Unibody construction is what the Pilot is on, most TRUCK based vehicles have body on chassis. That is why Honda says not to use a W/D hitch, the transfer of the weight could tweak the body structure, causing the doors not to seal along with other alignment and handling issues.
Any vehicle on a unibody frame should be sold as VERY light duty utility use only.
I am not one to say you need a Freightliner to tow, but one must understand that unibody vehicles are pretty much for light popups and very small trailers only.
Chris & Dianne plus two boys, both of them are Eagle Scouts.
Jayco Designer 3110
F250 PSD 4x4 Crew Cab
adding a weight equalizing hitch may bend the frame just in front of the rear tires. pinching your vehicle rear doors so they won't open. with use, the frame may crack and split..
the safe bet is to get a ultra lite, mini camper.
anything that weighs more than half of the weight of your vehicle is to much, with the honda pilot.
the honda pickup is a more capable vehicle to tow with...
somewhere in the texas 'lost pines'
'08' Dodge mega limo-cab, 409, kelderman rear air ride, max brake controller.
'02' 34' Holiday Rambler TT, the Gypsy Wagon.
'83' Ford Ranger with a 2.2 Diesel, little smoke
'56' F100 project truck
tempforce wrote: adding a weight equalizing hitch may bend the frame just in front of the rear tires. pinching your vehicle rear doors so they won't open. with use, the frame may crack and split..
the safe bet is to get a ultra lite, mini camper.
anything that weighs more than half of the weight of your vehicle is to much, with the honda pilot.
the honda pickup is a more capable vehicle to tow with...
What Honda pickup, the Ridgeline? I thought that also does not want to be used with a WDH.
Nights camped 2011: 13 (4 in the old popup)
Nights camped 2012: 36
Nights camped 2013: 2
2012 F-150 XLT screw 4x4 HD max tow
2012 Jayco X19H
It's interesting to note the Owners Manual does not cite possible structural damage as a reason for not using a WDH.
If tongue weight is within the specified limit and a WDH is properly adjusted,
I doubt that structural damage would occur.
IMO, the key phrase in the warning is, "improperly adjusted".
Some people believe you should adjust a WDH to give equal squat at the front and rear of the TV.
Doing so can remove too much load from the rear axle and place too much load on the front axle.
That, in turn, can produce oversteer and can degrade braking performance.
It might be worth your time to try to get a statement from Honda's Technical Department regarding use of a properly adjusted WDH.
othertonka wrote: It might help to understand how a WD hitch works. Basically it takes the tounge weight and distributes approx 1/3 of the weight to the front axle of your Pilot, and 1/3 of the tounge weight back to the trailer axle, and 1/3 stays on the hitch/rear axle of the pilot. For example in simple math if you have a tounge weight of 300 lbs, 100 lbs will be transfered to the front axle, 100 lbs will be transfered back to the trailer axle, and 100 lbs will stay on the hitch. It is a little more complecated than that but basically thats what happens.---
I agree it is helpful to understand how a WD hitch works -- but,
what you have described is not the way a properly adjusted WDH works.
I doubt that even an improperly adjusted WDH could do as you describe.
With a properly adjusted weight distribution hitch:
the TV's front axle will have essentially no added load,
a load equal to approximately 70-80% of tongue weight will be added to the TV's rear axle, and
a load equal to approximately 20-30% of tongue weight will be added to the TT's axles.
The mythical 1/3, 1/3, 1/3 distribution is more like 0, 3/4, 1/4.
Thanks for all the replies. I'll have my husband read this.
I got all the numbers from Honda Pilot owner's manual. The 4 wheel drive version has higher tow ratings than the base model. And it's a 2011.
The manual says for 4WD, with 6 adult passengers (150 lbs each) & 1 suitcase per person (which none of our 4 kids weighs more than 50lbs yet):
3,8000 maximum total trailer weight
190 lbs maximum tongue load
For the real weight of our kids while we'll own this Pilot, it's probably more accurate that the weight is what they're saying is 5 occupants: which gives
4,000 lbs maximum trailer weight,
270 lbs max tongue load.
What is the dry hitch weight your your camper? Don't forget that this is just the *dry* weight, and usually doesn't include the battery, or the propane in your propane tank(s).
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