Towing with honda ridgeline

My 2007 Honda Ridgeline is rated at 5000 lb tow capacity. Owners manual says not to use a Weight dist hitch. Anyone have experience with a TM and this TV?

[rvcycleguy]

What was his reason for suggesting to not use one?

Manual says improperly adjusted WDH may reduce handling and braking. I think it has something to do with the weight you will put on the front end of the truck. the tongue rating is 500 lbs. and if you redistribute the weight it might overload the front end?? just guessing../

[rlawton]

I tow my 2008 2720 with a 2010 Ridgeline and don't use a weight distribution hitch and have had no problems. It's my understanding that Honda does not recommend the use of weight distribution hitches with the Ridgeline, which has been debated often on this forum:

http://www.ridgelineownersclub.com/forums/

I tow our 2004 2720SL with our 2010 Ridgeline RTL with a distribution hitch and have experienced NO handling or braking problems. Have gone from coast to coast and back and through the mountains and the plains and it behaved perfectly in all situations.

[rlawton]

Here is a thread about WDH on the Ridgeline.

http://www.ridgelineownersclub.com/f...ead.php?t=5647

Other unibody vehicles have the same policy. The VW Touareg suv says not to use a WDH, and I believe the Audi and Porsche suv's are the same. Speculation I heard was that the unibody was not designed for it.

[Mr. Adventure]

Originally Posted by csbravati

My 2007 Honda Ridgeline is rated at 5000 lb tow capacity. Owners manual says not to use a Weight dist hitch. Anyone have experience with a TM and this TV?

Reasons people have speculated for not recommending a WDH:
1) Increasing front end loads. They might increase a little compared to an unloaded vehicle, but they restore hundreds of pounds to the front wheels versus a vehicle towing without a WDH. This is a goal, not a problem. Steering and braking are two important things we need to not reduce while towing.

2) Hitch receiver mounting stresses. These are actually reduced with a WDH, which is why we often see higher tongue weight ratings with a WDH vs without. I'd think these guys would know: http://www.etrailer.com/Trailer-Hitc...cleid=20106269

3) Soft suspension. An etrailer post supposed that a soft suspension was a problem for Honda with a WDH. I would propose that the effects of an overloaded rear axle would be a bigger problem with a softer suspension, and a WDH would help by keeping loads balanced.

4) Body design weakness at the forward hitch receiver mounting points (generalizing from the Brulaz post above). I dunno, maybe it's a good thing to check on. But if some of the hitch receiver manufacturers are talking about 750# tongue weights with a WDH (see link for item 2 above), a problem like this would be big news to them!

One reason I can think of for not allowing a WDH would be if the hitch receiver itself wasn't strong enough to handle the WDH with it's forces that lift at the back and pull away at the front. Anybody got a Honda hitch receiver that's been bent upwards from using a WDH?

There are two very important reasons to use a WDH: Without one, the 500# trailer tongue adds, in round numbers, 750# on the rear axle and subtracts 250# from the front. For most vehicles, this challenges Gross Axle Weight Ratings in the rear and subtracts a good sized chunk from steering and braking traction up forward. For all but very long wheelbase vehicles, this is a big deal.

This thread is a scale report from a Honda Pilot: http://www.trailmanorowners.com/foru...ad.php?t=11142
It doesn't provide everything we'd like to know (weights for TV and trailer axles unhitched, and one time on the scale with the hitch chains slacked so we can calculate tongue weight and the WDH effects). But if the rear axle is near gross with a WDH, it could easily be hundreds of pounds over without one.

[trailbiker]

I am towing a 2720SL with a Honda Ridgeline. I do not have a WDH, and have not experienced any problems towing. Handling and braking seem fine, but there are a lot folks that have more experience than I do that feel the use of a WDH is necessary.

I never had a problem using a wdh with my Ody or Venza - both unibodies.
I couldn't imagine not using a wdh, but their max are 3500.