Troubleshooting Poor Towing Handling on a 2005 Honda Pilot with Air Bags and Weight Distribution

Question:

Hello, we have an 05 Honda Pilot. It is set-up for towing with a trans cooler, air bags in the rear and MDX rear sub-frame braces. It has new tires, 2,000 mile ago, Michelin Cross Terrain. We have a Jayco X17Z TT. It weighs right at 3,000#. It is a new trailer and we had it set-up with a sway contol system. The hitch is a 12,000 weight distributing unit, that I inherited. It is very big and heavy. In the next few years, 2-5 we will be replacing the Pilot with a vehicle that has more capacity. However, in the mean-time lets just talk about the Pilot. The towing performance varies. I am not sold on the weight distributing system with such a light trailer and tow rig. Do you think it may be putting too much pressure on the hitch? What are your thoughts? The rear of the Pilot just seems to be pushed around a lot. In wind, the rear goes side to side. Some of it is the tires, while brand new I think they are too balloonish even when aired up. The side walls are just not stiff enough for towing. But lets ignore that for a bit. What are your thoughts on a standard hitch with the sway control system? Thanks,

asked by: Greg

Expert Reply:

We do not recommend running a weight distribution system with air bags in the rear of a vehicle. The two end up fighting each other and can cause handling problems like what you described. I would first try deflating those bags with the weight distribution system hooked up to see if that fixes the problem.

The best way to pick out a weight distribution system is to base it off of the loaded tongue weight of the setup when it is loaded and ready to tow, this figure also includes the weight of any cargo behind the rear axle of the tow vehicle. I attached an FAQ on determining tongue weight for you to check out.

With that being said, it sounds like you could be using a system rated way too high for your trailer. However, without knowing what the tongue weight rating is of the system or the tongue weight of your setup its hard to say that for certain. To see if the problem you are experiencing is related to the weight distribution system you have you could try disconnecting the spring bars to see if that helps.

expert reply by: Jameson C