The dry weight is 4100 lbs and the GVWR is 6300 pounds. That's alot of cargo but I bet it will weigh over 5000 when it is loaded. What is the cargo capacity of the Honda?
'06 Ford F-150 flareside crew, 5.4l, 3.55's
'07 Jayco 232
prodigy and Equal-i-zer
Don't confuse a maximum towing capacity of 5000 pounds with the ability to tow 5000 pounds! Not until you've read the fine print.
Max towing capacity is universally stated with the tow vehicle empty. This provides a larger number. Unless otherwise stated in your owner's manual you must subtract the weight of all passengers and cargo in the vehicle. For this reason I recommend the 1000 Pound Rule. The trailer should not weigh more than the max tow capacity less 1000 pounds. This doesn't mean you'll be happy towing that much. Read the manuals though.
We pulled our ~5000 pound Roo 23SS with my 5500 pound max tow rating Explorer for 2 seasons. I don't recommend pulling that weight with that little towing capacity. We increased to 9000 pounds last year with the Expedition. Much nicer.
-- Chuck
'06 Roo 23SS behind '07 Expedition out of Cleveland Our Photo pages
dgway wrote: Anyone have any experience towing a Roo233 or similar weight with a Honda Ridgeline? It is rated at 5000lb. For the past 3 years I have towed with a Freestar Mini Van rated for 3500lb.
i'm assuming you haven't been pulling a Roo 233 with your Freestar.
that you are looking at a new Roo and a Ridgeline.
we were shopping for a new hybrid and TV. we had decided on the Roo 23SS and were looking for the right TV.
we really liked the Ridgeline. the only negative, at first, was the boring colors. but the interior was sooo nice. and the amenities were great. so we test drove, priced and did some homework.
what i found was that the v-6 trucks only got a couple of mpg better, than a v-8 truck. we then started looking at the Avalanche. it has a 5.3 v-8 and tows up to 7200lbs. the Ridgeline only got 1 or 2mpg better on the highway, without towing. i'm also think the towing mpg would be worse on the Ridgeline than the Avy. the same was for the v-6
Tacoma and Frontier.
if you are interested in the 233, i'd call a dealer and confirm its actual weight. Forest River is notorious for having incorrect info in their brochures and website.
the Ridgeline is a great vehicle. but since we have a lot of mountains to climb over out in the west, we went with the Avy. and after a year, we are REALLY glad we did. knowing what i know now and have experienced towing, i am so glad i have a larger v-8 truck to tow with. i know that, having driven from Chicago to the Napa Valley in the middle of November, my Avy can handle almost anything Mother Nature can throw at it.
Dan- Firefighter, Shawn- Musician/Entrepreneur, Zoe- Faithful Golden Retriever, 2007 Chevrolet Avalanche LS, 2007 Rockwood Roo 23SS w/Equalizer and Prodigy, and 5 Mtn. bikes and 2 Road bikes
The dry weight is 4100 lbs and the GVWR is 6300 pounds. That's alot of cargo but I bet it will weigh over 5000 when it is loaded. What is the cargo capacity of the Honda?
You live in Waterdown. Down the street from you just off 6 is Rustons RV. They have a good sized TT hooked up to a Freestar there for demonstration and promotional reasons. Between 4 RV dealers in the area hundreds of Freestars /Windstars have been setup to tow (many of those TT's). It has been a proven formula for years now. Do you believe the Ridgeline is less capable than a Freestar?
PS.. We are your neighbours. Live down the hill near Ikea.
I have an '06 Ridgeline; here's my $0.02 on towing with it.
Look in the towing section of the owner's manual; it has a table which shows the "real" towing capacity. With us inside (2 big adults, 1 kid and 2 dogs), the tow rating is 4100.
First trailer was 3700 dry and 4100 ready to camp...right at the limit. It handled OK, but not what I would call "good" or "comfortable". Crosswinds were tough even at 50-55 mph on back roads. THEN I bought a tongue weight scale; it was way over the 500-lb limit. Try as I might, I couldn't get it below 550. End of trailer number one.
