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Honda CR-V Towing

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Comments

  • crkyolfrtcrkyolfrt Member Posts: 2,345
    How is the Gitan working out? Are you still towing without trouble? I too am in mkt for a small trlr with toilet and shower. Now that yopu are done with it, are u interested in selling that trlr?
  • craftnurdcraftnurd Member Posts: 1
    So, I desperately need a little advice here (not a beating)...

    I recently bought a 2005 T@B trailer, which according to title weighs 1500lbs. It has surge brakes, and an emergency stop cord. I have a 2007 CRV, with a tow capacity of 1500lbs. I plan on getting a Kurt hitch and a transmission cooler installed.

    I plan on putting MAYBE 100-150 lbs in the trailer. My son and I together might weight 200lbs. I may put another 100-200 lbs of stuff in the CRV.

    I have read this entire board and seen both the pros and the cons of towing over the max. rating. I have also been told by some that it is completely doable, while others have said no way.

    So I am just a little confused at this point, and would LOVE to figure out what the reality of it all is...
  • crkyolfrtcrkyolfrt Member Posts: 2,345
    edited April 2010
    I have reported a viewing error as follows trying to reply to 10g1k in post #111.

    and he included a bunch of pictures. But I can't read all text on right side of columns and worse, there are no reply buttons cuz they are also on the right.

    Even the poster below his, even tho no pictures, their post is also chopped down the right side. I suspect the picture posting is what screwed it up. I really wanted to see what was written though.
    Any ideas why it is not displaying properly? >>

    So as you can see I wasn't able to read all of your post nor reply to it cuz the right side page is chopped and that is also where the reply buttons are if i remember. I had to create a new message in order to post.

    Is anyone else having this difficulty viewing the page?
    Sorry, I would really like to know what you said too. Was a very informative post :(

    edit - But if you copy/paste your message again here on this page but without the pics on this page I will be able to see it, it seems after posting mine here now. I can read all of the posters post below yours now that it is on this page.
  • kyfdxkyfdx Moderator Posts: 234,725
    Click on the post number of the 1st post below the one with the pictures... That will fix it.

    The pictures are too big for the page, causing the posts below it to run over, as well. But, if you start with the next post, you'll be able to read, reply, etc..

    regards,
    kyfdx

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  • crkyolfrtcrkyolfrt Member Posts: 2,345
    edited April 2010
    Thanks, I tried what you suggested. I clicked on #112. It is still chopped. And now my own post is chopped too. I guess the only time I could see it was in edit mode. Altho I thought I had seen it after but i guess not. In any event I wonder if anyone else sees the chop and can't fix it either? Any other suggestions? If you can tell poster with pics, I would like to see what he said, maybe you could c/p here for me. Altho all the posts here are chopped still so I don't know..

    edit- yes please, post (c/p) here, so far this page isn't chopped.
    I still don't have a save/reply box so had to subject line you
  • crkyolfrtcrkyolfrt Member Posts: 2,345
    edited April 2010
    Thanks, I tried what you suggested. I clicked on #112. It is still chopped. And now my own post is chopped too. I guess the only time I could see it was in edit mode. Altho I thought I had seen it after but i guess not. In any event I wonder if anyone else sees the chop and can't fix it either? Any other suggestions? If you can tell poster with pics, I would like to see what he said, maybe you could c/p here for me. Altho all the posts here are chopped still so I don't know..

    edit- yes please, post (c/p) here, so far this page isn't chopped.

    this time it gave me a save/reply icon? weird..

    edit 2 - ok - i have to click on the post # in order to get a box that includes the save/reply - but still can't see the post i want because it is on the previous page.

    Clicking on #112 wouldn't fix it, but clicking on my own #113 did, but only on this page, as soon as i go PREV page, it is back to #111 at the bottom and nothing lets it display in whole.

    Ok, i managed to drag and highlight it and c/p it myself into a text file and was able to read it that way. Still seems to be glitch though if clicking the post below his post # doesn't make it display right. I guess because #111 is a bottom of that page by chance.
  • crkyolfrtcrkyolfrt Member Posts: 2,345
    ok i managed to read all your post by jumping through some hoops.

