Pulling my Toad for the First Time!! Couple of questions

[mfox20]

Leaving on an extended trip tomorrow with my 2013 Honda CR-V following closely behind. I have pulled it a total of 8 miles from the shop that installed my baseplate and readybrute system.

I know I need do the pre-tow warm up routine on the CR-V but had couple of questions.

Do you redo the pre-tow routine only the next morning or is it necessary after short breaks during the day? Say you stop for an hour or two for lunch.....

Do you leave your toad in the tow position overnight or do you do any post tow items like put it back in park, leave it in neutral, run the car?

Will be towing up to 2-3 days without needing it most likely.

Appreciate all the help. Excited to have a TOAD!!

[Finally_Time]

I have towed a 2013 Honda CR-V AWD for 2-1/2 years using a Blue Ox base plate and the Ready Brute Elite tow set-up. I go through the tow-prep "procedure" each morning when I am traveling. I do not repeat it after a short stop of less than a couple of hours. I rarely travel more than 300 miles a day.

When I do stop for the night I set the emergency brake, put the transmission in Park and remove the key. I keep a copy of the tow-prep in the car, and use it as a check list each time I hook-up to tow. Early on I did have a dead battery after towing three days. I didn't want to have to pull a fuse or remember to flip a switch and reset the radio each time so I installed a charge line. Seems to work well, I have not had a problem since.

[Kennyg]

I am getting ready to install the ready brute sysytem on 2006 Jeep liberty. Any advise and what to be aware of during installation??

[OldFogie]

Directions from Honda:

https://techinfo.honda.com/rjanisis/pubs/om/CR0000/CR0000O00176A.pdf

You should run it through the gears each day and each 300 miles.

[catkins]

With our Vue, we redo the engine warm-up in the morning. Check your manual but believe it can be important and if not necessary, I FEEL better. We can and do sometimes leave the car hooked up. New RV sits nigher and so I simply drop the car end tow bars off before leveling the coach. Again, better safe than really sorry. Saves time as all we have to do is reattach the two two bars in the AM.
Happy towing! It will all become easier after a few times towing this one.

[dahkota]

We have a jeep wrangler. Some aspects of towing may be a little different but for the most part, it is the same...

When we stop for a break or gas, we check our jeep. Takes a minute to walk back and look. Over 18K miles, we have had a safety chain come unhooked and the 7 pin come unplugged. Had we not checked, we wouldn't have known of the problem.

We both do the pre-check separately, double checking each other's work; sometimes in haste, one can overlook something. We are both capable of hooking and unhooking alone; you just never know when it may be necessary.

If we are overnighting in transit, we just leave it alone. There is a greater chance we would forget to redo/undo something than for something to happen while parked.

Hope that helps!

[Mr_Mark1]

First, you are going to really enjoy the Honda CR-V as a toad. We are on our second one, putting 125,000 miles on the '07 (68,000 miles driving, 57,000 miles towing).

We are currently on a trip. For eight days, we have towed the Honda without disconnecting it. I start it every morning and every evening once we arrive at our destination following Honda's recommendations. At night, after warming it up and running through the gears, I put it in park, take out the keys and lock it up.

Since we knew we would not be using the toad, we asked for pull-through sites and all has worked out well.

We had the accessory cut-off switch installed (on both Honda's) to turn off the Navigation/radio. Without the switch added, you have to pull a fuse which is hard to get to.

Just remember to take your time and don't get in a rush. Make sure everything is connected (tow bar, cables, etc.). After running through the gears, make sure to stop in neutral, turn the key back until it stops (accessory position).

For the first time, yesterday, for some reason, I put the Honda in park instead of neutral. I always watch the toad as I pull away and noticed the front tires were locked. I think I pulled it about 10 ft. All seems OK.... just a brain burp. Happens when you get old.

Over the years, I killed the battery on the '07 once and on the '13 twice (have to remember to turn off that switch). Life goes on.

Safe travels,
MM.

[hipower]

I can't address your Honda specifically, but with my Silverado truck (4x4) once I am hooked up, with the aux brake connected the only thing I do is disconnect the power to the aux brake system in the truck so it doesn't continue to draw on the truck battery overnight. I do start the truck while doing the brake disconnect and walking around the rig just checking things out and looking for any problems so that the battery will recharge a little. The time running is probably 5-10 minutes and doesn't do a lot for the battery, but every little bit helps avoid any suprise dead batteries when we arrive somewhere where we will be using the truck.