Thor Forums

[Wonderdog]

Originally Posted by cpmath

Just checked with a close friend who works Honda Service about towing 4 down 2004 Honda CRV and his reply was no way is it possible or warranteed. Normally he says the tires (axles) will tighten up due to transmission tightening and the wheels will become sluggish or stop turning. Now take it for what it is. I'm sure there will be many who disagree but that is what I was told.

Maybe, but I doubt it. The owners manual gives specific instructions to flat tow and we follow them religiously and have not had problems towing the CR-V for 6 years. Perhaps your friend is thinking of newer CR-Vs that are not flat towable.

FURTHER DEVELOPMENTS:
i can't stop thinking about this and it's making me crazy. With the MH in the shop down the road a piece I haven't been able to check out the tow bar but am about to the point where I'm going to drive down there and inspect it. After checking the Roadmaster site a couple of thoughts about the situation have come back to me and am now considering the failure to lock possibility. The car is operating perfectly as usual.
So, some of this might seem to be but here goes.

On the last short trip we took I thought that the tire pressure was off as the steering wheel when towing was off center by at least 45 degrees and I had to hold it with some strain to keep it from pulling hard left. When driving the MH from CW it did not do that. We drove 110 miles to our stop for the week. That was when I checked the air and found the front MH tires to be off by maybe a max of 5lbs on one side. More like 3 but rounded for guage error. Maybe that wasn't the culprit. Don't ask about the car tires because I didn't check them although driving around during the week there was a slight pull to the right (thinking back).
On the return trip there was no pull and the MH steering wheel was once again straight. I really have to wonder if the tow bar did not lock on one side and that was the reason for the pulling to the left on the trip out and then locked on the way home with whatever damage already done to the not checked auto tires.

Just got off the phone with Roadmaster support. After hearing the whole story their tech support thinks the only possibility is a locked ignition. They pointed out that it is entirely possible to put the key in the accessory position and it move to locked. Their recommendation is to start the car and then go back to the first position rather than from locked to the first position. We have always gone from locked to accessory position so will change our procedure. According to them if an arm was unlocked you would know it when applying brakes but the vehicle should return to fully extended position and track straight when returning to speed.
Lesson: If something doesn't seem right, don't wait to check it out. I should already know that.

MYSTERY SOLVED: Or at least accepting what everyone thinks. I, Dennis, and lovely wife, mother of our children, keeper of the peace, went out and once again reviewed towing procedure. We discovered that the first position that clicks when the key is turned on is NOT #1 but is halfway to #1. Without looking at the position markings on the ignition you would think this was #1. It is the position always used before and we have simply been lucky. I think back on what could have happened on our 2500 mile trip in August or driving through the crowded tunnel in Mobile on I10.