Towing a Maxima
Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 28
Towing a Maxima
Hello! Does anyone have experience with towing a Maxima (mine is 09) either with a tow dolly and the front two wheels up or flat towing with all four down? I want to pull behind an RV but looking to see if it is difficult or otherwise not the best car to do that with. Thanks
Hello! Does anyone have experience with towing a Maxima (mine is 09) either with a tow dolly and the front two wheels up or flat towing with all four down? I want to pull behind an RV but looking to see if it is difficult or otherwise not the best car to do that with. Thanks
I know he used an HRV due to the manual transmission, and eventually replaced it with a Grand Cherokee.
https://www.edmunds.com/car-buying/w...ind-an-rv.html
Senior Member
Joined: Jun 2011
Posts: 1,690
Following two paragraphs are from the owners manual:
FLAT TOWING Towing your vehicle with all four wheels on the ground is sometimes called flat towing. This method is sometimes used when towing a vehicle behind a recreational vehicle, such as a motor home.
Continuously Variable Transmission. To tow a vehicle equipped with a continuously variable transmission, an appropriate vehicle dolly MUST be placed under the towed vehicle’s drive wheels. Always follow the dolly manufacturer’s recommendations when using their product.
FLAT TOWING Towing your vehicle with all four wheels on the ground is sometimes called flat towing. This method is sometimes used when towing a vehicle behind a recreational vehicle, such as a motor home.
Continuously Variable Transmission. To tow a vehicle equipped with a continuously variable transmission, an appropriate vehicle dolly MUST be placed under the towed vehicle’s drive wheels. Always follow the dolly manufacturer’s recommendations when using their product.
Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 28
Ok it sounds like a great description of what flat towing is, but does not say it should be avoided? Thanks for pulling that out
Following two paragraphs are from the owners manual:
FLAT TOWING Towing your vehicle with all four wheels on the ground is sometimes called flat towing. This method is sometimes used when towing a vehicle behind a recreational vehicle, such as a motor home.
Continuously Variable Transmission. To tow a vehicle equipped with a continuously variable transmission, an appropriate vehicle dolly MUST be placed under the towed vehicle’s drive wheels. Always follow the dolly manufacturer’s recommendations when using their product.
FLAT TOWING Towing your vehicle with all four wheels on the ground is sometimes called flat towing. This method is sometimes used when towing a vehicle behind a recreational vehicle, such as a motor home.
Continuously Variable Transmission. To tow a vehicle equipped with a continuously variable transmission, an appropriate vehicle dolly MUST be placed under the towed vehicle’s drive wheels. Always follow the dolly manufacturer’s recommendations when using their product.
Senior Member
Joined: Jun 2011
Posts: 1,690
This also from the same section of the owners manual. BTW where it says "Automatic", CVT's are included.
CAUTION
● Failure to follow these guidelines can result in severe transmission damage.
● Whenever flat towing your vehicle, always tow forward, never backward.
● DO NOT tow any automatic transmission vehicle with all four wheels on the ground (flat towing). Doing so WILL DAMAGE internal transmission parts due to lack of transmission lubrication.
● For emergency towing procedures refer to “Towing recommended by NISSAN” in the “In case of emergency” section of this manual.
CAUTION
● Failure to follow these guidelines can result in severe transmission damage.
● Whenever flat towing your vehicle, always tow forward, never backward.
● DO NOT tow any automatic transmission vehicle with all four wheels on the ground (flat towing). Doing so WILL DAMAGE internal transmission parts due to lack of transmission lubrication.
● For emergency towing procedures refer to “Towing recommended by NISSAN” in the “In case of emergency” section of this manual.
The only way(s) you should tow a Maxima is either with the front wheels off the ground, on a dolly or on a flat bed trailer or tow truck with all the wheels off the ground. I personally have used the dolly method for 2 of my front wheel drive cars, (03 Maxima & 00 Saab) with no damage to the transmission.