How To Properly Tow (A Chevrolet Equinox) With An RV
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Mike has been an automotive writer since 2007. He’s also the author of a 32,000+ word ebook on the inner workings of cars, suspensions, and engines, with 2 chapters on quick and easy performance enhancements. He’s been involved in the auto industry since the early 70s, doing everything from pumping gas and washing windows, to selling new and used cars and parts. He has NHRA and NASCAR (amateur level) track experience with Camaros, and has taught auto shop courses in high school. In addition, he’s built-up cars from scratch.
If you’ve ever had the need to tow your car, you know how much of a hassle it can be. This is true whether the car has an automatic or manual transmission, but let’s face it, vehicles with automatic transmissions present their own unique problem when being towed, unless they’re trailered with all four wheels on the trailer. When they came out with the 2010 Equinox, Chevrolet made many RV owners very happy.
In 2010 Chevy made many RV owners very happy by making it easy to tow the Equinox without a trailer.
What Makes Towing a Vehicle with an Automatic So Much More Problematic?
In short, it’s the automatic transmission itself, how it works. Unless you disconnect the driveshaft(s), towing the vehicle with the drive wheels on the ground will, not can or may, will ruin the transmission. This is because the fluid isn’t allowed to circulate in an automatic when the engine isn’t running. The pump is driven by the engine. Manual transmissions don’t have this problem because their lubrication system is what’s known as a bath-type lubricating system-the lower portion of the gears sit in the gear oil in the bottom of the transmission and as they rotate, they pick up and distribute the gear oil, lubricating the gears constantly.
2011 was the second year the Chevy Equinox was “dinghy-towing friendly.”
The Chevy Equinox May Be Best Vehicle with an Automatic for RV Towing
The engineers over at GM were the first to tackle this problem in a way that makes it quite easy for anyone to tow their car behind something like an RV, even if they can’t afford an expensive dolly or four-wheel vehicle trailer. They created a transmission system that allows you to disconnect the drive wheels from the transmission internals, making it so you can tow the car with just a tow bar and not worry about destroying the transmission. It must be noted that this isn’t true for previous generations of Chevrolet Equinox was produced; just from 2010 to today’s 2016 Equinox – the current generation.
The 2013 Chevy Equinox.
How They Did It
I can’t really get into the in-depth technical aspects of how it works because I’m not a transmission specialist. However, I do know it works because my parents have one and that’s the main reason they bought it, they didn’t like having to pull a dolly or four-wheel trailer behind their RV. What they did was create the 6T-series of electronically-controlled transmissions that maintains lubrication within the case with the engine off which enables flat-towing.In order to prepare your 2010 or later Equinox for flat-towing, what’s known as toadie- or dinghy-towing, all you have to do is pull a fuse after you get the car hooked up to the tow bar and leave the key in the ACC position to keep the steering wheel unlocked.
Getting Deeper into How to Tow an Equinox behind an RV
Looking at the Owner’s Manual for the 2012 Equinox, one sees six short steps to prepare the vehicle for dinghy-towing behind and RV (or pickup). Step one is to hook it up to the vehicle that will be doing the pulling/towing. From there, steps two and three are to pull the transmission lever into Neutral from Park after turning the key to ON/RUN. From there:
- Turn the key back to ACC
- Turn off the accessories like the stereo.
- To prevent the battery from running down on longer trips, pull fuse number 32, which is for the Discrete Logic Ignition Switch (See photo below.)
The fuse indicated needs to be pulled in order to safely tow your Equinox. Photo by author.
There are a few provisos/cautions that you have to be aware of, especially when towing for extended periods.
- GM recommends that you run the engine for about five minutes before setting off on your trip.
- Exceeding the legal limit of 65 miles per hour can damage your transmission.
- If you\re driving for more than four to five hours, they recommend starting and running the engine for about five minutes.
- Make sure the transmission fluid level is at the proper level-not too high, not low.
- Never tow a vehicle with mismatched front tire sizes. This causes the transmission to want to turn at different speeds and can cause severe transmission damage.
- It is not recommended to tow a Chevy Equinox of any production year equipped with all-wheel-drive.
- Trade organizations and GM recommend that you have a towed vehicle brake-assist system installed prior to towing any vehicle behind your RV.
- Most states require a secondary set of lights or trailer light wiring installed between the RV and the Equinox.
