Boundary Waters Quetico Forum :: Listening Point - General Discussion :: do you have a honda oddysey?
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beavertails |
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BWPaddler |
quote beavertails: "No honda oddysey, but i do have a chrysler town and country. never hauled anything but I can get two canoe on top no problem. if you're looking for a cheeper solution then a yakima roof rack you can lash two 2*4's to each cross beam to get some extra width and bolt two tennis balls to the ends ( the bolts keep the canoes from sliding off the edge and the tennis balls are for padding). make sure to tie the canoe to the actual roof racks and not just to the 2*4 those are only to get you some extra width, sorry wish i had a picture" Good point on the liftback of the minivan! At least the truck has the window that opens... minivan no such thing. Forgot about that. We're renting a Town & Country at the moment... my kids love it, and I admit it's pretty handy with lots of front dash gadgets to play with. Here's my homemade 2x4 roof rack. I do tie canoes only to 2x4s though - have you had issues? I use U-bolts and lock nuts to lock the 2x4 onto the roof rack. And I added 3 more U-bolts facing up that I COULD use for a tiedown point if I wanted to - they may also help the canoes from sliding off the end, but the canoes stayed put while we were T-boned, so I think the approach is fairly sound. What's your experience with it? On the way home from the accident, we lashed the 2x4s to the utility trailer of the relative who picked us up. THEN lashed the canoes to the 2x4s... Again, rock solid for a 3 hour road trip. |
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schweady |
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BWPaddler |
Gotta pick between another suburban or a minivan.... not sure how canoes fit on minivans... any help appreciated. Thanks! |
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BWPaddler |
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RAFA Ranger |
Concerns I would have when considering this vs an SUV or other mini-van. Roof rack length. For how long the vehicle is, the spread you can get between bars isn't much, the rack ends behind the front doors. Towing package. I think there is an option for this that includes a larger radiator, not sure if it includes better brakes, but it should. We don't tow but often have 5-8 people in the car for local/ hilly trips. We go through brakes far more often than the other cars we have. |
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TuscaroraBorealis |
quote Amok: "The specs on the tranny and engine should tell you what weight a vehicle is capable of towing safely. Agreed. The minivan and hauling canoes is one thing. Hauling a pontoon is definitely something you'll want a vehichle with some horses under the hood. :) |
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whiteh20 |
quote TuscaroraBorealis: "quote Amok: "The specs on the tranny and engine should tell you what weight a vehicle is capable of towing safely. More importantly than horses under the hood is large wheels and brakes. Pontoon is not super heavy but I think a mini-van is too small to safely tow any real weight or more importantly stop any real weight. Electric trailer brakes are a crap shoot at best. Hydraulic trailer brakes work but I do not think you can use them with a mini van. Canoes would be no problem but the boat is a different story. Lots of great deals on tahoes and burbs out there right now with gas at $4 a gallon. |
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whiteh20 |
quote TuscaroraBorealis: "quote Amok: "The specs on the tranny and engine should tell you what weight a vehicle is capable of towing safely. More importantly than horses under the hood is large wheels and brakes. Pontoon is not super heavy but I think a mini-van is too small to safely tow any real weight or more importantly stop any real weight. Electric trailer brakes are a crap shoot at best. Hydraulic trailer brakes work but I do not think you can use them with a mini van. Canoes would be no problem but the boat is a different story. Lots of great deals on tahoes and burbs out there right now with gas at $4 a gallon. |
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schweady |
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J-Stroke |
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Amok |
I'm guessing that a 25' pontoon may be a big too large for something that is not an 8 cylinder and it'd have to have a tow package or you'll blow up the tranny from overheating it. IDK if a Honda Odyssey is even made in an 8 cylinder ... |
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BWPaddler |
Tooner may not be super heavy compared to a 5th wheel or tow-behind RV, but the trailer is "substantial" compared to say the trailer for my tri-hull motorboat. Lift to hold pontoon is rated to 3500 lbs, but of course that includes gas and a few people too. In any case, I've never thought twice towing it all behind the Suburban - even when there is a lot of wind on the farmland I pass. Burban (Yukon XL this time round it looks like) rated to 8400 pounds - more than double the minivan. Yes, Odyssey only comes in 6cyl. Yes, I saw the roof rack looked "short" compared to what I'm used to. Wondered how that would impact the canoes up top, but I've seen canoes on eco-sedans, so it must be do-able. I was surprised that the official mpg in the models I am considering is only 3mpg better for the minivan city and 6mpg better highway. I kind of expected a bigger difference. schweady - thanks! I don't really know how the Yak bars and such work. My extended rack is two 8-foot 2x4s clamped to rack with U-bolts. But I would like to find something to haul 5 bikes... Thanks all, think I'll bite on a Yukon XL that's the same as the car that just died except a couple more buttons, AWD, a sunroof, and a DVD player. Wasn't looking for those, but they are on the model with the other things I need, and it's ready to go. The DVD player is enough to sway kids from their minivan campaign I think :-) |
