Towing Honda Odyssey Van

[MayoVetman]

Recently purchased a Class A Thor Hurricane. We have a 2008 Honda Odyssey Van. I have studied/reviewed several forums about towing the Odyssey Van. BlueOx makes a baseplate that will attach. My question: is there anyone on this forum that has towed a Honda Odyssey Van with safe and good results?

[FW28z]

It depends on who you ask:

According to the owner's manual, it cannot be dinghy towed (4 wheel on the ground flat-towed). The manual states:

"Your vehicle was not designed to be towed behind a motorhome".

However, for the 2008 Odyssey, Remco (http://www.remcoindustries.com/Towing/) states:


"Officially from both Honda and REMCO the vehicle is not towable. However, we at Remco have a large number of customers who are flat-towing that vehicle behind their Motor Home and they are not having any issues. Follow the "Emergency Towing" procedures in the owner's manual to a "T" except ignore the restrictions and follow those procedures each and every time you tow. NOTE: If you choose tow your Honda, and have any damage to the Transmission as a result, you will have to pay for that expense out of pocket. It is nothing that Honda or Remco will warranty. Also, it should be noted that Remco sells no aftermarket product (Lube Pump or otherwise) to make this car towable."

Sounds like you are between yes and no. However, since a 2008 will be fully depreciated, if you damage it, you won't be out as much as if you damaged a new car.

We ran into the same situation with our 2009 Nissan Maxima; with it's CVT (continuously variable transmission) it could not be towed with 4 wheels on the ground. At first, I replaced it with a 2014 Ford Taurus which can be dinghy towed, but I could not bring myself to cut up the front fascia of a new car. So I ended up buying a second car; a 2002 Pontiac Grand Am, can be also towed with 4 wheels on the ground.

Most owner's manuals have a "Recreational Towing" guide that will indicate whether or not you can tow it behind a motorhome.

Good luck on your adventures.

[MayoVetman]

I found a business in Ocala FL called the Hitching Post. They were very knowledgable and confident in setting up my Odyssey Van for 4 down towing. The estimate given was very fair and reasonable.

They were the first professionals I have spoken to that really made sense when explaining the braking systems that can be used with 4 down towing

Thanks again.

[FW28z]

What are you going to use for a braking system?

[MayoVetman]

They recommend:

SMI Vacuum-Assisted Braking Systems

They do sell the Brake Buddy ( which I originally was interested in ). The techs in this business have seen several issues with the Brake Buddy that don't arise with the SMI.

[FW28z]

I wanted a portable system, so I went with RViBrake2. It works well enough, but it uses an accelerometer, and I have noticed that even on the most sensitive setting, it will only brake under moderate or heavy coach braking.

If you brake hard enough that you tend to move forward in the seat against the seat belt, the brakes will be applied in the toad. But if you apply brakes slowly/softly, the toad brakes will not be applied.

I suppose though that is a characteristic of all accelerometer based braking systems.

By the way, RViBrake2 is designed by the same guy that invented the Brake Buddy. He sold the Brake Buddy operation several years ago, and after his non-compete agreement expired, he designed the RViBrake system. So I suppose that the RViBrake2 system may be an improvement/or at least a refinement over the Brake Buddy.

The reason I went with a portable system is my toad is a 2002 vehicle, so I don't see having it for more than a couple of years. When it comes time to upgrade, I can transfer the system to another vehicle. And the RViBrake2 has separate settings for vacuum assist and direct braking systems (whatever that means), which is prevalent on electric/hybrid vehicles.