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MOAB JUNKY'S PASSPORT BUILD & EXPERIENCES

12K views 32 replies 6 participants last post by  Moab Junky 
#1 · (Edited)
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Last month my Wife and I purchased our new 2020 EXL AWD Passport.
We bought it at Performance Honda in Bountiful Utah. This is Bradley, our salesman. Great guy. (Except for the fact that he forgot to put the dealer plate on and I got pulled over. Oh, and I was speeding). The V6 makes really smooth, effortless power.
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The car already had the protective plastic on the door edges and behind the door handles..

We bought the full Honda cargo and floor mats, and the trailer hitch, which I installed the minute I got home.
I didn't want to use the plastic piece that came with the hitch because it didn't match the OEM piece. So I just carefully cut out a notch in the OEM skin and bolted it up. It took about 30 minutes and it looks factory.
 
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#2 ·
The next day I ran it down to the tint shop. We had the driver and passenger windows tinted one shade darker than the sheriff likes. We had a limo tint sun shade applied to the windshield. We love that. And a 22" clear bra put on the hood and fenders.
I'm really hating these wheels and tires. Blingy yes, practical, no.
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We installed a grey dash mat, Duluth seat kinda covers. We really don't like sitting on the so called leather seats while wearing shorts. Lol.
 
#3 · (Edited)
First Impressions....

This is the most expensive car we have ever owned. I think it was the V6, ride height, overall size and the big H on the front that caught our attention.
We test drove Toyota Highlander. It was snappy and drove nice,, but I hated the 3rd row of seats. Not only were they impossible to sit in, folded down they take up valuable space and force the spare tire to be stowed under the car.

I drove our new Passport home to Colorado from Utah where we bought it. I was immediately impressed with it's power. If I didn't use the cruise control, I would catch myself speeding..by a lot.

The steering and brakes were perfect. In fact, I may go as far as to say that the steering is almost too good. A little steering wheel movement goes a long way. Very quick, very precise.

The 9 speed transmission is light years ahead of the Toyota Forerunners that I have driven.
The shifts were virtually seamless, and there was a perfect gear for every task. And it shifts when I would like it to shift. It's almost like the car knows when there is a hill up ahead.

The sign at the dealership said that they would make me smile, they weren't joking.
I messed with the paddle shifters on the freeway but couldn't figure them out.

From the solid closing doors and quiet cabin, to the rear window shades and glass that rolls ALL THE WAY DOWN, I felt great about this expensive car and had zero buyers remorse.

Sometimes I just walk out to the garage just to admire it. The fricken thing is just plain cool looking. The body creases in the hood and on the sides not only provide lots of strength, they are tastefully done. I love how the upper creases on the doors die off in the rear quarter panels.

So ya, I really like the car and my Wife LOVES it.
It's by far, the nicest car she has ever driven.
(2 CRV's previously) She never drove my 66 Chevelle Malibu!

As I stated earlier, I hated EVERYTHING about the wheels and tires. I already knew that I wanted the smallest wheels I could get. Thanks to you guys, I learned that 17" wheels were in fact clearing the brake calipers.

I ended up buying some 17"×7.5" 2009 Pilot wheels from Autorimshop in New York. I did read some bad reviews about this place, but they received 5 stars from us. Great experience.

Wheels looked like this at first.

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We paid extra to have them sand blasted and powder coated matte black.

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These have the 64.1mm hubs that I really wanted.
The offset is 45mm but because the wheels are 1/2" narrower, the tires only stick out about 1/4" further than the stockers.

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#4 · (Edited)
I wanted some all season, more aggressive tires. I also wanted to go a little taller and a bit wider. After a bunch of research, I decided to go with the Hankook Dynapro AT2's.
They are 255/65/17.
Here's a comparison.
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So today I put 225 miles on the new tires. Two hours of freeway, some 2 lane and 5 hours of dirt.
First off, I pushed this thing pretty hard in the first few corners and around the stupid round abouts. These tires remained firm and inspired confidence. On the freeway they felt fine. Blindfolded I prolly couldn't tell them apart from the stock tires.
There's no doubt that they will provide a softer ride to some degree. They were very quiet. I like that. They have a 60,000 mile warranty. Not bad for an open tread tire.
If I find anything I dislike about them, I will post it. Hankook ain't paying me, lol.


