Honda CRV as a Toad

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We tow a 2012 Honda CRV and have no problems.  You might want to do a search as this is talked about all the time.  Some
have run a charge to the toad's battery from the MH so they don't have to remove the fuse each time.  You can find out more about
that in the search. The fuse is hard to grab each time, so we bought a new fuse that "sticks out" a little, and now it isn't hard to pull.
Other than the fuse issue, run it through the gears, then put in D for 5 seconds, then in N for 3 minutes.  Turn the key to ACC, make sure
wheels aren't locked, emergency brake not on, and turn off a/c.  It's really easy.  We have towed for up to 2 hrs. without pulling
the fuse and didn't have a dead battery.  We tried 4 hrs. and the battery was dead, so I guess 2-3 hrs. is the max.
 
I have a related question for the CR-V toad.  When you do the "run through the gears", it is done with the engine running, right?

Steve
 
We also tow a CRV and love it. Our procedure is start the car, if hooked up then shift through all the gears while warming up, then leave in acc. Charge up the brake buddy, then hit the road. At home before towing, my wife drives it aound the block, then stops and shifts through all the gears. Then he hook up. Just remember not to shift into reverse according to the Honda booklet. We have towed for up to 9 hrs. without the battery dying. We just pull the fuse and make sure everything is turned off such as radio. The fuse is a small pain, but the car is a joy to tow. For Dance Chick, if your battery is dying after 2-3 hours you may have something that is left on that is draining your battery. Or you may look at a nice little deviced called a Toad Charge. Just type it into the computer and it will come up. It will safely charge the toads battery and not over charge. It is also easy to hook up.

Bill
 
Steve N Dee said:
I have a related question for the CR-V toad.  When you do the "run through the gears", it is done with the engine running, right?

Steve
Click to expand...

I would hope so!!! Otherwise you would  have no  fluids being pumped around which is the goal of the exercise...
 
Ours went dead because we didn't pull the fuse.  Radio & a/c were turned off.  We've since been pulling the fuse and no dead battery.  I was just letting you know that you don't have to pull the fuse if a really short tow. We love the car.
 
We are towing a 2010 CRV and have never had an issue, we never pull the radio fuse, almost impossible to get to on this year and have never had a battery drain problem - we normally tow no longer than 7 hours per day, mostly around 5 hours.  We love our "storage shed" on wheels.

The 2010 manual says the following; "START THE ENGINE",  "PRESS THE BREAK PEDAL.  MOVE THE SHIFT LEVER THROUGH ALL OF ITS POSITIONS", "SHIFT TO D POSITION AND AND HOLD FOR 5 SECONDS, THEN TO N.  LET THE ENGINE RUN FOR 3 MINUTES, THEN TURN IT OFF."

I guess Honda have different tow procedures for different years.
 
I apologize if this sidetracks the thread a bit  :eek:, but what kind of draw in the CR-V pulls that much load in such a short time? Is there something unique to that model?

We have a 2006 Accord, manual, and routinely tow five to as much as ten hours without a hiccup and only unlock the steering wheel.

Inquiring minds.  8)
 
I have no idea what draws down the battery as it's all mumbo jumbo to me.  The manual says to do it, so that's what we do.  Funny..when we first got it, I kept reading in posts on the forums about pulling the fuse.  I was positive that our manual didn't say to pull the fuse and posted that.  Up to that point we had only towed 1 1/2 to 2 hrs. with no dead battery.  Then when we towed 7 hrs, guess what....dead battery.  I looked in the manual and realized I needed to turn the page.  The instructions to pull the fuse were on the next page.....well, I felt like a dummy!!
 
We are on our 3rd CRV and hae towed them a total of about 135,000 miles. Other than changing the transmission fluid more often we have never had an issue with the car.

On CRV #2 I installed a bypass to the misc fuse and ran the wires to a switch mounted on the lower door jamb where it is easily accessible. Flipping the switch up and down is sooo much easier than messing with pulling a fuse.