Most states require you to connect the RV’s lighting to towed vehicle’s lighting for safety. This kit is specific to the Chevy Equinox,. Image via etrailer.com
What Some Equinox Owners Have Done to Make Towing Even Easier
As you can see from the picture above, it’s not easy to get to the fuse that needs to be pulled. It’s even more difficult to pull that fuse. Perusing the recreational vehicle forums, one finds that what many people have done, and what the Federal Motor Coach Association (FMCA) an industry trade group, recommends is to install a cut-off switch in the circuit supplied by the fuse that needs to be pulled. This way you don’t have to have teeny but strong fingers to pull the fuse and you don’t run the risk of losing the fuse.
Wiring schematics that will help you locate and identify the wire that needs to have the switch spliced in can be obtained at your GM dealer. You can also have your local RV shop perform this upgrade for you while they’re installing the tow bar accessories. Shop around for the tow bar you like the most, there are literally dozens out there. Many of the better ones allow you to remove most of the visible tow bar components when they aren’t in use so you don’t mar or ruin the look of your Equinox from the front.
Honorable Mention in the Dinghy-Towing Category Goes to the Honda CR-V
Honda’s CR-V is another vehicle that many RV owners like because it can be flat-towed behind another vehicle. Except, mechanics don’t care for it because even the six-cylinder engine has a timing belt that isn’t as strong as the timing chain the Equinox V6 has. The procedure for preparing the CR-V for being towed flat is also more convoluted and skipping one of the dozen or so steps involved will damage your transmission seriously. In all, as far as automatic transmission-equipped vehicles go, the Equinox is the hands-down winner for dinghy- or flat-towing behind an RV or heavy duty truck.
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Regarding your article about dinghy towing a Chevy Equinox. In the proviso/caution section you say “It is not recommended to tow a Chevy Equinox of any production year equipped with all-wheel-drive.”
In the 2012 Chevy Equinox Owner’s Manual, page 10-78, it reads “Dinghy Towing. Front-wheel‐drive and all-wheel-drive vehicles may be dinghy towed from the front.”
Your article contradicts the GM Owner’s Manual. I would advise a correction.
I would suggest you go to motorhome.cim and link dinghy tow and that will answer your question.
per the 2020 guide…Equinox 3,274 65 mph/None N/A Yes 26/31 $24,995-$36,895
Special Procedures: Engine should be run at the beginning of each day and at each RV fuel stop for about 5 minutes. If equipped with
AWD, engage AWD system and confirm that it’s on. Shift transmission to N (Neutral). Put vehicle into ACC/ACCESSORY by pressing ENGINE
START/STOP one time without brake pedal applied. An amber light will appear in the button when in ACC/ACCESSORY mode. The chime
will ring continuously for 30 minutes. Leave transmission in N. Turn off all accessories that are not needed
We flat tow our 2013 equnoix no problems
Have you towed it faster than 65mph? I can’t imagine what difference the 10 mph would make. I think the 65 recommendation is Chevy covering their butt legally, since many states limit towing to 65.
I have towed our 2015 Equinox V6 AWD For 33,000 miles. Put transmission in neutral pull fuse 32 (witch is readily accessible on the right side of the console) and turn the key to accessory. That’s it, I use an Invisabrake system that charges your battery as you drive. No problems !!
The article mentions V6 and includes a comparison to the Honda V6. All CR-Vs are I4. Also there is no mention of the I4 for the Equinox which is the typical engine with V6 as an option. I am cautious to place too much weight on the article. Can the author comment directly as to the I4 / transmission combination and four down towing. The Malibu I4 6 speed transmission prohibited four down towing in certain years after 2011.
have you forgot theSATURN?
As the reply above mentions you should not tow the Chevy Equinox all-wheel-drive (manual 10-68 say it is O.K. Just purchased 2015 Equinox AWD and ready to have towing bars installed. So, what are the facts. Tow AWD or do not tow ?
I just bought a 2016 Equinox LT AWD to tow behind my 2017 Bounder. According to the OWNERS MANUAL, I can tow this vehicle four wheels down. Is the owners manual incorrect or did I mis understand something???
I also just bought a 2017 Fleetwood Bounder 33c and want to tow my 2012 Equinox. I want to know also if I can flat tow it.
Short answer — YES. You need to be more specific with the drivetrain of your Equinox, though, in order to know what you need to do in preparation to tow. Is it 4 cyl w/fwd or 6 cyl w/awd? Once you have that info, I would suggest googling all of your vehicle’s setup to get better educated. There is a ton of info on RV forums, as well as in your owner’s manual. Safe travels!
4 cylinder front wheel drive
Does the mileage tally up when flat tow??
