Mom-ninja. Posted May 28, 2013 Share Posted May 28, 2013 Does anyone use a Honda Odyssey to pull a pop up camper? We're trying to decide if it's possible without killing the van. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest inoubliable Posted May 28, 2013 Share Posted May 28, 2013 2007 minivan here pulls ours just fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest submarines Posted May 28, 2013 Share Posted May 28, 2013 Our friends pull their pup-up with a Honda Odyssey several times a year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wabi Sabi Posted May 28, 2013 Share Posted May 28, 2013 What year is the Odyssey? If newer you should be fine, but many of the older ones have bad transmissions. We pulled a pop-up with our old 2001 Odyssey and although I'm sure the transmission would've gone out eventually regardless, I do suspect that towing the camper hastened its eventual demise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Mungo Posted May 28, 2013 Share Posted May 28, 2013 It depends upon the weight. The Odyssey has a pretty limited towing capacity and you need to figure in the whole load (people, luggage, camping gear, etc). There are a lot of RV forums that will help you figure out which models you can tow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChristusG Posted May 28, 2013 Share Posted May 28, 2013 You'll definitely want to check the weights. You'll need to look at the towing capacity of the Odyssey, and also consider the weight of the pop up all loaded up with your things. We used to pull our pop up camper with our Nissan Quest van. While technically it was in the weight limit, I was not comfortable with it at all. We could really feel it back there. We ended up moving up to a Suburban last year when we added another baby as well as our teenage nephew to our family....and I'm MUCH more comfortable pulling our pop up with the Suburban than our van that we had. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
datgh Posted May 28, 2013 Share Posted May 28, 2013 Talk to a Honda dealership and ask about the effects on the transmission. We lost our Ford Windstar to a failed transmission and I have a feeling the camper really contributed to it. We pull the pop up with our Toyota Sienna now and had a good heart to heart with the dealer about the transmission's ability to handle the weight. I believe the dealer mentioned there was a tow package we could get if we where going to be towing on the upper end of the weight limit. We have found that the lighter the load the better. When we first got the camper, DH insisted on packing firewood in it (which is now illegal to do across state lines) and you really knew you were towing. If you tried to go much over 55, the camper could get swaying pretty good too. We now pack it a lot lighter, by our firewood near the campground (cheaper than a new transmission) and the car handles it with out a problem. We did over 70 coming home with it today and it rode pretty smooth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saraswati Posted May 28, 2013 Share Posted May 28, 2013 It really depends on the towing capacity of your actual vehicle, the dry weight of your PUP, added to the weight of your load (including people), AND the types of roads that you'll be hauling on. It would be best to have a tow package on that type of vehicle - it'll include a heavy duty tranny, extra coolers, etc. Not only do you need to consider whether or not your vehicle can haul it, but also if it has enough power to stop it. A class III hitch with electric trailer breaks would be important. Whenever I shop for new trailers, I always consider my towning limit, minus 20%. Pulling a trailer at weight capacity is a recipe for disaster, no matter what your tow vehicle is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom-ninja. Posted May 28, 2013 Author Share Posted May 28, 2013 We have a 07. I think the limit is 35000. I think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maplecat Posted May 28, 2013 Share Posted May 28, 2013 I have a 10' box, no slide pop-up and a 2009 Odyssey with the towing package. The tow package adds a transmission cooler, but it was a pricy upgrade from Honda. My tow limit is 3500lb. Our pop-up is pretty stripped down, I pack light, and I still worry about our weight. I'd love to have trailer breaks, but I have a hard time justifying the expense with a 14 year old pup. The next tow vehicle will have a larger towing capacity given our family size and the next trailer will have breaks. We have not had any problems driving around the flat Midwest, but it was more fun to tow when I was driving a Jeep with a higher towing capacity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pippen Posted May 28, 2013 Share Posted May 28, 2013 Talk to a Honda dealership and ask about the effects on the transmission. We lost our Ford Windstar to a failed transmission and I have a feeling the camper really contributed to it. We pull the pop up with our Toyota Sienna now and had a good heart to heart with the dealer about the transmission's ability to handle the weight. I believe the dealer mentioned there was a tow package we could get if we where going to be towing on the upper end of the weight limit. We have found that the lighter the load the better. When we first got the camper, DH insisted on packing firewood in it (which is now illegal to do across state lines) and you really knew you were towing. If you tried to go much over 55, the camper could get swaying pretty good too. We now pack it a lot lighter, by our firewood near the campground (cheaper than a new transmission) and the car handles it with out a problem. We did over 70 coming home with it today and it rode pretty smooth. We had a factory installed tow package on our Ford Freestar which should have been able to handle our popup and our transmission still failed. Eventually it was recalled and we were reimbursed but I still would take the precautions mentioned above and definitely check with the dealer. I would pack lighter--buying supplies and food near the campsite and we would never again take it into serious mountains. