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Well, I have been meaning to post this for more than a month now, but better late than never. Over the Thanksgiving holiday and the following week I had the opportunity to finally do some towing with my Maverick. I left Houston early in the morning with the following setup.
I had AC equipment for a very good friend, about 1100 miles away in Shelby, NC. (had already put down some miles when I took this pic)
I had A LOT of tools in the bed under the cover. I would guess 7-800 pounds and the trailer with the equipment should have been right about 2750#. This set up pulled AWESOME!!! My Maverick pulled great you knew it was there but it didn't struggle the least. 65-70 mph 17mpgs.
. I stopped in Atlanta and had dinner with my sister, as soon as I left then the bad thing happened
I hit an airdam or spoiler bouncing across the interstate. If I had had a jack and spare I could have been back on the road in 30 minutes or so... but instead I waited 2.5 hours then get back on the road. When I emptied the trailer and dropped it off I had averaged 18 MPGs, not too shabby if I do say so myself. Now it was time for the second setup.
98 Accord packed full of stuff. My guess with the curb weight of the Accord, the ridiculous weight of the Uhaul dolly, and 6-700# of stuff, and... I was probably 2-300 pounds over my 4k but the only other option was to pull it with my father in laws 30 year old chevy with over 300k on it. I 100% think this was the best option, and if I was struggling we could swap and let his old rig struggle. This leg of the trip was from Hickory, NC to Clarksburg, WV. So I knew I would have some steep grades to pull. The one that I was worried about was 7 mile hill on I-77 when you first get into Virginia. I pulled many, many trailers up this hill as a teenager and the trucks ALWAYS struggled some. I was throughly impressed by the Maverick. It found a gear that it liked and stuck with it. The entire 7 miles up at 5-6% grade I maintained 70 with ease. I had several other steep grades after that but nothing had me in any doubt about the trucks ability. Also, with this set up I got 19MPGs I would guess because I wasn't pulling a sail behind the truck. During my time in WV I also got the opportunity to do some light off roading. I didn't want to push it and end up breaking something or getting stuck too bad that far away from home and traveling solo. The Maverick far exceeded my expectations off road, even with the half worn out sorry continentals. The found grip and kept going until they couldn't, but it was very steep 25-30 degrees with wet leaves on the ground. For the final leg and trailer of the trip. I went back to Shelby, NC and picked up an old 1979 Starcraft 210 travel trailer.
My friend said if I could pull it home I could have it with a title
... I mean I do have a motto, "If it's free, it's for me" but when I first looked at it I was worried when I saw the double axles. I know as a rule of thumb if there are 2 axles you are probably close to a 5k gross weight. So, I did the right thing and Googled it and the only thing I could find was on NADA guides and it said their that the GVWR was 3750. I thought that was very unlikely, sounded more like a dry weight, but with it being partially demoed inside that it would be ni more than 4k. So I went to the local tire shop and had the 4 new 15 years ago tires replaced, repacked the bearings. And got on the road to Birmingham where I had a friends couch to crash on. At this point I decided to pull the trailer as is, as many say you should with the Maverick being unibody (more on that later).
Once I got on the road the Maverick pulled the travel trailer great, the biggest complaint I had was when passing or being passed bt 18 wheelers it was definitely noticeable and tiring after a while. But I got to Birmingham and also noticed something I already knew bit was more prominent with a bigger trailer, where you get fuel makes a huge difference. With gas from Sams Club, Chevron, or Exxon. I would see 15-17 MPGs per tank, but with gas from a truck stop pr a lower graed gas station I would see 10-12 MPGs (I always run premium fuel) and with this set up maintained 65 mph. I never saw the trailer sway light on the dash a single time but a few hours into the second day pulling the travel trailer I had had it and stopped at a HoboFreight and installed a WDH in the parking lot.
Now, just wait, before some of you lose your mind, here is my reasoning and you will not change my opinion of this setup with my Maverick. You do what you feel is appropriate with yours. The owners manual doesn't say to use one... it also dosen't say not to use one. Doing many days of research, the basics of my decision came to this. Ford requires WDHs on at least 3 of their unibody vehicles; Edge, Flex, and Explorer to get the maximum tow rating. Also remember full size vans are all unibody and everyone (pretty much) slaps one on those without hesitation. Also, with the overall feel pulling the WDH made a night and day difference. It pulled SOOO much nicer I barely noticed when passing or being passed and having 10+ hours on the road that day I was not as exhausted when I got back home
That is the highlights of the Mavericks performance on this trip. Also, I did get on a scale with and again without the trailer to get actual weights, for future plans. I will get pictures and post these later.
