1,400 Mile Trip Towing 2643 lbs total load - results, thoughts and photos

[Jmav2152]

So I finally got to use my little Maverick to move some decent weight and get a feel for how it handles it. Earlier this week I moved from San Antonio, TX back to Cleveland, Ohio and brought all my belongings out of My GFs apartment. No we did not break up, but I got a job offer and had to move back sooner than we anticipated lol. I didn't have too much stuff but the big items were my motorcycle, computer setup to include the massive chair and steel desk, a Old country BBQ Pit for my brother and just a bunch of clothes, riding gear and misc. small items.

I weighed my setup at the tail end of the trip on a CAT scale and it came out to 6500lbs on the dot with the tank at about 1/4 full at the time. Door sticker list the GVWR at 5205lbs and payload at 1348lbs so from that the curb weight of my Lariat Lux, 4k, FX4 Mav is 3857lbs. Subtracting the curb weight from my scale weight that brings my total load to 2643lbs. That weight was distributed through the 5x8 Uhaul trailer(approx. 950lbs) and bed of the Mav. I just had a couple backpacks in the back seat.

Bike and Fire pit loaded first.

Trailer and bed Loaded with all my junk.
​

Ill say off that bat that pulling a unloaded trailer is noisy as hell and alarming until you get used to it. I imagine that it stems from the unibody just allowing all that hitch noise to makes its way to the cab. I used a 3" Reece(or Reese?) drop hitch along with a ubolt style stabilizer. I do like how the Mav has big chain loops so you can pass the chain back through and connect back versus being stuck doing some goofy twist action. Loaded down with id wager about 1800-2klb trailer weight the Mav had minimal squat. I'm glad another member on here recommended a 3" drop hitch as it it definitely helps get the trailers more level and this hitch setup will allow me to tow with having dirtbikes in the bed. I do think its pretty intuitive that once you connect a set of trailer lights to the Mav is automatically disables Blind spot monitoring, Back up sensors, and rear cross traffic alert as these systems can get confused and even out of calibration if left on during towing. The trailer light check/status screen is a nice touch but I still check physically just to be safe. To me it shows that even though the maverick isn't a big hauler, towing wasn't a afterthought on the vehicles design.

All in all it looks pretty Damn good Id say!
​

So I set off early Monday morning and ultimately it's quite uneventful until later on, which we will get to. For the first day i went from SATX to Shreveport, LA to pick up some bike parts from my brothers friend and then headed on to Hurricane Mills, TN to crash for the night. About a 14 hour day but tbh I was no where beat up as I though I would be. Traffic conditions were pretty decent and weather was blue skies and sunny and temps in the mid to low 80s. This carried on to the next day and I hit the ground running until about 1pm when disaster struck.

About 30 miles out of Cincinnati and 300ish from home, a piece of road debris maybe 1"x18" stick was unavoidable. cruise set at 70mph, it left the Mav unharmed but it absolutely hobbled the trailer. Immediately it flattened out the trailer passenger side tire and I started to slow down, i could see the trailer leaning but i was coming up to a large bridge and did not want to stop there on a major interstate(71 NB). So as I slowly got over the bridge i noticed the exit not even a half mile away and decided to limp to the Loves right off the exit. I come to the exit intersection and start to make my left turn, right after the turn the road turns into overpass and immediately as i hit the lip of the surface change a loud "BAAMMM" and the passenger side of the trailer is pretty much on the ground. I'm like "Holy F*ck" and drag this broken mess to the side of the road. My guess was that whatever that debris was, it sheared off the leaf pack bolt.

Found the missing link(Leaf)!!
​

So about 7 hours later I was able to get back on the road. U-Haul wasn't the worst but it did take a bit to get a competent person on the line. They also thought it was just a flat at first but after I was able to explain and get some pictures uploaded they got a flat bed sent out about 3 hours later. I did unhitch and drive over to Loves to get a bite and use the bathroom while being able to see the trailer from the parking lot and get off the over pass, seemed like a safer idea at the time. The Mav handled the flat like a champ, super stable and controlled and I'm pretty sure if I wanted to I could have drug that trailer into the Loves parking lot. U-Haul Arranged the tow to another U-Haul location where they had the trailer ready. They did arrange for movers since they only offered me $100 to self move my items over but loading a 470lb motorcycle with out a ramp was just not my idea of fun, ironically enough the movers never came and I had to do it anyways but the Older gentleman at U-Haul lent me a hand and I found a 6ft 2x6 in their lot that made it much easier. Cha-ching I'm $100 less poor! my reload configuration changed up a bit since I wasn't stopping that night so i put the fire pit in the bed which made everything else muchhhhh easier to fit it.