We just got back from Moab tonight. While we only had one tire barely off the ground once, we didn't experience a single fender rub all day. I like that.

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I really like the open tread pattern. The blocks have points on them to keep them quiet on the freeway.
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I couldn't be happier with these tires so far. When we get some snow I will update this review.
Moab was amazing today, and this rig was a joy to drive. We didn't drag our bottom but I had to be super careful in a few sections. Trust me, I thought about the benefits of a 2" lift.

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I will say, today I learned how to use the paddle shifters. It was so nice to put this thing in select mode and have it stay in whatever gear I chose.
Super nice going down the steep stuff.
Trust me, we climbed some steep hills.

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#5 · (Edited)
The suspension on this rig is pretty darn stiff. Minutes into the trail I knew I had to let some air out of the tires. I had 40 psi in them.

I let the first one down to 18 pounds and realized it was too much, or should I say, too little.
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I ran it up to 22.5 psi. That turned out to be just right. So I let out roughly 50% of the air in each tire and it made a WORLD OF DIFFERENCE. If I let 50% of the air out of my stock 20" tires, I'd be officially broke down. That is one of the main reasons to increase your air capacity, your sidewall height.
The off road rule of thumb is that your tires must be at least twice as tall as your rims.
Now we are talking about crawlers, so take it with a grain of salt, because these Passports spend most of their lives on road.

Finding the happy medium is what I'm trying to do. I certainly want my car to be safe cruising down a curvey two lane mountain pass at 50 or 60 mph. At the same time, I'd like to be able to air down for comfort or added traction.
My Jeep came with 18" wheels. I wasted no time replacing them with 15" wheels. When I aired those 35" tires down, I had to be extra careful not to break axles because of all the added traction and leverage.
The more sidewall you have, the further you can air down, the more traction or comfort you can enjoy.
It saves from shaking your rig apart too!

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22.5 psi here.
Usually in the past I aired down primarily for added traction. Today I aired down solely for comfort. The difference was amazing. Ask my Mother.
We did climb some fairly steep, loose switchbacks. The tires and AWD pulled us right up them. Impressive.

Eyewear Vision care Sunglasses Car seat Goggles


She, like her Son, has always enjoyed cars with some get up and go. She drives a Chrysler 300 with the Hemi. She marveled at how this Passport moved.

On the way home we stopped and I showed her some really cool dinosaur tracks.

Sand


Good times.
We came home in the dark. I noticed a low air alert. Come to find out, I ran over something and we got a flat. It was nice having a full sized spare.

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#6 ·
Reaching the negative terminal on the battery is impossible without removing stuff. I just sanded the edges of a fender bracket. It worked great when I hooked up my compressor.

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I'm not used to airing up such small tires. It was much quicker, a nice change. This little Smittybuilt compressor fills one tire from 22.5 psi to 40 psi in about 4 minutes. A must have. I'm telling you, Mom and I would have lost tooth fillings if we didn't air down.

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Speaking of airing down, if you don't have some sort of tire deflator, you can't go wrong with this Currie model.

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#7 ·
While attempting to remove my donut spare from the back I found I was unable to turn the hold down bolt with my hand. It has a large plastic wing on it so it can be done without tools.
I took a 2"×2" wood scrap and made this .

Wood Hardwood Wood stain Tan Varnish

The notch slips over the large plastic wing and makes removal a breeze. I did coat the threads with some anti-sieze.

Light Gas Candle Circle Space


I also made a step/bumper guard for the hitch.
It makes getting in and out a breeze and also offers some added protection if we back into something or get bumped from behind.

