I am thinking about buying a HONDA RIDGELINE, but it can only pull 5000 Lbs. Is there a wide selection of trailers that when fully loaded are less than 5000 Lbs.
There is a wide selection of Small TT's, Most will be popups, some Hybrids, and a few TT's that should work with the Ridgeline. You will need to start looking for trailers that have a GVWR of 5000 or less, Ignore the dry weights for now.
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you might want to check out ALiner...these are nifty hard sided pop ups...the problem is not just the weight but the frontal area of a regular travel trailer....your new trucklet has a 5 speed auto..my pilot, about the same chassis, would shift down to 4th with almost any incline including overpasses...shifting makes for tranny heat..baaaad...as you know.
happy camping
Don't let the Honda Salesman tell you this is a 1/2 truck! I was looking at an Accord last week, and the salesman spotted my Tundra. He then proceeded to tell me that the Ridgeline was a comparable vehicle, and that it could tow anything my Tundra could! It was all I could do to keep from laughing in his face. I told him lets park my 5000lbs loaded, 72 sqft. frontal area TT behind his Ridgeline, and then try to tow it up a 6% grade while still accelerating with a 10 mph headwind! I don't think so!!! Now mind you, my TT is listed as a "Lite", but straight from the factory its 4000lbs dry. Once you add yourself, a full tank of gas, full gas bottles, your DW, kids (if you have any), dogs (these are my kids), and any other camping "stuff" - like food - you will be well above the towing capacity of that vehicle with anything bigger than a HiLo. Now I'm not bragging about my Tundra, it has its limitations as well - I won't be towing any 5'ers with it, nor will I be pulling anything too much larger than I have without some serious modifications. TTs that you might want to look at would be Jayco Jayfeather Sport, Shadowcruiser Funfinders, Sunvalley Roadrunners. Just keep an eye on the size of the "sail" that you are going to drop behind you!
Good Luck
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The ridgeline has a heavy duty transmission cooler, heavy duty radiator and heavy power steering cooler. The 2005 Pilot is rated at 4500 Max 1000 Standard for towing. I assume the ridgeline is geared down because it gets one mile less per gallon yet only weighs 67 pounds more than the pilot.
My Roo 21ss has a max weight ,loaded of 4700 lbs(GVWR). My S-crew has a tow rating of 6600 lbs. It tows it fine but I would not want to tow anything heavier. The sail factor(frontal area of trailer)makes a big difference in towing. I don't think I would buy the Ridgeline expecting it to be a good tow vehicle for a TT. JMHO Bob
Honda on their site carefully hides the important specs on this so-called truck. They don't show the axle ratings, ring gear size, brake rotor area etc.
Take a look at the differential under a Ford F-150 and then compare it with the Honda.
The engine is typical of small car design. It's power comes at very high RPMs, 255 HP @ 5750 RPM and 252 ft. lbs Torque @ 4500 RPM. Unless one enjoys a screaming motor, it doesn't seem like much of a towing power plant.
The vehicle is probably OK for a small pop-up tent trailer. My son towed a Coleman Cheyenne (10 ft. box) with a Ford Explorer and was not happy with the performance. He now has an Expedition with the 5.4 engine.
Clattertruck
2008 SD F450 PSD 6.4L CC 4X4 DRW, Lariat Auto trans 4.30 LS, 2008 Snowriver 108 truck camper. Jeep Unlimited Rubicon as toad.
From my own experience I wasted $16 - $20,000.00 buying undersized two vehicles. I also almost killed my entire family in a multiple jack-knifing incident on I-94 going towards Madison towing a travel trailer. My experience is telling you, if you like the idea of towing a house, think big.
On the rig pictured, I have towed 25,000 trouble free, grin ear to ear miles; over mountains, scorching deserts, through heavy storms and big winds.
Please for the safety of your family and everyone else on the road, get the biggest TV you can afford; it will be cheaper for you in the long run.
Tom
------------------------------------------------- Tom + Kathy 2003 Chevy Duramax 3500 LT CC LB 4WD.
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I am going to chime in here on this subject as way to many people just want to see what they way to see which often is not reality.
First the Ridgeline, Tundra or for that matter any of the 1/2 ton's do not have anything heavy duty. You want heavy duty do the cheap thing and move right to class 3,4 and 5 trucks with diesel engines and heavy transmissions.
Wrecks yep wrecks I travel over 40,000 a year driving. Almost every single last rv wreck I have seen is a smaller tv usually a short wheel base SUV and TT. Why did they happen put simply they bought the wrong tv for what they were pulling. Here are some of the reasons my wife does not like trucks, the salesmen told me [not an excuse salesmen are ex politicans and glad handers], I wanted a small 4 wheel drive truck [aka modified grocery getter], and the list goes on.
Now you might want to look at the Scamp and Casita trailers as they can be pulled by the smaller vehicles safely. This is one combination where the Casita/Tundra is a match. However one other little real world note many if not most of the smaller tow vehicles will not get as good of MPG as a 250 class diesel.
So go back and tell the Honda guy that Stephen said their is nothing on a Ridgeline that is heavy duty and I will be more than happy to place cold hard cash on that statment.
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