Second and current trailer is our hybrid Starcraft XP 18RB, 3500 GVWR and about 3100 ready for a weekend. Tongue weight is a comfortable 450 or so. What a difference a thousand pounds makes. I wouldn't go back to towing 2 tons, at least not regularly.
I just bought a new truck at the start of summer and new hybrid at the end. I did not want a full size truck, and had narrowed down my choices to the Ridgeline and the Nissan Frontier. The Ridgeline was nice, but I was concerned at it being only rated to tow 5000 lbs. Dry weight on the Roo 233 is almost 3500 so it should be OK. I went with the Frontier, not knowing that the wife and I would also be buying an Antigua 215SSO at the end of the summer. I'm glad I have the extra 1000 or pounds of towing, would be cutting it close otherwise.
The dry weight is 4100 lbs and the GVWR is 6300 pounds. That's alot of cargo but I bet it will weigh over 5000 when it is loaded. What is the cargo capacity of the Honda?
You live in Waterdown. Down the street from you just off 6 is Rustons RV. They have a good sized TT hooked up to a Freestar there for demonstration and promotional reasons. Between 4 RV dealers in the area hundreds of Freestars /Windstars have been setup to tow (many of those TT's). It has been a proven formula for years now. Do you believe the Ridgeline is less capable than a Freestar?
PS.. We are your neighbours. Live down the hill near Ikea.
I know about Rustons. My father bought our first TT from them. I also went and looked at the Trail Cruisers that they had on the lot. I ended up at Sicards and a Jayco, but I still think that Rustons are quite reputable. About towing with a Freestar and/or a Ridgeline, I don't know much. My F-150 is my 1st truck and it was purchased to tow our Jayco 232. I originally thought about Dakotas, Sport Tracs, Frontiers, and the Ridgeline, but was then convinced to buy a full size truck to pull a hybrid with. I just know I can pull 7900 lbs (at least that is what it is rated for) and I have room to spare on my GVWR of the truck. At least I hope so because I haven't hit any scales yet. I have my wife and 2 kids who currently add up to 200 pounds but my kids are only 3 and 5. I hope to have the truck for quite some time so I think passagengers in the cab will hit 400 lbs easily. Plus stuff in the bed, and the tongue weight. Im sure I will be close to the payload capacity real soon.
All I am saying is make sure you have enough truck to pull your trailer and stuff without going over on any of the weight ratings, and I don't think the Honda will do that.
Check the owners manual. The max towing is with driver only, no load in bed or trunk. For addition weight like passengers, coolers, fire wood, bikes, etc. it drops the tow rating. There is a chart in the owners manual. Great vehicle. Suggest large pop up or small hybrid.
Change transmission fluid and diff fluid often. (work at Honda dealer)
I was definitely overloaded but new to RV'ing and thought I was okay.
Pulled it fine, but I never felt 100% comfortable. Short wheelbase never felt fully stable when trying to stop quickly.
Can you tow the trailer, yes. Is it 100% safe when you have your family in the back seat?
Not sure.
I upgraded after a year, so that says something.
The challenge I have is I had a Ridgeline and am not telling you what the manual says. This is real world experience.
Personally I would not buy a trailer to tow with a Ridgeline with an unloaded weight over 3,500 pounds. This gives you more cushion which is what you will need once you load up with clothes, water, etc.
For the trailer you listed I would go Tundra or Titan.
We have a 19 ft. surveyor weighing at about 4200 fully loaded. We have some pretty steep grades in Arizona (some that are 5 - 9%). We used to pull with a 2003 toyota Tacoma (5000 lbs. towing) and did fine on flat surfaces. Upgraded to a 2007 tundra (v8, 10,000 lb. towing package, and tow mirrors) because the Tacoma had a difficult time with steep grades, head winds, and the narrow width of the Tacoma made it very hard to see when changing lanes. After towing with the Tacoma and then moving up to the tundra, if you are towing in Mountains, I would consider a smaller trailer, or move up to bigger tow vehicle.
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, Shawn- Musician/Entrepreneur
, Zoe- Faithful Golden Retriever
, 2007 Chevrolet Avalanche LS, 2007 Rockwood Roo 23SS w/Equalizer and Prodigy, and 5 Mtn. bikes and 2 Road bikes