IN MY PAST MANY YEARS AS A MECHANIC AND OWNING MY OWN SHOP AND BEING SERVICE MANAGER FOR A CHEVROLET AND PONTIAC DEALERSHIP, I HAVE NEVER SEENA A VEHICLE THAT DID NOT ADD MILAGE WHENEVER THE DRIVE WHEELS ARE TURNING. THEY TURN THE DRIVE SHAFTS WHICH IN TURN TURN THE TRANSMISSIONS INTERNAL PARTS INCLUDING THE GEARS THET DRIVE THE SPEEDOMETER. LATER MODEL NEW CARS SHOULD DO THE SAME THAIN EVEN IF ELECTRONIC DASH BECAUSE THE SIGNALS ARE STILL SENT TO THE ELECTRONIC COMPONENTS BY MANUALLY OPERATED GEARS.
Pulling fuse 32 stops the mileage from counting. however if you get in to the vehicle start it, and drive it with out the fuse it will by pass and the mileage will work. I know this from experience, and testing it my self on my 2014 equinox
Donald, you may be a very experienced mechanic – but apparently you have never had experience with a Jeep. When flat towed, and the transfer case is in neutral, everything is disconnected, therefore the miles do not add. I am not a mechanic, but I have flat towed two different year jeeps for over 60.000 miles and never added one mile to the odometer.
I have towed an 08 Equinox, with 6 speed auto trans, more than 25000 miles and can assure you that the miles towed do NOT accumulate when the switch is on acc and the proper fuses are removed!
No it does not. We tow a jeep liberty 4 down and the mileage does not.
2018 Equinox AWD FLAT TOE OR NOT? – DOES THE MILEAGE RECORD?
Not if you pull the fuse as instructed by the owners manual
Please pardon me while I pick this whole thing apart, it’s just what I love to do.
I am in the process of getting ready to order my RETIREMENT SUPER RV a Provost H3 45 with QUAD Slides. And have been researching 4 wheels on the ground tow vehicles, every article I have read contradicts the other ones. I spent my teen years in the 50s and 60s so growing up cars and having an uncanny ability to redesign or rebuild or even design and invent just about anything mechanical, like most of us from that era. I seem to remember that at one time JC Whitney sold a coupling that was installed in between the drive shaft and the transmission and controlled by a manual cable to be able to let the drive shaft free wheel from the transmission. I haven’t been able to find this anymore and the help desk at JC don’t seem to be old enough to remember something like this. It would be the easy way to go although it did involve cutting the drive shaft.
A question I have is, is the transmission on the Equinox ELECTRONICALLY CONTROLED? AND IF SO WOULDN’T IT BASSICALLY FREE WHEEL IF THE FUSE IS REMOVED? My past understanding is that when the drivetrain IE: Wheel turn making the Differential (rear end gears) turn, making the Drive Shaft turn, 2which in turn would make the internal parts of the Transmission turn. Which is the reason to periodically stop Start the car and run the engine for aprox. 5 minutes in order to cool and lubricate the Transmissions parts. NO LOGICALLY UNLESS YOU REINSTALL THE FUSE so you can put the transmission in gear IE: Drive and Reverse (WITH THE EMERGENCY BRAKE ENGAGED WHILE PREFORMING THIS PROCEDURE), (AND HAVING A VERY LARGE NOTE ATTACHED TO THE STEERING WHEEL OF THE CAR AND RV TO REMIND YOU TO RELEASE THE EMERGENCY BRAKE AND REMOVE THE FUSE AND PUT THE CAR BACK IN NEUTRAL AND THE KEY TO ACC), I don’t see how the Internal parts would be able to function in order to get lubricated.
You can still get the driveshaft lockout kit from remco
What about the new chevy trax is that an option for towing 4 down, since it has same trans as equinox??
I have owned a 2010 and 2011 Ford Escape AWD as my RV toad. The 2010 was lemon lawed as the tranny burned up while towing. I was told that the 2011 tranny had modifications and could now be flat towed. The 2011 tranny just burned up and I’m fighting with Ford over this issue. Therefore, I’m researching an AWD Equinox for flat towing. I’m seeing mixed comments about whether it can be flat towed or not, so I’m concerned. I won’t buy until I get it in writing from the dealer or GM that an AWD Equinox can safely be flat towed. If anyone reading this knows more than I do please email me. I’d appreciate it.
I own a 2013 AWD Equinox and I was told by 3 diffrrent GM dealers NOT to tow all 4 down, I ended up buying a trailer to tow my car, I’m currently looking for a different car to be used as a toad that can be used with all wheels down.
