Caddywhompus
Southeast WI
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Joined: 06/27/2001
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Yep, someone posts a picture of a minivan towing a travel trailer, and comments that the performance is good. Rather than learn something from it, some will still choose to ignore the testimony and poke fun about something they've never tried.
fordsooperdootydieselsmoker wrote:I did that "towing with a mini van thing" twice! Dodge Caravan and Ford Windstar. RIP! Ever consider maybe you chose the wrong vans, set them up incorrectly, or just needed a diesel to feel good about yourself?
'04 Ford Freestar (Primary tow vehicle)
'05 Subaru Forester (Backup tow vehicle)
'65 Bethany popup (best popups ever made!)
Looking for a tow vehicle
Minivan towing
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fsds123
Houston
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Joined: 08/08/2007
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Hammerhead wrote:How much does the RV weigh?
Also, do you have any towing mirrors? Many smaller tow vehicle owners don't realize that they need wider mirrors to see what's next to their camper before changing lanes.
Not sure if you were asking me, but mine weighs 3300 lbs empty.
This trailer is only 7 feet wide, so my mirrors on the van stick out farther than the trailer is wide, and I am able to see the side of the trailer just fine, as well as the lane next to it.
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Capt Skup
Southern Maryland/Nantucket
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Joined: 05/14/2004
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We have a wonderful Honda Odessey that I think is a great people hauler with room to spare but I have wondered how it would perform towing a hybrid travel trailer. The suspension is rather soft for that pleasant ride but the engine/transmission gives great performance and with the displacement on demand feature, fuel mileage is terrific.
Capt Skup
AD-1(AW)USNRet.
Wonderful Wife,3 Daughters,2Goldens Gus&Riley
"Never get in a battle of wits with an unarmed man"
'08 F-450 Lariat 4x4
'08 Honda Odyssey EX-L
SunlineF281SR
SeaRay215EC
http://community.webshots.com/user/CaptSkup?vhost=community
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Guest
USA
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Joined: 08/02/2004
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I have no doubt that the rig shown could be pulled off safely for a fair number of miles before wear showed up.
I have a HARD time believing you never dig the receiver in on pavement dips and mountable curbs. People in the old Siennaclub website used to complain about that happening to their receivers UNLOADED all the time.
Your CAT scales showed you met the GCVWR?? Are you a single, anorexic, nudist camper? My Odyssey, popup, gear, food and family of 5 has a GCVW of 7,900# with the camper having a dry weight of only 2,000#. (and we have no AC, no water heater, no water tankage and never bring firewood)
You are either a very light packer, or the CAT scale needs calibrating.
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Fast Mopar
Houston, TX
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Joined: 05/03/2005
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Guest wrote:Are you a single, anorexic, nudist camper?
No, they drive Priuses.
2004 Ford Freestar 4.2 liter
2003 Jayco Qwest 12A
preserve the Second Amendment
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dmax lover
Portland,Oregon, USA
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Joined: 08/27/2005
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Capt Skup wrote:We have a wonderful Honda Odessey that I think is a great people hauler with room to spare but I have wondered how it would perform towing a hybrid travel trailer. The suspension is rather soft for that pleasant ride but the engine/transmission gives great performance and with the displacement on demand feature, fuel mileage is terrific.
The honda minivan is not known for having a strong transmission. I would check the forums - edmunds, etc. - to see how they are holding up in recent years We had a 2000 honda odyssey and we sold it as it approached 100k miles because many reports of transmission failures and honda had a "program" that covered it to 90k miles.
I would add the honda trans cooler as insurance - it's cheap...
jeff
2005 Chevrolet Duramax 3500 SRW Crewcab Longbed (KYB Monomax Shocks, Michelins,Pacbrake Airbags,Hellwig Rear Swaybar)
2006 Northern Lite 9.6 Classic (Torklifts & fastguns)
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Capt Skup
Southern Maryland/Nantucket
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Joined: 05/14/2004
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With the 450 I doubt I will be using the Honda for serious tow duty. The transmission that is installed in our model year 2008 does not seem to be affected by quality issues, it is the same transmission installed in the Pilot and the Ridgeline. We had a 2003 Pilot that had zero warranty or quality/reliability issues it's whole time with us.
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fsds123
Houston
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Guest wrote:I have no doubt that the rig shown could be pulled off safely for a fair number of miles before wear showed up.
I have a HARD time believing you never dig the receiver in on pavement dips and mountable curbs. People in the old Siennaclub website used to complain about that happening to their receivers UNLOADED all the time.
Your CAT scales showed you met the GCVWR?? Are you a single, anorexic, nudist camper? My Odyssey, popup, gear, food and family of 5 has a GCVW of 7,900# with the camper having a dry weight of only 2,000#. (and we have no AC, no water heater, no water tankage and never bring firewood)
You are either a very light packer, or the CAT scale needs calibrating.
Yeah, I read that as well on the old Siennaclub. Not sure why, my driveway is fairly steep, and I have no issues with it dragging. I have airbags installed, but didn't drag before I had them either.
As for the CAT scale weights, depending on trim level, the Odyssey weighs as much as 400+ lbs more than the Sienna, and has a GCWR that is 600 lbs less than the Sienna. This gives the Sienna an extra 1000lbs before hitting GCWR over the Odyssey.
That was the main reason I choose the Sienna, along with being able to select D4 on the tranny for towing, which the Odyssey does not allow.
So my trailer weighs 1300 lbs more than yours, but the Sienna is capable of towing an additional 1000lbs over the Odyssey before hitting GCWR.
Here are the numbers roughly from memory
GCWR-8800
Van- 4300
Trailer- 3300
This leaves 1200 lbs for family and stuff. My family of 4 only weighs 400 lbs, leaving plenty for our food and such.
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Road Ruler
Canada
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Joined: 09/11/2003
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Capt Skup wrote:We have a wonderful Honda Odessey that I think is a great people hauler with room to spare but I have wondered how it would perform towing a hybrid travel trailer.
Just got back from a long weekend at a Provincial Park. There were two Oddy's there towing trailers about the same size as fsds's. They are popular around here for towing TT's. I believe they add air bags to firm up the rear.
FSDS.... Nice set up!
Airstreams.... the best towing trailers on the planet!
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holtby
Vancouver, BC
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Joined: 05/19/2009
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We just took our '06 Sienna AWD on its first heavy tow trip up the Coquihalla Hwy. from Vancouver, BC towing a Trail-Lite Bantam 17. If you've never traveled the Hwy, imagine a line up of overheated vehicles at the top of the big hill climbs through the mountain pass. Stunningly beautiful, but punishing on vehicles.
Highway Cams
Dry weight with the AC unit is just under 2200 lbs. We towed it dry - with our gear, I'm guessing ~2900 lbs. loaded (maybe a touch more?).
I can happily tell you that the van did really great, although we didn't attempt to set any land speed records. I used 4th gear, and then down to 3rd gear on almost all of the hill climbs. No overdrive at any time.
Depending on the year/options package of the Sienna, it may already have the transmission cooler pre-installed. Note that the hitch option that Toyota sells is only up to 2000 lbs. As I learned the hard way - don't waste money on that factory option... just go straight to a 3500 lb. hitch at your local hitch installer.
I'd definitely recommend it as a great family tow vehicle for light-weight RV-ers like us.
* This post was
edited 05/19/09 05:48pm by holtby *
'99 Bantam 17 Hybrid on '06 Sienna AWD.
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