. We have a 2015 Mazda CX5 w/o navigation functionality. We have been able to sync our phones via Bluetooth to the system in order to answer or send phone calls (although neither one of us like the practice of talking while driving). I'm not sure that we would be able to accomplish the same task ie: get the android phone to pair with the screen in order to generate a map.

Sorry for straying here. We have decided to purchase a 19 Escape. We will probably try to arrange a time to visit Jim in York and check out his new 19 out first. We last visited him around 3 years ago. We live in Lancaster. My wife's office is in York. Jim gave us a great tour. I remember that it was during a driving rain. The sound of the rain beating down on the roof of the Escape was enough to put you to sleep.

I've been lurking on this site for the better part of (I'm guessing) 3 years. Hopefully at some point in time I will become a contributor and not just an information gatherer specialist.
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Old 10-04-2018, 05:10 PM   #37
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I had purchased a RandMcNally GPS for RV's before my current RAM which has navigation. My RAM also needed a $99 update last year. That said, the RMN unit has free map upgrades for life as well as trip planning which you can upload to your unit. In addition RMN has some features for towing that the automotive or smart phone does not. It gives your a lot more advance warning for lane changes, it also has height and width restrictions built in. During set up you input your height and width as well as total length of tow and trailer. It has veterinarian information if needed as well as gas and food and repair facilities. The gas information is also rv friendly in that it highlites those places to avoid that may have narrow or hard to enter/exit issues for towing. I use this GPS in addition to my built in unit and use my phone for weather updates along the route.https://rand.factoryoutletstore.com/...88/RV-GPS.html
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Old 10-05-2018, 07:50 AM   #38
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I'll check this system out. Thanks!
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