Yeah Homer, that's the one thing I was worried about and disappointed me about the dolly. The MOs brakes were great though. Now obviously, your about twice as heavy so your stopping distance is going to be about twice as far, but once you account for that and plan ahead, no problem. Very solid, no brake fade, oh and compression braking on just cruise control was awesome, never had to apply brakes going downhill and speed stayed within 2mph of cruise set. The max rpm it went up to going uphill on cruise was 3500.
Ok what hills? Well, I drove north on I-65 from Huntsville up through Louisville to I-75 and then I-75 all the way up to Ohio SR 30E. Up to Cincinatti there are several good grades but nothing that requires emergency truck stopping ramps. Thats why I call them hills instead of mountains. Kind of like Monte Sano Mountain in Huntsville...it's called a mountain but to me it's a hill.
As far as extra transmission cooler, well, I don't think it's necessary. That is what has perplexed me about the MO. The Nissan hitch with a tow rating of 3500 lbs is an accessory. It's not an option. Tow package options usually include extra cooling for transmissions and engines. But not for the MO. At first you might think they took the cheesy way out, almost as an afterthought. But why do that and open yourself up to risk? And why not alleviate that risk in next years model? Something tells me the answer is in the CVT itself. Perhaps the controller and temperature sensors and engine computer. I don't know, but it was a cool drive. The highest outside temp was 41 F.
A short note about the CVT. I've recently learned a lot about it (more later) but it doesn't generate heat like an automatic. But it does have a torque converter that does generate heat like an automatic. An automatic has clutch pads that engage hydrostatically, so the slipping generates heat. The CVT is designed not to slip. Now there is always micro slippage going on, a matter of geometry/physics, but macro slip is intentionally prevented. IE the belt travel faster than the cones. If it did, it would rip off material and cause big problems, probably catastrophic failure.
