Towing 2007 Honda Pilot 2wd?

[dneeld52]

Despite the owner's manual saying "do not tow behind a motorhome", an individual swears he has towed his Pilot 4 wheels flat for years with no issues! Roadmaster makes tow brackets for the vehicle and has a detailed step by step installation manual.

Who's right? Anyone have any experience towing this vehicle 4 wheels flat???

[jrwitt]

Not familiar with towing the Pilot, but wanted to provide info on your comment about Roadmaster making tow brackets for it. The tow bar companies may provide tow bar brackets for many cars that that aren't approved for towing because RVers may modify the car with a lube pump (REMCO) or a driveshaft disconnect. And sometimes the same vehicle may be towable in a different transmission/transfer case configuration.

On the other hand, I have seen several comments on this and other forums that say some Hondas are towable even though Honda doesn't approve it. Don't remember if the Pilot was one of them. Sorry I couldn't address your specific questions.

[bizsmith@yahoo.com]

You may get by with towing the Pilot and probably would. Honda just will not honor a warranty if something goes wrong. It's your gamble.

[dougu]

It's quite possible that the Pilot your acquaintance is towing can "mechanically" be towed. Years ago, just about all Honda vehicles were towable four wheels down, even though the owners manuals for those vehicles indicated that the vehicles could be towed at no more than 35 mph and for less than 50 miles. The 2001 and 2002 Towable Guides produced by FMC included a letter from Honda/Acura that indicated how to prepare Honda vehicles (both automatic and manual) for flat towing, even though the owners manuals stated differently. In years after that, Honda made that letter available on it's Web site.

However, the company changed course in 2006 when it declared that only the CR-V could be towed four wheels down. The letter was removed from the Web site and Honda indicated it would not stand behind warranty claims on towing-related problems for any vehicles other than the CR-V going forward. So what changed?

Mechanically, most, if not all, Hondas remained the same. The problem was that in previous years owners were not following the towing instructions in the letter. For automatics, one of the instructions says to shift through all of the gears with the engine running. The next line says, "Shift to D, then to N." Unfortunately, there were those who instead shifted from reverse into neutral. When the vehicle was then towed, the transmission would be damaged. Honda repaired/replaced these transmissions under warranty, but at some point the company decided enough. They determined that only the CR-V (and later the Fit) could be towed four wheels down and indicated that any other vehicle that sustained transmission damage due to towing would not be covered under warranty.

So, while the owners manual for your friend's Pilot may indicate that it should not be towed four wheels down, it likely can be towed in that manner provided the towing instructions that Honda had previously published are followed. With it being a 2007 model, the warranty has expired, so that is of no concern.

[cswinford]

We pulled a 2006 Honda Pilot four down for a long time. There's a process you have to go through to prepare the transmission to be flat towed and it should be detailed in the owner's manual. Not many cars come ready to be flat towed, but Honda Pilot is one of them!

http://longlongwaytotipperary.com

[deenad]

Actually the "change" with Honda occurred in 2005 even though it wasn't announced till 2006. And it affected everything but the CR-V. According to Honda legal there were some '05 Pilots that the manual said were towable but that was a "misprint".

I should still have all the correspondence with Honda legal dept over our '05 Ody that we bought specifically since Honda said it was towable. In early 2006 I started seeing posts that said Honda had changed their towing statements. Luckily we had gotten it in writing on Honda letterhead in Dec 2004. After some "negotiations" involving Honda, ourselves and WA and CA AG's office Honda paid us some $2,200 for the towing gear we bought. We bought a KK 460 dolly with the money.

However, over the years I've talked with other Ody owners and they reported no problems so I have gone back to four down towing. I did have to add a charge line since the battery does go dead after a day or so of towing even after being started and running as the CR-V instructions call for.