Reader’s Corner – A reader needs some towing advice
This month Bill would like some advice about towing a pop-up.
I have a question about towing. I have a 2000 Honda Odyssey (van) rated to pull 2000#, and have pulled a pop-up rated @ 1700# a short distance. Someone told me recently that I need to get a transmission cooler on the van, yet friends that have pulled their campers for “years” do not have one. One such friend has a Chevy astro van and pulls a camper as big as or bigger than mine! Any explanation? Advice?
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Bill, you should be fine towing a pop up. I towed a small travel trailer all the way from Wisconsin to California and back via Yellowstone in a Dodge mini van. All I did was hook up a switch to my electric cooling fan on the radiator and turned it on when I approached any large hills for extra cooling. I never had a problem other than an occasional warm up going up hill through the mountains and I just pulled into a turn out occasionally to let it cool down. Your transmission cools through your radiator anyway so just watch your temp.
You actually answered your own question. Your van is rated to tow 2000# and your pop-up is 1700#, you have a pretty good safety margin there and unless you are towing up and down some very serious hills on a continuous basis, I doubt if you need an aftermarket transmission cooler.
While the addition of a cooler at first glance would seem to make sense, there are a couple of items that you have to consider. One is that a pretty decent team of engineers designed your vehicle and probably have already designed in a small safety margin to the 2000# rating they gave you. My estimate would be 10% or another 200#. Another item is that when you add the cooler, you are now changing the dynamics of the transmission’s temperature all the time, not just when you are towing. Temperatures that are too cool, could actually add to the wear of your transmission. And last, the installation of the cooler even if done by a professional shop is going to leave you with four new potential points for leaks and if installed in front of your radiator/condensor could lead to engine overheating issues or poorer performance from your A/C system.
That’s correct u need trans cooler
Yes the chevy has a different transmission. The honda is not rated for the weight. I would not chance it.
All the information you received could be right.
I have pulled trailers up to 35 feet.On flat roads I had no problems but when you come to a long climb and you push the motor too hard your engine temp. may look good on the gauge.
Problem What is the temp. of the AUTO Trans., that is if you have and auto.
Oil temp.gauges are cheap compared to a auto rebuild.
Bill
You should be fine towing at a normal rate but should consider a cooler for long trip’s and going up in the moutain’s.
Jim the mechanic
My parents live in the Ozarks – a vacation destination for many RV enthusiasts. If I had a dollar for all the vehicles towing trailers that were broke down shortly after they hit the rather small mountains, I’d have a lot of dollars. Its not the large vehicles towing the large trailers, its the small vehicles designed to “occasionally” pull a small trailer that breaks. If you never plan on traveling through the mountains you should be okay. But it only takes that one time and I imagine a Honda transmission replacement would cost about 10 times the coolers cost.
I just read comments from five people regarding your concern. Honestly, under most normal conditions, you will probably never have a problem. However, adding a transmission cooler can easily reduce the amount of heat that builds up in the fluid by 15 to 20 degrees. Obviously, transmission fluid (over time) looses its ability to protect your internal transmission parts. However, when it reaches a certain temperature, it will still protect, but now falls into a condition called “half life”. In other words, you should change it now at 15k vice 30k. If the temperature reaches even higher, your fluid will only last 7k or less. Bottom Line: Transmission coolers are cheap and in my opinio, worth the peace of mind you will get by installing one. But, just because you install a transmission cooler, I would not exceed the manufacturers pulling rating.
My thoughts are that there is alot of variable’s are you loading your van full then how’s your driving stile. If it were me I would put in a trans cooler before the radiator so the oil get to proper temp by the radiator if you install it after the temps will be to cool and your tans will not operate properly. does your vehicle have a mode to turn off the overdrive
You are comparing apples to oranges, astro van possible large v-6/v-8 rwd, to a smaller v-6 fwd. Your vehicle is being pressed into what is refered to rough service if you regularly pull in variable terrain at near max loads, one must also consider the gross weight of your van, (Kids, Bags, pets, loaded roof rack etc…)If you follow the recommendations, slow down, don’t engage the o-drive, you will extend the range of reliable use. But IMO, I would add the cooler, and up the service sched, and locate a used SUV better designed to pull more frequently. Gas is still cheaper than expensive repairs.
No special equipment required, other than whatever “towing pkg” is recommended by Honda. I towed a 1700# Aliner popup from SW PA to SE AZ, thence to the Grand Canyon and back home, with my ‘04 Toyota Sienna, with no ill effects. This was in January of ‘06, so overheating was definitely not a problem, but I also hauled it all around the east in the summer. It was and is fine.
I have a 96 Astro van and have the pull package which includes a trans cooler. I would recommend adding the trans cooler, for peace of mind. A lot of the decision will be how much of a chance you like to take. I like having basses covered rather than taking the chances. I hope you have good towing experiences.
I have never towed a pop up trailer but i have pulled small trailers and i never had a transmission cooler but i always used towbars to make the ride better smoother and faster.
Thanks to all those who took the time to comment! I did fail to include that the terrain to be covered, at least for the next few years with the Odyssey, is non-mountainous. But rather flat – South Carolin, south to Georgia and Florida, via I-85 and I-75. Compared to the Appalachian Mtns. and definitely the mtn ranges west of the Miss…. River, the routes we plan to drive are level!
Thanks again for your advice.
Bill Eddings
Bill,
I’d probably recommend talking to Honda. 1700# does not include gear and their are two things to consider keeping cool. Your transmission for one, and your engine for the other. Your radiator does both, and if you’ve not checked the limits for either, I can tellyou from past experiance that having a tranny work perfectly while an exhaust manifold cracks is not an experiance I care to repeat. Honda’s are not engineered for long hauls under heavy load, and when they break it’s not a component, it’s a system. The states you mention are all in the sunbelt which means high heat and I’d tell you that any interstate travel is not something to mess with.
We have a 2008 F-150 Lariet. We’d planned to purchase a Flagstaff 5th wheel to be pulled with the F-150. A hitch expert thought that our truck was too light to pull a 5th wheel trailer even tough the owner manual says that it can tow 9000 lbs. The 5th wheel (unloaded) is 6700. What is heaviest 5th wheel that you think that we can pull with the 2008 F-150??
Thank you