2017 Honda Ridgeline - Tow Review

I had to go straight to Necedah to pick up mine and Karen's 560 Ultra SUV, and then come right back home to Georgia. My tow vehicle is a 2017 Honda Ridgeline RTL-E, and since this is a newly redesigned truck that others are considering for a tow vehicle, I figured this was a great opportunity for a tow review.

Fuel Economy --- I managed 28.5 MPG to Necedah (not towing) and 23.3 MPG back home to Georgia (towing). These numbers are based on the Ridegeline's trip computers (it has two), which track MPG for you. I try to drive wisely, which in my mind means I will not tow above 65 MPH. When you've dodged as many deer as I have here in Georgia, you become wary.

Cruise Control --- This is going to be hard to describe, but let me try. The RTL-E has some "self driving" abilities, but you have to keep your hand on the steering wheel. Basically it went like this: I set cruise control to 63 MPH and just sat in the right lane with two fingers on the steering wheel. It would maintain a good distance between me and the car in front, and as long as it could "see" the road lines, it would stay in the middle of the lane. However, you have to keep your hand on the steering wheel. If it determines your hand is not on the wheel, it will complain. Again, this is hard to describe, but I really liked it because it made the ride more comfortable by allowing me to, well, just sit there in whatever position was comfortable. Also, when I would look away and adjust the radio, I could feel it staying in the lane and staying away from the car in front of me, which was comforting. I still kept my peripheral vision on the road, but it was reassuring to have a little help.

Comfortable --- This vehicle is deceptively roomy. If you test drive one, you'll get what I'm saying. I'm 6'2" even if you shave my head and sand my feet. I have plenty of head, butt and leg room in this thing.

Quiet Ride --- Drives quiet and smooth. Our previous vehicle was the sacred cow of teardrop towers, a 2014 Subaru Outback, which wasn't nearly as quiet.

Touch Screen System --- There are lots of features, but the touch screen is glossy and hard to read sometimes. The system could be more intuitive.

Truck Bed --- The bed has lots of room, but you have to use it wisely because it's a tad shallow but VERY wide. The in-bed trunk is huge and will likely be the location of our frozen goods cooler.

Towing --- The towing capacity is 5,000 lbs since this is an AWD model. My biggest fear was that I would forget I'm towing and bump the trailer into something. I was not loaded for a camping trip, so I'm sure that will make some difference, but I don't expect it to be much.

These are the notable experiences and features, but if I think of more, I'll post them to this thread.

Regards,
Glenn

 

I'm curious if the Ridgeline (or any modern trucks) put pout enough juice to keep the TD battery charged, or if they are just as weak as other cars and SUVs.

I have no doubt that the Ridgeline would be more than adequate for towing. Glad that you were happy with the lane-assist and similar tech. And that's nice MPG for such a capable truck.

Best wishes!!

-Al

 

Al, good question. I'm guessing (I'm no EE) that the voltage difference between the power pin and the battery is usually low, so it is charging more slowly when the battery is nearly charged. As I understand it, the most important consideration of charging a battery is don't over charge it (or boom). And I'm guessing that power pin is not voltage regulated to maximize charging and then taper off like what you find with a charging system. Also, it stands to reason that a battery more depleted will charge more quickly, initially, but slow as the voltage difference between it and the power pin decreases. But again, I'm just reasoning through it.

Can someone with proper knowledge verify this? Cary?

--Glenn

 

Pretty much all modern cars and trucks have for and above enough "juice", as Al put it, to charge the camper's battery when driving. We have never seen a case of there not being enough charging capability with any modern tow vehicle. When we run into a vehicle that is not charging the camper's battery adequately it generally is always an inadequate ground wire on the tow vehicle. On aftermarket hitch installs we see a high percentage wired improperly. The most common mistake made is to run a charge wire and not run a ground wire capable of carrying the capacity of the charge wire. Worse yet they run a charge wire and an electric brake wire and do not run a ground wire capable of handling the return current of the trailer. Because the typical trailer tail light wiring will have a small ground wire to allow the tail light functions to work the shop doing the install will see that the installation is electrically grounded and assume they completed the task. However they have not sized the wiring properly for the job and that poor little tail light wire is way overtasked for the job. Worse yet if it is on a vehicle that requires a tail light converter this small ground wire is connected to the converter and the charging and braking current can and will most likely damage the tail light converter causing you to lose your tail lights. The 7 pin connector on the tow vehicle must have a ground wire of a minimum of 12ga and ideally a 10ga wire to allow the charge wire and brakes to function properly.

