Maverick Towing Test / Review (without 4K tow package) and my thoughts after a few days of owing

[Jasperw229]

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[Mrboom_5.0]

Watching the newest video right now

 

[mcarneybsa]

There are actually people in this place that know stuff. You formed a hypothesis and plan to test it out on your $25k investment. That is fine but you really need to keep an eye on the transmission fluid. The added cooler with the tow package is just that with the purpose of keeping the fluid cool.

Over the years I have been involved in many towing tests in desert testing. It isn't just the engine coolant that gets hot. With that said the transmission heat is the enemy of tow capacity.

It's your truck, your money, but informing other people Ford is wrong and to do it your way is irresponsible. Any needed repairs would be an immediate warranty denial. Toasted transmission fluid and clutches are a dead giveaway.

Plus, Mr. Boom appears to be in the flat parts of the country from the look of his videos. I'm sure you can stress/max out the towing on plenty of vehicles in those conditions (especially in cooler air temps). Here, even just going from Albuquerque to Santa Fe I see plenty of massive trucks struggling to pull mid-size RVs up those hills. My money is that anyone trying this in anything less than ideal conditions is going to have a bad time. Plus, coming back down those hills/mountains without trailer brakes seems like a great way to become a statistic (along with everyone else you take out along the way). Irresponsible is the word we're looking for here. Flatlanders rejoice (I guess). For the rest of us, don't try this at home.

 

[CASD57]

Like the video’s…. Good info, but I’m not tearing the front end off a new truck
but like I said good info if I ever damage something and want to replace it.
im more of a tint the widows…..new rims and tires…..low profile and be happy

 

[Ron Neal]

Edit: foot meet mouth. I'll leave this here as a reminder to myself to not reply like an asshole. The real answer is there's a dedicated line running through the fins. I (moronically) didn't think of that. My bad.

How does that work? Engine coolant (antifreeze) is running through the radiator, then...what? It mixes and separates the transmission fluid to cool it also?

No, that's moronic.

Perhaps there's a valve that shuts off engine coolant flow momentarily to run transmission fluid through it?

No, also ridiculous.

Please explain how this could work.

I don't want to guess.

A lot of new vehicles have part of the radiator cooling the transmission fluid. It is dedicated and has its own fittings so does not mix with antifreeze, saves money if you don't have to install a separate cooler in addition to the radiator so you just make the radiator bigger with additional cooling for trans and add those fittings.

 

[Delbert]

I'd like to see how the hybrid does towing. No transmission to heat up. Wait there's the video of the guy in the Rav 4 going 500 mi over a pass..
Really, towing a well loaded trailer 3 miles on flat ground is not going to stress any vehicle unless . . .
Here is a list of problem situations that pops to mind.

You load the trailer unevenly. Dragging hitches or reverse wheelies
Heavy winds blowing the trailer and your minitruck with it.
Steep hills both up and down.
Slippery boat launches especially when there is water in the hull.
Blown tires
Jack Rabbit starts
High speeds on the highway.
High speed cornering
Speed bumps, potholes and rough roads
Shifting loads
Wheel bearings, suspension, frame twisting
You forget you have a trailer hooked up
Hard braking
Swerving to miss a deer

 

[Mikknj]

Plus, Mr. Boom appears to be in the flat parts of the country from the look of his videos. I'm sure you can stress/max out the towing on plenty of vehicles in those conditions (especially in cooler air temps). Here, even just going from Albuquerque to Santa Fe I see plenty of massive trucks struggling to pull mid-size RVs up those hills. My money is that anyone trying this in anything less than ideal conditions is going to have a bad time. Plus, coming back down those hills/mountains without trailer brakes seems like a great way to become a statistic (along with everyone else you take out along the way). Irresponsible is the word we're looking for here. Flatlanders rejoice (I guess). For the rest of us, don't try this at home.

I agree with you - especially towing down hill...

 

[Mikknj]

How many miles were on it when you towed it's saying in manual 1000 miles or more to break it in

I think your question needs some perspective. Here is an owner who is willing to take a brand new truck apart to paint this and that to pull apart all those bits and pieces - who knows if he will break any clips or get it back together again- In that context I don't think he is worried about how many miles he broke the truck in with. And the answer to his title of Quality - will it last is - NO not the way you are treating it.. lol

 

[Mav2Scamp]

I’ve never had to rent a U-haul trailer I’m assuming there are 143 pages of lawyer speak that makes U-haul clear of all liability in case somebody does something stupid.

