Hello Dolly! (Towing your LEAF)

[etracing]

Has anyone towed their LEAF behind a RV with a Tow dolly?

If so, any suggestions other than what is in the manual?

Thanks!

[coqui]

No, sorry, a 70 gallon capacity RV at over $4 a gallon diesel price is not with my range of affordability. I have heard that towing a Leaf (if there's something wrong with the Leaf for example) should only be done with a flatbed, if that's any help to you.

Has anyone towed their LEAF behind a RV with a Tow dolly?

If so, any suggestions other than what is in the manual?

Thanks!

[SteveS]

I didn't tow with an RV, but I did tow mine from Dallas to New Orleans with a U-Haul tow dolly. No problems at all. Just drove the LEAF on the dolly, strapped the tires and started driving. I pulled it with a Lexus RX400h SUV.

Hope this helps.

[etracing]

I didn't tow with an RV, but I did tow mine from Dallas to New Orleans with a U-Haul tow dolly. No problems at all. Just drove the LEAF on the dolly, strapped the tires and started driving. I pulled it with a Lexus RX400h SUV.

Hope this helps.

Yes, thanks. I checked the rear wheels and the manual so I do not expect any issues either.

I will report back after this weekend.

[TonyWilliams]

If you pull it without a dolly, you must disconnect the drive shafts (half shafts) from each front wheel to the gear box. There is no other way to practically disconnect the AC propulsion motor from the wheels. The gear box is always "in gear", with no way to achieve a Neutral. When you select Neutral on the gear shift, that merely deenergizes the AC propulsion motor, but does not disconnect any gears. The rotating mass in the motor will still turn with the wheels.

But, a front dolly as posted above will be easiest. Nissan says lots of stuff, like DC charge only once per day, and other wacky stuff like don't tow it. Of course you can, provided you don't allow the front wheels to turn the motor.

Easy.

[kubel]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Sujv90PLLY" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[MaryC]

When towing on a dolly did you leave the car on or will it tow allright in the off position? I would really like to set up the Leaf for towing behind my motorhome.

[aqn]

When towing on a dolly did you leave the car on or will it tow allright in the off position? I would really like to set up the Leaf for towing behind my motorhome.

Mechanically speaking, the rear wheels are just donuts rotating on bearings; they rotate independently of each other, even. (Obviously, the parking brake should be off/disengaged!) Whether the "ignition" is on or off makes no difference.

[LakeLeaf]

If you are towing your Leaf behind your motor home - most motor homes have a generator in them. I don't think you are supposed the run the generator while driving the motor home --- but it you can - maybe you could plug in your Leaf and charge it via generator while you are driving the RV to your next destination.

The purist won't like the idea of either the motor home, or the generator, but if you have all of the above - it sure would be nice to end up at your destination with a full charge.

[ b.t.w. - nice job on the thread title! ]

[TonyWilliams]

When towing on a dolly did you leave the car on or will it tow allright in the off position? I would really like to set up the Leaf for towing behind my motorhome.

I'm not sure I understand the basis for the question. Are you worried about running the lights on the LEAF?

For that, you can mount lights that have magnets to stay mounted on the car, and plugged into your motor home. Or, you add a plug on your car that plugs into the motor home so that the motor home controls the LEAF taillights, brake, and turn signal lights.

All standard stuff. Yes, you could charge it while underway on 120v with an inverter that can handle 1.44kW continuous load. No generator.

The motor home will have to have the correct size alternator (big) and heavy wires to handle the load.

All easy and relatively cheap.