This is right out of my 2014 LTZ AWD Equinox Owners Manual:
YES YOU CAN FLAT TOW AWD ALL 4 DOWN
Dinghy Towing Front-wheel-drive and all-wheel-drive vehicles may be dinghy towed from the front. These
vehicles can also be towed by placing them on a platform trailer with all four wheels off of the
ground. For other towing options, see “Dolly Towing” following in this section. For vehicles being dinghy towed, the vehicle should be run at the beginning of each day and at each RV fuel stop for about five minutes. This will ensure proper lubrication of transmission components. To tow the vehicle from the front with all four wheels on the ground: 1. Position the vehicle to be towed and secure it to the towing
vehicle. 2. Turn the ignition key to ON/RUN. 3. Shift the transmission to N (Neutral). 4. Turn the ignition key to ACC/ ACCESSORY. 5. Turn all accessories off. 6. To prevent the battery from draining while the vehicle is
being towed, remove fuse 32, the Discrete Logic Ignition Switch fuse, from the instrument panel fuse block and store it in a safe location. See Instrument Panel Fuse Block on:
Chevrolet Equinox Owner Manual (GMNA-Localizing-U.S./Canada- Black plate (70,1) 6081479) – 2014 – crc – 6/4/13
10-70 Vehicle Care
My manual says NOT to tow it all 4 on the ground. Then It actually contradicts itself in the next paragraph saying that you can dinghy tow it. I chose NOT to tow all four down or with a dinghy as I didn’t want the possibility of ruining my car. Good Luck to all, its a tough decision on who to trust, the good thing for me is I now have a flat bed trailer I can use for other projects.
Your manual says:
“To avoid damage, the DISABLED VEHICLE should be towed with all four wheels off the ground. Care must be taken with vehicles that have low ground clearance and/or special equipment. Always flatbed on a car carrier… To tow the vehicle behind another vehicle FOR RECREATIONAL PURPOSES, SUCH AS BEHIND A MOTOR HOME, see “Recreational Vehicle Towing” in this section…”
… and this is correct for DISABLED VEHICLES for ALL electronic transmissions without manual transfer case 4WD HI/LO/ 2WD gearboxes, (because if the vehicle is “disabled” how can you guarantee the electronic transmission is in neutral? Depends on what disabled the vehicle.)
Your manual then says:
“RECREATIONAL VEHICLE TOWING
Dinghy towing is towing the vehicle with all four wheels on the ground… Front-wheel‐drive and all-wheel-drive vehicles may be
dinghy towed from the front. These vehicles can also be towed by placing them on a platform trailer with all four wheels off of the
ground.”
This is the section that applies here.
2010+ Equinox are fantastic toads.
I have owned a 2010 equinox v6 all wheel drive since new have been flat towing to yuma az from canada for 4 years had no issues with automatic transmission
I have towed a 2011 GM Terrain which is the same as the Equinox every year since I got it new. I have had no bad experiences with the transmission. I run the car for 10 mins before I tow and run it through the gears a couple of times. We stop at rest stops and viewpoints at least every 2-3 hours and I start the engine every time and run it for a minimum of 5 mins and through the gears. I firmly believe that running it at every opportunity helps to keep the tranny lubed and prevents failure
I have been doing mechanics for as long as i can remember and had my own auto repair shop, and was service manager for a Chevrolet, Pontiac dealer ship, my understanding. My understanding has always been most if not All AWD vehicles or any vehicle that you can not totally disengage the drive train from the transmission CAN NOT BE Flat Towed.
We tow a 2014 Equinox. Several times now when we are on some roads and have come across frost heaves in the road, rough spots in the roads, bumpy approaches to bridges the Equinox has started to shake, therefore it shakes our 45′ motorhome violently and we have to come to a complete stop before it quits and then we can take off again. We look in our rear view camera and the car is literally shaking. Traffic backs off out of fear. What the heck is going on?
We have a 2014 AWD 4 cyl Equinox and have towed it over 20,000 miles. Excellent tow vehicle except for the “death wobble”. This problem is now being looked at by GM – after a long denial. The 4 cyl version has the problem due to the electronic steering. Apparently GM did not put this steering system on the 6 cyl Equinox, so no wobble. We have had no other issues what-so-ever. Minus the wobble it is probably the best toad on the road and 30mpg.
we want to purchase a use equinox awd to to behind a motor home the car would be a 2013 can it be flat towed or not?
