Towing a 4500lb TT with an SUV

Gdetrailer wrote:

OK, that certainly is sending mixed messages to the OP.

On one hand you admit the OPs Pilot may be at the top of it's rated range and the other hand you are telling the OP that it might be cheaper to continue on using their Pilot until the end of it's life in spite of it's maxed out capability and "white Knuckle driving experience in order to "save some money" on trade out time.

Saving them a couple of pennies loss in a vehicle UPGRADE now most likely will result in HUGE losses in money down the road continuing to use the Pilot at it's max capability..

The cost could be transmission, brakes, engine, cooling system and many other high wear parts at the most inopportune time.?

Always someone that wants to say doing anything is dangerous and you could die! Might be the mask cutting off oxygen to the brain, lol...

You might be right, or might be wrong. Some cases you would be right, some cases you will be way off. It all really depends on each individual situation...
A full-timer driving 50,000 miles per year will want a big diesel 3/4 ton truck to pull a little trailer, but a person just going on a few short trips here and there will be fine with whatever will tow the trailer. It all depends. Not mixed signals, just sound advice to consider. For towing only short trips occasionally then coming out of pocket thousands and thousands (not pennies) to get an ample tow rig might not make any sense.

Repairs on the Pilot? Maybe none that are going to be unusual if minimal towing is involved. Brakes should never be an issue if the trailer has properly working brakes.
Transmission? Yes, it will wear out faster, but so will a trans on a 3/4 ton truck wear out faster from towing vs not towing. Everything wears out faster towing. This is not necessarily detrimental.
It all comes down to the math for how much towing is going to be done and if an upgrade makes sense for the extra cost. It may, or it may not.