Equinox or Terrain Flat Towing

[Jerald Cate]

For those flat towing 2010 - 2017 Chevy Equinox or GM Terrain there is an article in FMCA magazine this month.  GM has changed their flat towing procedures due to some reported wobble that sometimes occurs.  They now recommend removing fuse F16 (F15 on 2010 Equinox) and leaving F32 installed.  I've not experienced this problem myself but thought I'd pass this info along in case you missed the article.  Attached is the GM service bulletin mentioned in the article.  Article is on page 16-17 of the Jan 2018 edition.

[Lawrence Tarnoff]

Thanks, Bruce.We have a 2011 Equinox and plan to tow,it this year.

[Roy C Tyler]

I just had our 2013 Equinox setup for towing at Roadmaster this last summer.  So far I have not had any wobble and I plan on continuing to tow it with the F32 uninstalled.

[Joe Rhea]

I also tow a 2012 Equinox and have not experienced that problem.
I have been following this issue pretty closely. If understand it right the problem is with the 4 cylinder series which has different type of steering control opposed to the 6 cylinder.

[Jerald Cate]

They also recommend installing a battery tender to keep the battery from discharging.  This is a problem I have had, if I don't run my engine for 5 or 10 minutes during stops my battery is dead after about 6 hours.  I went to San Antonio about a month ago, 3 hour drive, my battery died and set off the alarm on my Brake Buddy before I got there.  I since ordered a battery tender and will install it.

[Joe Rhea]

Jerald
Where does the brake Buddy get its power from? Unless it is powered from the tow vehicle then you would have excessive drain on the battery.

[Jerald Cate]

Joe,
I actually have the Blue Ox Patriot braking system vs. the Brake Buddy, I just used the brake buddy as a generic reference like saying Zerox vs. copier.  That being said I assume the Brake Buddy operates like the Blue Ox and it does use the vehicle power to operate the system.  I don't have any electrical specifications on my unit but I can't imagine the system requiring much power during normal highway driving and I usually keep mine on the lowest sensitivity setting.

According to the FMCA article there are other systems still powered on while towing, depending on which fuse you pull.  F32 disables the electric power steering and F16 disables the ABS system, if I'm reading these documents correctly.  I wasn't aware of this and wondered why my battery kept dying even with shutting off everything I could.

[David T. Richelderfer]

We use an Even Brake.  When we had our pickup wired for tail and brake lights the guy who installed the wiring put in a 12v hot wire to the pickup's battery from the umbilical cord between the coach and pickup so that it keeps the pickup's battery charged.  We have never had a problem with the pickup's battery getting discharged while towing.  My concern has been the 12v hot wire over charges the pickup's battery because I don't know if that 12v hot wire is regulated.  Usually when we stop overnight after (almost always) no more than 300 miles, whether dry camping or plugged in at an RV park, I disconnect the umbilical cord.  The guy who installed the tail and brake lights put a fuse on the 12v hot line at the pickup's battery... and that fuse has never had to be replaced.

[Gerald Farris]

The issue of a tow vehicle battery discharging while towing is very easily corrected by installing a charge wire from the coach. You just run a 10 gauge wire from the coach chassis battery positive terminal to the #4 terminal (red) in your umbilical cord and connect #4 terminal on the toad end to the positive terminal of the toad battery with a 30 amp inline fuse at each battery. (https://www.google.com/search?q=rv+connector+wiring+diagram&ie=&oe=) The reason for the fuse at each end of the wire is that if the wiring anywhere between the batteries is shorted, it will blow both fuse instead of causing a fire hazard with a shorted wire tied directly to a battery.

The wiring installation described above will not overcharge the toad battery, and it does not need to be disconnected while stopped because all you are doing is tying the coach chassis battery with its regulated charging ability while driving to the toad. No battery tender or other charging source is needed.

Gerald     

[Leon Scroggins]

We tow a 2014 with 4 cyl engine and Roadmaster Sterling hitch. The one and only time we experienced wobble was a down hill run where our coach hit 70 mph and  and we engaged the foot brake instead of the engine brake. We had to pull over to stop the wobble. After a check of the toad we hit the road and it didn't happen again.