What can I tow with my Honda Odyssey?

[Bluzmar]

We have a 2013 Honda Odyssey and are interested in getting our first camper. Getting a new vehicle is not an option, and we have 3 small children. So far I have only looked at pop ups, but I just found a 17' hybrid trailer on Craigslist that I am interested in. The trailer's total dry weight (including the hitch) is 2716 and its GVWR is 3826. It does have a hitch/weight distribution system and an anti-sway bar.

I know the Odyssey can tow 3500#. It has a V6 engine and we plan to get a cooler for the transmission. (And for the power steering too? Is that necessary?) Would it be reasonable to assume that we would keep the weight under 3500 on the trailer, or is that cutting it too close? The van is fairly new and we do want it to last a long time! We live in Florida where it is flat, but we would like to travel all over and be able to drive on mountain roads. (Nothing crazy or off road of course; just your typical family trip to the Smokies for example.). Would this trailer be doable or should we stick with a popup around 1800#?

[jerem0621]

IdaD wrote:

jerem0621 wrote:

As you can tell I recommend a PUP... been to the "dark side" and as the previous responder noted... it takes NO MORE time to set up or tear down a PUP than a TT.

I very much disagree with this. When your TT is parked at home before your trip you don't need to put it up in order to pack it with food and camping gear or put it back down after it's ready to go. Just load up ahead of time and then hook to TV and drive away.

Then when you get to the campsite your wife and kids are free to get in the trailer immediately to start cooking dinner or get their toys out or whatever while you disconnect, drop the stabliizers, and etc. With a PUP none of those things can be done until the trailer has been opened up. If it's raining, they're waiting in the car. Big deal? Not really, but if you've got younger kids the stress level on the old man (me) can get a little high while they impatiently wait.

THen when you are packing up you can't really do anything to get the PUP ready for the road until the wife and kids are packed up and moved out of it. Whereas with a TT you are free to attached to the TV and prepare for the trip home while people are still inside brushing teeth, throwing fits and etc.

PUPs definitely involve more setup and putdown time, both at home and at the campsite.

Some very valid points.

I think we have about 10-15 minutes of contention here. The up and down of the top is not that big a deal, it take me longer to put the slide in on my model than to put the top up or down. The top and bunks are the least of my issues.

Confession time for me.

Issues I had with the TT.. It was 31 ft.

After the TT was backed in to a spot (not always able to use "Pull Through" sites where we live), leveled, unhitched... (Can't do any of this with people in the TT) I had to get all the "outside" stuff out of the camper and into the out.. Thats pretty much the same with the PUP.

Parking, leveling, unhitching, stabilizing.. Much easier with the PUP.

Now, my PUP has amenities that if my TT had would have been much quicker to set up.. I didn't have built in stabilizers like I do with the PUP. So that meant me on all fours under every corner putting the little independent jack stabilizers. I don't have to get on all fours for ANYTHING with the pup.

PUP has a built in shower, the TT didn't. So I had to set up a seperate hose for outside dishes washing. Thats already done with the PUP.

So, I amend my comments... Its MUCH faster for me to set up my PUP than my previous TT. Thanks for straightening me out.

Yes, PUPS have trade offs, so do TT's..

Funny experience I had..

My BIL wanted to go camping with us when we had the TT. They had a PUP... He got to the campground after I did.. I had backed in but not "set up" I was in a fury.. setting the chocks, stabilizers, unhitching...(Up and down goes the tongue jack for the 1200 lb WD bars), hooking up the water and the power etc etc etc.

My brother in law was set up, drinking a coke watching me finish by the time I got done.. LOL...

OP I wish you the best regardless of the decision you make.

Thanks!

Jeremiah

[Terryallan]

IdaD wrote:

jerem0621 wrote:

As you can tell I recommend a PUP... been to the "dark side" and as the previous responder noted... it takes NO MORE time to set up or tear down a PUP than a TT.

I very much disagree with this. When your TT is parked at home before your trip you don't need to put it up in order to pack it with food and camping gear or put it back down after it's ready to go. Just load up ahead of time and then hook to TV and drive away.

