Weight of trailer and 211?

[WilliamWallace]

My Honda Pilot can tow 4500# with a max tongue weight of 450#. With an approximate weight of 3350# for the 211, I think I'm cutting it tight. My towing will be limited to short trips just to launch the boat in the beginning of the season and pull it at the end. Anybody know the weight of their trailer for the 211?

[clubmyke]

wouldnt suggest it...i had to sell my honda pilot for a v-8 toyota seqouia with a tow limit of 5500 lbs. as much as i liked my pilot, a v-8 is required.

by the time you get everything loaded - gas, gear, people, and any extra ballast you are way over the limit (you can forget about about any hills with the pilot there is not enough torque).. i have had to drop my seqouia in low a couple of times going up some steep hills (there is no way the pilot couldn have done it...thank goodnes the dealer convinced my wife a v-8 was needed for towing)..

btw, my trailer is about 1200 lbs.

[Mikeski]

William,

The key here is your towing situation. Since you are talking about a short distance and infrequent towing I think you will be fine. I tow my boat with my V6 powered Silverado pickup whenever my wife needs the Tahoe. It does not like hills but it does OK. I have towed with lots of less than optimal vehicles including a 196 behind a 1986 V8 fox body Mustang between Sacramento and Berkeley (about 80 miles). In foreign countries it is much more common to see things like Honda Pilots towing larger vehicles. What you are talking about is not much different than a full size one ton truck towing a 15,000 lb offshore boat.

Mike

[ag4ever]

When I was a kid, my dad towed his 3500 pound boat behind a '86 Dodge Caravan with a 4 cylinder in it. It was not happy doing it, but it got it done. If that thing could do it, I am sure a pilot could do it as well, but why would you want to?

I personally subscribe to get twice the tow capacity you need, as you will need more in the future.

[pachanga]

Anything can get you rollin' but stopping is much more important. I've seen some "tails wag the dog" when the tow vehicle is too light. Boy will that sober you up! Most people forget whats back there once they hop in cab. I'm with ag4, bigger is better!

[jhiestand]

So, according to ag4ever's" twice the size" formula, the recommendation would be get rid of your Pilot and pick up at least 3/4 ton, full-sized brute to tow your boat 2 times a year. And those two times apparently aren't even round trips.

I tend to agree with having enough vehicle weight to provide sufficient stopping power, but if you really only tow your boat once down to the ramp for a one-time launch and then once back at the end of the season, unless it's a 1000 mile trip you're just wasting money. Fine if you have plenty of it to spend, but I agree with Mikeski that your Pilot should work fine.

If your towing was 2-3 times a week over an hour each way, I'd probably reconsider. But for the small amount of towing you do plus if you use your Pilot as a daily driver, I think it's a no-brainer.

[FatBoy]

If you are only towing twice a year, rent a truck two days a year and pocket the extra money you would spend trading.

[Justin1933]

You'll be fine....I towed my old 99 sport Nautique with a 4 cylinder Toyota 4Runner over the grapevine in Cali numerous times...Was it slow? Yes. But it got the job done. If you drive smart and safe you will be fine. The brakes on the Pilot will be fine. However, you could always upgrade your brake pads to help with the stopping.

[ag4ever]

I did not realise or better yet READ that you will only be towing twice a year short trips.

When we had the lake house, the trip to launch the boat was about 1500' and my dad did not care what vehicle we took to go there as long as it had a hitch.

The only reason I would get twice the vehicle, is because I tend to get bigger toys, that require bigger tow vehicles.

[Quinner]

Hey Willy Wally,

How bout you get yourself a nice American vehicle!

I know John Belushi said it was the Germans that bombed Pearl Harbor but I am pretty sure it was the Japanese?

[darrel409]

And Dan Ackroyd said,
Its 106 miles to Chicago, we've got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, its dark outside and we're wearing sunglasses. Its got a cop motor, a 440 cubic inch power plant. Its got cop tires, cop suspension, and cop shocks. Its a model made before catalytic converters so it'll run good on regular gas. What do you say? is this the new Nautique-mobile or what? They're not going to catch us, Were on a mission from god

I vote: Keep your Pilot, on the short trip it will be fine. I've been towing SN's with 6 banger 4Runners for 10 years. The early ones were very underpowered and under- braked but we just went a little slower.

[NAUTIQUEjunky]

I am a Honda tech and I am insatalling a towing package on a 06 pilot as i speak. I would stay away from that kind of load with a Honda. There trans are pretty taxed as it is now, I put in two to three or more trans in a month on various models. I would think you are going to putting way more than 450lbs on that tounge weight anyway with a sv211. Just my 2 cents anyway.

[Mikeski]

The tougue weight of my 211 is probably between 200-300lbs, the boat is supposed to weigh 3800lbs but my 4000lb lift picks it up fine with an extra 300+ in it so I would say 3500 is more realistic, maybe another 1000 for the trailer.

I think most people are not reading your statement about short trips twice per year, you should be fine.

[WilliamWallace]

Thanks Mikeski for the weight and advice. The brochure has the weight at 3350#, why do you think your boat is suppose to weigh 3800# ?

Right now I'm waiting for dealer pricing for the 2007 line and demo boat so myself and my wake finicky friend (who owns a 206) can do a test ski.

[Andrew]

any reason to get rid of the honda would be good enough for me lol