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#8 · (Edited)
So I pulled the donut out and placed my full sized spare in its place. Surprisingly enough, it slid all the way in.

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Now this tire is 30.1" tall, which I believe is taller than any trim level stock tire.
Another pleasant discovery, if you rotate the tire just right, you can run a longer tie down bolt down through a lug hole in the wheel and secure the wheel and tire to the factory threaded anchor point.
Were half way there!

As you can see, the full size tire is much wider than the donut.

Tire Wheel Automotive tire Automotive wheel system Rim

There is no way the cargo cover is going to fold back down in place with that fat tire in there.

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Its about 4" too fat.
One could unhook the platform completely, build some supports to put underneath it, lay it down on top of the tire and new supports and go on their merry way. Of course there would be a 4 inch gap at the back and near the floor behind the back seats.
One could also remove the entire cargo platform for specific outings. Soft bags would ride real well back there without it.
THE IMPORTANT THING IS TO MAKE SURE THE SPARE IS SECURE.

Unless I can stow this big tire underneath the cargo platform, I will simply leave it at home and take the donut when I'm staying in town.

On off road and out of town trips, I will take the full sized spare.
I'm trying to keep the roof stock to keep wind noise down and to maintain the best possible mpg's. I don't like the idea of a tire up there.

So I see only 3 options.

This:

Trunk Automotive lighting Hood Bumper City car


This: with the cargo platform removed or lifted.

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Or mounted to a rear trailer hitch bracket.

I've done plenty of off-roading in a two door jeep.
With only 2 doors, I found myself opening the rear gate a lot. With gas cans on the rear bumper rack, I'd have to crawl behind the seats at times to get to stuff. Not fun.
However, this rig has two full sized rear side doors.
It is pretty easy to access the back of the cargo area through these doors. And, with a little planning, you can load coolers or other things you might need frequently next to the doors.

And honestly, if the hitch mounted tire carrier does not fold down or swing to the side, how hard would it really be to pull the pin and slide the whole thing out?

I'll dink around with this and go with the option that works best for me. And if you folks come up with something that works for you, please post up a pic. I'm all ears.
 
#11 ·
You bet, just trying to give back and learn more.
I slobbered all over your build thread, lol.

Car is on the Discount Tire rack as we speak. I'll take pic in a bit.

Thanks
 
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#16 ·
I'm not sure if I'm frugal or cheap, but I wanted black lug nuts to go with our new wheels.
I experimented with 5 of the stock chrome nuts.

First I scuffed them up with some 600 grit sandpaper.
Then I put the torch to them.
I sprayed several thin coats of Krylon satin black on them. Then more heat.
Cable Floor Technology Flooring Wire


I even cooked them a bit on the stove until they started to smoke. I let them dry overnight.

Gas Heat Wood-burning stove Iron Hearth


I left the impact gun in the drawer and put a plastic bag over them during install.
No chips.

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I'm sure I'll be touching them up down the road.
 
#17 ·
Good idea on retaining the Honda hitch cap. Kinda dumb of Honda to make it a plastic material that is nice & snug (at first; during the summer) but then it contracts in the cold and now won't stay in the frickin' hitch socket. I have it stored for fear of losing it because it won't stay in.
And also hard to find new (aftermarket) hitch covers that fit well since the hitch is so shallow.
 
#19 ·
Exactly, I have 4 of those caps, 3 of which I found because they fell out of someone else's car,, lol.
Mine will never fall out.
I almost always have my step in my hitch. I use it all the time.
 
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#18 · (Edited)
Thanks for the Pic of the hitch cutout. I thought it would sit higher up than that. I'm thinking I'd probably go aftermarket if I ever install one.

You mentioned 4 Runners, they're supposed to be legendary from what I read in terms of reliability but the PP I believe is a more well rounded vehicle. The most offroad I'll ever see here is the X-Mas tree farm and the local dirt track which I could do in my Accord.

