Biggest unit you know of under 3,500 pounds ???

Grit Dog - OP here, I was asking for a friend. He had the Ridgeline and after hearing about our travels as well as a few others he thought he'd like to join us.

stevemorris wrote:
sorry, but i have to ask!
why would somebody who wants to go rv'ing buy a honda ridgeline? and then start looking at the biggest thing it can tow?

Find the trailer first, then look at vehicles big enough to tow what you want in a trailer

Idk, maybe the "friend" (you know, the ole "asking for a friend...") just graduated from a Prius or a Civic or something and the Ridgeline is UGE to them. And maybe said "friend" jsut want's to know the upper limits of what they should be looking at, not necessarily trying to find the biggest trailer out there. But who knows, better to belittle them for the vehicle their "friend" bought than be helpful....
For a midsize SUV with a truck bed like a Ridgeline, I think the teardrop type campers are basically a perfect match. Decent size Rpod type camper with a single slide would be a great setup.

One of the rude awakenings I received, was when I took my 5000# dry weight TT across the CAT scales. Loaded for the road it weighted close to 6200#.

Also the tongue weight was advertised as 400#, it was 700# loaded for the road. That was about half my cargo capacity.

The fact that the gross vehicle weight was 7500# should have raised doubts about the dry weight.

If you have the tow vehicle, the cargo capacity is on the door sticker. How much the owner want to push it is up to him.

When we decided to try RVing, we already had a truck, a 2008 Nissan Frontier 4x4 crew cab. 4.0 V6 w/5 speed auto. 1200 pound payload, 6000 pound tow with a 60 square foot frontage restriction.
I ran all the numbers for weights to come up with parameters for a trailer.
We towed the 5000 pound Dart for 4 years with no problems, though many on this forum just knew we were on borrowed time. We towed a previous 4500 pound camper for 4 years before the Dart.
If someone stays within specs for their TV and TT, sets up the WD properly, they should not have any problem towing.
I have the Silverado now because the Frontier was getting old and I got a fantastic deal, not because the Frontier was inadequate.
And I am a card carrying member of the Weight Police. But that’s because I do the math and not knee jerk into the 3/4 or 1 ton BS.

Well now, I asked the question and got 9 answers, 1 joke (good one), and 13 bitchers. Thanks for the answers and the joke.

stevemorris wrote:
i dont consider myself to be a weight police member at all

ive towed trailers with light weight vehicles(ford windstar:2500 lb tt and dodge dakota:4000lb tt), they and i struggled. true the honda has more power than either of those two vehicles, but engine power isnt the only requirement

unibody construction and independent rear suspension with a carlike ride do not make into a good solid tow vehicle

sure members of a honda ridgeline forum are going to say they tow great, they very likely have never towed with anything else. i thought our dakota was a great tv until we went to a full sized truck

now, instead of struggling with winds and long hills, we can do 100 kph all day with neither the truck or us breaking a sweat

i started towing in the early 70's, towing heavy (by todays standards) tt's with huge american sedans and wagons, believe me they sucked!! but until comfortable pickups came along, that's all there was.

i have towed travel trailers with just about every type of car and truck, from big old american cars to modern pickups and lots of vehicles in between

so im just voicing my opinion based on several decades of experience!

X2 been there done that.

Many of the KZ "Escape" line.

i dont consider myself to be a weight police member at all

ive towed trailers with light weight vehicles(ford windstar:2500 lb tt and dodge dakota:4000lb tt), they and i struggled. true the honda has more power than either of those two vehicles, but engine power isnt the only requirement

unibody construction and independent rear suspension with a carlike ride do not make into a good solid tow vehicle

sure members of a honda ridgeline forum are going to say they tow great, they very likely have never towed with anything else. i thought our dakota was a great tv until we went to a full sized truck

now, instead of struggling with winds and long hills, we can do 100 kph all day with neither the truck or us breaking a sweat

i started towing in the early 70's, towing heavy (by todays standards) tt's with huge american sedans and wagons, believe me they sucked!! but until comfortable pickups came along, that's all there was.

i have towed travel trailers with just about every type of car and truck, from big old american cars to modern pickups and lots of vehicles in between

so im just voicing my opinion based on several decades of experience!

My weekly plug for someone to check out the Coachman Apex Nano line. All under 4,000 pounds and would match up with the Ridgeline.

Thinking about it ... I will add wind and weather to my dislike for such a light truck. I've towed for several hundred thousand mile and really weather can be more than a curse for a light TV.
I've always said you can pull a 5er with a VW beetle but it isn't a good idea.