Towing I-miev with dolly....?

[rgalvinmi]

I have a prospective buyer, who has a tow dolly, and wants to "tow" it home, about 80 miles. He plans on towing it with the REAR WHEELS on the ground...... can this be done? If so, how? thanks!

 

[Don]

That's certainly *not* recommended - The rear wheels are the drive wheels and there is no transmission with a neutral, so the entire drive train would be turning if towed with the rear wheels on the ground

A better way would be to rent (or borrow) a flatbed trailer and take it home that way. We towed the second one we bought home on a trailer and that was about an 800 mile trip

Don

 

[iwatson]

There is already a thread on this! I tow an imiev regularly. Check out the other thread http://myimiev.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=177

I tow it behind a motorhome so that when I arrive at my campsite I have a vehicle to run around in. I tow with the rear wheels on the dolly! The i-miev should only be towed rear wheels on the dolly if the vehicle is off. There has been some thought that it could be towed rear wheels on the ground if it was left in the on (ready mode) and with transmission in drive (eco, B, N) but this has not been tried that I'm aware of. One reason I don't feel like this is a safe option is because the i-miev (unlike other cars) has all it's weight at the rear of the vehicle. Having a fairly light load on the dolly and most of the weight at the rear could cause the rig to start swaying. This is opposite of a regular vehicle. Towing rear wheels on the dolly has been done numerous times and extensively. One tow was 1800 miles from West Tennessee to Central Florida and back.

I do leave the transmission in neutral so that the rear axle works as a hinge when the rig moves up and down going in and out of driveways. This requires the key to be left in the ACC mode. Turn the radio off manually (if equipped with the Nav stereo, turn off the screen as well). Lock the front steering straight using two ratcheting straps attached to the steering wheel and secured to the front seat belt anchors. I'll likely get a note from JoeS to post pictures! Yeah, Yeah I know, I still need to do that. Maybe he's still in Florida playing with his Tesla and won't notice?

 

[JoeS]

...Lock the front steering straight using two ratcheting straps attached to the steering wheel and secured to the front seat belt anchors. I'll likely get a note from JoeS to post pictures! Yeah, Yeah I know, I still need to do that. Maybe he's still in Florida playing with his Tesla and won't notice?

lwatson, saw your post right after you posted it this morning I'm still intrigued by exactly how you immobilize that steering wheel. When I mentioned maybe adding a trailer hitch onto the Tesla to be able to tow the i-MiEV on a dolly to my wife, her reaction was, to say the least, not very supportive... :roll:

(Savannah yesterday, Charleston today, heading for Kitty Hawk tomorrow - that Tesla is cool as a cucumber despite the sweltering heat)