Towing 5x8 Uhaul trailer full of stuff for 1,700 Miles?

You'll be pleasantly surprised with how handily the Prius powertrain will accelerate all that stuff to cruising speed for you. Won't be super snappy, but it'll get there.

It will then be your mission to figure out how to keep control of it while slowing, turning, and stopping.

If any of that doesn't go so well, you may get useful feedback from the other party's lawyer. In the US, that's our traditional way of promoting common sense.

 

I've towed with our Prius, it can haul a little. But only a little.

I think what you are describing is considerably beyond the (safe) capability of any Prius.

I think you should rent a truck to move the household, and also rent an auto transport trailer to haul the Prius behind the truck.

 

I wonder...What "word" was censored?

 

First the 804 pound load rating includes you, any passengers and everything you transport inside the car. In most cases that leaves very little or nothing. Overheating can be a concern but you might get away with it except on long pulls uphill. At that point the overload is squarely on the vehicle.

Safety is the next concern. The car is built light with small brakes. It is small and highly aerodynamic. The unibody was not stiffened up for towing; the drivetrain was not built for towing. The 09 Prius has a chain in the transmission which carries all the power. Think about that as you are pulling a 2700 pound overload up a mountain pass. Then there are the brakes. Possibly your biggest safety concern. Prius power regeneration is typically 90-100% of your braking force over 20 mph. However when you have a heavy load going downhill, the hv battery fills up quickly and regen goes away. Now you are depending on engine braking with a tiny 1.5L (92 cubic inch) engine and relatively small disk brakes up front. Could get dangerous fast. Especially when the cross winds are trying to knock that trailer off the road.

 

Probably lots not worth keeping, how about dump mattresses, bunch of desks, chairs for a start.

 

Pretty much guaranteed to ruin the trani
And leave you stranded with a $5000 repair bill.
And really stress the junk head gasket.

 

The whole sentence: "Why I always buy new."

 

Good Idea!
Don't ruin your car.... get rid of everything that won't fit in the car.
Send things UPS

 

I regularly tow with my Gen2 Prius. Similarly, i tow a 5' x 8' trailer. My trsiler has no independent brakes. My thoughts on trailering follow:

1.) Most trailers will have tongue weight of 10% of total load (adsuming properly packed trailer). IOW, a trailer weighing 1800lbs overall with cargo should have a tongue weight of 180lbs. Tongue weight can be measured with block of wood and bathroom scale.
2.) You should obtain an OBD2 Bluetooth dongle and Torque app. Using Torque ypu can monitor MG1 and MG2 temperatures (generally MG1 and MG2 should not exceed 135F or 140F depending who you talk to). You should also be monitoring HV battery temps as towing puts a bigger load on HV battery. If you get too hot regularly then check fan cooling circuit for HV batteries. Make sure fan and ductwork are not plugges up.
3.) Before towing i never reveived triangke of death ("TOD") but i observed very little circulation of coolant in inverter coolant reservoir. First time towing on significant grade on hot day, i got TOD and i was stuck until my GEN2 cooled down. I changed out the inverter coolant pump with Toyota pump. And, have not had that problem reoccur.
4.) I generally limit speed when towing to 52 to 62 mph. I go up a couple of six to eight percent (steep for this part of the country) and the battery typically goes down to two bars even when going up st 55mph. Leaving AC on going u p steep grades gets me down to one bar - thus. I turn off AC wjen going up steep grades.
5.) When I wired in the four flat harness into the GEN2, I ran all four conductors throw fuses. As i want to protect my Prius electrical system. You may want to consider this as it will give you peace of mind.
6.) UHaul is selective with regard to what cars they will be allow to tow their trailers. You may want to check whether will UHaul allow rental of a UHaul trailer when Prius is disclosed as the tow vehicle.
7.) My experience is that my GEN2 has robust braking system which is fully cspable of braking GEN2 and loaded trailer.

8.) Strongly suggest that you get a hold of a similar trailer (borrow, rent or buy). And, then do a couple sample hauls with yrailer loadex in order to ser how your GEN2 holds up to yowing.
9.) Genetally, i tru to get the center of gravity over the axle. If trailer is loaded with weight too farr forward, you will inctease tongue weight. Excessive tongue weight can throw off your front steering. Theteby causing the steering whell to not return tp center and cause steering to be squirelly.

If you load a disproportionate portion of the weigjt too far back you can strange results. Strange results include: i.) trailer coupling sliding up and down ball excesdively, ii.) trailer center of gravity being too far aft theteby causing a dangerous swaying/pendulum effect; and iii.) trailer coupling device being stressed exvessively.

 

There are two things to remember about trailer loaded weight and tongue weight:

1. Yes, the tongue weight is important. It affects how much the trailer tongue will squash down your rear suspension and tend to reduce the grip of your steered wheels in front. It has important effects on stability, so it's important to get it right.
2. No, at the same time, you shouldn't let the lower tongue weight distract you from remembering that the total loaded trailer weight is what you need to compare to the tow vehicle's capacity. The total weight is what the tow vehicle's powertrain has to haul up to speed, and what the brakes will have to bring safely back to a stop.

Your experience, then, is that in your towing circumstances you haven't had difficulty. Which is a good thing for you. But when you extrapolate from that to conclude it's "fully cspable of braking GEN2 and loaded trailer", it's good to remember that's a very different conclusion than what the engineers doing the math reached.

 

=========================
ex·trap·o·late
/ikˈstrapəˌlāt/
Learn to pronounce

verb

1. extend the application of (a method or conclusion, especially one based on statistics) to an unknown situation by assuming that existing trends will continue or similar methods will be applicable.
   "the results cannot be extrapolated to other patient groups"
   • estimate or conclude (something) by extrapolating.
     "attempts to extrapolate likely human cancers from laboratory studies"
   • MATHEMATICS
     extend (a graph, curve, or range of values) by inferring unknown values from trends in the known data.
     "a set of extrapolated values.
   • =======================
   • 
     
   • No extrapolation here. Merely someone with a similar situation sharing their experience and opinion.

 

I could paste the definition of 'experience', but I'll spare you. You can't 'experience' that the brake system is "fully cspable of braking GEN2 and loaded trailer", because that isn't an experience, it's a conclusion, which goes beyond evidence.

Your 'experience' can be "I've driven my Gen 2 and loaded trailer in this, this, and this situation and I haven't had braking problems", and that's cool, but it's not the same thing.

 

Link to Prius Towing (the wrong way):

 

I think I would have used channel across the roof there, rather than simply flat plate, to keep it from doing what it, umm, did.

 

This guy did a bunch of these Prius gooseneck videos. Apparently, his target audience hate Prius but enjoy seeing a Prius overloaded (and ultimately destroyed). In a later video he puts a big heavy 4X4 truck on the gooseneck. Good for a laugh (and filmed on a closed road for safety acvording to a later video).

 

They fixed it up in subsequent videos

 

I guess he doesn’t read where his proper jackpoint is

 

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