corgi mom
FL
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Joined: 03/25/2008
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Anyone know if you can tow any of the hybrids 4 down? Don't want to use a dolly.
Thanks
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debandi
Enjoying Life in Marathon, Texas
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Joined: 08/15/2003
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I would start at each dealer of the hybrid you are interested in and then ask to read the owners manual under Recreational Towing (or something like that). The printed word may differ from the salesmans words.
Should provide an intervesting investivation.
John and Debra Spear
1999 Holiday Rambler Imperial 40PBS
2006 Saturn VUE toad Ready Brake 
 A Closed Mouth Gathers No Foot
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campercajun
Central Texas Hill Country
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Good advice. To protect themselves, and to inform their customers, the manufacturers of each hybrid will almost certainly state in the owner's manuals whether they can be towed with all the wheels on the ground. The only problem with that is that I have become convinced that only myself and maybe 2 or 3 others in the United States actually read owner's manuals, since much of the information people request on the forum about towing with their vehicles is written in black and white in their owner's manuals to begin with.
2003 GMC Sierra Crew HD; 6.0L; Prodigy
2006 Thor Tundra 30RL-DSL; Reese Strait-Line & Dual-cam HP
2001 Honda Elite Scooter
Jim & Gayle Bryant
Murphy's Law: "Anything that CAN happen, WILL."
Bryant's Law: "31 years of RVing? Probably already HAS."
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talonguy
Schertz, TX
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Joined: 06/11/2008
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Yes to the Civic Hybrid (at least the 2004 model) with some specific actions to accomplish prior to beginning the tow. I'm an owner of said vehicle.
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DouglasCraw
Summerdale, AL
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The Ford Escape & Mercury Mariner Hybirds (all years & models) are towable 4 wheels down. And you don't have to pull any fuses either - - just hook it up, put the tranny in neutral, turn the key to the "off" position and you're good to go.
One issue to be aware of is if you use a supplemental braking system such as a Brake Buddy, the power brakes on these hybrids are always active (even when the key is in the "off" position) so the pressure has to be set very low (about 10 lbs) on the Brake Buddy to avoid locking up the brakes.
Doug Craw
2006 Jayco Greyhawk Model 27DS
Towing 2008 Mercury Mariner Hybrid with Brake Buddy
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keith and sharon
Van Nuys, CA.
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I was warned by my dealer not to use the brake buddy On my Escape Hybrid, they actually recommeded the u.s.gear as it is active power brake friendly, even though they don't sell it or install it, they said they have had a few hybrids coming in with brake and tire damage from a brake buddy style system.
2008 Tiffin Allegro 32BA
2008 F-150 King Ranch
2008 Escape Hybrid (toad)
FMCA #F402618
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Viewfinder
Western, NJ
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Good advice about checking the owners manual. Make sure you read about recreational towing, not breakdown towing. Brake Buddy Classic is fine, as the pressure can be set very low as mentioned. I'm sure there are others. We have over 15000 miles (4 down) with our '06 Escape and are VERY happy with it.
jim
Jim & Mary Lou;
Shadow & Sandy (dog), and Tigger (cat)
'03 Coachmen Aurora 3380 MBS V-10
pulling a '06 4WD Ford Escape Hybrid
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DouglasCraw
Summerdale, AL
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I guess some Brake Buddy owners don't seem to know how to adjust their units to work properly with the Escape & Mariner Hybrids. I took me all of about 10 minutes to get mine set up properly. As I said in my previous post (above), the Brake Buddy has to be set to a low pressure since the power brakes are always active on these hybrids. Since setting mine up I've towed my Mariner Hybrid for over 6,000 miles with no problems whatsoever. The Brake Buddy works as well on my Mariner Hybrid as it did on the other 3 vehicles that it was installed on.
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