Death Wobble -> steering assist error during flat tow

[keef033]

I got my Maverick back from the dealer with the power steering replaced, and a couple of other things it seems. Of course they could assure me that it would not happen again.

So, unfortunately I cannot trust the Maverick and I have now sold it and moved onto another vehicle to tow.

Sad, but necessary I feel.

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[Bert Rooster]

I'm giving my Mav another chance. We are about midway through a 3000 mile trip. Been watching it like a hawk during every slow speed turn.

 

[Twinboat]

Just towed mine from central NY to near Warron Ohio, no issues. Lots of back and small town roads.

 

[realshelby]

I have over 7,000 miles flat towing my Lariat Maverick currently. Heading out in a few weeks on a 4000+ trip. Never failed to come out of neutral tow. Did fail to show neutral tow available twice on one trip, but found the cause of that was a hangup on my braking system causing the brake pedal to be ever so slight moved and would cause the brake light to come on. My fault, not the Mav. Never had a dead battery, never had warning lights when starting it. So, they CAN be reliably flat towed.
I have 3 rear view cameras. One is pointed directly at the hitch area. I watch that a lot for anything unusual ( like a tire wobble, tow arm not locking correctly, something unhooked, etc). That gives peace of mind, especially after owning a Blue Ox base plate and having it FAIL.

 

[Bert Rooster]

Follow-up to my original post:
Looks like my Mav is fixed (jinx??). We completed a 13 day 3000 mile trip with no issues. Round trip, ABQ to central Oregon coast with many stops lots of curves and turns. In addition I have conquered the Neutral Tow Disengaged problem; turns out the truck is very sensitive to the procedure. I would remove my RVIBrake before disengaging Neutral Tow = no,no. I would leave the door open while disengaging Neutral Tow = no.no. I now climb in, close the door, turn the key to ACC, depress the brake and shift to P = happy truck. Then remove RVIBrake.
The problem was that the gear shift would properly change gears, but the dash indicator would stay on N and the "Neutral Tow Enabled" message would be displayed. The only way to clear the error was to disconnect the negative battery terminal.

So for now my Maverick and I are back on speaking terms

 

[brlr2000]

Follow-up to my original post:
Looks like my Mav is fixed (jinx??). We completed a 13 day 3000 mile trip with no issues. Round trip, ABQ to central Oregon coast with many stops lots of curves and turns. In addition I have conquered the Neutral Tow Disengaged problem; turns out the truck is very sensitive to the procedure. I would remove my RVIBrake before disengaging Neutral Tow = no,no. I would leave the door open while disengaging Neutral Tow = no.no. I now climb in, close the door, turn the key to ACC, depress the brake and shift to P = happy truck. Then remove RVIBrake.
The problem was that the gear shift would properly change gears, but the dash indicator would stay on N and the "Neutral Tow Enabled" message would be displayed. The only way to clear the error was to disconnect the negative battery terminal.

So for now my Maverick and I are back on speaking terms

I'm just curious if your "Death Wobble" incident has still not returned again after the steering repairs??

 

[Bert Rooster]

All is well with my Mav. At this point it seems to have been a one off event. By now we have over 15k miles towing the Mav 4 down with no issues. I have become extra careful with rough/bumpy turns, slow and easy is the way now.

 

[brlr2000]

All is well with my Mav. At this point it seems to have been a one off event. By now we have over 15k miles towing the Mav 4 down with no issues. I have become extra careful with rough/bumpy turns, slow and easy is the way now.

Thanks for the info. I've had 3 separate instances where this has happened while towing. Every time it was while making a left turn from a stop. Luckily, I"ve haven't had any error messages yet. I did report the incident to the NHTSA Report a Vehicle Safety Problem, Equipment Issue | NHTSA I would encourage everyone that has had similar issues to do the same. It takes less than 5 minutes...and maybe Ford will acknowledge the problem.

 

[Glen Baker LLC]

Thanks for the info. I've had 3 separate instances where this has happened while towing. Every time it was while making a left turn from a stop. Luckily, I"ve haven't had any error messages yet. I did report the incident to the NHTSA Report a Vehicle Safety Problem, Equipment Issue | NHTSA I would encourage everyone that has had similar issues to do the same. It takes less than 5 minutes...and maybe Ford will acknowledge the problem.

I can see Ford addressing the problem like they did with towing a trailer and ACC Lane Centering.
They'll consider it a legal liability and no longer endorse Mavericks to be towed behind RVs.
Just saying.
Be careful what you wish for??

 

[Twinboat]

That's not true, you can still tow them but you need to wait 15 minutes before you can use the Maverick after taking it out of Neutral tow.

 

[chippermark]

Thanks for the info. I've had 3 separate instances where this has happened while towing. Every time it was while making a left turn from a stop. Luckily, I"ve haven't had any error messages yet. I did report the incident to the NHTSA Report a Vehicle Safety Problem, Equipment Issue | NHTSA I would encourage everyone that has had similar issues to do the same. It takes less than 5 minutes...and maybe Ford will acknowledge the problem.

I just had this happen to my Maverick after starting a left turn from a stop and then the violent shaking. This is the first instance of anything going wrong after towing it over 15,000 miles.There weren’t any errors when I stopped and took it out of neutral tow. I’m just wondering if you have determined what has caused your wobble.

 

[brlr2000]

I added an anti-rattle hitch adaptor...and make sure I execute the turns more slowly. So far, so good.

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