So another 300 miles and I made it home.
​

So with all that here's my feedback on towing a mid/mild load with the maverick:

Its pretty damn good. I ran it in tow mode the entire time approx. 70-75mph the whole trip. It never struggled to find the proper gear, never drop shifted overly hard and it up shifted smartly to try and stay efficient, I don't think I ever really saw it go over 5k RPMS. The turbo would spool up until it couldn't hang, then drop shift, then take off. I knew the trailer was back there but it never stressed me like towing a 6x12 with dirtbikes in my F150 did. Downshifting/engine braking was predictable and very timely. Mirrors were fine for this narrow of a trailer but I could see the desire for something better on a wider trailer. I used ACC and Lane centering almost the entire time with ACC at the third farthest setting and maybe once or twice did I get a more than desired "aggressive braking". Lane centering is a champ and gets rid of all the micro movements and it kept the trailer straight as a arrow. Given I don't think I dealt with much crosswind and would most certainly not use it if it felt like it couldn't keep up but that's always coming down to the current feel of the drive. Its also much quieter on the ball once a load is in the trailer. The only thing that caught me off guard was a smaller tank. 16 gallons seems like a lot but when you are used to 32 or 38 gallon tanks it just felt a bit short on range than I had experienced in the past.

From My old apartment parking lot in TX to my driveway in OH.
​

I'm pretty happy with 15.7 MPG, going 70-75 most of the trip at a 60mph average on 245/65s towing/carrying just over 2600lbs. I ran 87 the whole trip except my second tank and didn't notice anything grand out of the 93, then it started to be over $4 and I was like mehh, back to 87. I don't know but to me that's borderline great when my 13' F150 5.0 would barely get 13MPG with the same load if not less.

With that said, I'm not sure what else to say or talk about, if anyone has questions please feel free to ask and I do my best to answer.

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[Dadmezz]

So I finally got to use my little Maverick to move some decent weight and get a feel for how it handles it. Earlier this week I moved from San Antonio, TX back to Cleveland, Ohio and brought all my belongings out of My GFs apartment. No we did not break up, but I got a job offer and had to move back sooner than we anticipated lol. I didn't have too much stuff but the big items were my motorcycle, computer setup to include the massive chair and steel desk, a Old country BBQ Pit for my brother and just a bunch of clothes, riding gear and misc. small items.

I weighed my setup at the tail end of the trip on a CAT scale and it came out to 6500lbs on the dot with the tank at about 1/4 full at the time. Door sticker list the GVWR at 5205lbs and payload at 1348lbs so from that the curb weight of my Lariat Lux, 4k, FX4 Mav is 3857lbs. Subtracting the curb weight from my scale weight that brings my total load to 2643lbs. That weight was distributed through the 5x8 Uhaul trailer(approx. 950lbs) and bed of the Mav. I just had a couple backpacks in the back seat.

Bike and Fire pit loaded first.

Trailer and bed Loaded with all my junk.
​

Ill say off that bat that pulling a unloaded trailer is noisy as hell and alarming until you get used to it. I imagine that it stems from the unibody just allowing all that hitch noise to makes its way to the cab. I used a 3" Reece(or Reese?) drop hitch along with a ubolt style stabilizer. I do like how the Mav has big chain loops so you can pass the chain back through and connect back versus being stuck doing some goofy twist action. Loaded down with id wager about 1800-2klb trailer weight the Mav had minimal squat. I'm glad another member on here recommended a 3" drop hitch as it it definitely helps get the trailers more level and this hitch setup will allow me to tow with having dirtbikes in the bed. I do think its pretty intuitive that once you connect a set of trailer lights to the Mav is automatically disables Blind spot monitoring, Back up sensors, and rear cross traffic alert as these systems can get confused and even out of calibration if left on during towing. The trailer light check/status screen is a nice touch but I still check physically just to be safe. To me it shows that even though the maverick isn't a big hauler, towing wasn't a afterthought on the vehicles design.

All in all it looks pretty Damn good Id say!
​

So I set of early Monday morning and ultimately is quite uneventful until later on, which we will get to. For the first day i went from SATX to Shreveport, LA to pick up some bike parts from my brothers friend and then headed on to Hurricane Mills, TN to crash for the night. About a 14 hour day but tbh I was no where beat up as I though I would be. Traffic conditions were pretty decent and weather was blue skies and sunny and temps in the mid to low 80s. This carried on to the next day and I hit the ground running until about 1pm when disaster struck.

