Can You Tow A Camper And Camp Out With A Ford Maverick Hybrid?

Hello, my Autopians! Do you have it in you to make it epic? I hope you were all as excited about the melding of the Australian desert, the Cult of the V8, and explosions as I was. My short Furiousa review is: if you like Geroge Miller and Fury Road, it’s a pretty good if imperfect follow-up.

Life up here in the Mitten state has had a few curve balls recently but I am thankful you are all still here. For me, making life “epic” is less about fireballs and more about seizing the moment when you can, whether that’s seeking out new experiences or carving out time to spend with your loved ones.

I had the chance a couple of weeks ago to go camping with my family and at the last minute, I proposed we swapped out the family’s tow vehicle for my Ford Maverick Hybrid. It would be my first true test to see how it stacked up to prolonged stress. So for the third and final part of my Maverick series, I’ll show you if the small truck can live up to its billing as a do-it-all all vehicle that can handle more than city streets. Long story short, it does! But, the trip was not without surprises.

Can A Hybrid Trucklet Actually Tow?

As part of The Autopian’s extensive Ford Maverick coverage, we’ve discussed how it’s built on the C2 platform, which also supplies the underpinnings for the Ford Escape and the Ford Bronco Sport. Its interior benefits from being very similar, to provide a comfortable daily driver and small family hauler. The main difference is the bed in the back that roughly offers the same amount of space as a Rivian 1RT with a 4.5-foot bed. The other main benefit of the Maverick over its direct competition is superior fuel efficiency while still offering towing capabilities. While the hybrid’s 2,000-pound tow limit might not sound like much, it’s more than plenty for small campers. As it turns out, my family has a cute wooden teardrop trailer with a dry weight of 1,300 pounds, leaving plenty of wiggle room left over for hauling gear.

Speaking of gear, the trailer felt a little like cheating when it came to gear management. The teardrop has a kitchenette in the back and the interior has a few cabinets that are primarily used for soft goods. The Maverick’s bed then became designated for my tent, air mattress, shoes, and dog supplies. This freed up the back seat for the dingo princess, Amber, to have all to herself. I think she appreciated the space.

While the camper was light, that didn’t mean I didn’t feel it with subtle and not-so-subtle differences from everyday driving. The steering was a tad heavier, the acceleration wasn’t quite as peppy, and the rear springs were slightly compressed due to the tongue weight. It was nothing uncomfortable, but you were definitely aware there was something hooked up to the truck and it was being pulled.

Wait, What Are These Flashing Lights

For this trip, we were going from Midland, MI to the Lake Michigan Recreation Area, located appropriately on Lake Michigan. That is a 136-mile route that’s a mix of expressways, country highways, and side roads. It should be straightforward enough. However, after 30 miles of calm cruising on the expressway, bam! The Maverick threw up a bunch of lights on the dash. The digital display between its version of a tachometer and the speedometer read: “Service AdvanceTrac.” The truck then overrode my foot on the pedal and gradually decelerated, until it reached 10 mph. It then abruptly slammed on the brakes, shifted into park, and for good measure, engaged the parking brake. I had not heard of this system before so while I was on the side of the expressway, I pulled up the ole’ Google machine.

According to Ford, AdvanceTrac is the name for its electronic stability/traction control system, and from glancing at the others who’ve also had this message, owners theorize it could be caused by a variety of issues, from damaged speed sensors, ABS issues, or numerous other maladies. After reading up, I carefully hopped out and inspected the wheels. There was no visible damage and it didn’t appear that any roadside debris and flown up and taken something out.

The truck started back up but limited the top speed to 30 mph and the brakes were limited. We limped off the highway into a nearby town with the hazards on and got to an O’Reilly’s Auto Parts parking lot. The closest Ford dealership was at least 30 miles away and it being after noon on a Saturday meant options were limited. I wanted a scan tool and mine was now three hours away to the southeast.

A very kind young man working the counter handed me the automated scan tool, which was supposed to take a snapshot of a vehicle’s codes and then display it on a computer in the store. However, nothing came through. When turning on the vehicle again, the series of lights were gone, down to just a check engine light. I unhooked the trailer and did a quick test drive around the town. There were no issues with brakes, power, or otherwise. Then, when I returned to the parking lot, the check engine light was gone, and a second, dedicated scan tool, could not read anything.

As I saw it, we had four choices:

A) Call a tow truck and cancel the trip

B) Drive back to Midland without the trailer and then drive back with the family’s tow vehicle, a 2017 Ford Escape

C) My brother drives up with the Ford Escape and the Maverick gets left in a nearby park n’ ride lot

D) Go onward

With no lights on, we chose option D and drove forward. The only difference was purposefully selecting the “tow” drive mode, which constantly ran the ICE engine to provide instant torque/acceleration and adjusted the brakes, making them feel softer, which encouraged earlier and gentler braking.

[Ed note: For a week after the trip, there were no issues or indications there was anything wrong with the truck. Then after getting on I-75 one day after work, the AdvanceTrac drama repeated. I was able to clear it by detaching the fuse cables under the hood, as the fuses themselves are surprisingly located in the interior, under the glove box. I immediately then drove it to a Ford dealership and put the keys in their drop box. The service department called back a day later and said it was a software issue and it should be fine now that they’ve installed an update. They also handled at least two of the recalls that have been issued since February.  For the first and possibly last time, I wish Ford had copied one of Tesla’s strategies. In 2024, OTA updates should be an option for every manufacturer. -JG]

Gimme That Hybrid Power

After taking it nice and slow following the excitement outside of Clare, we finally arrived at the Lake Michigan Recreation Area. It’s a charming rustic campground that’s operated by the USDA Forest Service. For most purposes while camping, if a location says it’s “rustic” that means there are no flush toilets, camper hookups, or shore power. If you’re okay with that, this also means it will likely be pretty peaceful and quiet compared to more happening state parks.

