Towing with Honda CRV

[Taylor the Sailor]

I currently have a Scamp 5th wheel towing with a F150 Ford. Researching the idea of towing an Escape 17 with a Honda CRV Honda says the CRV is rated at 1500lbs I belive the 17 is 1650 that is close to Hondas specs. Has anyone towed with a CRV. I will need to replace my F150 in the near future and I know I can sell my Scamp Deluxe 5er. I would like some Gas mileage improvement .

 

[JeffZ]

I think combo may not work.. But I would check with Rease. My guess is the Escape is a tad heavier than 1650 and the tongue weight would not probably work for the CRV. You may need to beef up the back suspension, as I don't know that WDH hitch would do it for you. We have a 17ft Escape Plan "B" being towed by our 2008 Highlander w/tow package rated for 5000/500 (tow weight/tongue) and we still needed the WDH as it was sinking too much on the back end. Anyway Rease is the authority and I would definitely trust him on this..

 

[ronstew]

The 17' Approx. Total Dry Weight is 1900 lbs (from the Escape web site). And that is dry. Put a pound of bacon in the fridge and your weight is 1901 pounds. 20 pounds of propane adds 20 pounds. Three US gallons of water adds 25 pounds. From the Escape web site faq:

On average, an Escape with full interior shower pkg loaded with water, propane and camping gear will weigh approximately 2600-2800 lbs. The minimum towing capacity your vehicle should have is 3000 lbs. Most small SUV’s or MiniVans can tow 3500 lbs with the use of an equalizer hitch.

Also, remember that the weight of the trailer is included in the gross vehicle weight, which is has a maximum rated limit. That means that lightening the trailer by moving luggage to the CRV might not help.

Bottom line is that the CRV is built like a car, not a tractor. The towing capacity is an afterthought for taking your garbage to the dump, not hauling a travel trailer. Exceeding the rated towing capacity puts you in a bad postion with respect to safety and with respect to the law (especially when operating in the US, where people love to sue).

Which is a pain. The 2009 Suzuki Grand Vitara has sufficient towing capacity, but it is no Honda. I am looking seriously at a Toyota Sienna or Honda Odyssey minivan, but then my car and trailer will come in at well over $50,000 Canadian, and a minivan is more than I want for day-to-day driving. Makes me wonder if the 13' could work for me.

Ron
Tsawwassen, BC

 

[Taylor the Sailor]

Thanks for the info. Just trying to decide if I need to get another pickup in the future or.or or???? We really like our Scamp 5er. It is jjust that our fuel mileage is so rotten. I really was impressed with the Escape trailers I saw at Bandon at the Oregon Gathering.

 

[ronstew]

Yeah, that's the thing. Your tow vehicle is also your family vehicle, which makes it a gas guzzler around town.

Ron

 

[reace]

I concur! CRV is definitely not adequate. 1650lbs is the axle weight....add 250 for the hitch and you are at 1900lbs...dry.

We recommend a minimum 3000lb towing capacity to tow the Escape 17'.

A relatively newcomer in the tow vehicle market is the new Toyota Rav4. Nice on fuel when not towing and has a 3500lb capacity. Baglo has one and can comment on it more.

 

[Taylor the Sailor]

Thanks Reace
I will check out the Rav.

 

[gbaglo]

I am really pleased with the RAV four-wheel-drive.
I got the 2008 RAV4 Sport with the 269hp V6.

On-ramps to the highway are a breeze. Just put the hammer down ( and use a lot of fuel ) because it goes when you need it to. I found towing at 110kph used a lot more fuel than at 90kph so I keep the rig at 90. When not towing, mileage is excellent for a vehicle with so much oomph.
Toyota offers a tow package, but it's only a class 2, so I had that upgraded to class 3 ( Hidden Hitch equalizer ). It was installed by the dealer, included the wiring for the trailer and Prodigy brake controller ( I provided the unit ) and cost $300 less than the factory hitch.

