Towing with a C-Max

[King-max]

I am thinking of purchasing an Aliner camper.  It weighs approximately 1200 lbs.  I would like to tow it with my C-Max hybrid.  Can anyone with experience from towing with a c-Max give me any tips/suggestions?  Obviously, Ford does not rate this vehicle for towing yet small cars can tow light trailers.

[fbov]

That makes it unlikely anyone does. I have a hitch, but for a platform and bike rack. 

 

Conventional transmissions have some very real benefits for towing, like very high gear ratios at low speed. Our trannies have fixed gear ratios, so we'd be pulling from a stop in top gear. Add a well-known tranny reliability issue related to high load under cold conditions, and I think it would be foolish to tow with the car. 

 

Have fun,

Frank

[MaxHeadroom]

That makes it unlikely anyone does. I have a hitch, but for a platform and bike rack. 

 

Conventional transmissions have some very real benefits for towing, like very high gear ratios at low speed. Our trannies have fixed gear ratios, so we'd be pulling from a stop in top gear. Add a well-known tranny reliability issue related to high load under cold conditions, and I think it would be foolish to tow with the car. 

 

Have fun,

Frank

Wrong.  Our transmissions operate on kinematic principles via a planetary gearset.

That means variable mechanical ratios.

 

Frankie, you're almost always way off.  Maybe ask someone else to type in answers for you from now on. :rockon:

Don't answer questions on here any more.

Edited April 7, 2017 by MaxHeadroom

[fbov]

Wrong.  Our transmissions operate on kinematic principles via a planetary gearset.

That means variable mechanical ratios.

...

Sadly, what I said is true. All gears are in mesh at all times. No variation in gear ratio ever. 

 

What you were trying to say is: "That means variable shaft speeds."

 

It's simultaneous equations; you have three variables (ICE, and the two MGs) and three equations, the speed ratios fixed by the planetary gear set. 

 

If the speed of one of the three is unconstrained, the speeds of the other two can vary independently over a wide range. It's clearly demonstrated by the PSD applet.

http://eahart.com/prius/psd/

 

MG2 RPM is proportional to road speed, and it's RPM is constrained by maximum forward and reverse speed limits. 

ICE RPM can vary over a wide range, so it's managed for fuel economy

MG1 gets +/- 6.5K RPM, the unconstrained variable.

 

A real CVT has belts and cones, or something similar. CVTs also allow the input shaft speed to be independent of the output shaft, but it does so using only 2 shafts, not 3, so it needs the belts and cones to vary the ratios.

 

Now, have you got anything meaningful for the OP? 

 

Frank 

[King-max]

I appreciate the 3 reply's discussing the gear fixture.  However, I would still like for someone to comment who actually has towed with a C-Max essentially <1200 lbs.  Have you noticed any transmission issues?

[joshg678]

Considering the car is designed to withstand 1,000 lb of people I don't see huge concern. Car does say payload shouldn't exceed 900 lbs however.

[Zathrus]

Page 248 of my 2013 C-Max owners manual states: "WARNING: Never tow a trailer with this vehicle. Your vehicle is not equipped to tow. No towing packages are available through an authorized dealer."  So, unless it is a small motorcycle trailer, etc, I would not use CMax to tow.

Edited April 18, 2017 by Zathrus

[Louder North]

This has already been thoroughly debated - no one seems to have actually tried towing anything substantial (or if they have, it hasn't been reported here).

[markd]

Someone on the Ford Hibryd FB page was selling a tow bar last week.

[fbov]

Tow bar goes on the front, for pulling the C-Max behind a motor home, for example. Flat towing is supported by Ford. 

Frank

[markd]

https://torkliftcentral.com/2012-2016-ford-c-max-ecohitch

[stratosurfer]

I will be towing a 1,200 lb trailer soon, I'll report my results. I am convinced from my research the C-Max Hybrid is well up to to the task.

[ptjones]

I don't think WT will be a problem, just worried about the trans.

 

Paul

[joshg678]

How soon is soon? I’m also interested in towing.

[mmanske]

A single piece of purely anecdotal evidence, so take it as you will:

I just towed a fully loaded 4'x8' U-Haul trailer from through Canada and down to Los Angeles (roughly 3,000 miles) with my 2013 C-Max Hybrid. We took the mountains pretty slow and tried to be as cautious as we could at avoiding rough terrain. Not sure what the longer term effects on the suspension/transmission will be but the car performed well and came out unscathed as best I can tell.

 

Hard to fully guess the loaded weight of the trailer, but I would put it somewhere between 1,200-1,400 lbs.

The car claimed to average just over 22 mpg over the entire trip (though I didn't actually track that manually)

Edited November 19, 2018 by mmanske

[ptjones]

A single piece of purely anecdotal evidence, so take it as you will:

I just towed a fully loaded 4'x8' U-Haul trailer from through Canada and down to Los Angeles (roughly 3,000 miles) with my 2013 C-Max Hybrid. We took the mountains pretty slow and tried to be as cautious as we could at avoiding rough terrain. Not sure what the longer term effects on the suspension/transmission will be but the car performed well and came out unscathed as best I can tell.

 

Hard to fully guess the loaded weight of the trailer, but I would put it somewhere between 1,200-1,400 lbs.

The car claimed to average just over 22 mpg over the entire trip (though I didn't actually track that manually)

WOW! That was a very big MPG hit. :sad: I wonder what temps the ICE was running at. :headscratch:

 

Paul

[joshg678]

That’s cool. MPG hits are hard when doing towing.

I hope to get a small 4x6 that I can use to put small amounts of gravel in to fill pot holes on our road.

 

What speeds were you going and how many bars did you have to use to keep those speeds?

[mmanske]

We did mostly freeways, so generally kept it in the 55-65 mph range.

With some of the steeper climbs we would be in the slow land w/ the semi's going maybe 45.

 

We were careful to not push the RPMs, so it took us a bit to wind up to highways speeds but once we were there it was fairly smooth sailing. 

[joshg678]

What’s pushing it? 3,000RPM? 4,000RPM?

[stratosurfer]

I just towed a 950lb Waverunner and trailer 500 miles in 95F heat at 70mph with considerable grades to handle with no problems whatever.

[joshg678]

Very nice. I need to get my hitch

[Teacher Carl]

I have put an aftermarket hitch on my 2017 Ford C-Max Energi Titanium and pulled a 10 foot trailer loaded with camping equipment on several different trips totaling more than 2,200 miles at highway speeds without any problems.

2017 Ford C-Max Energi Titanium with trailer.

[Ravseren]

For what it's worth, in the U.S. Ford says no to a trailer, but in Canada Ford says 3500 limit. They are the same vehicle so I'm not sure what the difference is.

I'm pulling a utility trailer with my Can-Am Spyder on it without any problems other than economy.

[Jimmyf71]

Iv been thinking about adding a hitch, but like you said ,ford says zero towing, so iv been scared, I just want to tow a 4x8 trailer with a 5 600 lbs motorcycle, but don't want to tear my car up because it was my mother's who passed away 2 years ago .so have you had any issues  yet?

On 10/8/2021 at 2:54 PM, Teacher Carl said:

I have put an aftermarket hitch on my 2017 Ford C-Max Energi Titanium and pulled a 10 foot trailer loaded with camping equipment on several different trips totaling more than 2,200 miles at highway speeds without any problems.

2017 Ford C-Max Energi Titanium with trailer.