If Al's vehicle is not charging the battery well I will suggest that the 7 pin on the car be investigated to see if it has a proper ground wire.

Cary

 

HI, Cary. Thanks for that info. (I'm sure you've provided it many times before!) An additional "factor" (I am guessing) re the battery and whether the car is charging it, is how much "damage" the owner may have done to the battery (such as by running the fridge on DC while the TD was plugged in to AC).

"How to take care of a battery" might be the hardest part of learning how to use a camper/RV. It's been the hardest part for us!!

-Al

 

I agree with you, Al, that there is a learning curve for using DC power with trailers. Fortunately for Tom and I, we had the opportunity to learn (read: make mistakes) on an inferior trailer, so our Camp-Inn, when we get it, will be spared the tortures we world surely have done to it. LOL

 

Glen,

Thanks a ton for this review. I am considering the new ridgeline as a potential tow vehicle myself. One thing I am hung up on is if my Yeti cooler will fit in the bed with a tonneau cover on, because I hear the bed rails are not very tall on the ridgeline. If it does not fit there I would likely have to store it in the back cabin with the larger 60% seat folded up. Do you have any problems like this?

My Yeti is 33.5L x 18w x 17.5t, do you think it would fit?

-J

 

Glen,
Thanks for the information. Curious as to why you abandoned the Outback as I am currently researching them and considering purchasing the 3.6R Limited. I won't be using it as my primary tow vehicle, I have a 2016 GMC Canyon for towing the camper.

Thanks,
Bill

 

-J and Bill,

Sorry for the late reply. I've been really busy with work. Having recently gotten the itch to go camping again, I jumped on the forum to catch up with the "goings on".

-J

Maybe you have your answer by now, but I have the tonneau cover and will measure it tonight and post my findings.

Bill,

Based on averages, you probably won't go wrong with the Outback. It just wasn't the vehicle for my wife and me. We had the 4 cylinder CVT. My wife admitted that she finally got used to the CVT just before we sold it, but until then, she would complain about it being awkward feeling. I'm 6'2" and my wife is 5'11" and we just didn't feel comfortable in it. It's very likely that we are just spoiled from driving trucks and SUVs most of our lives.

I'm quite pleased with the Ridgeline, though, as it seems to be a happy compromise. We made several camping trips over the winter. We made two trips to St Andrew State Park in FL -- New Years and Valentines week. Those were two of our best vacations ever, bar none. The Ridgeline is super easy to pack and unpack, and we had room to spare.

Really itching to go camping right now...

Regards,
Glenn

 

Just measured the height -- 17 1/4 inches of clearance, which is slightly smaller than what you need. I have carried other "standard" sized coolers with no problems. I plan to get a Yeti-like cooler for frozen food and figured I would store it in the bed trunk area. Haven't measured it yet, but it seems quite deep compared to the bed rail height.

 

Hi Glenn
Are you still liking the Ridgeline? It's a tow vehicle I am strongly considering. I currently tow my 560 with a Honda CRV. It's fine around here in the seacoast New England area but when we get out to the western mountains I think it may be a bit under powered. I get 27 - 30 mpg not towing but towing it drops to 18 mpg. I tow with it in D3 as Cary suggested to protect the transmission. Our daughter lives out in Lake Tahoe and I don't think the CRV would like some of those passes up to the lake towing the 560.

My other question is does your Ridgeline have a 12V connection in the pickup bed? That is where the Domtec frig will most likely be carried, or in the cab. I understand there is a 12V connection for the rear seats.

 

I picked up a new Honda Ridgeline this winter. Looking forward to reporting on how it does. With the rear seats flipped up that area is perfect for the dogs and all the camping gear goes in the truck bed under a hard cover. Cant wait till my first camping weekend in May.

 

We have a 2012. A ton of room! We put our wood in the trunk, along with other items. With the back seats up, there’s plenty of room for everything else.

 

We have a 2019 Ridgeline, we love it. Our previous tow vehicle Subaru Outback served us great, but it is really handy to have the other camp equipment in the bed of the truck. Our gas mileage really isn't much different. We still own the outback......ps the ridgeline has a much better ride.