About 30 miles out of Cincinnati and 300ish from home, a piece of road debris maybe 1"x18" stick was unavoidable. cruise set at 70mph, it left the Mav unharmed but it absolutely hobbled the trailer. Immediately it flattened out the trailer passenger side tire and I started to slow down, i could see the trailer leaning but i was coming up to a large bridge and did not want to stop there on a major interstate(71 NB). So as I slowly got over the bridge i noticed the exit not even a half mile away and decided to limp to the Loves right off the exit. I come to the exit intersection and start to make my left turn, right after the turn the road turns into over bass and immediately as i hit the lip of the surface change a loud "BAAMMM" and the passenger side of the trailer is pretty much on the ground. I'm like "Holy F*ck" and drag this broken mess to the side of the road. My guess was that whatever that debris was, it sheared off the leaf pack bolt.

Found the missing link(Leaf)!!
​

So about 7 hours later I was able to get back on the road. U-Haul wasn't the worst but it did take a bit to get a competent person on the line. They also thought it was just a flat at first but after I was able to explain and get some pictures uploaded they got a flat bed sent out about 3 hours later. I did unhitch and drive over to Loves to get a bite and use the bathroom while being able to see the trailer from the parking lot and get off the over pass, seemed like a safer idea at the time. The Mav handled the flat like a champ, super stable and controlled and I'm pretty sure if I wanted to I could have drug that trailer into the Loves parking lot. U-Haul Arranged the tow to another U-Haul location where they had the trailer ready. They did arrange for movers since they only offered me $100 to self move my items over but loading a 470lb motorcycle with out a ramp was just not my idea of fun, ironically enough the movers never came and I had to do it anyways but the Older gentleman at U-Haul lent me a hand and I found a 6ft 2x6 in their lot that made it much easier. Cha-ching I'm $100 less poor! my reload configuration changed up a bit since I wasn't stopping that night so i put the fire pit in the bed which made everything else muchhhhh easier to fit it.

So another 300 miles and I made it home.
​

So with all that here's my feedback on towing a mid/mild load with the maverick:

Its pretty damn good. I ran it in tow mode the entire time approx. 70-75mph the whole trip. It never struggled to find the proper gear, never drop shifted overly hard and it up shifted smartly to try and stay efficient, I don't think I ever really saw it go over 5k RPMS. The turbo would spool up until it couldn't hang, then drop shift, then take off. I knew the trailer was back there but it never stressed me like towing a 6x12 with dirtbikes in my F150 did. Downshifting/engine braking was predictable and very timely. Mirrors were fine for this narrow of a trailer but I could see the desire for something better on a wider trailer. I used ACC and Lane centering almost the entire time with ACC at the third farthest setting and maybe once or twice did I get a more than desired "aggressive braking". Lane centering is a champ and gets rid of all the micro movements and it kept the trailer straight as a arrow. Given I don't think I dealt with much crosswind and would most certainly not use it if it felt like it couldn't keep up but that's always coming down to the current feel of the drive. Its also much quieter on the ball once a load is in the trailer. The only thing that caught me off guard was a smaller tank. 16 gallons seems like a lot but when you are used to 32 or 38 gallon tanks it just felt a bit short on range than I had experienced in the past.

From My old apartment parking lot in TX to my driveway in OH.
​

I'm pretty happy with 15.7 MPG, going 70-75 most of the trip at a 60mph average on 245/65s towing/carrying just over 2600lbs. I ran 87 the whole trip except my second tank and didn't notice anything grand out of the 93, then it started to be over $4 and I was like mehh, back to 87. I don't know but to me that's borderline great when my 13' F150 5.0 would barely get 13MPG with the same load if not less.

With that said, I'm not sure what else to say or talk about, if anyone has questions please feel free to ask and I do my best to answer.

Thanks for sharing your towing experience. Good write up.

How was the cabin wind noise, handling when passing trucks, and you seat comfort?

 

[Jmav2152]

Thanks for sharing your towing experience. Good write up.

How was the cabin wind noise, handling when passing trucks, and you seat comfort?

Thank you!

Cabin noise is really non issue. The Acoustic windshield on the lariat does a fantastic job. You'll get some noise from the passenger windows from the mirror but it's very much minor. It's quieter than my 17' Outback Limited I had before the Mav.