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schweady |
...we now return to our previously scheduled thread about the Honda Odyssey... |
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Amok |
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BWPaddler |
quote schweady: "Good luck with the search. (Did insurance come through with enough $$?)" Amazing what you can do in a day with a fax and email. I am in process of owning a Yukon XL replacement. It's identical to what crashed with a few more options and 35,000 less miles. I will save the Odyssey until the other car craps out I guess. Paperwork should be done shortly, but I likely can't get up there to pick it up until Monday. As to the OLD Suburban... yesterday my own insurance called me to make an offer. I was disappointed with it, would have had me PAYING $1500 to settle the loan (possibly recouping $500 deductible if they other guy is found liable and his insurance pays). I asked how they determined the offer basis and then asked for time to think about it. They use "market" value so I scrapped my Edmund's and Kelley's info and researched what was for sale NOW. It seemed higher than their offer... so I called back and very politely speculated if they had missed some options on the totaled car, or if my sources were not reliable for values, etc. I explained my loan situation and said I was not looking to make some kind of profit, but I was hoping my research results would warrant at least covering the loan. They took notes, reviewed the options, heard my report on CarSoup and AutoTrader comparables... and told me they'd call back in a bit. When they called back, they said they had an alternate offer. This one would cover the entire loan, give me a check for $150, and possibly another $500 when the other insurance settles up. WOW. I was on cloud 9 and very impressed with myself after that one! I pressed my luck and asked my bank if any portion of the extended warranty was recoverable... and I hit the JACKPOT on that too... and I will get about 25% of that cost back eventually. I feel like I should go buy a lottery ticket!!! Thanks for asking :-) |
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Magic |
We had a oddesey, great vehicle, I'd get another one. If anyone else is wondering the tow package consists of P.S. cooler, wire harness and hitch. There might be an item I'm forgeting but can't think of it. At any rate by the time your done its a $900 value, just the way it is. We hauled a 16' boat for a while, it can do it but will shorten life of van and you can feel the boat in the steering. The only other thing is when you don't have Yak bars trying to open the hatch leaves you with little room to get at stuff in the rear. The insurance deal, you gotta keep heckling them. They've always lowballed me. My last crash I held out for what I wanted it took 2 months to settle but I won. Pain in the butt. I hate dealing with insurance companies. |
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BoxofRain |
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BoxofRain |
quote BoxofRain: "I would go with the American made and owned Suburban. It helped you survive your last weekend. Go with the Camo paint job and Rock the Road" They handle the snow too |
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schweady |
quote BWPaddler: "I do tie canoes only to 2x4s though - have you had issues?" BW... I'm pretty sure what beavertails is saying is similar to what Yakima suggests in their installation instructions: when the side gunwale of the canoe extends outboard of the towers (where the bar is attached to the vehicle) straps must be inboard of the tower. In other words, the strap should first be wrapped inside the vehicle attachment point under the canoe before tying up to your 2x4. |
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beavertails |
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gsfisher13 |
quote schweady: "Not an Odysey, but thought this might be a good enough spot to show off one of my new purchases this spring. Two sets of Yakima Gunwale Brackets set on some new 78 inch bars. Bonus of the long bars is the ability to occasionally carry 6 bikes once I pick up 2 more bike mounts. (It's seen here on our 2008 Taurus X - probably the most versatile, yet most poorly-marketed vehicle in history.) We have a Ford Freestyle (same as the Taurus X) and I agree, so versatile. So much in fact that Ford is "discontinuing" the name but turning the Ford Explorer into it. With the wide bars it can easily carry two canoes, or a handful of kayaks and tow a small load at the same time. Wouldn't be able to tow a pontoon though :) |
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BWPaddler |
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schweady |
quote gsfisher13: "We have a Ford Freestyle (same as the Taurus X) and I agree, so versatile. So much in fact that Ford is "discontinuing" the name but turning the Ford Explorer into it. With the wide bars it can easily carry two canoes, or a handful of kayaks and tow a small load at the same time. Wouldn't be able to tow a pontoon though :)" About the only thing they changed when going from Freestyle to X was the roofline, which made fitting a Yakima system to the existing track a bit of a challenge. I think they have now come up with their 'official' solution, but previous to that we did a (very solid) improvise after extensive Taurus X searches of bulletin boards like this one for rack owners. |