Towing with Honda ridgeline

[Bonerep2013]

Hi Guys , just brought home my 2010 passport 245B and wondered if anyone had any suggestions as to whether or not I need to add the brake assist to my Honda.? Seems to brake somewhat decent without ? Thanks

[SAD]

What do you mean by "brake assist"? Are you referring to the electronic brake controller? If so, you absolutely need and must use that.

[Paddler]

Congrats on your new rig! Yes, you most certainly need to install a brake controller in your Honda. All it will take is one "at Speed" panic stop for you to realize the precarious position you have placed yourself in.

Personally, I'm a big fan of the Tekensha Prodigy brake controller. You should be able to purchase one for less than $120 and they are easy to wire up if your rig already has the 7 Pin connector and wiring harness.
Good luck,

[SteveC7010]

Originally Posted by Bonerep2013

Hi Guys , just brought home my 2010 passport 245B and wondered if anyone had any suggestions as to whether or not I need to add the brake assist to my Honda.? Seems to brake somewhat decent without ? Thanks

If you mean an electronic brake controller when you say "brake assist", you should not be towing a 6,400# GVWR trailer without one!!!!!! I don't think anyone here is going to give you any different advice about this.

The Ridgeline's max towing capacity is 5,000#. The Passport empty weighs 4,550#. For all practical purposes, you are at max without packing a single can of food or a blanket in the trailer, let alone a fair portion of the stuff that most of us take with us.

Please give us all the information regarding capacities from the door sticker of the Ridgeline before this discussion goes much further. Without that information, it is impossible to give you further useful feedback.

[GaryWT]

I was going to say I did not think the Honda could pull much other than a popup. Who sold you this? And who let you drive without a brake controller, it is the law in most if not all states to have brakes on anything over 3000lbs.

[SteveC7010]

Originally Posted by GaryWT

I was going to say I did not think the Honda could pull much other than a popup. Who sold you this? And who let you drive without a brake controller, it is the law in most if not all states to have brakes on anything over 3000lbs.

Good point! In Iowa, trailer brakes are mandatory for anything over 3,000#.

[JRTJH]

This is a direct quote from the AAA handbook regarding brakes on trailers in Iowa:

Every trailer of a Gross Vehicle Weight (GVW) of 3,000 lbs. must be equipped with brakes adequate to control the movement of and to stop and hold the vehicle, and so designed as to be applied by the driver of the towing motor vehicle from its cab, or with self-actuating brakes, and a weight-equalizing hitch with a sway control. Every trailer of a GVW of 3,000 lbs. or more must be equipped with a separate, auxiliary means of applying the brakes on the trailer from the cab of the towing vehicle.


If you towed your new trailer home without brakes with a Honda that is in all likelyhood not rated for anything near that weight range, you are, so far, one lucky individual. I'd urge you not to venture on the public highways until you get specific information about the towing capabilities of your Honda and meet the requirements of state law as it applies to brakes on your trailer !!!!!

[fla-gypsy]

We don't want to rain on your parade but you need a WD hitch with some type of sway control and a brake controller. In addition you have already exceeded your tow capacity and probably several other limits of the vehicle. Can you give us complete information on the tow vehicle and the trailer? We would like to know the GVWR of both, curb weight of the Honda, max tow capacity of the Honda, whether the maker recommends using a WD hitch with that model and what the payload capacity of the Honda is. With this information we can provide intelligent feedback on what you can safely do and what to expect.

[rhagfo]

Originally Posted by SteveC7010

If you mean an electronic brake controller when you say "brake assist", you should not be towing a 6,400# GVWR trailer without one!!!!!! I don't think anyone here is going to give you any different advice about this.

The Ridgeline's max towing capacity is 5,000#. The Passport empty weighs 4,550#. For all practical purposes, you are at max without packing a single can of food or a blanket in the trailer, let alone a fair portion of the stuff that most of us take with us.

Please give us all the information regarding capacities from the door sticker of the Ridgeline before this discussion goes much further. Without that information, it is impossible to give you further useful feedback.

Yes the Ridgelin's towing capacity is 5,000#, but having helped my daughter move to Bolder, CO. driving her 2006 Ridgeline. We had a tandem axle U Haul box trailer. We knew we had #400 on the hitch at the start of the trip.

Well there were three of of in the truck 450#, two large dogs 195#, stuff in the trunk (yes Ridgelines have a good size trunk)hooked up the truck was level and tires were round. When we crossed the WY, CO. boarder we saw a weigh station, stopped and weighed the rig, didn't get the truck, just the trailer 4,200# on the axle, total weight 4,600#, the Ridgeline was impressive,the Blue mt. of eastern Oregon have some steep grades, worst hill we got pulled down to about 45 mph. This was a 1,200 mile pull I never felt that we were overloaded.
Keep the load light and you might be ok on mostly level ground.

PS: Get a brake controller, the U Haul had surge brakes.

[Bonerep2013]

Thanks everyone !! I am planning on installing brake control ASAP !! I did drive it home yest about 12 miles without. I did have WD hitch and sway control on however . Thanks again for the info.

[dbrinklow]

If you have the factory wiring kit do not forget to order the interface cable. The factory wired brake controller harness is tucked under the steering column. A little difficult to find sometimes.