Flat Towing 2017 Chevy Spark Issue Brakes Tires Squealing

[lholliday]

Because we were at a loss and could only find one other person that posted an issue similar to ours with flat towing a 2017 Chevy Spark - we thought we should alert Spark owners or potential owners to our outstanding issue.
We purchased a 2017 Chevy Spark (manual) for flat towing because it required the least amount of work to prepare it for towing. Plus, we planned to tow it behind our 25' class B+ Nexus Viper (more like a class C w/ less room). We're purchased Blue Ox to tow and the Patriot II for our braking system.
Every single time we took a ramp, even when going very slow, our Spark brakes would lock up and cause our tires to squeal. We would always pull over to see if the braking system looked fine. We checked our setup and tested it again. This time our brakes were smoking. It was so hot it melted our plastic hubcaps off the front wheels.
We took the car and RV back to the place that installed the system. They noticed that the Patriot II's braking system tended to tip easier because the legs were extended to accommodate the height of the seat. Since Patriot II only has 2 rear feet, a block of wood was added to the bottom front of the braking system.
We thought everything was fine again until we tested the braking system on our way home only to hear the Sparks tires squealing again. We immediately drove it back to the technician and left everything w/ them to test and fix this problem.
At first they thought it was due to the steering not returning to the center position and tried adding a bungee cord to the steering wheel. When that didn't work, they disconnected the braking system and removed the electrical cord between the RV and Spark. They still found the car automatically braking!
They ended up carefully going over their installation finding everything spot on. So, this left them with the problem being the Chevy Spark itself.
They called the service manager at a Chevy dealer and described everything that had transpired. The manager said that yeah, they received a bulletin describing everything that we've experienced!
We don't know much else yet. We would like to know when the bulletin came out because we specifically told the Chevy dealer that the "only reason" we were buying this car was for flat towing! Also, we can't wait to hear what the resolution is!
We think the only reason that Chevy has not alerted Chevy Spark owners to this issue is because they don't know how many people are flat towing their Chevy Spark.
We hope this information helps other's that are trying to figure out what is going on with their brakes or what is causing their car to squeal.
In the meantime, our brand new car is being looked at to see if there has been any damage. We will keep you posted once we hear back from both Chevy and the company that installed our system.

[lholliday]

I understand your frustration. That’s why I’m thankful for forums and people like you to help or alert me to things related to rv’ing which we are new to.

[Geeze]

lholliday wrote:
Geeze:
The following is what I see on my copy of the report...

#17455: Customer Satisfaction Program - Dinghy Towing Causing Tire Squeal - (Mar 2, 2018)
Reference Number: A172119210 Release Date: March 2018

Let me know if this does/does not help

I received the bulletin from Chevrolet today. Funny a week ago when I contacted them they said nothing had changed.

[lholliday]

Gary, thank you. I will keep that in mind if our current process becomes a pain.

[FunTwoDrv]

lholiday, consider having your installer run battery voltage to an outlet in the car that you can plug the Patriot braking system into. This can be dedicated + and - wires connected directly to the Spark's battery just prior to of the "disconnect" switch. This would keep the Patriot powered independent of the RV.

Gary

[lholliday]

Geeze:
The following is what I see on my copy of the report...

#17455: Customer Satisfaction Program - Dinghy Towing Causing Tire Squeal - (Mar 2, 2018)
Reference Number: A172119210 Release Date: March 2018

Let me know if this does/does not help

[Geeze]

lholliday wrote:
Geeze:
Our Spark door locks are manual. We do not have electric door locks. We purchased the basic of all basic 2017 Chevy Spark cars. In fact, our biggest problem is forgetting to lock the doors and reminding the driver to unlock the passenger door for the passenger.

Our steering column never locked. I sent a question off to Corporate Chevrolet asking if the key in the ignition was really necessary and that I think people would be interested in the answer because there appeared to be a lot of people worried about draining their batteries. They responded with no answer and that we should follow the directions of the manual. Read below, I have more on this later....


j-d:
With Blue Ox, all we have to do is make sure that their Braking System is setup correctly and turn it on. We don't have to any pumping. Our problem went away when a wood block was added to the front of the base of the unit to keep it from tipping forward.

To anyone interested:
So Chevrolet's 2017 and 2018 Spark Bulletin recommends updating their manual. The new steps read:
To dinghy tow the vehicle from the front with all four wheels on the ground:
1. Position the vehicle to tow and then secure it to the vehicle.
2. Apply the parking brake.
3. Shift the transmission to Neutral.
4. Disconnect the negative battery cable at the battery. See "Negative Battery Cable Disconnection" following.
5. Cover the negative battery post with a non-conductive material to prevent any contact with the negative battery terminal.
6. Release the parking brake.

(Note: I'm not including the "Negative Battery Cable Disconnection" procedure to this feed.)

Our solution was to add a Battery Disconnect Switch. I also want to point out that we no longer put the key in the ignition while towing. I want to note that we keep the battery connected (turned on) to the car while initially setting up the Blue Ox Braking System. We want to be sure that there is no pressure on the brakes so we need to look for the brake lights. When this is validated, we disconnect the car battery. Lastly, we then have to turn the RV key to Accessory so that we power going to the BO Braking System. (Note: This means, every time you stop for gas, you're going to have to remember to go back to the car and turn on the BO Braking System when you start the RV again!)

