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.
