How does an Acura MDX tow?

[DuckHunterJon]

Re: How does an Acura MDX tow?

We have a 2007 MDX. We towed our Procraft several times, twice 3 hrs at highway speeds. That was right at 3000 lbs, 24' dual axel trailer with brakes. It towed it fine. Shift manually and keep it out of overdrive, and it does great. It will down shift on hills, but that motor is perfectly happy revving. I didn't see what year the OP's MDX was. Prior to 2007, you had to add the trans and power steering coolers if you wanted to tow. After 2007, they all came with the coolers, you just had to add the hitch.

As for the safety, I'll leave that to you and others. I felt like it stopped way better and was generally safer than my 2003 Chevy 2500 HD, with 8.1L motor and crap brakes (they were well serviced, the just sucked from day 1). I never had an issue with it pushing the car around, even with a tire blow out at 70 mph.

I'm not saying you should or shouldn't, but I did and was happy with it. YMMV.

 

[sasada]

Re: How does an Acura MDX tow?

Max towing weight and max allowable trailer weight are two very different things. And to tow safely you need to know both.
Read this. Its simple to understand.http://bamarv.blogspot.ca/2011/04/how-to-calculate-your-real-towing.html
I wouldnt trade my current tow rig (2010 F350 4x4 crew) for anything less. When you go big you have no worries.

Two very different things??? I guess you and I just have differing opinions what "very different" means. Basically the ONLY difference is subtracting 10% off the TOTAL trailer weight. If someone doesnt know that they must add on fluid weight, trailer weight, accessory weight, etc to come up with their total trailer weight then towing is probably the last thing they should be doing.

Unfortuanatly for some of us we must compromise and buy a multi-purpose vehicle to serve our daily needs as well as towing needs and cannot justify having a Peterbuilt just to pull on the weekends.

 

[ricohman]

Re: How does an Acura MDX tow?

Two very different things??? I guess you and I just have differing opinions what "very different" means. Basically the ONLY difference is subtracting 10% off the TOTAL trailer weight. If someone doesnt know that they must add on fluid weight, trailer weight, accessory weight, etc to come up with their total trailer weight then towing is probably the last thing they should be doing.

Unfortuanatly for some of us we must compromise and buy a multi-purpose vehicle to serve our daily needs as well as towing needs and cannot justify having a Peterbuilt just to pull on the weekends.

Like I said initially, make sure you account for the weight of passengers. And all the others above agree with this.
You disagreed with this.
Max towing weight is calculated without a full load of passengers so they must be accounted for as does all the gear they pile into the tow vehicle.
If I am hooking 20K to my F350 I better be accounting for all passengers, their gear, and the load in the bed.
If you don't account for this you can easily exceed the GCWR. If you have exceeded the GCWR and still want to tow that load, get rid of a couple of passengers.
You don't subract the passengers from the max trailer weight but you account for them in the GCWR because if you are at max trailer weight the amount of weight you carry in the tow rig can be critical. Especially if you have a marginal tow rig.

 

[floater180]

Re: How does an Acura MDX tow?

Nice truck but "DONT DO IT". I had a 2008 Honda Pilot which I had as a tow vehicle as a back up to tow a Rinker Captiva 206 which is similar to the weight of your boat. I towed a much lighter 17' Mark Twain that I learned from. The independent suspension of our vehicle is almost exactly the same. I damaged the springs and tires on my Pilot when I towed my old Mark Twain about 700 miles round trip. I had a permanent sag and screwed up the camber on the alignment. You'll notice that "Squat" look on older Pilots and MDX's. I replaced the springs, tires, did a 4-wheel alignment and added a TIMBREN suspension support. Check this product out. Also, I dont really know how big the cooling area on the newer MDX's but Honda Automatics were never that great and had some issues and that is why I added an aftermarket trans cooler also. My Pilot is not my main tow vehicle (2006 Mitsu Montero) but its nice to know that I can safely use it when i have to...

 

[sasada]

Re: How does an Acura MDX tow?

Like I said initially, make sure you account for the weight of passengers. And all the others above agree with this.
You disagreed with this.
Max towing weight is calculated without a full load of passengers so they must be accounted for as does all the gear they pile into the tow vehicle.
If I am hooking 20K to my F350 I better be accounting for all passengers, their gear, and the load in the bed.
If you don't account for this you can easily exceed the GCWR. If you have exceeded the GCWR and still want to tow that load, get rid of a couple of passengers.
You don't subract the passengers from the max trailer weight but you account for them in the GCWR because if you are at max trailer weight the amount of weight you carry in the tow rig can be critical. Especially if you have a marginal tow rig.

I humbley stand corrected...you obviously know everything about towing.

Best regards

 

[NYBo]

Re: How does an Acura MDX tow?

I think the fully indpendent suspension is part of the problem though. My Pathfinder has fully independent suspension. Coil springs on all 4. I think what you really need in a good tow vehicle is the leaf spring suspension on the back. The coil springs seem to just enable the swaying. I installed an electric brake controller in my vehicle, although I have not yet tried it since I haven't installed the electric brakes on the trailer. I wanted a little more control than the surge brakes, wanting to lock them up for emergency purposes. Quite honestly I'm surprised the MDX can pull that much. My mother has a Honda Pilot that can only tow like 3,000 pounds. I would assume the MDX uses the same engine?

Spring type has nothing to do with sway. It sounds like you didn't have enough tongue weight.

The first generation Pilot was rated to tow 4500#.

 

[skifreak67]

Re: How does an Acura MDX tow?

I have a 2007 MDX (2nd gen) and pull a 21' Nautique ski boat through the mountains. the MDX pulls fine, good ride and no overheating. Brakes are a bit light, so i will upgrade them when i can figure out what product to use. i have 150k on it now with no problems.

 

[MH Hawker]

Re: How does an Acura MDX tow?

It would be very close to or over the limit, I would think it would be risky.

 

[JB]

Re: How does an Acura MDX tow?

This is an old, dead thread, guys. PLEASE don't post to threads that have been inactive for 90 days or more unless you are the original poster.

See rule #12

 

[jcholt7379]

Thinking about buying a 2008 Acura MDX to help bull our 18.5 Glastron to the lake that 45 minutes away. We need something to pull the boat while the hubby pulls the 5th.....thoughts?

 

[jbcurt00]

.....thoughts?

As the following quote immediately preceded your post, might try reading a topic and its replies prior to posting.... same rule 12 applies
⁹

Re: How does an Acura MDX tow?

This is an old, dead thread, guys. PLEASE don't post to threads that have been inactive for 90 days or more unless you are the original poster.

See rule #12

oh and.start a topic of your own about towing your Glastron..... and ask about towing w an Acura MDX there.

Closed