New to flat towing

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EndlessFun

Member
Joined
Oct 13, 2024
Posts
5
Location
Long Island, NY
Looking to Flat Tow a 2023 Chevy Equinox. Manufacturer says it's ok but found a video that says it draws a lot from the battery causing it to drain extremely low and at least a 20v battery charger would be needed to bring it back. Very confused. Any help would be much appreciated.
 
Lot of GM vehicles will drain battery when running with key in Aux.
Example, my Saturn's manual tells me to pull a fuse (I forget which at the moment) but I tired of pulling the fuse box cover and pulling the fuse, and had a switch installed that could disable that fuse.
 
Dont know anything about flat towing but what causes the drain on the battery?

In days of old you had
Lock/Off/Acc/Run/Start.

To save a penny or two GM deleted the "off" position so now you have
Lock/Acc/Run/Start.
You can pull fuses. or disconnect the battery or use a system like the Aux-Brake system I used that supplied 12 volt to charge the car from the Motor home Alternator or add a "Twoed Charge" system to your Motor home. f

A Marine grade battery cut off switch is easier than disconnecting leads.
 
The set up I have charges the tow car while towing it. Go to a good place that deal with this and ask them for that feature.
Is it charging from the coach or a trickle charger set up in the toad. Also while not a fan of RV stores, is that the best place to have that and a base plate installed or a good mechanic.
 
In days of old you had
Lock/Off/Acc/Run/Start.

To save a penny or two GM deleted the "off" position so now you have
Lock/Acc/Run/Start.
You can pull fuses. or disconnect the battery or use a system like the Aux-Brake system I used that supplied 12 volt to charge the car from the Motor home Alternator or add a "Twoed Charge" system to your Motor home. f

A Marine grade battery cut off switch is easier than disconnecting leads.
If the battery is disconnected or fuse pulled are the brake lights and directional signals powered from the coach cable that gets plugged into the vehicle ? Does that also aid with the brakes ?
 
If the battery is disconnected or fuse pulled are the brake lights and directional signals powered from the coach cable that gets plugged into the vehicle ? Does that also aid with the brakes ?
The lights draw from the "trailer" light feed from the towing vehicle.
 
Our flat tow setup charges the battery while towing, you might look into such a feature.
That would be useful. I've got a trickle charger that keeps my RV battery charged while it's parked for Winter. you could run the same thing from the RV to the Toad, I reckon.
 
Is it charging from the coach or a trickle charger set up in the toad. Also while not a fan of RV stores, is that the best place to have that and a base plate installed or a good mechanic.
Charging from the coach. I and most of the other members also try to stay away from RV stores. I went to a tool rental/truck accessory place in town. The place should be able to do it all including the base plate. They did a fantastic job on the whole set up. Ask around to get a referral.
 
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Dont know anything about flat towing but what causes the drain on the battery?
Modern vehicle run a lot of electronics, even with the ignition off. Anti-theft measures, sensors that detect whether the vehicle is moving, brake lights, whatever. Besides the vehicles own systems, the auxiliary braking system for towing can pull a lot of amps, e.g. operating a compressor for a brake unit.
 
Modern vehicle run a lot of electronics, even with the ignition off. Anti-theft measures, sensors that detect whether the vehicle is moving, brake lights, whatever. Besides the vehicles own systems, the auxiliary braking system for towing can pull a lot of amps, e.g. operating a compressor for a brake unit.
Does that mean the toads battery should remain connected?
 
If the battery is disconnected or fuse pulled are the brake lights and directional signals powered from the coach cable that gets plugged into the vehicle ? Does that also aid with the brakes ?
Not sure what you mean by "Aids with the brakes" Unless you install an aux brake system (I had the Unified Brake Decelerator system.. Finally rememberd it's name.. US Gear I think) IT would not affect brakes at all.

If you use one of the box in the driver's seat systems (Brake Buddy like) They eat battery power so it would effectivelly disable them.. M&G woudl not be affected (it eats compressed air)

There are a few other systems....

Best option is a charge system for the towed.
 
Some cars will lose things like radio presets, serial numbers needed to use Navigation and audio systems. Our first toad did that. It was a Honda.

Our current toad is fine with the battery disconnected. Our Patriot braking system runs on a JNC booster battery. We have never had a problem with this set up driving for 6 to 7 hours a day.

A DC TO DC charger is probably the safest way charge your toad from the coaches system.
 
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