anybody tow with front wheel drive only?

[shamblin]

sailors,

does anyone use something like my front wheel only drive honda oddssey to tow a cp23 or will i have to upgrade to something like a pilot or ridgeline?   ( to stay in the honda camp ) thanks,

bill in nc

[cfelle2]

The CP-23 probably exceeds your towing capacity.  I would assume about 4500 lbs for boat, trailer and contents.  Your towing capacity on the Honda Odyssey is probably 3500 lbs. You could probably get away with towing from storage to launch a few miles down the road but I would not tow long distances with the Odyssey.  You risk damaging the transmission as well as the fact that your auto insurance probably does not cover you if you are towing above the manufacture specifications. 

Chris

[Greene]

After towing our 23 from Florida to Wisconsin and launching it a couple times I wouldn't tow her with anything under a 5000 lb. rating.  I consider my 2002 Toyota 4Runner to be the bare minimum.  In fact I really wish I had a newer 4Runner with the larger body size to tow Wrinkles. 

We pulled the Com-Pac 19 with a minivan a few times and it did the job.  The problem is you worry about pulling it out even while you are sailing.  I'd rather have a 4 wheeler sitting there so I could forget about retrieval and enjoy sailing.

Mike

[brackish]

Agree with Mike, I tow with a 2007 Toyota Tacoma prerunner with 6500 tow capacity and 11,100 gross combined. Probably the same engine/trans as his 4runner with a stronger frame.  I consider it minimum and your Honda options to be not up to the job.  I'm always on the lookout for a 250/2500 older PU, Duramax/Allison or 7.3 Powerstroke that has less than 200K and is priced right to put into service for tow and haul only low mileage per year usage.  Probably wouldn't put 5K a year on it, outlast me, get rid of my other truck and get something fun and fuel efficient for the daily driving.

[shamblin]

sounds like a full size pickup with 4wheel drive is what people like.   i used to do it with a full size van and 2wheel rear drive but
i did get stuck on some ramps and i did wear out a transmission.

[wes]

I am probably an outlier on this, but I use my little 4 cylinder Toyota Tacoma truck to tow my 19, and have had no problems at all regardless of ramp condition. I drive carefully, keep the highway speed down to 55 or 60 max, and invested in a good set of gnarly mud+snow rated tires. On steeper grades I do have to down-shift of course, and I drive very defensively when I'm pulling the trailer. Those Toyotas are tough little trucks, no lie. I'm sure a honking big full size truck would allow me to forget I'm towing something heavy, but I do love the frugal gas mileage, low maintenance cost and all-around practicality of the Tacoma.

Wes

[Greene]

Wes - I agree those Tacomas are little brutes.  I had one and loved it.  Still, it would scare me to try and pull a 19 up the often slimey ramps in my area.  A 23, no way!  If you stay local and your ramps are good I'm sure you are right that for you it is perfect.  I just couldn't recommend that combo to someone.

Mike

[Shawn]

"does anyone use something like my front wheel only drive honda oddssey to tow a cp23 or will i have to upgrade to something like a pilot or ridgeline? "

Years back my father used to tow a Wahoo 18.5 Offshore (about 2500 pounds) with a front wheel drive Taurus. It lived on the trailer so we launched it pretty often. The Taurus could tow and launch the boat fine.

However... pulling the boat out of the water was another story. When the combination of the tongue weight, wet ramp and the incline the front wheels would not have enough traction. Often we had to have a number of people sit on the hood of the car to get some weight on the front wheels to give it the traction to pull the boat out.

I would think front wheel drive with the 23 would be a dramatically bigger problem.

Shawn

[hockeyfool]

Sorry to be another counterpoint here but I DO have a 2005 honda Ody( we in the Odyssey club forum )
but that conversation was debated at length and numerous owners did tow from 3000 to almost 5000 #
with the inclusion of - either tow package tranny cooler and steering pump cooler - also avail aftermarket,
and some had load leveling hitches, surge brakes, and drove at minimum highway speeds - 45-55. Slow to speed - using
2nd/3rd gears, and the same to braking.
    I towed it 75 miles from the 1rst owners quitely easily, On windy days - slow down, consider load leveling hitch or anti-sway bars to the trailor's hitch . Keep fluids( engine, brake, tranny, steering ) capped off before the  drive  check afterwards.
   More than enough power and weight of van itself - just a gear ratio/tranny/steering pump  concern to add the cooler unit if driving long distances - like 100 plus miles.
 

