Experience towing with Acura MDX

[dblakewvu]

My wife and I are considering an RV and want to use our Acura MDX to tow it. With a dealer modification, it can handle up to 4750 lbs and 475 lbs tongue load. I rarely see SUV's pulling RV's. I am looking for any thoughts / experience on how close to take the RV to the vehicle ratings and if using an SUV is the right thing to do. We have looked at some RV's that would meet our needs and they are in the range of 2800 to 3200 unloaded and 350 t0 450 tongue load. Will this work or should we consider another vehicle?

[Grit_dog]

Love it Billybobjim! I feel the same way, however the flip side of that is what, where, how much will be towed and the drivers experience towing.
That's why this is always so subjective. And the folks asking "if this will tow that" should likely take a more conservative route and the ones preaching at them likely could tow safely with a rig that is a bit undersized but choose not to.

[Retired_JSO]

We have a 16 Honda Pilot which we sometimes use to tow our12’ utility trailer with our ezgo golf cart. I wouldn’t want to tow much more weight with it.

[BillyBob_Jim]

GeoBoy wrote:
I watched a Mercedes GLE drive into the campground I am staying at pulling a pretty big TT. Crazy what you see some days.
Your MDX should be ok with a small pop up.

Dump the Acura.

It's unsafe in that situation and will be putting everyone and their families at risk on the road. Get a 1 ton dually with a Cummins Powertoke Max diesel, get some airbags and a Hensley. Make sure you have LT tires on the truck and trailer or better yet see if you can get some military spec bulletproof ones. Take the whole shebang over to a Cat scale and weigh it every way you can think of.

Let the conniptions begin.

[SweetLou]

While you received good information so far, the one thing you never said was the year of your MDX. The reason I say this is we owned a 2004, low miles and in those years and for some time after, the transmissions were famous for not holding up pulling the car around let alone pulling anything. Friends of ours from MT were proud to own a 2006 MDX and put 2 transmissions in theirs with low miles on it as well. So, my recommendation is start with searching the dependability of your MDX Trans, and then you make the call. Maybe they finally resolved their problems. A good friend who owns a transmission shop where I live when I asked him how good my transmission was, told me that Ford F150s and Honda's keep him in business. Just saying...........

[kw_00]

Got a 2011 MDX, wife loves this suv. Yes it’s rated to pull 5k and I have pulled our utility trailer around loaded with it. No worries, but I think a small camper or pop up is perfect for it. Oh no issues pulling our utility trailer, weights around 2500 or slightly more with what’s in it.

[GeoBoy]

I watched a Mercedes GLE drive into the campground I am staying at pulling a pretty big TT. Crazy what you see some days.
Your MDX should be ok with a small pop up.

[BenK]

1st generation MDX is derived from the Honda Passport, which is a rebadged Isuzu Trooper. A real truck with body on ladder frame and a real SUV

2nd to current generation MDX is derived from the pilot, which is derived from the Honda Odyssey mini van. A monocoque design (no ladder frame) and is a cross over utility vehical...AKA CUV, not a SUV

Similar to a RAV4 is a Carolla...or a CRV is a Civic...normally upped HP via a tune and AWD (not true 4x4)

If the op is looking at newer versions, think of it as towing with an Odyssey mini van. Nothing wrong with that and it can tow what it is rated for

[stevemorris]

can you tow that much? probably, would you want to? nope!

the weight is only part of the equation, the wind load from a travel trailer is huge, a head wind will reduce your speed a huge amount, a side wind will blow you all over the road

ive towed with undersized vehicles, its not pretty

[IdaD]

cekkk wrote:
several different weights can be pulled by SUVs. However, having owned SUVs since 95, I have an opinion. Here it is. The vehicle you are talking about is not an SUV. It's a little foreign car designed a seat four that has been modified to heck and back and is now called an SUV.

You have to consider so much more than weight. You need to consider wheelbase, braking, transmission, cooling of the transmission, just so much stuff.

I think an MDX is the Acura version of the Pilot. My wife has a Pilot and it's a pretty good sized 3-row SUV with seating for 8 and all wheel drive. The tow rating on ours is 4500 lbs and we towed a 3500ish lb pop up around the west for years with no trouble. I wouldn't want to pull a travel trailer with it, but it can tow fine within its wheelhouse.

[Y-Guy]

I think this is best served Tow Vehicles forum instead of the Dinghy towing forum.

[1492]

Moved from Forum Posting Help and Support

[cekkk]

several different weights can be pulled by SUVs. However, having owned SUVs since 95, I have an opinion. Here it is. The vehicle you are talking about is not an SUV. It's a little foreign car designed a seat four that has been modified to heck and back and is now called an SUV.

You have to consider so much more than weight. You need to consider wheelbase, braking, transmission, cooling of the transmission, just so much stuff.