Towing behind 3911 Canyon Star

[Sam T]

I have a 2016 Canyon Star 3911. I would like to tow my 2014 Honda Odyssey wheelchair accessible van. It weighs about 4500lb. That is just under my towing capacity. Will this be ok? Any advise ?

[Electra 225]

Sam are you towing all 4 wheels down or other method?

[Electra 225]

I towed my '89 Ford Ranger 4X4 behind my Canyon Star 3920 with no problems. It was probably close to the weight if your van I'm not sure, I carried a few things in the back of the truck too, I was towing all wheels down.

I'm thinking you should be ok. Good to use a braking system in the van too of course. I would listen to others opinions to follow here also to make sure you're flyin' right.....but like I say I didn't have any troubles. A quick call to Newmar or the Ford Administration for your chassis may have some good advice too.

All combined, hitch rating etc, I would think it should handle it. When I towed the truck I had only about an 1/8th of a tank of gas in it (truck) to lessen weight too. Hope this is of help.

Safe travels,
W.D.

[vettenuts]

Your NCC is 4,582, so it would seem to me if you don't max out your coach weight you should be okay as long as the hitch is rated for the towed weight. The GCVW assumes the coach is maxed out resulting in a 4K towed weight.

[Sam T]

Originally Posted by Electra 225

Sam are you towing all 4 wheels down or other method?

I was planning to tow all 4 wheels down? Should I consider a trailer?

[PbdBlue]

If the Odessey is flat towable 4 down go for it. I tow a 4400# SUV with the same chassis. Not an issue. The hitch rating is 5000# and you are well under that. Like others have said as long as the coach weight (GVWR) is not maxed out you'll be fine. It's the combined weight of motorhome + toad (GCVW) that's important. In your case that's 26,000#. You will want a good auxillary brake for the toad.

[Dennis Dean]

Originally Posted by Sam T

I have a 2016 Canyon Star 3911. I would like to tow my 2014 Honda Odyssey wheelchair accessible van. It weighs about 4500lb. That is just under my towing capacity. Will this be ok? Any advise ?

At 4500lbs for your Toad, on your chassis as rated by ford you would have a chassis weight of 25,500Lbs for max cargo carrying capacity. If you flat tow, it will add no real weight to that 25.5K (remember hitch weight comes off your cargo carry weight). Putting it on a trailer then the tongue weight of the trailer would add more than the flat tow tongue weight. unless your loaded weight is at your max GVWR (26K for your newmar, 25.5K with your toad at 4500lbs) I would think you are fine flat towing and not impact your Cargo carry capacity. your GCWR is 30,000lbs so no matter what your coach and toad can't exceed that.

[Sam T]

Thanks for all the info!! A dolly was also suggested because my Honda is not recommended to be towed with all four wheels down. ( but sounds like lots of people do it). How does this affect my towing ability?

[Dennis Dean]

Originally Posted by Sam T

Thanks for all the info!! A dolly was also suggested because my Honda is not recommended to be towed with all four wheels down. ( but sounds like lots of people do it). How does this affect my towing ability?

I have a Acme "EZE-TOW" Tow Dolly - Car Tow Dolly EZE tow dolly because I have a Hyundia Elentra and it would be very expensive for me to flat tow. I like my tow dolly a lot, it has its own lights, surge brakes and it is pretty easy to move around unloaded. Towing your toad with a dolly is no issue on your RV other than you will have more tongue weight than if you flat tow. I only have to hook up my dolly lights to my RV trailer plug no other brakes or electrical is needed. The surge brakes are fantastic and I don't even feel the car behind me other than a little engine load pulling hills. My Elentra + Dolly weight is right at 3300lbs and due to my 22K chassis and cargo weight I am restricted to 4K toad weight so I have no issues with the Dolly and vehicle. IT allows me to easily utilize all my cargo capacity and not impact my combined gross weight rating. Obviously flat tow setups are easier to hook and unhook but I am fine with the dolly process to load the Elentra. I can even back my dolly for a short distance if needed.

[l1v3fr33ord1]

Sam_T-

Let me see if I can summarize for you.

Here's a link to the spec on the 2016 Canyon Stars. Your model, the 3911, is listed with a Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR) of 26,000 pounds. This is the maximum your coach can weigh, with everything in it (including you). Each axle must also be under its own Gross Axle Wight Rating, also listed. At the moment we'll assume that you haven't loaded your coach so that it's under the GVWR but has an axle (front or rear) over its GAWR.

The Gross Combined Weight Rating (GCWR) of your Canyon Star is 30,000 pounds. This is the maximum allowed weight of the coach plus the weight of the trailer or towed vehicle. Now, 30,000 minus 26,000 means that normally you'd be limited to a towed vehicle that does not exceed 4,000 pounds.

But, if you pack 500 pounds less in the coach, you can tow 500 pounds more. The brochure lists an approximate Net Carrying Capacity (NCC) of 4,582 pounds. So, as "vettenuts" said, if you're careful about what you pack in, you can tow a 4,500 pound vehicle. By the way, "pack in" includes fluids, such as fresh water, gas and waste fluids.

Now, you're in the clear to tow "four down," yes? Not quite.

1) The coach's trailer hitch needs a capacity over that of your towed vehicle weight. Check your owner's manual, or with Newmar.

2) Your vehicle needs to be towable (unless you use a trailer). Honda CRVs model year 2014 and older are usually towable four-down. Check your CRV's owner's manual. It should have a section on towing behind a motorhome.

3) Your CRV needs to be towable. As it's likely modified for wheelchair accessibility, you need to review the modifications to ensure that none of them prevent it from being towed. I'd start by reviewing changes to the transmission controls, added electrical components, and ground clearances.

4) If it's not towable four-down, you can see if it's possible to tow it using a dolly or trailer. This will require reviewing many things, including axle loadings, as a trailer exerts downward force on the hitch (and thus the rear axle), that a four-down towbar does not exert. Plus, the trailer or dolly weighs something, and that would subtract from your NCC. Let's hope you don't have to figure this out- that your CRV is towable four-down.

5) Finally, you need to purchase and install the following:
a) a supplemental braking system for the CRV
b) a supplement light system for the CRV
c) a baseplate for the CRV
d) a towbar
e) a cable to connect the coach and CRV
f) safety cables and similar stuff, if not included with the other components
and the optional components
g) a charge line between coach and CRV batteries and/or
h) a new, larger battery in the CRV (if it needs one; some recent model year they increased the size of the battery)

Whew! Not a short summary, I'm afraid.

[Sam T]

Thanks again!! I have a Honda Odyssey. It is listed as not towable but sounds like a lot of people do it.

I am thinking about a dolly but will have to look at the weight of the dolly too.

[Mr_D]

Technically you can't light load the RV so you can tow more. But only the RV manufacturer can tell you for sure.
None of the Ody's from 2004 on are towable four down according to Honda. But we've towed our '05 for about 40,000 miles with no troubles other than the battery going dead. Fixed that with a charge line.
I also know that people do tow the newer ones (up to 2010 model) with no trouble other than the battery going dead.

[l1v3fr33ord1]

You know, sometimes you read something, and something else sticks in your head... Yes, my mistake with "CRV" instead of "Odyssey."

"Mr_D," you are correct. "Sam_T" should check to see if Newmar has set a maximum towed vehicle weight limit for his coach.

[vettenuts]

Don't think your car can be towed four down, but check the owner's manual. I also use the ACME EZE Tow and am very happy with it. You might check on that if you do need a dolly. I also have the surge brakes so there is no wiring involved other than when I installed the diodes on the tail lights of the car so they operate the same as the coach.