Just bought a Honda Pilot - Towing Questions

[ddombrowski]

So I just bought my wife a 2007 CPO Honda Pilot. It has another 18,000 miles of warranty and up to 100,000 miles of powertrain warranty that I would like to maintain.

I also want to put a trailer hitch on the car and tow my little sailboat. The boat weighs less than I do - about 150lbs, so maybe 250lbs with the trailer. Basically, nothing.

According to the dealership (and we all know they're ALWAYS right), if I want to install a tow hitch, I have to install the entire towing package (transmission cooler and power steering cooler) from Honda otherwise I void my warranty.

I'm wondering what the real story is on this. I imagine that the safe towing capacity is reduced without the cooler, but I would also think that there would be some reasonable limit to be able to tow without it. I mean, do you need a transmission cooler to have one of those bike mounts that fits into the trailer hitch, or a small luggage tray? I would think not, but the dealer seems to think so.

Also, on that note, if I were to install a trans cooler and power steering cooler, there are much better ones out there than the honda OEM ones, and I'd be in the same boat. If its not the Honda one, they claim the warranty is void.

I realize that its up to the dealer to prove that aftermarket product caused a failure, but I also think it would be pretty easy for the dealer to tell Honda "Customer towed boat without transmission cooler. Transmission warranty void" and Honda would back them.

Anyone been through this before and might be able to offer some advice?

BTW, the trailer hitch is about $250, the wiring harness 75. The package that includes everything (coolers + hitch + wiring) is 750.

 

[Zedhed]

Yeah, you can tow a Honda Pilot, it's real easy -- just hook the tow bar to the front bumper and to the trailer hitch on your full-size pickup and off you go.

Oops, you meant using the Pilot to tow something else? Good luck with that......

 

[addyguy]

In FL, I'd want the trany cooler and PS cooler even without towing - might help them last longer in the heat down there. Just a thought.

 

[ls1mike]

Originally Posted By: Zedhed
Yeah, you can tow a Honda Pilot, it's real easy -- just hook the tow bar to the front bumper and to the trailer hitch on your full-size pickup and off you go.

Oops, you meant using the Pilot to tow something else? Good luck with that......

*****!!

What do you plan on towing?

 

[tdpark]

i read somewhere the reason honda requires a power steering cooler is because the engine makes most of the power in the higher rpms so the engine will be revving higher and thus turning the power steering pump more and it is to safeguard the ps pump. I would recommend the trans cooler just because it is better to be safe than sorry with honda trannys.

 

[Eddie]

For a 250 or even a 500 lb trailer load, I think you don't need anything additional except the hitch. The gross vehicle weight is so much above 500 lbs that adding anything is a waste of money.

 

[willix]

Having 1 passenger may be an equal load 2 that. Do they require a tow pkg. for 3 passengers?

 

[ddombrowski]

Originally Posted By: Eddie
For a 250 or even a 500 lb trailer load, I think you don't need anything additional except the hitch. The gross vehicle weight is so much above 500 lbs that adding anything is a waste of money.


Thank you! At least someone was paying attention.

Guys, I know that transmission coolers are good, and I may still install one being that I'm in Florida. My question was related to maintaining the warranty coverage. Even if I do install a cooler, I'd prefer something with a better price/performance ratio than the OEM one, so I'm in the same boat anyway. At this point, I just wish I was in A boat, its been too long since I've gotten out on the water.

Remember, that 250lbs isn't a typo - its a tiny boat. The boat + trailer weighs less than 3 passengers.

 

[Dave Sherman]

I'd check the owner's manual and see what it says about needing a trans cooler. I tow a pop-up camper with my CR-V, and nowhere does it say it needs a trans cooler, and it's rated to 1500 pounds. Nor do they offer a "towing package". I bought an aftermarket hitch, taillight converter, and brake controller and installed them myself. I think the dealer is pulling your leg on voiding the warranty without a trans cooler.

Off topic: What kind of boat? Just curious.

 

[ddombrowski]

Originally Posted By: Dave Sherman
I'd check the owner's manual and see what it says about needing a trans cooler. I tow a pop-up camper with my CR-V, and nowhere does it say it needs a trans cooler, and it's rated to 1500 pounds. Nor do they offer a "towing package". I bought an aftermarket hitch, taillight converter, and brake controller and installed them myself. I think the dealer is pulling your leg on voiding the warranty without a trans cooler.

Off topic: What kind of boat? Just curious.


Thanks! I figured 1500lbs was a reasonable number without a cooler. I also figured the dealer was being their usual "we are never wrong and refuse change our answer" when I mentioned that you could have a trailer hitch for a bike rack, but I still thought I would ask.

Oh, the sailboat is called a 'Laser' made by vanguard. 14' with a single sail. FUN boat! I'm a bit heavy for the thing by most laser sailor standards (199 lbs this morning, most are 125-150) which means its hard for me to balance in light wind, but on a reach I have the weight to keep the boat flat and get really get going fast. Its unstable and a bit tippy, so you go swimming alot, but overall, a wonderful toy.

 

[IndyIan]

Looks fun, and no way on earth towing a boat like that is going to affect anything with any car. Unless you tow with the sail up perpendicular to the wind...