Then when you get to the campsite your wife and kids are free to get in the trailer immediately to start cooking dinner or get their toys out or whatever while you disconnect, drop the stabliizers, and etc. With a PUP none of those things can be done until the trailer has been opened up. If it's raining, they're waiting in the car. Big deal? Not really, but if you've got younger kids the stress level on the old man (me) can get a little high while they impatiently wait.

THen when you are packing up you can't really do anything to get the PUP ready for the road until the wife and kids are packed up and moved out of it. Whereas with a TT you are free to attached to the TV and prepare for the trip home while people are still inside brushing teeth, throwing fits and etc.

PUPs definitely involve more setup and putdown time, both at home and at the campsite.

When I had a pup. I could go from backing on to the site to sitting under the awning in 20 minutes. Can not do that with the TT. Takes almost that long to level, and unhook. Course I used an battery operated drill to raise the roof, and lower the stabs. We kept everything we needed in the pup except clothes.
And breaking down was much faster as well. I could have the pup down, and hooked up in the time it now takes me to dump, and wash out the tanks. Is better in the rain though. But they will take a pretty high wind. We sat thru MANY thunder storms in our pup. I really miss our pups. But DW really likes the bathroom on stormy nights. That is really the only plus for us. But then we just use the camper to sleep. We don't spend any time in it much, We don't cook inside, or watch TV. It is for sleeping, and changing clothes. All other times, we are outside. Just like when we had the pup.

[TexBohunk]

IdaD has made some very good points about PUPs. Many people enjoy them, had one myself for a few years had some good times, but NEVER again. Had a coleman niagra elite with the cassette toilet, but traveling down the road you can forget using it until setup. What broke me of PUPS was a vacation to Dallas summer 2009. We were going to be leaving for home the next day, when in the early evening a "squall line" of thunderstorms came rolling through with winds in excess of 65mph. DW, my two boys, dogs, and self quickly vacated to the TV to ride it out. Less than a month later traded my mustang for an f150, and the PUP for a new TT.

[brulaz]

Going to Smoky Mountains N.P. ?
Some of the steepest grades I've encountered have been there, so that's definitely POPUP territory for your van (esp the transmission).

[IdaD]

jerem0621 wrote:

As you can tell I recommend a PUP... been to the "dark side" and as the previous responder noted... it takes NO MORE time to set up or tear down a PUP than a TT.

I very much disagree with this. When your TT is parked at home before your trip you don't need to put it up in order to pack it with food and camping gear or put it back down after it's ready to go. Just load up ahead of time and then hook to TV and drive away.

Then when you get to the campsite your wife and kids are free to get in the trailer immediately to start cooking dinner or get their toys out or whatever while you disconnect, drop the stabliizers, and etc. With a PUP none of those things can be done until the trailer has been opened up. If it's raining, they're waiting in the car. Big deal? Not really, but if you've got younger kids the stress level on the old man (me) can get a little high while they impatiently wait.

THen when you are packing up you can't really do anything to get the PUP ready for the road until the wife and kids are packed up and moved out of it. Whereas with a TT you are free to attached to the TV and prepare for the trip home while people are still inside brushing teeth, throwing fits and etc.

PUPs definitely involve more setup and putdown time, both at home and at the campsite.

[jerem0621]

While not a Honda Odyssey... I tow a pop up with my Chrysler Town & Country and its the bees knees.

Coming from a TT to a PUP we have had to make some compromises... but 20 MPG while towing and the maneuverability is great.

Be careful if you go with a pup that has a front storage compartment as loading that storage compartment up can put you over your receiver rating quickly. We specifically bought a PUP without a front storage compartment for this reason.

Our PUP has a wet bath, LONG couch, slide out dinette... HEATED king and queen beds. (eat your heart out TT's and Fivers!! :D)

As you can tell I recommend a PUP... been to the "dark side" and as the previous responder noted... it takes NO MORE time to set up or tear down a PUP than a TT.



Thanks!

Jeremiah

[goducks10]

A small cargo trailer with a nice tent and all your gear.

