Our summer trip with new Maverick Toad

[Penndavis]

Heading North and it’s been great having this Maverick. For day trips or excursions. It’s changed the way we plan and do things, plus I think it looks great being towed.

Sponsored

 

[Donald]

Same here. Gotta believe more and more people will be choosing the Maverick for tow. So versatile.

 

[GreenLady]

And here I thought you named your Maverick Toad

 

[Palms]

Wish both you guys infinitely much better luck than I had on my first 88 mile schedule way trip with correctly setting tow mode and 12v battery failures.

 

[JBryant]

Are you guys using Blue Ox or Roadmaster base plates? I need to get mine ready for Fall excursion to see Fall Foliage in New England, but for some reason cannot decide on whether to have the bottom portion of grill removed for Roadmaster or have the bumper cut for Blue Ox. Just wish there was a third alternative that did not require modifications.

 

[GPSMan]

Are you guys using Blue Ox or Roadmaster base plates? I need to get mine ready for Fall excursion to see Fall Foliage in New England, but for some reason cannot decide on whether to have the bottom portion of grill removed for Roadmaster or have the bumper cut for Blue Ox. Just wish there was a third alternative that did not require modifications.

There is.

Put front wheels on a dolly.
The truck will be happier.
And you won't pull your hair out.
This is not a good candidate for flat towing. Possible, yes. Recommended, no.

There are battery issues and transmission issues and you will always be "wondering" about these things with 4 on the ground.

If you don't want to buy and store a dolly, rent one. Pretty cheap to rent.

 

[JBryant]

There is.

Put front wheels on a dolly.
The truck will be happier.
And you won't pull your hair out.
This is not a good candidate for flat towing. Possible, yes. Recommended, no.

There are battery issues and transmission issues and you will always be "wondering" about these things with 4 on the ground.

If you don't want to buy and store a dolly, rent one. Pretty cheap to rent.

Thanks for the reply. I had a tow dolly that I used for one trip with my Kia Niro hybrid and had no problems pulling. The only problem I had is that I am 76 yrs old, not in great health, and it was tough crawling under to hook up safety chains. I could put the pin in ok and had little trouble with the wheel straps. That crazy thing had a blowout while coming back from a 600 mi trip, and when it did, it ripped a fender off and broke a wheel strap. Wound up pushing it in the road ditch and driving the car home while my wife drove the motor home. Any recommendations on a good tow dolly to use? I think we had an el cheapo that we bought when we bought the motor home.

 

[GPSMan]

Thanks for the reply. I had a tow dolly that I used for one trip with my Kia Niro hybrid and had no problems pulling. The only problem I had is that I am 76 yrs old, not in great health, and it was tough crawling under to hook up safety chains. I could put the pin in ok and had little trouble with the wheel straps. That crazy thing had a blowout while coming back from a 600 mi trip, and when it did, it ripped a fender off and broke a wheel strap. Wound up pushing it in the road ditch and driving the car home while my wife drove the motor home. Any recommendations on a good tow dolly to use? I think we had an el cheapo that we bought when we bought the motor home.

Pros and cons of every method.
The hybrid has so much complexity. Electrical complexity for one.
I'm about to give some of you nightmares. Sorry. I feel I should justify my recommendation not to tow 4 wheels down.

It has to "stay awake" to "stay in neutral" so it is consuming power the whole time it is on the hitch. It is unknown what will happen if the battery dies or heaven forbid a battery wire bounces loose while in motion as a Toad. Probably nothing spectacular, but this is untested. Power is needed to move the parking pawl. So it "probably" won't be able to go into park with a dead battery. What if you tow your toad a really long time? I'm sure you've read you have to start and run the truck engine once every 6 hours. Some people report they have to do this every 4-5 hours to keep the battery up.

Then what if you forget to re-establish tow mode through all the button presses each time? Lots of opportunity for human error. Lots of opportunity for dead batteries too. The starting every six hours is a requirement to lubricate the moving parts, and to recharge the batteries.

Here's a dirty little secret no one wants to talk about.
There is no mechanical neutral.
Just an electrically simulated neutral.
Oh ya, gears are spinning and motors and generators are a turning while in simulated neutral mode.

