DEMCO Baseplate Installed on 2025 XLT AWD and Tested

In December, we received our new DEMCO baseplate from etrailer.com, and this past Tuesday I had it installed by Lampert Hitch in Denver, the folks who have installed 4 Blue Ox base plates on Jeeps for us and now 2 Demcos on Mavericks. They are not cheap, but they do good work.

Yesterday I went to our RV garage about 20 minutes from our house to exercise our little RV's generator and test the Mav's towing set-up. Both went fine, belying the trauma involved in getting to this point. Why the trauma? That was caused by the on-screen owners' manual in my 2025 XLT AWD Hybrid page that told me the truck cannot be neutral towed! (See photo.) As it turned out, my Maverick has an old manual loaded to its onboard computer. DUH.

Our first journey towing the new Maverick AWD is to Phoenix for a few weeks next month. Guess we're snowbirding.

Looks good. I have a Gemini too (2019 model on a 2017 Mercedes Sprinter) and the Hybrid Lariat AWD. Really interested in how the Gemini performs with a toad.

JetNoise said:

Looks good. I have a Gemini too (2019 model on a 2017 Mercedes Sprinter) and the Hybrid Lariat AWD. Really interested in how the Gemini performs with a toad.

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Our 2024 Gemini with the Ford chassis & ECO-BOOST has pulled our 2024 Maverick XLT since its first outing of about 3K miles in May of 2024. The 23TE is the runt of the litter weight-wise, I think, but with the drive train equal to the others.

We've just switched to the 2025 Mav and gotten it set up to go to Phx next month. I think the 2024 FWD Mav was rated 90 lb lighter than the 2025 AWD (at a claimed 3,764 lb "empty" weight), but we do not travel with a heavy load; I don't think we'll notice the difference. Your Lariat AWD is a bit heavier than our XLT, of course, but I don't remember how much. I researched the tow capacities of the 3 major "Class B+" category platforms, and, if I recall right, the Sprinter may have a little less grunt, but as long as you're not traveling with full fresh water and a maxed out load, you're probably going to be satisfied.

Have fun! The Maverick is super easy to switch into "neutral tow" mode once you've made all your connections to the Gemini.

Thanks for the reply. I’m planning to install a flat tow combo next month in prep for some spring/early summer travels.