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppy Posted May 28, 2013 Share Posted May 28, 2013 I pull a 8' popup with a sedan. VERY IMPORTANT: Get a brake control if you don't have one already installed on your van. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nandmsmom Posted May 28, 2013 Share Posted May 28, 2013 We have a Sienna that we pull a pop up with. We had to be careful about the pop up though. The first we tried was too heavy and too tall for the car. Don't let them sell you one until you test drive it first to make sure the car can handle it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dad 4 Boys Posted May 28, 2013 Share Posted May 28, 2013 Go to www.odyclub.com and find the appropriate subforum for your particular Odyssey. There you will find a plethora of Odyssey-related information. I'm sure towing with each generation of Odyssey has been discussed in depth. If you have a Generation 3 Odyssey (1999 - 2004), I would be very wary of towing anything substantial with it. These models had many transmission issues. Honda even extended the transmission warranty through 107,000 miles due to a class-action lawsuit. We have a 2001 EX and made it to almost 200,000 miles on the original transmission. We just had it rebuilt a couple weeks ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stayseeliz Posted May 28, 2013 Share Posted May 28, 2013 What year is the Odyssey? If newer you should be fine, but many of the older ones have bad transmissions. We pulled a pop-up with our old 2001 Odyssey and although I'm sure the transmission would've gone out eventually regardless, I do suspect that towing the camper hastened its eventual demise. I was going to mention the transmission as well. We have a 2003 that we've had transmission issues with. We've had it rebuilt once and worked on again since then. That is one reason we've hesitated to buy a pop-up. DH is afraid it will kill the transmission for good. We're trying to get as many miles as we can out of it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tess in the Burbs Posted May 28, 2013 Share Posted May 28, 2013 You can install your own transmission cooler. We wanted to get a camper to pull with our 05 odyssey but for now are sticking to tent camping. It was a LOT to get Honda to put on the cooler but my stepdad said it's easy to do and much cheaper to do on your own. Plenty of videos online to show you how to do it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saraswati Posted May 28, 2013 Share Posted May 28, 2013 We have a 07. I think the limit is 35000. I think. If you have a 3500 limit, it's likely that your vehicle may have a tow package already built in. Before deciding on anything, I'd take a swing by a Honda dealer and have someone take a quick look for you. If you're hauling on mostly flat ground, and your PUP is less that 2,000 LBS, you really shouldn't have an issue. If you search around on the internet, you'll find forums for both Honda vehicles and whatever the brand of PUP you're planning to haul - make inquiries there and the folks are generally extremely helpful, and many have hands on experience to give solid advice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saraswati Posted May 28, 2013 Share Posted May 28, 2013 Just for fun, this was our PUP that we started out with. We recently traded it in for the Jayco travel trailer, which actually weighs less than the PUP. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProudGrandma Posted May 28, 2013 Share Posted May 28, 2013 the total weight of the camper plus stuff is the key. We had to buy a vehicle with a bigger engine to pull our pop up. We had a mini van and ended up getting a Yukon. We were told that even though the van would pull the camper, it would put so much wear and tear on the van engine it would die faster than it should. So we decided it would be better to have a vehicle that was made to tow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bolt. Posted May 28, 2013 Share Posted May 28, 2013 We pull a medium-small pop-up with our 2005 Odysey -- and barely notice. I imagine (as long as you aren't talking about a pop up that sleeps 10 and has all kinds of heavy amenities) that you will have a very easy time. We tow with 2 full propane tanks, but an empty water tank. Note: if we were experiencing extra wear, I think we'd (a) notice in the driving that we had to accelerate harder etc to get going, and/or (B) have had some kind of issue or two by now, now that the van is nearing 10 years old. We pull the trailer multiple places on a yearly basis -- since 2004. In The Canadian Rockies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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