Somewhere on the forum, I posted from the Ridgeline forum about inserting a bolt on the fender to use it as a ground terminal.
 
#20 ·
I thought it would sit higher up than that.
You bet.
Every picture of the aftermarket hitches I saw were considerably lower than the Honda hitch.
I wanted it even higher too. I'm happy with the way it turned out.


I agree on your take on the 4 runner. But if you need a low range then it makes sense.
My Dad and Sister both have 4runners. 100% reliable but the cruise control is almost impossible to use if it's hilly or if you have a head wind.
Driving the PP with the CC on is a joy. In fact, on my way to Moab yesterday we faced horrible head winds. I mentioned to my Mom that if we were in the FJ we'd be burning lots of fuel.
Not only did we NOT refuel in Moab after breakfast, but we were just under half a tank when we got home. Loving this car.

I saw the grounding bolt pic. I put my test light on that fender mount BEFORE I sanded it and it made contact. The paint on those edges was very thin. There is a ground from the battery about a foot from that location.
 
#23 · (Edited)
I finally got around to building my spare carrier.

I started with an old piece of 3/16" steel.
Wood stain Tan Plywood Paint


I cut it out with my grinder. I put a cut off disc on it. Anyone can do this.
Metalworking Machine Tool Service Grinding

Hoisted the wheel up to make marking the holes easier.


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I had some 1/2" bolts on hand.

Tool Iron Machine Drill Power tool


Bolts welded in place.

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#24 · (Edited)
Shelf Bicycle frame Shelving Box Collection


Personal protective equipment Headgear Helmet Door Shelf



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I left the donut in the back. We will only slide this baby into the hitch when we go out of town.
Its super easy sliding the whole thing out.
The 2x2" steel is only 1/8" thick, so it's not all that heavy, but plenty strong.
 
#25 ·
So today, we went for a Sunday drive out to the desert to visit our dear old Yellow Labs grave site.
I decided to test the Passport out on some really steep, loose hills.
HOLY COW!!!
The electronic traction control features in this AWD are amazing.
The pictures do not do the size or steepness of these hills justice, but I'm here to tell you, this thing was very impressive.
I didn't speed up any of these hills, just crawled them in first gear.
I am loving these Hankook Dynapro tires. We did not air down.

Mountainous landforms Slope Landscape Hill Soil

I did get the tires to break loose climbing up the face of the hill in the above photo.

Crawling up the backbone on the harder trail was effortless. No spinning, and again, much steeper than it looks.
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Approach angle isn't bad, departure is a bit better. Breakover is ok, but is the lesser of the three.
Here our muffler is touching the hill.

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Overall, I was quite impressed. We never did touch the front or rear bumpers on the ground.
 
#27 · (Edited)
I'm not sure why, but I really dislike Chrome.
I used black Plasti Dip to black out my rear badges.

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For those of you who haven't used this stuff, it is mostly rubber, dries firm, but not hard,, non tacky, and with a little effort, can be removed years later.
You can paint it for added toughness and color.

It actually protects the paint or badges that you apply it to from road salt, mag chloride and UV rays.

This Ford emblem was sprayed several years ago. It used to be blue. The Plasti Dip gets into the finest cracks. Pretty cool.

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You don't have to mask off the whole car. This stuff is real heavy and doesn't travel through the air as easily as paint does. If you wax your car before hand, it peels off much easier. Just clean the badges really well prior to spraying them with the dip.
A clean soft rag will remove overspray.

I masked it off like this. Pull the tape off carefully, down and away from the letters.

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And then gently peel away from the letters like ths.

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A wooden toothpick is needed to remove the dip from the center of the letters. It won't scratch your paint.. Pulling down and away from the letters.. (You can leave those centers black if you wish) I picked mine out.
 
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#33 ·
I don't have a plasma cutter. So octagon was easy to cut, and more stable than a triangle.

I just traced 3 lug holes right onto the octagon, then drilled them out. Fit was perfect.
 
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