In fact, at 80 MPH you are spinning your hybrid motors 10,000 RPM while towing it front wheels down! (Yes I have the video to prove it.)

The wheels, eCVT, motors, and generator are all ATTACHED AND CONTINUOUSLY IN MESH.
It's one feature that makes it reliable and gracefully simple and smooth to operate. But you are doing the exact same amount of mechanical wear and tear towing it, as driving it, gas engine excepted.

If you want to tow 4 flat, don't you want something simple, that can be dead cold in the water electrically for your whole trip, with a mechanical disconnect like a Jeep or something?

Disclaimer: I am a Hybrid geek, having had Ford Hybrid since 2005. But I must disclose I have never towed a hybrid 4 flat. I'm just really uncomfortable with the process involved. Let me put some short videos together that may surprise some of you.

 

[GPSMan]

Some short (10 sec each) videos showing the "Simulated Tow Modes".

#1 Normal Hybrid Driving to set the stage. Slow 6-8 MPH. Truck with engine at idle.

Generator: +3720 RPM (& charging)
Traction Motor: +700 RPM (Fixed ratio to wheels, 125 per mph)
Engine: +1250 RPM (always positive direction)

 

[GPSMan]

#2
Slow Speed EV Drive 6-8 MPH

Generator: -888 RPM
Traction Motor: +888 RPM
Gas Engine: 0 (off)

With gas engine off, generator and traction motor always spin equal and opposite directions.

 

[Palms]

Like JBryant, we are also in our mid-70s. I towed with a dolly for many years with my first motorhome and promised to myself that, if I ever got another one, I would tow four wheels down.

I’ve never looked back for the six years that we did four wheels down.

Now with a hybrid, I’ve discovered the perils of having the battery die, transmission go into park, and parking brake be applied, without being able to jump or charge. Mind you, I have an RVi battery charger installed so in theory, the motorhome is always charging my battery much more than what it can drain. Seems that the charger may have been the cause, RVi will investigate with my unit to be returned .

That, notwithstanding, I must say I’ve lost a little bit of faith in TopGun, because of what happened on our last trip. As posted elsewhere, it was only 88 miles each way. When we got home, and I disconnected, the final solution was to have a tow truck come in. It lifted the front wheels and mounted the rear wheels on a dolly. I can’t think of what would happen if instead of being at home it was somewhere on the road. Makes GPSmsn’s comments all the more valid, even though I can’t get under a tow dolly anymore. Get some popcorn and keep watching.

Wish we had a forum for Toads, to complement the towing one, as we’re more interested in the front end happenings, while that one focuses more on rear end issues. Maybe as more hybrids become toads.

 

[GPSMan]

#3
Slow speed switch to Simulated Neutral while driving at slow speed 6-9 MPH.
Indistinguishable from EV drive mode, except no torque in either direction.

Generator: -1000 RPM
Traction Motor: +1000 RPM
Gas Engine: 0 (off)

 

[GPSMan]

#4
"Neutral Tow Mode" Enabled following the directions like towing behind a motor home. I didn't have a motorhome handy so coasted down a slight decline WITHOUT THE TRUCK STARTED / RUNING. Dark dash. No "ready" light.

Video stops abruptly because the CAN network sending me data went to sleep. I had to stop the video and wake-up the network and restart the video. The fact the radio and CAN network even have ability to run in TOAD mode; explains some of the battery drain issues. The truck is ALIVE while in TOAD mode.

In TOAD mode generator and traction motor are spinning same as usual, because they must. There is no physical disconnect. The software only says "give no torque and do no generating". That and parking pawl out = simulated neutral.

Neutal TOAD MODE:
Coasting down a small decline 4-6 MPH:

Generator: -500 RPM
Traction Motor: +500 RPM
Gas Engine: 0 (off)

Two videos:

 

[Donald]

What kind of battery failure?

 

[Donald]

Are you guys using Blue Ox or Roadmaster base plates? I need to get mine ready for Fall excursion to see Fall Foliage in New England, but for some reason cannot decide on whether to have the bottom portion of grill removed for Roadmaster or have the bumper cut for Blue Ox. Just wish there was a third alternative that did not require modifications.

I went Blue Ox because I already had the Blue Ox setup for my Honda CRV. If you take your time, you can make the cutout look good.

Sponsored