    Very interesting though that the Element managed easier. It is heavier and not as aerodynamic as the CRV. The one difference it the gearing. It is geared lower to allow for its extra weight etc. but what is shocking is that it, in 5th, was more capable than the CRV in 4th. That is astonishing. I wonder if the Element is tuned differently also and has a more useable fuel map if needed. (which of course would use tons more fuel if it does, but also would increase exhaust manifold temps considerably).
    Aside from oil and tranny coolers when towing, exhaust temps is another result that few owners or even journalists comment on when towing.

    As for your 120kph pull being easier than 100kph, I believe it. I get better mpg at 100kph than I do at 80kph. And it is true that Honda engines especially acquire their torque at higher revs.

    For interests sake, with my 05 5 speed I managed 26.5 to 27.5 mpg all winter with 2/3rd rural hwy and 1/3 city driving. It'll go up now that the warmer wx is here. But it is hard pressed to get the numbers it is supposed to on a regular basis. It doesn't seem to have as much torque taking off in a hill as my X Trail did, and requires more clutch slipping. But it runs smoother, if radio is on you sometimes look down and realize you are still in 4th or even 3rd at rare times. Now that is a smooth running 4 cylinder.
  • isellhondasisellhondas Member Posts: 20,342
    Are really not designed for towing heavy loads and I cringe when I see a CRV or other small SUV pulling a heavy load.

    If someone is smelling a hot automatic transmission, that transmission is being abused and overheated. It's life will be shortened.

    Trucks and large SUV's are much better suited for towing.

    I know I wouldn't buiy a used CRV with a Class 3 hitch on it.
  • davidefdavidef Member Posts: 3
    I need some help....I own a 2007 cr-v. I am moving from florida back to canada and I need to add a trailor hitch. Any suggestions? AND will be towing a 4x8 uhaul (ikea kids bed, and around 10 med to large boxes). I will have the lighter boxes about 3 in the back of my cr-v. distance to canada is around 1400 miles.
  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    Maybe we can get l0g1k to park the photos in a CarSpace album and repost - our software doesn't handle large photos gracefully.
  • l0g1kl0g1k Member Posts: 9
    I see that my post got erased, it's a bummer because I'll have to redo the whole post and not just fix the pictures.

    On another note, the Element has the K24 engine, the same as a 2001+ CRV as my 1999 has a B20Z engine, 2 litre instead of 2.4 for the element.

    My guess is that a 2001+ CRV would tow as easily as the Honda Element.
  • crkyolfrtcrkyolfrt Member Posts: 2,345
    I managed to make a copy of it if u like (the text) u want me to post it as a quote copy/paste? It'll save u the typing.
  • l0g1kl0g1k Member Posts: 9
    That would be grately appreciated.

    Thanks!
  • crkyolfrtcrkyolfrt Member Posts: 2,345
    edited April 2010
    Posting a copy/paste of his quote (l0g1k) at his request. You're welcome, it was a good post and will be helpful to others also.

    "Well I didn't buy a Gitan finally, I went with a trailer-tent instead. It's a big one however, 12 feet long and weight about as much as a Gitan. Actually the Gitan weights less on the tongue than my Bonair, I can lift up a Gitan by myself but I can't lift my tent-trailer (about 200 lbs on the tongue is my guess, I got 2 20 lbs propane botles and a 60 lbs deep cycle battery).

    I drove a lot of millage with it and it does pull hard when I get up hills. On the flat it's really easy to pull but it seems to have a lot less trouble pulling at 120 km/h than at 100 km/h. The RPM is higher and the CRV delivers more torque I guess. At 100 km/h going up an overpass brings the speed to about 85/90 km/h if I floor it and don't downshift.

    Breaking isn't as much of a concern as I tought, I even had an electronic break controller installed and I'm not even using it anymore (I would need to have the Bonair breaks fixed).

