Advice needed

[Roadtreking Mike]

My wife and I are considering purchasing a used 2007 T-1950 that is 19.5 feet long.
Our concern is whether our 2008 Honda Pilot SUV will be able to easily pull it cross country. the Pilot is a V6 with 250 HP.
What do you think? Advice? Buyi g suggestions... Things to check out with this model?
Thanks!

 

[awellis3]

You must weigh the trailer fully loaded for a trip. (Do not use the factory weight listed on the spec sheet.) You need to know how much the Pilot weighs with passengers and gear for the trip.
You also need a tongue weight.
Armed with these figures, look in the Pilot's owner's manual for the towing specs.
Don't forget the load carrying ability of your tires, too.

AW

 

[pwb01]

You need to find the tow capacity of the vehicle. Horsepower by itself isn't the whole story. For example my F150 has a capacity of 7500# but can be configured with the same 300 hp motor to tow much more with a different rear end and transmission.

Consider this when you get the stats together. I towed my T-1950 for a summer with a 6cyl Nissan Frontier with a tow capacity of 5500#. That's barely 1000# over the weight of the trailer.

It was difficult to get up to 65 and maintain speed. I would get to the end of the entry ramp on the highway and merge at 35 and spent most of the time in a lower gear with the auto transmission at 4000 rpm yielding about 9 or 10 mpg on a trip. (23 mpg normally on the highway) The tongue weight was not a problem but all in all the Frontier was too small.

The F150 with a 7500# limit gets about 13 mpg towing (normally 18 mpg) and I hardly know it's back there. Someone told me once to figure towing about 75% the capacity of the tow vehicle and that sounds like a fair estimate.

PS you'll love the T-1950 !!!