Does anyone use a Honda Odyssey for towing their Cat? I'm thinking about using the wife Odessey to tow the hobie 18 for a family vacation. We are looking at 4 hours of driving (about). Has anyone had any experence with it? any problems?

Thanks
Todd
Louisiana, USA

It Shouldn't be a problem as long as you balance the trailer properly. I used to tow a Nacra 5.8 with an 1989 Honda Civic Hatchback. The Trailer and boat were longer than the car.

Kinda like this?:



Mike.

You should see my Vehicross hooked up to the Inter20.

Its definitely funny looking... although not as bad as the minicoop+tornado marriage.

I'm using an '02 Odyssey to tow my N5.8. Works great. I also tow a 19-ft Bayliner, so the cat's a breeze. Watch the clearance between the raised hatch and the mast. Mine was only a couple of inches. Also, the receiver is pretty low, which is nice for keeping air from getting under the tramp, but I had a pool of water collect at the front of my sail tube after going through some rain. (Not a great cover on the tube) Get the AT and PS coolers, too. There's a recall on some Odysseys for an AT problem, (cooking 2nd gear) so don't want to push that too much.

Also, YMMV if you have the older, 4-cylinder Odyssey. They have a lot less power, so you may have to watch your total load. That is, the total weight of passengers, luggage and tow.

I have done two round trips, Key Largo to Ohio, with two Hobie Waves double-stacked behind my Honda Odyssey. I don't think it even knew they were back there. So one Hobie 18 would be a piece of cake.

P.S. We got the Odyssey two years ago, and I think it is a 6-cylinder.

Thanks for the info.....We have a 2002 with the 6 cyl. BUT i need to check and see if it has a AT cooler. I figured the van would tow it fine but I wasn't sure it would last 4 hours of towing?

I have a 2001 Honda Odyssey. I've never used it to tow my cat but I recently had a new transmission installed. I was lucky that it was still under warranty. It didn't cost me a dime. There was a problem with second gear. It's covered up to 100,000 miles.

Where are you headed? Are you coming to the Texas Cat Champs?

Transmission cooler isn't that hard to install yourself. You can pick them up at autoparts stores for ~$60

I wish.... We are going to Gulf Shores for a family vacation. (If the hitch arrives today ... I'm still wating for it to come in).

Todd

Todd,

I'm looking at purchasing an Odessy at the moment so the specs are fresh in my mind. The towing capacity is listed at 3500#s. That should be no problem for towing a Hobie or any other cat for that matter. Heck my Stiletto only weighs about 2500#s but I don't know if I would do that. An AT cooler would be a plus and go for it!

Clayton
S27, H16

The Odyssey should be no problem. I moved from Boston to Baltimore in my 4 cyl VW Passat. I had a Hobie 18 on the trailer, 2 sea kayaks and a mountian bike on the roof rack, and the entire trunck and backseat full. My milage was horrible, but there were no issues. Granted it is a manual transmission, but if this little German car can do it a minivan can.

What happened to the thread on VW TurboDiesels for towing cats: one response was "Terrific- and 44 mpg (when not towing I suppose)". Does it have to be standard transmission? The older VW TDi can still be pricey, or cheap...and worn out, with 200K miles. But VW TDi has been around for a LONG time.

Anybody else's comments please?

Actually my VW is the 1.8T gasoline engine. I chose manual because I was afraid I would destroy the automatic. After pulling around an H16 for 3 years I moved up to the TheMightyHobie18. For the past 2 years there have been no problems. I replaced the clutch at 103,000 miles. I also lived on the Norht Shore of Boston for 4 years. This might explain how it wore out so fast.

A few years back, we drove from Montréal to Cap Hatteras with a Hobie 16 in a Lumina APV (van) with the 3.1L.

The van was stock, no transmission cooler, no heavy duty suspension and it had 150000 milles.

The trip went very well, completly uneventfull.

The difference was that the van was harder on gas and since we has a cheap trailler with very small wheels, we were not driving very fast, never more than 75mph, usually around 65mph

I feel that a Van is much better than a car for hauling a catamaran because it already deflects part of the wind.

I own a 2000 Subaru Impreza with the 2.2L 5-speed. I have sucessfully hauled my Nacra 5.2 and my Nacra 5.7 over medium distances (600 milles). I even pulled the Nacra 5.7 in a snow storm. (remember, the 5.7 sits higher on the trailler because of the skegs).

In short, I am certain that your van will be perfect, even with the 4cyl. Just make sure that you have 5-10% of tongue weight.

On my car I used to go with 5% of tongue weightr but in my experience,t 10% is much more stable.

Anyone have any tips for determining easily the ideal amount the boat should slide onto the trailer to give it the ideal tongue weight? I keep thinking I should drive it over to the sand and gravel pit and ask them to weigh the whole she-bang and then bring over just the trailer and ask them to weight that alone and subtract one from the other and then stick a bathroom scale (if I had one) under the tongue and see what I've got. 5 or 10 % is okay I believe.
There has to be an easier way/weigh. Once I find the key distance I plan marking the boat with some reference point on the trailer but to get to that point I'd like to know what you do. Well?

Thanks, Greg
P.S. If the solution you have has ANYTHING to do with K-Y jelly I probably will stop believing you guys! (read the traveler thread running concurrently)

Try contacting Acat144 on this Forum, he uses one. He towed doubled stacked A-Class's from Key Largo to Louisiana. I know Dennis Palin uses one to tow his 18 sq.

I just bought a Ridgeline but I have not tried it except for local towing. BUT, while I was buying it I learned that Honda worries a lot about transmission temperatures while towing. Try calling tyour dealer to see if their are any service bulletins about your particular Van.

Adding an in-line transmission fluid temp guage is simple and is another DIY project. Easiest to do when combined with the Trans cooler considering you have the hoses popped off anyways.

Heh, check this out :P



Sorry about the quality, all I have is a crappy camera phone.