Mounting A Tow Hook (not the type for trailers)

Mine (an '04) came with a shipping tie-down eye-bolt under the spare tire. Maybe yours did too.

 

What's wrong with using the tow hook that comes with the car?

It's in the back trunk and you screw it into the hole in the front bumper (which is covered by that round disk on the driver's side).

 

Why does the car only have only 1 tow hook? I know nothing about these, but don't you need 2?

 

Toyota agrees. Check out the front bumper of a 2010...

 

No, when would you need to tow a Toyota anyway?

 

Pat I think this is a 'he's got money burning a hole in his pocket' bling tow hook, not a tow hook to actually tow the car.

 

You got red paint? You got a red tow hook.

 

Even this Prius has no tow hook, they pushed it with a Tundra.
Got Hybrid? - Sport - Auto Reviews - Car and Driver

 

Why not take the tow hook that came with the car and get it electroplated or chromed and just leave it in the factory hole. Or find a machine shop to make one to fit the factory hole. This way you wont have to worry about dealing with anything structural. You could even get it out of platinum and then you would have some major bling.

 

Be advised that actually towing a Prius at any real speed can cost you a $5000 repair.
If you tow with the front wheels on the ground, you are generating electricity in an uncontrolled manner (MG2 is directly attached to the front wheels) without starting the transaxle cooling system. Neither would bite you the length of a driveway, but towing to somewhere is best done on a flatbed.

It can still be bling!

 

or keep the car ON and in neutral while towing... or else.. yeah. you'll destroy it

the pre 2010 prius's only had 1 tow hook because that's all the cargo ships needed to use. the car drives in and locks down with the front hook to keep it from sliding.. they probably figured out it causes slight alignment issues so they issued Two. (alignment issues are my guess based off every 04+ prius where tire wear is uncontrollable due to the rear tire being 1/32 off or something small like that)

only a few people have actually solved this problem. the thread was lost about a year or two ago.

the front end has a lot of plastics and sheet metals... you would be forced to chase down the mounting spot for the oem hook and fabricate something that attaches in the same spot.. unfortunetly, it may be strait to the crush bumper.. which privides you with a low momentum/slow tow.. otherwise it may be too much and you may damage the underlayments.

i've wrecked the front end of my car and have seen what's under there... it's minimal.

i tow cars.. yet have never been towed... hmm.. longest distance is a 35 mile tow over a mountain pass. er.. i've been towed once.. on a flatbed due to a cheap set of lug nuts and a cheap key that stripped... (couldn't fix the flat)

btw.. speaking of flats.. this car runs a long time on a flat....