Fiat 500 for flat towing questions

[Hemlockdj]

Good day everyone,

We recently picked up a Fiat 500 to flat tow behind our 23ft class C. Does anyone flat tow a Fiat? If so I have a few questions. It is already setup to flat tow, and was wondering:

A: Does the key need to be into keep the steering unlocked? It does not seem to lock when I pull the key out so I'm assuming not.

B: It came with a braking system, Blue Ox patriot. The previous owner plugged it into the 12v power plug and put the key in acc to power it. Does anyone use a separate power source like the ones for jump starting your car for the braking power?

Thanks in advance,

Dave

[johnhicks]

Where did you run that line inside?

[LadyRVer]

I towed a Fiat 500, manual transmission, for 2 years. Did a dedicated power line for the Brake Buddy. Great little fun car. No key needed. Never had a dead battery.

[dodge_guy]

If it were me I would run a dedicated outlet front he battery to power the brake system. And then run a charge wire from the RV to keep the battery charged.
The steering wheel does not lock with the key out.

[johnhicks]

Only the manual-transmission Fiat is flat-towable.

The key isn't needed for the steering.

The lighter/accessory outlet is switched by ACC. You could jumper the breaker to make it always live, run a new wire to an outlet or use an accessory battery pack. The Fiat forum folks appear to believe the jumpering the breaker won't blow up anything but no one's actually done it. I'll do that when I get around to installing the brake. I'm legal without braking but I intend to go with a RVI Brake. I have a Roadmaster air brake rig I used on the Tracker but it won' t work with the Fiat, and it's kind of an overall kludge anyway.

[Y-Guy]

Dave, you want to check your owners manual, look for "Recreational Towing" to see what the steps are for flat towing your Fiat 500. Your vehicle should be flat tow-able (based on my past research), but the Fiat 500X is not. The additional 12v from the RV is a good idea so you don't drain you're battery.

[Lwiddis]

Suggest you follow the manufacturer’s instructions.