[mrgrim007]

What about a Scamp? Lots of people tow them with minivans. Either a 13' or a 16'.

[BurbMan]

bikendan wrote:

N-Trouble wrote:
Pop-up

Ditto.
Also a full height trailer's frontal area will exceed the Honda's max.

Wind resistance of a high-wall trailer puts more load on the vehicle than the weight does. We had Yakima bars installed on the roof of our pop-up and could carry the kids' bikes there, along with a cargo basket for the portable BBQ. Towed it all over with a 97 4Runner, did great.

[mleekamp]

Bumpyroad wrote:

mleekamp wrote:
A quick reply: Your engine can handle it; your transmission cannot. 3826 is dry (no chairs, food, clothes, water, etc). .

3826 is not dry, it is the total GVWR for that trailer. very lightly loaded it could be under 3500 lbs. Not a good combination however.
not sure about the odyssey but when I looked at Pilots in 2011 with a towing package they were only rated for a 3500 lb. RV, 5,000 lbs. for a boat.

bumpy

You are correct...my mistake...I mis-read the 3826 in the orig post.

Thanks.

[IdaD]

I haven't sold our pop-up yet and we used it for several years. It has a lot of pros and cons.

Pros:

- Tows easy with great MPG, and you can do it with a pretty light vehicle.
- Tons of room and bed space inside, especially on slide models.
- Lots of fun for summer camping, and it feels more like basic camping than a trailer. Nothing beats sleeping in a tent and listening to a creek or the wind blow through the trees at night.
- Can park in traditional garage.

Cons:
- Typical trip: set up to pack before you leave home, put down to travel to camp, set up at camp, put down at camp (after finally evicting wife and kids), set back up at home to clean/dry, put back down for storage. Repeat.
- Cold weather camping can be dicey, especially with younger kids.
- Small water tank, small cassette potty.
- No oven in most models.
- Tiny fridge.

With an Odyssey I'd say a pop up is the way to go even with the downsides. In our situation we have enjoyed camping in it for years, and I wouldn't trade those trips/experiences with our kids for anything. But as with many things in life you outgrow things, and we don't live on a small piece of property anymore so storing a large trailer is a non-issue. Once the need to park in a garage stall was eliminated, it didn't take us long to realize we want to move up.

Just as an aside, we pulled our popup mostly with my wife's 2010 Pilot (4wd so it had the 4500 lb tow rating). It was a perfectly matched vehicle and had no trouble with about a 3500 lb loaded popup. Mountains weren't an issue even in Idaho, and we would generally get around 17 mpg towing.

[Dannyabear1]

Look in your owners manual, I think the limit is like 300# because the odessy does not have a frame, it is uni-body

[BenK]

Mine us a 2000 and the newer ones a bit higher ratings

Love mine, but have had to rebuild the automatic....previous owners hauled full loads of kids and had a Bike rack loaded with four bikes. They were active in their church hauling folks to events


Here is my comments on towing with my Odyssey

http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/24768760/gotomsg/24770015.cfm#24770015

[Terryallan]

In truth "Many" minivans can tow their max capacity while loaded to the GVWR. You would need to check your manual to makes sure.

At any rate, A pup, or a new "highwall" pup would be your best bet. After camping for 25 years in a pup. I can tell you. they are no harder to setup than a TT, and they let you get great MPG. Only real difference. The bathroom in a TT is better. Other than that. the pup will have tons more room inside at a less weight.

[Ventureman]

Popup. Have an Odyssey and 3 (older) kids. Loaded up for a trip w/o a trailer it squats. They already sit low to the ground and ride like a dream but I would be hesitant to hook up a trailer for too long. Compared to our previous minivan (Chevy Venture)the Honda is a bit of a slug: smooth, broad powerband just not a lot of "pep".
The transmission shifts very smoothly, hardly can count the shifts unfortunately that means some gear overlap and heat, which is fine for a minivan but not a tow vehicle. If you do tow, even a popup, I would suggest having transmission and power steering coolers professionally installed and change the maint. schedule to much more frequently.
Enjoy and be safe!