Question about Hitch-Mount for Bike Rack on Prius

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My 50mpgh prius has the coastaltech 1.25" hitch, my 35mpg pickup,. Don't let anyone tell you it is weak or poorly designed. They recommend 200 lb max tongue weight/1500lbs total. Since gas prices have been high, I choose to use my 35mpg prius w/trailer to tow anything, any size that I felt was safe, vs using my 6mpg 87ford pickup w/trailer. Trailerwise, I started small, 0-50 lbs tongue and 100-500 total. Now after 35000 miles trailer use, and at 110000 odometer, I not only trust the hitch, I also trust the robust prius both for braking ability under 120lb tongue/1500lb total, and the ability of the transaxle to withstand the additional loads, you won't believe the awesome accelleration even with 1500lbs in tow. The hitch won't bend even with 200lbs of bicycles on the bike rack, I went 400 miles from Butte,MT to Ogden,Ut with 100lb tongue/1500lbs total, and bumps may have added much more weight on the tongue with no detriment. I am not knocking other hitch brands, only relieving the fear some have about putting a hitch on their Prius in the first place, and giving a pitch about the robust Prius and revolutionary Toyota Hybrid Synergy Drive system. I am not advacating heavy loads and voiding warranties, but I never got to use my 100k warranty since the prius is sooooo good.

 

anyone got pictures of a prius with 4 bikes on the hitch, and the type of rack. thanks Jim

 

Hi Timm,

I just wanted to thank you for your posted pics. I used your modified Coastal hitch design to fabricate my own 2" hidden hitch assembly. I made it instead from a continuous piece of 2" HSS (box tubing) which goes straight back to that rear support, with an angle tab at the end to account for the fact that the thing isn't dead centre on the vehicle left to right. I welded a piece of the 2.5 x 0.238 wall HSS they use to accept the hidden hitches to the end. I then welded angles to the HSS and a plate tab and angle tab to catch the two tie-down/tow lugs that the Coastal usually bolts to. I can put a 6' long lining crowbar in the hitch and stand on it (I'm 200 lbs) and compress the rear springs completely with no noticeable deflection to the hitch.

I built a rack out of HSS and UniStrut which slips into the hitch and fits four bikes (any style), far enough back that we can still open the hatch. I can put a cooler on there, or tents, or whatever I fancy, just by reconfiguring the UniStrut brackets.

I think my total materials cost was about $40, and it took me about four hours all in to build. Guess that pays for the welder, as if it hasn't already paid for itself!

We drove from Toronto to Nova Scotia/PEI with three bikes on the hitch-mount carrier, and four bikes on the way home: my dumpy city/mountain hybrid, my wife's cheap, heavy mountain, our daughter's tow-behind Trail-a Bike, and our son's little full-suspension mountain- pretty heavy load. The car handled great and the whole thing was nice and stable the whole way. Unfortunately, my normal ~ 5 L/100 km summer mileage (2008 gen 2, 40/38 psi stock tires, mostly on cruise, 115 km/hr top speed) was wrecked on the way there (6.9 L/100 km avg). With the four bikes on there on the way home it was like a parachute even after removing the two front wheels on the big bikes (7.7 L/100 km avg). Mileage was far better at slower speeds obviously, but it's such a punishing drive we just wanted it over with... Still cheaper than renting bikes for us for two weeks, but definitely a DRAG! Suspect it would suck less if the bikes were kept tighter to the back of the vehicle rather than leaving the space for the hatch.

Anyway, thanks again for the inspiration!

 

I have a Saris bike rack with a 2 inch bar I'd like to use on my 2008 Prius. I would like to hear opinions/experience on using an adapter with such rack and a 1.25 inch hitch. I am wondering about extending the rack out that much further from the Prius and scraping the ground, wobble, or other problems that might occur. I will only carry 2 bikes with a total weight of around 50 pounds plus the Saris rack. Anyone with experience using a smaller 1.25 receiver hitch with the adapter for a 2 inch rack?
Thanks!
Lisa

 

Please help me figure out what bike rack and hitch to use!!!!! I had a bad experience with a bike falling off of my 2004 Camry from an inexpensive trunk mounted bike rack so I don't want to take chance on damaging my beautiful new Prius !! I really think a hitch will keep the bike from damaging my car however I really don't want to have the rack on the car all week when I drive to work..... the reason I got the prius was for the gas mileage so I don't want to have bike rack dragging down the MPG's.... this site is kind of hard to find specific posts so help!!!! Ideally I would like to put the rack on when I am going for rides on the weekend and take it off for my drive to work during the week. Any suggestions would be appreciated....

 

The hitch mount bicycle racks install and remove in under a minute so you don't need to leave them installed when not using it.

 

I have both the Thule T2 and 990 XT Doubletrack, T2 on a small rv and the 990 on an suv. I'd like to use the 990 on our 2010 Prius. The 990 is much lighter than the T2 and works on either a 1.25/2 inch receiver.

I'm currently using a Thule trunk mounted rack for our straight top tube bikes but want to carry slant tube mountain bikes on the Prius so I need to use a platform carrier. The 990 seems to be a natural....lighter than the T2 and works with a 1.25 receiver....and a lot less loading hassles than the trunk carrier.

The Curt 114690 1.25 hitch looks very good. My only question is about flex. I've heard rumors that it flexes and causes problems with carrier stability. I've searched for the problem/solution here and haven't found anything here. Any thoughts on this problem?

 

I have a question. I purchased a
Thule Hitching Post Pro - Folding Tilting 4 Bike Rack w Anti-Sway - 1-1/4" and 2" Hitches from Thule Hitching Post Pro - Folding Tilting 4 Bike Rack w Anti-Sway - 1-1/4" and 2" Hitches Thule Hitch Bike Racks TH934XTR

About a year ago, I've never used it because I'm always concerned about the weight if the rack itself plus carrying 4 mountain bikes on it. I also thought putting a hitch on the vehicle was much simpler I now come to figure it isn't. From what I see the hitch is installed from underneath the vehicle, mabe this is the "curt version" so what would be the not curt version? Can someone tell me what they think and experiences of carrying four 40 lb bikes on a prius and recommendations for which hitch should I purchase. I want to get these bikes out on the road this summer.