Towing with the Odyssey

[BigFoot48]

The Odyssey is a great towing vehicle, mainly because its such a good all-around useful car. We upgraded to the Ody from the Element for the 3,500# towing limit, which allowed us to upgrade our trailer from a 13" Scamp to a 17' Casita, both being fiberglass and "low" weight.

The minor downside is the outrageous amount Honda charges for their hitch, transmission cooler, and power steering cooler package. Dealers seem to charge about $1,200 for this - I got it for $750 as part of my purchase negotiation - basically what I would pay for the parts from a discount dealer, like HandA. Of course, you can also go the after market route and save more money.

Some pictures:

[NDNV]

Have you considered a supplemental airbag suspension such as the Airlift 1000 in the rear suspension? I've read people that have them swear by them.

http://www.airliftcompany.com/al1000.html

[BigFoot48]

Honda requires the use of a Weight Distributing Hitch for all trailers over 1,800# (as I recall), so I have one of those and that mitigates the usefulness of an airbag system. Airbags don't solve the problem of shifting the hitch weight to the front axle to stay within the Honda specs for hitch capacity.

[MTPockets08]

Originally Posted by NDNV

Have you considered a supplemental airbag suspension such as the Airlift 1000 in the rear suspension? I've read people that have them swear by them.

http://www.airliftcompany.com/al1000.html

That's not a bad idea. The only thing I don't like about loading down, or towing a vehicle equipped with independent rear suspension, is the fact that the rear tires will do this when the vehicle is weighed down: /---\. This wears the heck out of the inside edge of the rear tires.

Joel