2007 Honda Pilot Towing Capacities

The 2007 Honda Pilots were pretty capable when it came to their overall towing capacity and were able to achieve a maximum of 4,500 pounds, if you had the proper equipment and met certain criteria. I did a bunch of research and put together this article that lays out all the information in a brief overview type of format. 

Read through your owner's manual to get familiar with your vehicle and to make sure you adhere to all of Honda's recommendations when it comes to anything regarding your vehicle.

2007 Pilot Overview


Overall Towing Capacity: The towing capacity for the 2007 Honda Pilot's ranged from 0-4,500 lbs. and was determined by the number of occupants you had in the vehicle and what type of trailer you were pulling behind you. If you had 8 occupants in the vehicle, then you had no capacity whatsoever. Also, if you did not have the ATF and power steering cooler installed, you also were unable to haul anyting.


Engine Options: There we're no engine options available for the 2007 models, like a lot of other model years and only one engine was available, which was the 3.5 L engine that came in a V6 configuration. This is the main reason why the charts didn't have a lot of variations in the numbers.


Trim Levels: There were three different trim levels available for these model year SUVs, but the trim level you had equipped on your vehicle did not affect the maximum trailer weight rating at all.

Assumed Weight: It is important to note that Honda did provide an assumed weight for each occupant in the vehicle, which you can find at the bottom of the chart I have posted in the fine print. Honda listed each occupant having an assumed weight of 150 lbs., plus 15 lbs. of luggage, which brings the total to 165 lbs. per occupant.

The Two Charts:

If you look below, you will see a screenshot of what I found in the owner's manual as far as the tow charts go and there were two different charts that gave maximum trailer weight ratings, according to what type of trailer you were pulling. The top chart below gives the specs if you were pulling a boat trailer behind you and the chart below that is for all other types of trailers.

If we compare the data in the two charts, we can see that you have a much higher capacity if you were pulling a boat trailer behind you, compared to other types of trailers. We have a maximum weight rating of 4,500 lbs. for boat trailers and only 3,500 lbs. for other types of trailers. Now, if you had eight people in the vehicle then you did not have any capacity whatsoever, no matter what type of trailer you were pulling.

2007 Honda Pilot Towing Chart

Tongue Weight Rating:

The tongue weight ratings for the 2007 pilots were the same as all the other model years, at least according to my research. There were two different specifications listed and these were for, again, dependent upon what kind of trailer you were pulling behind you.

The manual stated that 5-10% of the trailer's total weight should be on the hitch of your vehicle if you were pulling a boat trailer behind you and you had an increased tongue weight rating of 8-15% of the trailer's total weight for all other types.

If you look at the charts I have posted at the top of this article, you can see that there are maximum tongue load weight ratings listed, right next to the maximum trailer weight ratings.

2007 Honda Pilot Tongue Weight Rating

Trailer Brakes:

Trailer brakes are also an important element when it comes to pulling anything with your vehicle and Honda requires that you have trailer brakes equipped on your trailer, independent of your vehicle's brakes if the trailer weighs 1,000 lbs. or more. Be sure to check with your local laws to see if Honda's requirements meet your local requirements and if you have to, make adjustments to compensate your local law enforcement agencies' requirements.

2006 Honda Trailer Brakes

Trim Levels:

There were only three different trim levels available for these 2007 Honda Pilots, which I was able to find listed in the spec sheet. These three trim levels were listed as the: LX, EX and EX-L models.

I do want to mention that the trim level that you had did not affect the overall maximum trailer weight ratings that were listed in the charts, other factors affected the numbers instead, like the number of occupants in the vehicle.

GVWR, GCWR and GAWR Figures:

GVWR: The gross vehicle weight rating was listed for all models and was the same exact metric, no matter what model you had. The gross vehicle weight rating was listed at 5,950 lbs. maximum and this would be the maximum amount of weight that your vehicle could handle. 

GAWRs: Both of the gross axle weight ratings were also listed and these were set at a limit of 2,865 lbs. for the front axle and 3,155 lbs. for the rear axle.

GCWR: The gross combined weight rating was set at 9,700 lbs., but it is important to note that this was listed with the proper hitch and both the automatic transmission fluid cooler, along with the power steering fluid cooler. There was also another note that talked about higher elevation areas and how the gross combined weight rating must be reduced by 2% for every 1,000 feet of elevation change.

2007 Pilot GVWR, GAWR and GCWR

Do I Have A Transmission & Power Steering Cooler?

The charts also mentioned that the maximum trailer weight ratings were only achievable if you had the automatic transmission and power steering fluid coolers equipped, and (as you can see from the screenshot below) if you did not have these equipped, you had no ability to tow whatsoever.

If you are wondering if you have these coolers installed on your vehicle, then the best way to find out would be to take it into a dealership to see if they can verify if you have these. 

The other route you could go, if you are mechanically inclined, is to visually inspect for cooler lines that run either to the radiator itself or to an axillary cooler in front of the radiator and follow them back to see if your vehicle has transmission and power steering cooling lines that run to either of these two components.

Pilot ATF and PS Cooler Note

Other Notes I Found:

There were also other additional bits of information that I found, while I was browsing through the owner's manual, one of which talks about pulling a trailer off-road and the other talks a little about using a weight distributing hitch on your vehicle. That's why it's always important to read through your manual, as there is lots of information that you need to know.

2006 Pilot Towing A Trailer Off Road
06 Pilot Weight Distributing Hitch Warning

Helpful Links:

The two main resources I used for the research in this article came from the owner's manual and the 2007 Pilot spec sheet, both of which I found online. The owner's manual was really the main resource I used for most of my research and is where I found a lot of the images I have posted in this article. I wanted to link to these two resources for those of you out there that may want to check them out for yourselves.

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