Towing through the Rockies

[escape artist]

Hi: dfandrews... That weight for a rule of thumb couldn't be one attached to the hand of a butcher could it? Alf
escape artist N.S. of Lake Erie

 

[Chris & Patricia]

Hello I am new to the Escape forum. We are shopping for an Escape 17b. We have a Honda Odyssey 2011 minivan. By weight loaded it should be doable by the Odyssey's tow specs. But does anyone have experience with towing with a van with comparable weight through the Rockies?
Thanks.
Lynn

We towed our 17B with on older model Pilot that had a 3,500 lb tow capacity through all sorts of mountain grades and elevation gains and it’s doable, but slow. You may want to ensure that you have a transmission cooler to keep the temperature of your transmission oil lower. A number of contributors to this forum have even installed sensors to monitor the actual temperatures when towing. We didn’t and never had any issues, but the lower powered tow units will require lots of towing with lower gears on steeper inclines, both up and down, and a cooler is a must.

 

[Bozlouie]

We towed our 17B with on older model Pilot that had a 3,500 lb tow capacity through all sorts of mountain grades and elevation gains and it’s doable, but slow. You may want to ensure that you have a transmission cooler to keep the temperature of your transmission oil lower. A number of contributors to this forum have even installed sensors to monitor the actual temperatures when towing. We didn’t and never had any issues, but the lower powered tow units will require lots of towing with lower gears on steeper inclines, both up and down, and a cooler is a must.

Thankyou Chris and Patricia,
We are planning to get the Honda Odyssey towing package which has a transmission cooling system ad I understand and yes having a transmission temp sensor would be even better. Our engine is an automatic V6. Excuse my ignorance but you mean driving in those situations in 1 st or 2nd gear.?

 

[gbaglo]

The instruction manual for your vehicle will likely have a section on towing. This is instruction for my RAV4, which I follow and another instruction ( second pic ), that I do not follow.

 

[Chris & Patricia]

Thankyou Chris and Patricia,
We are planning to get the Honda Odyssey towing package which has a transmission cooling system ad I understand and yes having a transmission temp sensor would be even better. Our engine is an automatic V6. Excuse my ignorance but you mean driving in those situations in 1 st or 2nd gear.?

Good plan to get the Honda tow package. As to gears, our Pilot had 5 gears and going uphill we didn't really like to tow at high revs for an extended period of time, therefore, we just accepted that with a full trailer, going uphill, we didn't have enough torque to go too quickly. Going downhill, in very very steep sections, we used to manually engage 2nd gear, to save the brakes on our tow vehicle and the trailer. But this was the exception rather than the rule.

 

[Bozlouie]

Thankyou GBaglo.
This sounds like a good reference for the transmission. I'll look for similar guidelines in our Honda Odyssey. Also I've heard stories of people " flipping over" due to instability. (I suspect speed related.) I'd be one of the slow ones on the road.!

 

[Perry Butler]

In 2006, when we added the hitch to our 2003 Odyssey, we also added a transmission cooler. At 268,000 miles we still have the original transmission and it still shifts perfectly.

Enjoy,

Perry

 

[bdornbush]

You may want to ensure that you have a transmission cooler to keep the temperature of your transmission oil lower. A number of contributors to this forum have even installed sensors to monitor the actual temperatures when towing.

Our 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee with towing package has a transmission cooler and a temperature sensor built in. I have checked the transmission and oil temperatures while towing in the Rockies and Sierra, and they have not varied by more than a few degrees.

 

[Bozlouie]

Thankyou.

 

[Bozlouie]

Thankyou for this. Info. Will be asking at Honda to see if the transmission temp sensor can be added.

 

[Bozlouie]

Thanks.

 

[steve dunham]

We’ve crossed the Rockies 6 or 8 times towing our 17ft Casita with a Ram 1500 Hemi V8
My daughter and SIL tow a small tent trailer with a Honda Odyssey.
I am not impressed with the towing ability of either vehicle

 

[gbaglo]

Why? Apparently you arrived 6 or 8 times.

 

[Dan Lincoln]

Hello I am new twhat we o the Escape forum. We are shopping for an Escape 17b. We have a Honda Odyssey 2011 minivan. By weight loaded it should be doable by the Odyssey's tow specs. But does anyone have experience with towing with a van with comparable weight through the Rockies?
Thanks.
Lynn

Hi there. Not the same, but we have a 17 B and with our Subaru 2.5 Outback, regularly pull it through the Cascades and other mountains on our way from Oregon to Arizona. It does fine as long as we don't load it up with a bunch of extra stuff. It is probably under 3,000 ponds loaded up. Good luck. Dan

 

[Jean-ESC]

Ever wonder where expressions come from? "Rule of thumb" in early English law: husband could beat his wife with a stick no larger than diameter of his thumb.

 

[Owyheebabs]

Odyssey and 17B

I wasn't in the Rockies but I drove my 2007 Odyssey towing a 17B across the country and back (to Oregon) with no trouble. Crossed several passes over 10,000 ft. I was traveling solo and I am guessing that I was carrying less than a couple would but I hardly noticed that I was towing anything. A few years ago I towed a loaded Uhaul trailer the same distance with my Honda and also had no trouble. Sorry, I never weighed anything so I can't give you real data.

 

[Anachr0n]

I think you’re in a better position to tow closer to the 3,500 lb limit when the tug is a larger V6 vs a smaller turbocharged 4.

 

[Bozlouie]

Thanks. Yes I'd be trying for keeping the whole tow weight for under 3000 lbs. Thanks!

 

[John in Santa Cruz]

any engine can pull almost anything if you use a low enough gear.

 

[WWHM]

No problem

We have a 2015 17b. Pulling it with a 2006 Sienna van with 3.3l engine. We've pulled it through the mountains on a number of occasions. From Vancouver to Yellowstone and down to Zion canyon etc. Found we could maintain posted speeds on the up hills most times. Really steep grades still slows us down to 50mph and 3rd gear. Gas mileage goes down by about 1/3 or so when towing. Through Utah, was moving at 70+ mph on the flats. However (before anyone says I'm pushing it), I'm going to throttle that back to more like 60-65 in future and improve my gas consumption. LOL