 

[Kaboomba]

Towing places several demands on the tow vehicle:

1. Torque and braking capacity for starting and stopping
2. Length, width, and weight for maneuvering stability
3. Power and cooling for sustained high-speed cruising

No. 3 is what might get you. The issue is aerodynamic drag--it eats drivetrains at highway speed. Example: At highway speed (65mph), if your trailer+payload causes 300lbf drag (pretty normal), you are adding 52hp to the normal cruising power requirement. In the Pilot, this means going from maybe 25-30% power demand for cruise to 45-50% power demand. In normal usage, the transmission only handles that kind of power during brisk accelerations, and cooling can be spread out over 5-10min. In sustained cruising that heat has to be rejected continuously. Thus, virtually any trailer can easily require 10x the normal tranny cooling rate. Which is why I would install a tranny cooler if I were you, IF sustained highway towing was in my foreseeable future. Any aftermarket should work, though some are better than others.

 

[Pete591]

Needs a Mercury 300 HP Verado!

 

[GMBoy]

Here's what you do: Get a small hitch and install it. Tell the dealer that you are NOT towing anything - you just got the hitch to use with a bike rack. You've seen the bike racks that connect to the hitch - tell them that. You'll have no trouble towing that small of a load. I'd think the pilot could probably do up to 1000lbs easily.

 

[bigmike]

I'd email Honda directly and ask them.

http://automobiles.honda.com/information/customer-relations.aspx

 

[IndyIan]

Originally Posted By: Kaboomba
Towing places several demands on the tow vehicle:

1. Torque and braking capacity for starting and stopping
2. Length, width, and weight for maneuvering stability
3. Power and cooling for sustained high-speed cruising

No. 3 is what might get you. The issue is aerodynamic drag--it eats drivetrains at highway speed. Example: At highway speed (65mph), if your trailer+payload causes 300lbf drag (pretty normal), you are adding 52hp to the normal cruising power requirement. In the Pilot, this means going from maybe 25-30% power demand for cruise to 45-50% power demand. In normal usage, the transmission only handles that kind of power during brisk accelerations, and cooling can be spread out over 5-10min. In sustained cruising that heat has to be rejected continuously. Thus, virtually any trailer can easily require 10x the normal tranny cooling rate. Which is why I would install a tranny cooler if I were you, IF sustained highway towing was in my foreseeable future. Any aftermarket should work, though some are better than others.

Did you look at the boat? I could tow that during my autocross runs behind my Neon and probably only lose a second... The boat goes 25 mph in the water using like 3 hp from the sail, put it on wheels with the sail down if it requires 5 more hp from the car at 70 mph I'd be surprised. If it was a 20' inboard bow rider then I'd take your post very seriously but its sail boat barely bigger than a windsurfer.

 

[Norse]

Originally Posted By: Zedhed
Yeah, you can tow a Honda Pilot, it's real easy -- just hook the tow bar to the front bumper and to the trailer hitch on your full-size pickup and off you go.

Oops, you meant using the Pilot to tow something else? Good luck with that......


HAHAHAHA HOLY SHEET! That was funny!

 

[marcre]

Do people even read before they post?

 

[willix]

I am just not seeing any vehicle dynamics being compromised other than parallel parking.

 

[Kaboomba]

Originally Posted By: IndyIan
Originally Posted By: Kaboomba
Towing places several demands on the tow vehicle:

1. Torque and braking capacity for starting and stopping
2. Length, width, and weight for maneuvering stability
3. Power and cooling for sustained high-speed cruising

No. 3 is what might get you. The issue is aerodynamic drag--it eats drivetrains at highway speed. Example: At highway speed (65mph), if your trailer+payload causes 300lbf drag (pretty normal), you are adding 52hp to the normal cruising power requirement. In the Pilot, this means going from maybe 25-30% power demand for cruise to 45-50% power demand. In normal usage, the transmission only handles that kind of power during brisk accelerations, and cooling can be spread out over 5-10min. In sustained cruising that heat has to be rejected continuously. Thus, virtually any trailer can easily require 10x the normal tranny cooling rate. Which is why I would install a tranny cooler if I were you, IF sustained highway towing was in my foreseeable future. Any aftermarket should work, though some are better than others.

Did you look at the boat? I could tow that during my autocross runs behind my Neon and probably only lose a second... The boat goes 25 mph in the water using like 3 hp from the sail, put it on wheels with the sail down if it requires 5 more hp from the car at 70 mph I'd be surprised. If it was a 20' inboard bow rider then I'd take your post very seriously but its sail boat barely bigger than a windsurfer.


You make a good point. There are still a couple of things to keep in mind though:

1. Aerodynamic drag on a body is an exponential function of velocity
2. Trailers are always aerodynamically "dirty" due to shape and interaction with the tow vehicle. For their size, weight, and overall dimensions, boat trailers are especially dirty.
2. Cross-sectional area of the entire towed "package"
3. Wetted area of the entire package
4. Overall length of the towed package (very precious few trailers can fit in the slipstream of the tow vehicle)
5. Speed under sail has little to no bearing on what the overall tow package looks like to the two vehicle

If I knew I would not be taking extended trips on the highway while towing the boat, I wouldn't bother with any modifications.