Passing was easy peezy, never a issue getting power to move it at speed. One time after a long wait and a back log of left passers behind me a semi finally got over. I let her rip and before I realized I had clipped 91mph and was like "JFC that was too easy, sheesh".

Seat comfort is pretty good. I'm 6'6" and make it work for me. It's no f150 or superduty but I'm comfortable and if my lower back ever starts feeling it I would leat the heated seats do there thing and they do it well. I'd say they are really good for the level of vehicle.

 

[KFBR392]

Totally solid MPG given your cruising speeds, nice.

Did you pay extra for the uhaul insurance, or did they just take care of you with the damage since it wasn’t your fault? I never pay for the insurance when I use them.

 

[Jmav2152]

Totally solid MPG given your cruising speeds, nice.

Did you pay extra for the uhaul insurance, or did they just take care of you with the damage since it wasn’t your fault? I never pay for the insurance when I use them.

I paid for the basic coverage. I think it was 188 for the one way rental and 70 for the insurance. I wouldn't for a intown gig but for a long haul I decided to play it safe.

 

[A Dodge that drives Fords]

All I can say is, WoW glad to hear you were ok and nothing happened to the Maverick.

 

[Jmav2152]

All I can say is, WoW glad to hear you were ok and nothing happened to the Maverick.

Yea I'm super glad that the leaf pack waited till I got off the highway. Had that happened at speed, I don't know how that would have turned out.

 

[Maverick2022XL]

Nice write up. Only thing I'd add not that you can't but you really shouldn't use CC or ACC when towing. It puts more strain on the engine and transmission to maintain speed than needed. On flat roads with straight runs and little traffic it is not a big problem but in traffic and hills is a whole nother issue. When you do come up on a hill with CC or ACC it won't shift gear to maintain speed but do it through the engine which causes serious stress on it with that type of a load involved. Same issue with ACC in traffic. The other issue and I am not sure if it is an issue with Mavericks ACC is when you go up a hill if the elevation is 20 to 25 degrees or more the radar sensor might be beaming into the sky and not the road. Same problem at the very top of a hill when you first start to decescend.

 

[Jmav2152]

Nice write up. Only thing I'd add not that you can't but you really shouldn't use CC or ACC when towing. It puts more strain on the engine and transmission to maintain speed than needed. On flat roads with straight runs and little traffic it is not a big problem but in traffic and hills is a whole nother issue. When you do come up on a hill with CC or ACC it won't shift gear to maintain speed but do it through the engine which causes serious stress on it with that type of a load involved. Same issue with ACC in traffic. The other issue and I am not sure if it is an issue with Mavericks ACC is when you go up a hill if the elevation is 20 to 25 degrees or more the radar sensor might be beaming into the sky and not the road. Same problem at the very top of a hill when you first start to decescend.

So I'll be honest I read the same on using ACC with towing but I wanted to try it and to my surprise it really didn't load the turbo or motor hard enough to concern me. It honestly drove similar to my 6.0 I used to have but when it drop shifted it was very smooth. I think if I had been at a full 4k tow and max payload I would be more keen to push the throttle to get it to dro0 shift sooner. No issues with the ACC and cresting though.

edit: Just to clarify, I don't really use ACC in stop in go, mostly just in moving highway speeds. once you dropped about 1-2mph under your CC set speed it would drop gear and roll along fine.

 

[fossil]

So I'll be honest I read the same on using ACC with towing but I wanted to try it and to my surprise it really didn't load the turbo or motor hard enough to concern me. It honestly drove similar to my 6.0 I used to have but when it drop shifted it was very smooth. I think if I had been at a full 4k tow and max payload I would be more keen to push the throttle to get it to dro0 shift sooner. No issues with the ACC and cresting though.
edit: Just to clarify, I don't really use ACC in stop in go, mostly just in moving highway speeds. once you dropped about 1-2mph under your CC set speed it would drop gear and roll along fine.

Great report on your towing adventure!

@Maverick2022XL and your comments on using ACC while towing has me wondering what the manual says about that in the towing section. Ford is a bit of a nanny after all.
I'd think if Ford had an issue it would make itself known when hooked up and in tow mode. Either by one of those annoying on screen messages or by simply disabling ACC. Just curious.

 

[DJF]

Thank you!