    The main problem for me is that I like to go in the woods and as I expected the clutch isn't up to the challenge when going up hill from a stop. I'm looking to change my CRV to a bigger, automatic SUV.

    I also moved my girlfriend with a rental trailer witch was a lot more heavy than the tent trailer. Pulling it wasn't that bad altough we were on the flats all along. The suspension had alot of problems, the shocks were at their lowest.Even when I'm towing my Bonair, the rear suspension is really low. The coil springs arn't stiff enough.

    On a different note, I've pulled the tent trailer with a lot of my friend's different vehicules and one of them has a Honda Element. It's the same meccanic as a 2001 + Honda CRV and it pulled my Bonair butifully. We were 4 in the Element fully loaded and it didn't even need to downshift a big hill around my place where I have to floor it in 4th gear to stay up to speed.

    As a bonus, the CRV near a lake"
  • l0g1kl0g1k Member Posts: 9
    ">Here is the original post:

    Well I didn't buy a Gitan finally, I went with a trailer-tent instead. It's a big one however, 12 feet long and weight about as much as a Gitan. Actually the Gitan weights less on the tongue than my Bonair, I can lift up a Gitan by myself but I can't lift my tent-trailer (about 200 lbs on the tongue is my guess, I got 2 20 lbs propane botles and a 60 lbs deep cycle battery).

    I drove a lot of millage with it and it does pull hard when I get up hills. On the flat it's really easy to pull but it seems to have a lot less trouble pulling at 120 km/h than at 100 km/h. The RPM is higher and the CRV delivers more torque I guess. At 100 km/h going up an overpass brings the speed to about 85/90 km/h if I floor it and don't downshift.

    Breaking isn't as much of a concern as I tought, I even had an electronic break controller installed and I'm not even using it anymore (I would need to have the Bonair breaks fixed).

    The main problem for me is that I like to go in the woods and as I expected the clutch isn't up to the challenge when going up hill from a stop. I'm looking to change my CRV to a bigger, automatic SUV.

    I also moved my girlfriend with a rental trailer witch was a lot more heavy than the tent trailer. Pulling it wasn't that bad altough we were on the flats all along. The suspension had alot of problems, the shocks were at their lowest.Even when I'm towing my Bonair, the rear suspension is really low. The coil springs arn't stiff enough.

    imageSee more Car Pictures at CarSpace.com

    imageSee more Car Pictures at CarSpace.com

    imageSee more Car Pictures at CarSpace.com


    On a different note, I've pulled the tent trailer with a lot of my friend's different vehicules and one of them has a Honda Element. It's the same meccanic as a 2001 + Honda CRV and it pulled my Bonair butifully. We were 4 in the Element fully loaded and it didn't even need to downshift a big hill around my place where I have to floor it in 4th gear to stay up to speed.

    As a bonus, the CRV near a lake

    imageSee more Car Pictures at CarSpace.com
  • isellhondasisellhondas Member Posts: 20,342
    edited April 2010
    I would want to buy that CRV.

    Just because they "can" do something, the strain is tremendous and the car will pay a price.

    You idea of buying something that was built to tow is a great idea!

    Edit...I would not want to buy that CRV!
  • l0g1kl0g1k Member Posts: 9
    A year later, I don't think the CRV suffered much from the towing, engine and transmission are still runing great, the car has 160 000 miles on it and still drives great.
  • isellhondasisellhondas Member Posts: 20,342
    edited April 2010
    Well, maybe no long term damage was done but it still was abuse.

    Honda can take a beating and still run well!
  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    Thanks, that fits. :)
  • blueiedgodblueiedgod Member Posts: 2,798
    On another note, the Element has the K24 engine, the same as a 2001+ CRV as my 1999 has a B20Z engine, 2 litre instead of 2.4 for the element.

    My guess is that a 2001+ CRV would tow as easily as the Honda Element.


    Element has K24 block but a slightly different head than the CR-V. 2002-2006 CR-V has K24A1, while I believe Element has K24A5 or A3, someone with the Element can confrm that.