I had AC equipment for a very good friend, about 1100 miles away in Shelby, NC. (had already put down some miles when I took this pic)
I had A LOT of tools in the bed under the cover. I would guess 7-800 pounds and the trailer with the equipment should have been right about 2750#. This set up pulled AWESOME!!! My Maverick pulled great you knew it was there but it didn't struggle the least. 65-70 mph 17mpgs.
. I stopped in Atlanta and had dinner with my sister, as soon as I left then the bad thing happenedI hit an airdam or spoiler bouncing across the interstate. If I had had a jack and spare I could have been back on the road in 30 minutes or so... but instead I waited 2.5 hours then get back on the road. When I emptied the trailer and dropped it off I had averaged 18 MPGs, not too shabby if I do say so myself. Now it was time for the second setup.
98 Accord packed full of stuff. My guess with the curb weight of the Accord, the ridiculous weight of the Uhaul dolly, and 6-700# of stuff, and... I was probably 2-300 pounds over my 4k but the only other option was to pull it with my father in laws 30 year old chevy with over 300k on it. I 100% think this was the best option, and if I was struggling we could swap and let his old rig struggle. This leg of the trip was from Hickory, NC to Clarksburg, WV. So I knew I would have some steep grades to pull. The one that I was worried about was 7 mile hill on I-77 when you first get into Virginia. I pulled many, many trailers up this hill as a teenager and the trucks ALWAYS struggled some. I was throughly impressed by the Maverick. It found a gear that it liked and stuck with it. The entire 7 miles up at 5-6% grade I maintained 70 with ease. I had several other steep grades after that but nothing had me in any doubt about the trucks ability. Also, with this set up I got 19MPGs I would guess because I wasn't pulling a sail behind the truck. During my time in WV I also got the opportunity to do some light off roading. I didn't want to push it and end up breaking something or getting stuck too bad that far away from home and traveling solo. The Maverick far exceeded my expectations off road, even with the half worn out sorry continentals. The found grip and kept going until they couldn't, but it was very steep 25-30 degrees with wet leaves on the ground. For the final leg and trailer of the trip. I went back to Shelby, NC and picked up an old 1979 Starcraft 210 travel trailer.
My friend said if I could pull it home I could have it with a title
... I mean I do have a motto, "If it's free, it's for me" but when I first looked at it I was worried when I saw the double axles. I know as a rule of thumb if there are 2 axles you are probably close to a 5k gross weight. So, I did the right thing and Googled it and the only thing I could find was on NADA guides and it said their that the GVWR was 3750. I thought that was very unlikely, sounded more like a dry weight, but with it being partially demoed inside that it would be ni more than 4k. So I went to the local tire shop and had the 4 new 15 years ago tires replaced, repacked the bearings. And got on the road to Birmingham where I had a friends couch to crash on. At this point I decided to pull the trailer as is, as many say you should with the Maverick being unibody (more on that later).Once I got on the road the Maverick pulled the travel trailer great, the biggest complaint I had was when passing or being passed bt 18 wheelers it was definitely noticeable and tiring after a while. But I got to Birmingham and also noticed something I already knew bit was more prominent with a bigger trailer, where you get fuel makes a huge difference. With gas from Sams Club, Chevron, or Exxon. I would see 15-17 MPGs per tank, but with gas from a truck stop pr a lower graed gas station I would see 10-12 MPGs (I always run premium fuel) and with this set up maintained 65 mph. I never saw the trailer sway light on the dash a single time but a few hours into the second day pulling the travel trailer I had had it and stopped at a HoboFreight and installed a WDH in the parking lot.
Now, just wait, before some of you lose your mind, here is my reasoning and you will not change my opinion of this setup with my Maverick. You do what you feel is appropriate with yours. The owners manual doesn't say to use one... it also dosen't say not to use one. Doing many days of research, the basics of my decision came to this. Ford requires WDHs on at least 3 of their unibody vehicles; Edge, Flex, and Explorer to get the maximum tow rating. Also remember full size vans are all unibody and everyone (pretty much) slaps one on those without hesitation. Also, with the overall feel pulling the WDH made a night and day difference. It pulled SOOO much nicer I barely noticed when passing or being passed and having 10+ hours on the road that day I was not as exhausted when I got back home
That is the highlights of the Mavericks performance on this trip. Also, I did get on a scale with and again without the trailer to get actual weights, for future plans. I will get pictures and post these later.
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