A truck is not always needed

[freebeard]

Originally Posted by Bicycle Bob

I'm working on a video about it, and it will be featured in the sequel to "Tiny Homes on the Move" by Shelter publications.

Very cool, I have the Dome Books, Shelter and Tiny Houses. It's good to know there is a sequel on the way. How soon?

[Bicycle Bob]

Originally Posted by freebeard

Very cool, I have the Dome Books, Shelter and Tiny Houses. It's good to know there is a sequel on the way. How soon?

They are putting it together now, but I can't say when it will be out.

[The Atomic Ass]

Originally Posted by iamgeo

I have a tow dolly that I have used several times, but I have always used a truck to do the towing. I have not used my Prius to tow a vehicle though. I'm not to sure if the CVT transmission would be able to handle it and really concerned about the brakes being able to work sufficiently.
Have you towed vehicles with yours a lot?

I'm much more concerned with the hitch, as it is rated for half of the total load you see there. (The U-Haul dolly is ~750 lbs, and the truck hit the scales at 3,200) I haven't towed any other cars, but several boats (more than is pictured in my gallery, didn't take pictures of them all)

Being concerned about the hitch, I never did any panic braking or sudden moves, so I can't comment on how much excess braking power I had. I wasn't using all, or even close to all of the braking power. Granted that most of the miles were highway, I am still on the factory brake pads.

I've made several trips through Western Colorado, and the engine is struggling to keep up, dropping at times to as slow as 30 mph with the accelerator to the floor, and staying there for multiple minutes, but with now 269k on the clock, the powertrain has had nothing but fluid maintenance. I also use B-mode heavily on the downside to control my speed.

I think Toyota might have designed this a bit too well, actually. Surely it was supposed to have broken by now.

[redpoint5]

Originally Posted by iamgeo

I have a tow dolly that I have used several times, but I have always used a truck to do the towing. I have not used my Prius to tow a vehicle though. I'm not to sure if the CVT transmission would be able to handle it and really concerned about the brakes being able to work sufficiently.
Have you towed vehicles with yours a lot?

The eCVT is different than a conventional CVT in that it doesn't rely on friction and belts. That's not to say you can't prematurely wear it out, but the software should keep the vehicle within the acceptable operating limits.

I didn't pull that much, but I pulled about 2,000 lbs of trailer and dirt in my gen III prius. Just took it slow and left plenty of stopping distance.

[The Atomic Ass]

Originally Posted by Isaac Zachary

The exception is on a long steep incline. Then you fry your transmission and burn up your brakes regardless of speed. Although the CVT in a Prius seems a whole lot more robust than a typical belt driven CVT.

Robust is a bit of an understatement. Read my post above.

Also, the green duck boat on the tandem trailer in the gallery I posted went from LA to San Jose over part of the 101. Multiple minutes of wound-out hill climbing back to back.

The grey boat with the canopy went from the Western tip of Montana to Austin TX, and many times I hit my power limit for multiple minutes on end. (due to the wind load of the bridge and canopy)

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Even though I wouldn't feel so comfortable towing with a more conventional CVT, I'd not be so scared to do so with an eCVT. Well, considering both the earlier version of the HSD power-split device and some transfer cases fitted to 4WD vehicles resort to a chain, and the newer CVTs resorting to metallic "belts" that are quite more like a chain than a belt, maybe it wouldn't be so scary at all.