    The 1997-1998 CR-V has B20B engine
    The 1999-2001 CR-V had B20Z engine.
  • l0g1kl0g1k Member Posts: 9
    I don't know much about the K24 engine differences but in my 2008 car review the Honda CRV and Honda Element both have 166 hp@5800rpm. However, the 2008 CRV is rated to tow 680 kg (1500 lbs) and the Element 907 kg (2000 lbs). Both weight about the same, I really don't know why there is a difference in towing capacity.
  • blueiedgodblueiedgod Member Posts: 2,798
    I don't know much about the K24 engine differences but in my 2008 car review the Honda CRV and Honda Element both have 166 hp5800rpm. However, the 2008 CRV is rated to tow 680 kg (1500 lbs) and the Element 907 kg (2000 lbs). Both weight about the same, I really don't know why there is a difference in towing capacity.

    Probably because Element is only a 4 seater, while CR-V is a 5 seater. I wonder if the total loading capacity is the same for both vehicles.
  • crkyolfrtcrkyolfrt Member Posts: 2,345
    Somewhere I read recently that trlr towing gross weights (the weight of the trlr and its cargo {payload}) actually was supposed to include the weight of the payload of the car. i.e. If the car was allowed to carry 850lb incl all its passengers and luggage, then you deduct that from the (let's say,1500lb) trlr towing limit, which would reduce the gross weight of the trlr and its load to only 650lb. I am going to see if I can find whether that is the wording or not in the OM. If it is worded that way, then they are just trying to allow themselves wiggle room to get out of a wty claim if the particular claim was deemed due to overloading. It would just be a protection measure of conservatism, because they know human nature is to push the envelope always.
  • crkyolfrtcrkyolfrt Member Posts: 2,345
    edited April 2010
    Ok, here is the real poop taken from my OM.

    Total weight the car can move up the road is 2200 lb. (plus its own weight of course, which is apprx 3600 lb).

    Total weight the car can carry including driver is 850 lb. (it does not elaborate regarding fuel weight so it can be assumed that you may have a full tank also) Gross weight of car only and its occupants is 4450 lb.

    Total weight the car can tow including weight of trailer itself is 1500 lb.
    Ideal weight distribution of trlr load is to have 10% of it as tongue weight. This would be 150 lb. That 150 lb is deducted from passenger cargo, so that now becomes only 700 lb.

    Elaboration; total passenger and cargo weight limit including the driver and a potential tongue load of a trailer is 850 lb. i.e. Weight limit in or on the car is 850 lb. If you are towing a trailer of maximum weight then the ideal tongue load will be 150 lb. This 150 lb will reduce interior cargo and passenger weight limit to 700 lb.

    It also goes on to say that any trailer gross weight exceeding 1000 lb requires that the trailer has its own brakes. So Honda is suggesting that the max allowable weight the car could be going up the road with and being able to stop safely without extra brakes on a trailer is only 1700 lb. That 1700 lb consists of all passengers, all cargo, all tongue weight, all weight in a trailer and the trailer weight itself.

    Naturally there are drivers of varying skill levels. Some are also skilled at levels that can even include trailer towing (which should never be taken for granted). And some will be better trlr towers than others also. So some of us (I drive tractor trailer and have stayed out of trouble for a couple million miles) could manage a bit more weight than Honda's stated capacities and still be relatively safe. But if you exceed the limits by very much, then you increase wear and risk on all drivetrain components to a level that might exceed normal life expectancy. Smooooth, is key. Every action you perform behind the wheel should be both previously anticipated, (your interaction on the road with other users should be anticipated and defensive...look for what can or might go wrong and drive accordingly and make allowances prior to it becoming and urgent action) and smooth.
  • hd2hd2 Member Posts: 15
    I have a 2007 CR-V. I am moving away (distance around 1200 miles) . I am going to visit my local U-Haul and was wondering if anyone knew what type of trailor i could use. I was told that I could get a 5x10 trailor but I think it maybe to much. I have aound 20 uhaul boxes (med to large) about 4 of these boxes will be put in the back of the cr-v. I will leaving from Florida and have to travel through Virginia.