[skip1930]

" anybody tow with front wheel drive only? " About 3/5th's of all vehicles have fwd today. But the question is how many tow a boat with this set-up?
I don't think it makes any difference. Typically more weight is on the front and usually the weight distribution of both set-up's, rear or front wheel drive is just about 47% rear and the balance up front when not loaded.

skip.

[CaptRon28]

Actually, it does make a diference. The vertical load on the receiver at the back of the towing vehicle, typically in the 8 to 10 percent range, will take weight off of the front tires - like a see-saw. The ramp angle, especially if on the steep side, will do the same thanks to gravity. Finally, the force needed to pull the trailer forward will also cortribute to a weight shift. Depending on the weight of the boat/trailer and the size/type of vehicle doing the towing, this can be a problem on some ramps. A weight distributing hitch could eliminate some of the weight shift.

Obviously 4 wheel drive is the best setup, but rear wheel drive does have some inherent advantages over front wheel for towing.

[NateD]

I'm paranoid when towing, I have to have some safety margin in the trailer and in the vehicle, and an Odyssey leaves you no margin on the road or the ramp. Adding a load distributing hitch will help some, but it is lipstick on a pig. If it is short distances and you know you'll be able to get up the ramp, then it will probably be OK, but the pucker factor on the freeway would be pretty high.

I pulled my 23 a few hundred miles with a 6 cylinder Jeep Grand Cherokee (4x4), and it had a hard time maintaining 60mph on a flat freeway. Not only is weight an issue, but so is windage. When other claim to have towed #5,000, ask what they were towing, because the windage from a boat that sits 11' off the ground is significant. I didn't feel comfortable towing with the Jeep and ended up buying a full size truck to tow with.

[Salty19]

I used a Toyota 4runner AWD 4.7L V8 (appx 330ft.lbs of torque) to tow the 16 and 19. It had over 7,000lbs of towing capacity.  It pulled them easily, on the highway, up hills, up the ramp, etc.  However stopping was an issue...it did OK but without trailer brakes you have to leave plenty of room and be ready to downshift if needed to slow it down fast. The suspension was designed for off-road and towing so it barely registered the weight of the tonque.

The AWD makes wheelspin a complete non-issue. 

Since the tranny went out on it and I wasn't going to invest $4 in a 7 year old truck, I now have a Mazda CX-9 AWD (3.7L V6, appx 275 ft. lbs torque).   The engine doesn't strain a bit but the chassis knows it's there as it's not a truck but a crossover so it has softer suspension.  Braking is about the same or slightly better, probably because it's new. 3500lb tow capacity.

I consider the 19 about all the CX-9 should tow.  I believe the Odyssey has the same capacity as does the pilot. Wouldn't even think about towing a 23 with the Hondas or CX-9.  I would want a full size pickup or a rugged SUV like a 4runner, sequoia, grand cherokee or expedition.

So I guess I won't be getting a 23 anytime soon

[wes]

This topic is an interesting reminder of how dramatically sailboat weight rises with relatively modest increases in length. My 19's factory spec weight is 2000 lbs (bare boat) but a 23 is nearly twice that, right? And a 16 is maybe half the weight. I can pull the 19 with my little Tacoma but would never consider such a thing with a mighty 23 behind me.

Wes

[brackish]

This topic is an interesting reminder of how dramatically sailboat weight rises with relatively modest increases in length. My 19's factory spec weight is 2000 lbs (bare boat) but a 23 is nearly twice that, right? And a 16 is maybe half the weight. I can pull the 19 with my little Tacoma but would never consider such a thing with a mighty 23 behind me.

Wes

23IV is factory spec. at 3200 lbs.  earlier models are 3000 but according to Hutchins they just raised the spec weight to catch up with reality.  The dual axle trailer is 950, probably more if you have the factory mast raising stuff and a spare carrier.  Outboard (mine is 104) gas tank, water tank, (I try to tow with them empty), batteries, anchors and ground tackle, toilet, extra sails and sheets, and all the other stuff that accumulates on a boat and it would not surprise me if you are pushing 5000 lb. for the tow.  My truck with 6500 capacity does fine on the flat, struggles a bit up hills downshifting a couple of gears to get to the top without losing too much speed.  I agree with Salty, the biggest issue is stopping.  Even with clean, cool, well adjusted surge brakes it requires extra distance and some advance planning.  Basic physics cannot be denied.

When I talk towing it is for a 1000 mile or longer round trip.

I'm going to try to weigh mine the next time I tow, almost afraid to actually see the answer based on Ron's experience.