Teardrop Trailers

The description sounds like it would work with a Prius. The device uses the deceleration of the tow vehicle to activate the trailer brakes. If it used brake fluid pressure to activate the trailer brakes, then there would be a problem with the Prius design of regenerative braking. The Corolla version would seem to be the best fit.

Be sure to check out the various threads on towing with a Prius. My take on it all is that the Prius should perform about like a Corolla when it comes to towing. Long uphill pulls, such as in the Rockies west of Denver can exhaust the traction battery, leaving you in the slow lane with the heavily loaded trucks. Towing is going to wear the vehicle out earlier, but that's true of any car.

 

Here's my setup ... first trip was Sacramento, CA to Seattle, WA and back. It went up/down the mountains like it was on rails. No issues with power. No issues with tracking. I went from 51 MPG down to 35 MPG. All in all, a great experience.

 

Yes, it will work fine. Virtually any brake controller will work with the Prius or any other car/truck/van. That Tekonsha model is considered the best one on the market.

A quick primer: Trailer brakes are electric, not hydraulic. So they are activated by electricity supplied by a brake controller. The amount of braking applied is determined by the voltage level being fed by the controller.

Brake controllers come in two varieties: 1) Proportional 2) Timed/Time Delayed
Both kinds are initially activated by tapping into the towing vehicle's brake light power source. When the tow vehicles brakes are applied, the brake lights come on, causing the brake controller to activate. What happens next is dependent upon which kind of controller you have.

Proportional is the kind you want. As the name would indicate, it gives proportional braking to the trailer based on the braking force within the tow vehicle. It does this with a pendulum (or some electronic variant). Imagine a pendulum hanging vertically in your car. When you apply the brakes, that pendulum will move forward. The harder you brake, the more it will move. Proportional brake controllers use this same principle -- the more their "pendulum" moves, the more voltage they send to the trailer brakes. These brake controllers are great because your trailer is always braking in unison with the tow vehicle.

Timed/Time Delayed controllers are a blunt instrument. IMHO, don't even consider one of these. They supply a pre-determined voltage level to the brakes whenever they are activated. Before you set out, you adjust how much braking you want (based on your load, vehicle, etc.) and the amount of delay you want. For the sake of discussion, let's say you choose half power, and two seconds. Every time you apply your brakes (brake lights come on) two seconds will elapse, and the trailer brakes will be applied at half power. (You can see the potential for problems already, right?)
So if you begin gently braking while approaching an intersection, two seconds from the time you apply the brakes, the trailer brakes are going to come on hard -- not good. Alternatively, if someone cuts you off and you have to slam on your brakes, you need 100% braking from your tow vehicle -- which you get. Unfortunately, you get no help from the trailer brakes for the initial two seconds, then they only come on at half force.
So as you can see, the Timed/Time Delayed controllers are always a compromise -- and a bad one at that.

A little long-winded... but I hope it helps.

 

Thank You for sharing your economy in your environment. I purchased a Ga trailer and drug it back to Louisiana with a strong head wind. I went with the flow of 70 mph,20mpg. By the time I arrived home the car wanted to stop on me within 2 miles of my home it was just low on oil the head wind and additional speed was not friendly to the engine I figured run harder than I ever would first run to give me worst scenario and from this point on run easy. Locally the trailer does great gets 38 mpg on interstate 70 mph I do 20 mpg and drop that wagon the car goes right back to 45 mpg no ac 40 mpg with ac. I got a larger trailer to drag my scooter to the shop anybody else with prius this is my 2 cents = Rent a trailer for the bike and get a smaller profile to tow to camp. When you tow to camp you are usually going to go further than with a utility trailer. Economy is pertinent in a long distance run. I can still adapt my trailer to a camper I can hammer in some wood frame that will allow me to hang a hammock inside and I can quickly convert back to utility. Lookit if you are young and want to get ahead quick get yourself a prius install a tow hitch to tow a teardrop. You can install some solar or run an inverter off the prius and run a power cord to the camper for a fan and computer or TV you are not going to run an AC in the teardrop you need a generator to be efficient with that more affordable to get a 2k honda generator I got one under $700 from sam's club. Thing is keep from paying high rent sure you can rent a storage unit or pay to drop your trailer at a storage lot go out drive the prius in a UBER job deliver pizza or if you have a trade you can grind on that and not let them know you are living out your car. DON'T LET THEM KNOW YOU DO THIS YOU WILL BE TAGGED HOMELESS AND THAT TAG NEVER LEAVES YOU CAN'T FIX PSYCHOLOGY BUT YOU CAN FIX YOUR FINANCES TO WORK FOR YOU ! You are a dirtbag you are not homeless dirtbag does things to pursue a passion they are extreme in that they use their heads to get what they want not what society thinks they need. Lookit my water bill has a $45 charge for sewer but I can go to my gym for $25 a month? Something does not add up? All I can say is save your apartment rent money for down payment of land or home put 20% down and finance 15 years that gets you out of PMI insurance and you get the lowest interest rate. If youth would do this for 5 years they could save enough to put half down on their property and be debt free inside 10 years. I am about to experiment with parachute material to sheet the wind off the trailer I figure if I clip it to the hatch back the cloth can go to the trailer where the bungee cords can flex when turning I do this it should get rid of the sail affect.