I've been passed by semis at high speed, had to make a sharp avoidance manoeuvre at 60kph and driven in high cross winds and haven't noticed any effect on the trailer or tow.

It was a joy to drive in our recent snowfalls. My Ford Escape couldn't get out of the driveway.

baglo

 

[Jim Bennett]

(The equivalent Honda, the Odyssey is not rated for towing). Makes me wonder if the 13' could work for me.

Ron
Tsawwassen, BC

Ron, the '09 Odyssey has a 3,500 lb towing capacity. I ended up buying the '09 Honda Pilot because of its 4,500 capacity with the same power train. The Variable Cylinder Management (CVM) system is great, especially on the flat, or downhill, where it drops to running on 3 cylinders.

I have yet to tow with the Pilot, but I can say it is a fantastic vehicle to drive. It is completely redone this year.

 

[ronstew]

The '09 Odyssey has a 3,500 lb towing capacity.

Huh. A couple of months ago I looked for an hour or so, and couldn't find a towing capacity. But here it is, right from Honda Canada: "Towing capacity - 1588 kg - With the required accessory towing package. See your owner's manual for proper towing operation." In my defence, the page that has the information puts the info in the wrong column, but it is there.

I changed my above post to reflect this information. Thanks Jim.

Jim, in the Odyssey, variable cylinder management is only available on the higher end configurations. It makes me wonder how long it would take to save enough fuel to justify the extra expense.

 

[Jim Bennett]

I just remember from going in an talking to the dealer. I have had trouble finding towing capacities of other vehicles too. Googling it is the best bet usually.

 

[Jim Bennett]

I just remember from going in an talking to the dealer. I have had trouble finding towing capacities of other vehicles too. Googling it is the best bet usually.

I think the VCM is standard in all Pilot models, but not positive. We did get the Touring model which has most everything included. One nice thing about the '09 Pilot is that the tow hitch is standard, and on the upper models the wiring is all done.

 

[Hokie Escape]

Jim, I pulled our 17' Casita with our '04 Pilot, and it's great! They've reworked it (our towing capacity was 3500#) so it's probably better. In '04 they specificly did not recommend a load leveling hitch (related to the unibody construction I believe). Maybe they have changed that too??

 

[gbaglo]

In the 2008 RAV4 owners manual it says "Toyota does not recommend the use of an equalizer hitch".
The sentence is not highlighted in yellow or carry a "warning" logo. It's just a statement.

I spent a lot of time checking it out and the info I got was that they were just protecting their rear. Sorta like some 4x4s that say in the manual that they don't recommend driving off road.

A large national hitch installer told me that if Hidden Hitch thought there was a liability issue, they wouldn't make the hitch for the RAV. The tech wasn't trying to sell me a hitch, he knew I'd already had it installed elsewhere.

And the Hidden Hitch was rated 4,000 lbs.

baglo

 

[Jim Bennett]

Jim, I pulled our 17' Casita with our '04 Pilot, and it's great! They've reworked it (our towing capacity was 3500#) so it's probably better. In '04 they specificly did not recommend a load leveling hitch (related to the unibody construction I believe). Maybe they have changed that too??

The '09 is totally revamped, though I am not certain that the frame is, though they did add 1,000 lbs to the towing capacity. The 2WD model is still at 3,000 lb though. What I was told by a Honda dealer was because almost 1/2 the owners of previous models installed hitches that they made it standard on the new model. I will have to check out my manual to see what they say about load leveling hitches, I am not sure. I would imagine it would help somewhat.

 

[Hokie Escape]

Yes, I'm sure it would. Even though we pulled our Casita without the hitch (since they said not to) it left the front end a little more elevated than I'd really like. It pulled great though. The only time I felt a little funny was on the Interstate at 70 mph going down hill in the Smokies. Now, most don't go 70 pulling their campers, but it seemed normal (except in some curves at 70 going downhill). When we started pulling with the '08 Jeep Sahara (4door) I added the load leveler and it did feel more secure at higher speeds. If you don't go over 55 or 60 mph, you couldn't tell at all. The Pilot is a great platform.