A lack of hookups can mean there are fewer gigantic RVs and campers, and without modern amenities, you’re less likely to run into large groups or families. The downside? You better come prepared when you pack…which we did not do completely. The hefty 700Wh LiFePO 4 “solar generator,” i.e. a battery, I was gifted for trips like this was left back in Midland, sitting on top of the boot chest that’s now used to store dog food. But never fear, the Ford Pro Power Onbaord’s younger cousin is here! If you opt for the Maverick XLT with the Luxury package–a pretentious name, I know but it’s how you get heated seats, which are basically mandatory in Michigan–it comes with various outlet upgrades. In addition to the rear seats getting dual USB-C ports and a 400W AC outlet, there’s another 400W AC outlet in the truck’s bed, located under a weatherproofed flip cover.

While 400w isn’t a ton of juice, it’s perfect for charging phones and powering small appliances, like a travel air compressor. While I did not have the right adapter for the compressor to blow up my new air mattress, I was able to MacGyver one together. However, I learned the intrinsic truth that small tire pumps mean small amounts of air pressure. It took about 30 minutes of continuous use to inflate, but the gas engine never had to kick on. If that holds true for other hypothetical gadgets, like small flat screens, this could be game-changing for football tailgates, as no one wants to inhaul exhaust fumes while you’re gearing up to see your team get creamed by Ohio State.

No Pavement, No Problem

A day or so into the trip, things were going swimmingly. We caught a couple of gorgeous sunsets, my new tent was working out well, and the beach was absolutely perfect.

However, the ice pack in the cooler was starting to thaw. No big deal, in two of the four loopers there were freezers with ice for sale. Or, that would have been the case if this wasn’t the first weekend of the year. They were completely empty. Thus, I started a quest to track down ice because dagnabit, I’m going to have ice in my glass of Coke and whiskey tonight or die trying. The nearest little convenience store was 10 miles away and Google Maps of course took as many gravel and dirt roads as possible.

I have two core memories regarding driving on gravel. One, the winding gravel path from the main road to my grandmother’s cottage on Black Lake. The other, driving on washboard gravel roads in the Upper Penisula. The hatchbacks of my past absolutely hated gravel surfaces. The shaking and vibrations made it seem like the cars were ready to bounce apart at a moment’s notice. With the Maverick? No such issues. It openly invited driving on gravel roads. Whereas before in the hatches, anything above 25 mph would be unbearable, the hybrid truck cruised at 45 mph, misleadingly quiet. I had to dial back on my lead foot, as I was anticipating the noise, vibration, and harshness would cause me to slow down before reaching unsafe speeds.

Tragically, the quest ended in failure. The woman running the little grocery said the delivery truck for ice was running late and wouldn’t be there until the next day. Dejected, I went back to the campsite. Thankfully, my SO was joining that evening and she was able to grab some on her way in.

Perhaps I Treated You Too Harshly

After a short weekend of enjoying the sun and the sand, it was sadly time to head back to reality. While hooking the trailer back up, I thought to myself, “Damn, Ford does really have this hitching thing down to a science.” Which they do! The F-Series trucks have Pro Trailer Hitch Assist, which will do a lot of the work for you. The Maverick doesn’t have anything that fancy, but the backup camera does trace an almost perfect path of where your hitch will go while backing up, along with a digitally cropped zoom shot of the hitch for exact alignment. In just one try, I was able to get everything aligned perfectly… which was somewhat surprising based on my previous issues with the backup camera.

And don’t even get me started on the backup camera. It’s laggy and has low resolution, which is a major safety concern. At times it feels like it was added on to meet government mandates rather than being a useful feature.

That’s still all true, but if you’re going slow and steady backing up, which you should(!), it works pretty well.

Oh, and one other note to be aware of while towing; don’t be like me and the guys who helped me move out of my Mishawaka apartment, don’t drop the tailgate while something is on the hitch. It’s pretty apparent when there’s something like the arm of the trailer’s front wheel sticking straight up, but it’s still easy to forget about if you’re reaching in to get something out of the bed.

But when it’s something like a small U-Haul trailer, with a subtle little bubble handle, it can happen. Especially for trucklet rookies like me who don’t tow all that often.

Would I Do It All Again?

The 136-mile trip from the campsite in Free Soil back to Midland was, thankfully, uneventful. I was still anxious that the truck would freak out with service lights but no such thing happened. We also went at a glacial pace of 60 mph, which really benefited fuel efficiency.

Per the onboard computer estimate, the truck got 26.2 MPG while towing. That’s significantly better than our standard tow vehicle, the EcoBoost Escape, which gets 17-18 mpg when hauling the teardrop camper.

If the fix for the AdvanceTrac system is truly the software update, I wouldn’t hesitate again to use the Maverick as the primary camping vehicle. It offers a ton of storage, relatively easy driving, and nifty features that can be helpful. However, I probably need to readjust the tonneau cover’s weather stripping and get large plastic tubs, so if/when it rains, the bed could be a more water-resistant storage option.