    Any advice would be great

    I am going to put on a hitch. 2000lbs or 3500lbs hitch. only a 50 dollar difference between the two.

    Replies to this message:
  • crkyolfrtcrkyolfrt Member Posts: 2,345
    edited April 2010
    See post above #135. All the info you need is there, just insert the figures that are applicable to your car since they may be dif from 07 to 05 generation.

    Then you need to get the weight of the U Haul trlr you choose, and weigh the tongue.
    Then you load it. As you load it, set a pc of thick plywood over your bathroom scale to protect it from the concentrated weight of the tongue jack on the trlr. This will tell you the weight as you load. Follow the directions in your OM as it elaborates in telling you how to load the trlr and the progression as you load. The closer you get to the centre of the trlr axle and then any load cantilevered aft of the axle will lighten an initially heavy tongue load.

    As for hitches, I doubt those are weight-distribution hitches. i.e. they have the ability to force some of the weight atop the front axle of the car also. They do this with special hitch and trlr tongue parts. If the 50 extra dollar one is W_D'g and IF the U haul comes with that type tongue ability also, then go with that hitch for sure.

    Don't forget about the potential need for brakes on the U Haul if the weights apply. Again, is all explained above and in your OM.
    Simply weigh your parcels in the the vehicle. All the info u need is in 135 above.
    (Just so you know, no matter what you do, your 07 CRV is not designed to tow 3500lb 1200 miles, no matter how skilled or what hitch assembly you choose).

    Safe trip.
  • l0g1kl0g1k Member Posts: 9
    As I posted previously, the trailer I used to move my girlfriend was a 5x10 closed trailer (as seen on the picture). If you plan to carry a lot of heavy stuff, I woulnd't consider using it. We had a lot of dishes and books witch adds a lot of weight.

    As for the hitch, I'dd get the 3500 lbs, it's better to be safe than sorry... The 3500 lbs will also be better if you ever plan to put a bike rack with a few bikes.
  • motoguy128motoguy128 Member Posts: 146
    I also believe the Element has a shorter final drive ratio and the chassis design and brakes may be designed to accomidate a higher total gross vehcile weight and higher tongue weight.

    I'd say tongue weight and gear ratios are the biggest factors.
  • davidefdavidef Member Posts: 3
    thanks for advice. I had a 3500lbs hitch installed and was told that the only trlr i can get from Uhaul is 4x8. it does not come with its own brakes. i think the bigger trailors do, i do not know. There is no way I would pull 3500lbs. i love my crv tomuch.

    I have 13 uhaul boxes (4.5 cubic ft per box). i am guessing that i could take 4 boxes in the back of my cr-v and the rest is the trailor which gives me more room to try and get some sort of even playing field with the trialor. i have 2 friends helping out who have used trailors before and travel long distances. I was told that i may need "special" mirrors but everyone i have spoken with, do not use it but state use common judgement.
  • davidefdavidef Member Posts: 3
    thanks. i have 13 (4.5 cubic ft boxes from uhaul). pls a small kids bed from ikea )my mags box wieghts more than this bed), if i add some boxes in my back area, could it help me when twing? never did this before so any advice would be great. I plan on taking 95 for most of the way since it better for my little crv than taking i75.
  • l0g1kl0g1k Member Posts: 9
    Personally I would load the trailer before loading the CRV. If you balance the load of your trailer so you get around 10% of the load on the tongue it will be easier to tow and more stable than if you put the boxes in the CRV.

    For example, a collegue of mine was using a Toyota Thundra to tow laminate floring. He had 2 pallets to bring. He was at the store and saw this incredible sale so he put the first pallet in the truck bed. The suspension was loaded and the mud flaps were rubbing when he would hit a bump. He says the truck was really unstable. He then hooked up is trailer and picked up the second pallet and he says he brought the pallet home with no problem at all.
  • dixiekdixiek Member Posts: 1
    What about a 2006 CRV. We have a falcon roadmaster installed and can tow all four wheels down, however, still do not know if it racks up miles on the odometer ..., I assume, not.
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