This lady owns a class C motorhome but prefers to camp out of her Prius. She likes to camp on BLM land where they can enjoy the environment very affordably. This is great if you are with income most younger people are not. They have to work at least 10 years till they get car paid off and can own a slither of land someplace. Many people are not paying rent anymore they are fed up with the prices charged just to be so called societal normal.There is nothing normal about taking over $1K a month toss it to the wind when you are working 80 hours a week and are never home to enjoy your place?

Cheap RV Living.com -Traveling in a Prius Here is another man living out of his prius. He has gone clean up to AK with his you will find his article interesting he hacked the interior to fit his lifestyle. Not a bad way to be if you ask me sure as hell beats rotting away in a old folks home.

All to often this is the experience most class A B and C campers face but they are never as candid as this fine young man. I applaud his honesty and he is an excellent person for sharing this very painful experience. This put his life in reverse gear and had to accept a lot of realities he never expected. This man is a victim of the economy he use to own his own property etc. He is a veteran earned and deserves respect.

I own a 2007 Prius have 3 configurations I have used with the car. First I have the stock WALMART issue cargo platform I use this to carry dirty things when I travel. Gas cans, stinky laundry, or maybe a bike. I can cover the floor of it and return home with 35 gallons of fuel in my 5 gallon gas cans. Anybody that has been on the other side of a hurricane knows you can return home to your house but power will be out for a week or more fuel service will not be restored to normal for about the same time. I have taken a trip with it when I went from Baton Rouge La to Padre Island Tx. I was conservative driving up there seeking out rocking chair driving positions. (Big truck in front one in rear ideal wind buffering not the fastest speed but the best way to go faster and get optimum economy.) I got 45 MPG on the trip up there return trip I went all out even sped and got 38 mpg. I find I lose just about 3 mpg for this cargo platform.

The next I have is a 5x8 V nose trailer $1.6K new, large enough to carry a motorcycle enclosed. This trailer tires are wider than the path of the Prius 70 mph with a head wind 20 mpg is the best you will get at 70 mph I had no load just wind resistance is enough to cut economy in half and I even burned a lot of oil this way. Around town I get 38 MPG as long as I keep it below 45 MPH.

The third I have is the RUN AWAY camper bought it used for $2K . The box on the camper is 4x8x3' smaller than the cab of the car the tires track perfectly with the car. I get 30 MPG towing on flat land at 60 mph. This is driving very conservative.

Prius v (lowercase v for the Prius v wagon) you have 67 square ft to play with in the rear probably more if you remove the 2 seats out the rear. Run away camper you have 96 square ft of space. The Prius v (lowercase v for the Prius v wagon) you can use the engine for climate control the camper you either have to plug in to shore power or run a generator. Depending where you are you might be able to get away with fans and solar power. Towing anything will cost you 25- 33% economy for a smaller trailer and 50% for a larger vehicle.

If one were thinking how to start out affordably I would recommend a number of paths, lowest cost greater risk would be get a rear ended Prius salvage at a good price then chop it to suit. You will install tow hitch and possibly turn the rear into a pick up truck config. 2nd would be a regular Prius stock with tow hitch for the camper you can build your own camper if you are handy or buy a new one from Run away for $~3K after tax. The third would be Prius v (lowercase v for the Prius v wagon) tow hitch for the camper and use the car for Uber or you can sleep in the car and use a storage unit to put all your sleeping gear. What you do is get a health club membership I have PLFT planet fitness for $~20 a month. I have unlimited showers. Before you SYH my home water bill includes a $45 sewer fee the bill is never under $60 this is water alone. Sure I wash a load of clothes each day and 3 people live here but I think that $45 is a tax.

IF somebody really needs to go economy I would suggest a motorcycle that is beefy enough to tow a trailer. Why a cycle it is less efficient than a prius but insurance savings alone is worth this route. I pay $1200 a year for car insurance MC insurance is but $75 a year. That is a lot of gas at todays rate? We pay $1.35 a gallon for fuel here. That or get a sailboat either rent a slip or sink a 55gallon barrel of junk or engine block for a mooring site and paddle to shore. Use Public transportation or bicycle. There are plenty of ways to be a grunge luggage tourists in life.

 

Re: Toyota doesn't want you to tow anything..

I recently towed a 4'x8' trailer on my U-haul installed hitch (2,000lb max weight limit) from CO to CA with no problems.

 

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