I own one and yes – in the owners manual here is a link:
https://www.chevrolet.com/content/dam/Chevrolet/northamerica/usa/nscwebsite/en/Home/Ownership/Manuals_and_Videos/02_pdf/2k13equinox.pdf
page 10-68 AWD Dingly Tow YES all four down
We have towed our 2018 Equinox , 4 wheels down. Went to use the car, put in gear and it stuck in park. Have had it to one dealer in Albuquerque, N. M. They had it 4 days and couldn’t fix it. We asked to manually put it in neutral so we can get it done at home. So disappointing
No AWD can be towed 4 down only FWD
We just purchased a 2016 equinox LT specifically to tow behind our rv using a master tow dolly. Well we went to load it today and realized that the front bumper on the car is low profile and once the front tires slip into the tire wells of the dolly, the bumper hangs well over the front of the dolly. There is NO way we would be able to back the car off the dolly without ripping the front bumper off. No where in our research did we see this problem and now were out $1000’s if we cant figure out a fix. What can you recommend, thanks
Since you have an LT you can tow it 4 down but don’t go over 65 Mike’s an hour or it WILL harm your Transmission it heats up the trans oil.
Ok as I have a tendency of trying to redesign just about anything I see. I’ll give this problem a shot. I don’t have a tow dolly and car available to try my fix, however I will be stoping by a trailer sales location today and check my theory out.
As the front wheels of the vehicle sit down in a sleight valley on the tow dolly, and the wheels are what is tied down to secure the vehicle, I would try adding a piece of 2X6 long enough to fit in the drop down wheel area, then try putting the car on it, my theory is adding the wood will raise the front end of the car up Hi enough to solve the front end clearance problem. If this works you can have a welding shop make a more permanent solution be welding some pieces of angle iron in place of the Wood 2X6, please e mail me to let me know if this helps solve your problem.
I believe the transmission disconnect is from Remco. You might check that out on line.
Thanks donald. We contacted master tow dolly and they make an extension that raises the ramps by 5 inches. They said they haven’t heard of any issues with loading the equinox so we’re going to use the extensions and I’m putting my big girl panties on and drive it on up the dolly…..wish me luck, thanks
One thing you might want to try if you have a motorhome with the hydraulic jacks is to raise the rear of the motorhome high up in the air to level out the dolly angle then drive the car up into the valley then lower the motorhome. I had to do this with the flat bed trailer when I loaded my car, the front is just too low to not hit the skirt. Worked perfect.
I have recently gone to looking at specifically the Jeep Cheroke mainly their off road or sports model, as with automatic trans and 4 wheel drive NOT AWD. as then on that vehicle or any other with 4 wheel drive and automatic trans. that you can shift the transmission and the transfer case both into netural will work best and it is usually only being used fro transportation while on vacation, and will be greatly appreciated in snow country.
I have researched this 4 down till I was blue I face and the equinox LT is OK if you are not planning to go over 65. The Jeep in other hand even contacting jeep headquarters said the only jeeps are wrangler different models or jeep Cherokee Trail hawk 4×4 which is higher end in price. Didn’t think that was appropriate for Rick’s and stones chipping away while in tow on a $ 30,000 SUV. That’s the choices, there are some cars best bet go on motorhome.com link dingy and it tells you choices, weights, auto or stick and speed.
Cyndee Kane i am in total agreement with you on all of this the jeep i was refering to is the jeep Cherokee Trail hawk 4×4. I dont think that towing a vehicle at 65 mph or faster or slower will make any significant difference as the heating up of the Transmission Oil it will heat up either way, and if you choose to do that I would stop every couple of hours to run the vehicle and circulate the fluid or check into some of the auxilary Transmission pumps I believe I have read about. I on the other hand am inherintlyt lazy and always seem to look for the easyiest way out, I don’t mind paying the extra for the Jeep Cherokee Trail hawk 4×4 because I am planning to hopefully be a full time RV Traveler, which is why I am looking at the Provost Custom Built Motor Coach. I am presently 74 years old and want all of the luxuary I can get and am planning on spending my childrens inheritance. And at some point I will be in an area where the four wheel drive will come in handy. while making side trips and shopping while leaving the Coach in a park or secured storage facility somewhere.
I’m so happy are financially set but the majority of normal folks, can’t afford Prescott, we only drive a Tiffin 45 ft Bus, and don’t full time RV. But good for you and I hope everything works out for you and your lucky family to get your inheritance.
I have a 2014 LTZ Equinox and been towing it from day 1 , put over 10K miles just in towing and have not had any problems.