I also contacted Chevrolet and asked about an updated towing procedure for our 2018. They told me nothing had changed and to follow the instructions called out in the owners manual.

[lholliday]

Geeze:
Our Spark door locks are manual. We do not have electric door locks. We purchased the basic of all basic 2017 Chevy Spark cars. In fact, our biggest problem is forgetting to lock the doors and reminding the driver to unlock the passenger door for the passenger.

Our steering column never locked. I sent a question off to Corporate Chevrolet asking if the key in the ignition was really necessary and that I think people would be interested in the answer because there appeared to be a lot of people worried about draining their batteries. They responded with no answer and that we should follow the directions of the manual. Read below, I have more on this later....


j-d:
With Blue Ox, all we have to do is make sure that their Braking System is setup correctly and turn it on. We don't have to any pumping. Our problem went away when a wood block was added to the front of the base of the unit to keep it from tipping forward.

To anyone interested:
So Chevrolet's 2017 and 2018 Spark Bulletin recommends updating their manual. The new steps read:
To dinghy tow the vehicle from the front with all four wheels on the ground:
1. Position the vehicle to tow and then secure it to the vehicle.
2. Apply the parking brake.
3. Shift the transmission to Neutral.
4. Disconnect the negative battery cable at the battery. See "Negative Battery Cable Disconnection" following.
5. Cover the negative battery post with a non-conductive material to prevent any contact with the negative battery terminal.
6. Release the parking brake.

(Note: I'm not including the "Negative Battery Cable Disconnection" procedure to this feed.)

Our solution was to add a Battery Disconnect Switch. I also want to point out that we no longer put the key in the ignition while towing. I want to note that we keep the battery connected (turned on) to the car while initially setting up the Blue Ox Braking System. We want to be sure that there is no pressure on the brakes so we need to look for the brake lights. When this is validated, we disconnect the car battery. Lastly, we then have to turn the RV key to Accessory so that we power going to the BO Braking System. (Note: This means, every time you stop for gas, you're going to have to remember to go back to the car and turn on the BO Braking System when you start the RV again!)

[j-d]

lholliday wrote:
Chevy Bulletin: Correction - Print and insert revised owner manual page(s) included with this bulletin.

And this is the FIX?!?!?!?

UN-Believable!!! Towable unless you want to have a wheel dragging?

I hope somebody can furnish the "Pages."

All that said, isn't Patriot a "brake in a box" like Brake Buddy? If so, I know Brake Buddy requires pumping the toad's brakes to deplete its vacuum reserve before towing. The BB "Vantage Select" has a button we have to push to give the brake pedal five pumps before it'll go into normal operation. If I were to do the bleed, get normal operation indicator, then start the toad (creating another vacuum charge), the brakes WOULD LOCK when the BB was activated.

The light I installed will tattle on something that pushes/pulls on the Brake Pedal/Brake Linkage. I don't think the stability control pulsing the brakes will move the pedal so a light can't help there.

I added a light (LED trailer stop/tail/turn lamp) to the toad braking circuit. It gets bungeed to the mirror so I can see it through the rear window of the coach. This confirms visually when BB applies the brakes AND THAT THE BRAKES RELEASE

[Geeze]

lholliday wrote:
Just heard from the company that installed our tow system. Apparently Chevy’s recommendation is to disconnect the battery and leave the key out of ignition (note: steering wheel does not lock). The power to our tail lights and braking system will be coming from the 7-way power cord attached to the rv.
I’m reminded of why I haven’t bought a Chevy in 40 yrs.

We purchased a 2018 Spark and I towed it today for the first time. Just a short 10 mile trial run to make sure everything worked OK, which it did. As you know there are no manual (key ) door locks on and it has an inside hood release. If you disconnect the battery and lock the doors, or if they get locked accidentally how are you supposed to get back in the car? I have also been unable to get my steering column to lock so I assume there is no lock at least on manual transmission models. Please keep us updated on your developments. Thanks for sharing.

[lholliday]

Chevy Bulletin:
Certain 2017-2018 model year Chevrolet Spark vehicles, equipped with a manual transmission (RPO MR7), may experience electronic stability control (ESC) brake activation under certain conditions while being dinghy towed. When the vehicle is being towed on a curved road or in a turn, ESC brake activation of one wheel may occur resulting in an audible tire squeal.
Correction
Print and insert revised owner manual page(s) included with this bulletin.

[magicbus]

You probably already are aware, but you can get a knife switch to mount on the battery to make this easy.

Dave

[lholliday]

Just heard from the company that installed our tow system. Apparently Chevy’s recommendation is to disconnect the battery and leave the key out of ignition (note: steering wheel does not lock). The power to our tail lights and braking system will be coming from the 7-way power cord attached to the rv.
I’m reminded of why I haven’t bought a Chevy in 40 yrs.

[lholliday]

re: Sonic owner
Thank you
re: Auto-Braking
We purchased the very basic, no add-ons, manual car so something is kicking in. Regardless, the instruction manual and Chevy dealer both state that all we need to do is put the key in accessory and put the gear in neutral.
re: Bulletin
I’m trying to be patient with the Chevy dealer and the company that installed our tow system. Chevy is suppose to be late looking the car over for any damage. And, they’re suppose to supply the tow installer with the bulletin. Chevy didn’t want to discuss more over the phone. I’ve contacted the Chevy we purchased the car from and have not heard anything yet.

[Ductape]

If there really is a bulletin it should be easy to get a copy. Did you ask?