lensovet's current and future mods thread

This is a very common mod for motorcyclists, who depend on good horns for survival amongst the freeway semis and the music-enveloped SUV drivers.

Reason for two: high-pitch penetrates better into well-insulated cabins, while low-pitch has good distance carry. Together, they pretty much get through most stuff that insulates the other driver.

Fiamm's Freeway Blasters are some of the loudest non-air horns out there (there are cheaper Fiamm models - look for "Freeway Blasters"). Fiamm marks their horn pitch by a cast "L" or "H" on the horn's trumpet flare.

Another choice is the red Hella horns, but they have only one pitch.

Think of these aftermarket horns as cheap insurance.

Separately, you mentioned something for the cargo area. I've had great luck with the Prius-designed Canvasback item. It's very easy to live with, covers every flat surface well, doesn't move, easy to remove to shake out, and handles the split seats well.

 

The car already has two horns. So you're just replacing the 2 that are there, one on each side. The wiring even all plugs into the new horn's connector so its just a matter of taking out the old and putting in the new. There's a thread in the Mods and Accessories forum.

But a quick run down is.. you remove the front emblem so you can stick your hand in there.. then remove the top plastic panel (its 4 clips IIRC) so you have access from the top. I had to also remove the hood latch so I could get my hand in there. But others have said you can get your hands in there if you really try.

EDIT: here's the thread I was talking about:

Horn Upgrade --- DIY | PriusChat

 

I've had my Canvasback since Summer, hauled house building materials and also metals to the recycling point, plus assorted cr$p... never a tear. They are treated to be very water-resistant. Actually, pretty life-resistant. There's a post you can search on about people who carry other stuff on their Canvasback - that's what gave me the idea. BTW - mine looks brand new after a half year of cargo loads.
Trackyside already covered the horns. The Fiamm horn instructions and the other thread cover the install pretty well.

 

Of course, I'll post tonight.

 

Lensovet, here are Canvasback pix: seats down, one seat down, both seats up, through the side door, and one Canvasback corner peeled back to show the stay-down Velcro.

BTW - when raising seat backs, then the seat back is in the 45 degree position, there's a cover panel on the back of the seat that lifts along with the seatback. I just tuck the Canvasback into the trough between the seat and the cover panel, so when the seat is fully raised, everything is tightly tucked in like on the "Seats up" picture.

 

Very observant of you. I did think of chucking the factory mat - and then decided to keep it, as it is a cushion layer under the CanvasBack and it doesn't get in the way of anything, and it's still pretty brand new. After I put the CanvasBack in, I had literally forgotten that the factory mat is still there. So, rather than a "no reason to keep it", it's more of a "no reason to throw it out".

 

...and the Velcro sticks to either surface and to the seat backs equally well.

 

Make your passengers use the rear hatch door?

 

Try the Home Depot winterizing peel-&-glue compressible half-tubes that are sold for leaky house doors which don't shut tight. Not the foam strips - the vinyl thin half-tubes with one flat side that has an adhesive layer. Maybe, strategically placed on the door frame, they'll help some.

 

I posted a spead up video in my thread that shows how simple the sway bar is. Wheels do not need to be removed.