The only material needed is a switch, inline fuse, a couple feet of wire, and a couple of small slip-on connectors. My total cost was about $5.00.
 
Best advice over-all  Get a tow dolly.  No fuse problems, no cumbersome rituals to run thru, just run it up on the tray tighten it down and be on your way.  Been doing it for years.  The only problem I ever has was my own fault, I backed it up 10 feet, with the car on the dolly(a NO- NO) and bent the dolly fender brace.  Had to take the fender off and drive the car home.  It was only two hours and like I said it was my own fault.  Make a mistake like that on a flat tow and you either have to have the toad towed home on a flat bed or buy a tow dolly then and there.  I will now be assaulted by all of the flat-tow advocates, to each his own.
 
Best advice over-all  Get a tow dolly.
Click to expand...

Maybe for some. Had a tow dolly. Used it. Second time I had to hook up in the rain, left it on consignment at the campground and set up to tow four down. For me, if I had to use a dolly I would not tow.
 
Jeff, that is an excellent tip about the remote fuse. I will look into doing that on our CRV.
And tow dolly, Why? when the CRV tows so nice behind the motorhome four down, and then at your destination you do not have to worry about parking the dolly. At our park in Arizona, there is not that much room on our site for parking anything but the Honda and the motorhome, and some lawn chairs.

Bill
 
BLAKDUKE said:
Best advice over-all  Get a tow dolly.  No fuse problems, no cumbersome rituals to run thru, just run it up on the tray tighten it down and be on your way.  Been doing it for years.  The only problem I ever has was my own fault, I backed it up 10 feet, with the car on the dolly(a NO- NO) and bent the dolly fender brace.  Had to take the fender off and drive the car home.  It was only two hours and like I said it was my own fault.  Make a mistake like that on a flat tow and you either have to have the toad towed home on a flat bed or buy a tow dolly then and there.  I will now be assaulted by all of the flat-tow advocates, to each his own.
Click to expand...

I won't assault you...to-each-his-own ....
But I have had both and prefer the 4-down approach..
I once backed my coach and toad 20-25 feet by keeping the corner of the toad just in the mirror...of course it wasn't exactly straight back but it allowed me to maneuver around the obstruction ..
I have no excuse for not getting out to un-hook & than re-hook the toad....well...except I was Lazy..
And yes they do jack-knife in a NY minute too.
Never, till now, thought about using the camera to do it.....maybe..

George
 
We bought a 2012 CR-V in the spring.  We towed for about 5 hours to an RV park and set up with no toad problems.  When we left a few days later we towed two days in a row without unhitching (just the normal routine for cycling through the transmission).  Arriving at the RV park and unhitching, the battery was dead.  This problem continued for a few days of towing.  I spoke with Honda service people several times to no avail.  A Honda service person in Frankfort, KY provided the following advice.  Although our towing habits would not require pulling the fuse, we now do it anyway.  The battery was going dead because it was never up to a fully charged condition.  Thus, it was drained by less than extended towing periods.  I plan to install a cutoff switch to simply the fuse pulling routine (which is arduous).
 
assault accepted.  Now consider this thread.  Read back thru it and look at the problems.  Blown fuses, dead batteries, etc etc. not to mention the myriad functions you have to go thru just to get it ready.  No thank you.  Consider this, your driving late at  for what ever reason out in the middle of nowhere, where there is nothing for miles and miles but more miles and miles.  Your RV quits again for what ever reason.  You unhook your toad and try to start it and the battery is dead.  You try the phone and you can't get a tower.  Yeah nice setup.  I'll take my tow dolly any day of the week and twice on Sundays.
 
I once backed my coach and toad 20-25 feet by keeping the corner of the toad just in the mirror...of course it wasn't exactly straight back but it allowed me to maneuver around the obstruction .
Click to expand...

I used to do that also until Blue Ox told me that the bent arms on my tow bar were due to backing up. The arms are designed for pressure in one direction only.
 
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