When in doubt the lawyers have already thought of it and charged for their time.

I tried to rent a vehicle tow dolly from U-Haul and they would not rent it to me because I had a Ford Explorer Sport 4x4 (5000 lbs towing) not because it couldn’t do the job but because of the vehicle reputation for rollover. As a professional moving company who specializes in towing they can be held responsible for renting you a trailer your vehicle is not designed to handle. If they wasn’t sure they was supposed to check the vehicle ratings in the driver door sticker.

 

[Mav2Scamp]

I think your question needs some perspective. Here is an owner who is willing to take a brand new truck apart to paint this and that to pull apart all those bits and pieces - who knows if he will break any clips or get it back together again- In that context I don't think he is worried about how many miles he broke the truck in with. And the answer to his title of Quality - will it last is - NO not the way you are treating it.. lol

If you listen closely to everything he says it sounds like he wants to become a YouTuber. He didn’t wait for the truck he ordered but ran out to get the first one he could get his hands on. And now doing everything possible to get clicks and subscribers.

 

[deadeye]

I'd like to see how the hybrid does towing. No transmission to heat up. Wait there's the video of the guy in the Rav 4 going 500 mi over a pass..
Really, towing a well loaded trailer 3 miles on flat ground is not going to stress any vehicle unless . . .
Here is a list of problem situations that pops to mind.

You load the trailer unevenly. Dragging hitches or reverse wheelies
Heavy winds blowing the trailer and your minitruck with it.
Steep hills both up and down.
Slippery boat launches especially when there is water in the hull.
Blown tires
Jack Rabbit starts
High speeds on the highway.
High speed cornering
Speed bumps, potholes and rough roads
Shifting loads
Wheel bearings, suspension, frame twisting
You forget you have a trailer hooked up
Hard braking
Swerving to miss a deer

Fortunately or unfortunately, the hybrid does have a transmission. And putting load on it (towing or otherwise) will heat it up.

 

[Delbert]

The power split unit aka. the ECVT is really not a transmission in the sense of clutches, torque converters or different gear ratios. It is all handled by diverting power to the electric motor which has no need for cooling. It just stores all that heat in the battery to be used at another time. No need to cool the transmission fluid because there is none.

 

[jeffdeq]

The power split unit aka. the ECVT is really not a transmission in the sense of clutches, torque converters or different gear ratios. It is all handled by diverting power to the electric motor which has no need for cooling. It just stores all that heat in the battery to be used at another time. No need to cool the transmission fluid because there is none.

The eCVT transmission actually holds at least 5 quarts of Mercon LV transmission fluid for the appropriate internal bearing lubrication. But you are correct that there is no external cooler like there is in a conventional automatic transmission with clutch plates and torque converter. There are several YouTube videos illustrating the internal components.

 

[MakinDoForNow]

The power split unit aka. the ECVT is really not a transmission in the sense of clutches, torque converters or different gear ratios. It is all handled by diverting power to the electric motor which has no need for cooling. It just stores all that heat in the battery to be used at another time. No need to cool the transmission fluid because there is none.

From what I have read and watched I believe that the motor/generators are within the transaxle housing and the field windings are cooled by a mechanical pump also transaxle internal and driven by a gear whether or not electrical, ice, or both are providing power. When the vehicle stops moving the gears stop moving and the internal oil pump stops if any of the temperature sensors think the oil in the transsxle is either too hot or too cold an external electric pump is turned on to continue pumping the oil through its own loop outside of transaxle housing which does not go through the radiator. The radiator has chambers for two loops a big one for the ice loop and a smaller one for the battery liquid loop. The battery loop has its own electric pump and apparently a heating pot which will run to help preheat (indirectly thru heat exchanger) the transaxle oil as well as to heat or cool the battery cells. Forgive me for any and all errors as some of this may not apply to this model of Ford's transaxle.

 

[tateconcepts]

Most states only require trailers weighing over 3000lbs to have trailer brakes. Thats why Ford should have bumped fhe FX4 towing to 2900 or 3000lbs.

I'm not a big expert in towing but I thought when I asked about this today, the salesperson stated this was primarily a plate that is present on this model but not the controller. It's 4 vs 7 pin wiring. The XLT with that package had that but I believe the Lariat I did a test drive later in did not.

In fact, I just looked down at the pictures I took of those two on my phone and indeed, there is something different about the two hitches I believe.

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