Cabin noise is really non issue. The Acoustic windshield on the lariat does a fantastic job. You'll get some noise from the passenger windows from the mirror but it's very much minor. It's quieter than my 17' Outback Limited I had before the Mav.

Passing was easy peezy, never a issue getting power to move it at speed. One time after a long wait and a back log of left passers behind me a semi finally got over. I let her rip and before I realized I had clipped 91mph and was like "JFC that was too easy, sheesh".

Seat comfort is pretty good. I'm 6'6" and make it work for me. It's no f150 or superduty but I'm comfortable and if my lower back ever starts feeling it I would leat the heated seats do there thing and they do it well. I'd say they are really good for the level of vehicle.

My favorite part of the adventure, nice write up.

 

[Maverick2022XL]

Great report on your towing adventure!

@Maverick2022XL and your comments on using ACC while towing has me wondering what the manual says about that in the towing section. Ford is a bit of a nanny after all.
I'd think if Ford had an issue it would make itself known when hooked up and in tow mode. Either by one of those annoying on screen messages or by simply disabling ACC. Just curious.

The radar sensor if it can't see straight ahead on steep enough inclines is going to be an issue whether you are towing anything or not. If Ford was really concerned about using CC or ACC while towing they'd had just programmed or hardwired the off function to be automatically active while a trailer was attached. Doing it once or twice a year shouldn't be enough to cause serious issues. Once or twice a month every month I'd be a bit more cautious about when and if I used CC or ACC with the trailer attached.

 

[nathanchrisman]

Nice write up. Only thing I'd add not that you can't but you really shouldn't use CC or ACC when towing. It puts more strain on the engine and transmission to maintain speed than needed. On flat roads with straight runs and little traffic it is not a big problem but in traffic and hills is a whole nother issue. When you do come up on a hill with CC or ACC it won't shift gear to maintain speed but do it through the engine which causes serious stress on it with that type of a load involved. Same issue with ACC in traffic. The other issue and I am not sure if it is an issue with Mavericks ACC is when you go up a hill if the elevation is 20 to 25 degrees or more the radar sensor might be beaming into the sky and not the road. Same problem at the very top of a hill when you first start to decescend.

That is a pretty strong claim about not using cruise control while towing. Can you substantiate it and apply it to the Maverick?

Also, if you are going up a hill with “20 to 25” degrees of incline while towing at highway speeds, I’m impressed. Most steep hills are in the 7% range. A 10% grade is very steep for a highway.

 

[Maverick2022XL]

That is a pretty strong claim about not using cruise control while towing. Can you substantiate it and apply it to the Maverick?

Also, if you are going up a hill with “20 to 25” degrees of incline while towing at highway speeds, I’m impressed. Most steep hills are in the 7% range. A 10% grade is very steep for a highway.

I've drive a few roads that can get close to 20 degrees but yes these are local mountain roads not highways and yes I've towed and hauled up some of those roads but not anything more than about 1500 lbs for towing and no you are not doing 55 mph or more on these types of roads.

The 20 degree thing is for the ACC not the road itself. I kind of quoted that without checking real world and in reality almost no paved US highway road or interstate in the US will even approach a 20 degree incline when you search for steepest roads in the US.

Another problem with ACC and towing though this applies to electric brakes only is if your trailer does have them and you use the ACC to slow down, if the ACC system doesn't also interact with the integrated brake controller, without engaging the brakes that can cause the trailer brakes to lock up.

Bottom line using CC with lowing will cause excessive engine wear which causes excess heat when it is maintaining speed in a way the engine and transmission don't want to operate at. Now going up a hill the CC will maintain speed when you vehicle's natural shift and acceleration want to drop if you controlled the speed using the gas pedal. Same with sharp curves, that is what will over time possibly destroy your engine and tranny using CC while towing. Semi flat and straight roads with little traffic at speeds you could maintain already without juicing the pedal CC is okay to use.

 

[Jmav2152]

Another problem with ACC and towing though this applies to electric brakes only is if your trailer does have them and you use the ACC to slow down, if the ACC system doesn't also interact with the integrated brake controller, without engaging the brakes that can cause the trailer brakes to lock up.

This is true, I would probably turn off ACC and switch to normal CC if towing with trailer brakes but I would probably try it out/test it to see how it feels first.

CC does absolutely down shift and upshift regularly to maintain the speed set at. Tow mode changes the behavior of the truck enough to not let it load the engine too hard or long in climbs. But in the instance you felt like it's not enough you can always take over immediately and get the car moving as you see fit.

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