OK, so the transmission recently went out on the Tundra, leaving us with only the Prius as our main vehicle... Which sucks. So, my question is, would you put a transmission (~200lbs, ~440kg) in the back of a Prius and haul it? We're talking about 3 ft long by maybe 16 inches... Would it put stress on the battery pack? I've noticed the back storage is just wussy plastic, as well...
We've had discussion about the max capacity of payload WITH passengers. 810 Pounds Maximum Weight | PriusChat of 810 lbs. sounds about right. Exterior & Cargo - Consumer Reports from 2008 (Gen 2 covered model years 04 to 09) mentions 825 lbs.
I've had 15+ cases of wine in mine. That's about 600 lbs of wine. Worked fine. Wouldn't do it all the time, but once or twice probably will be ok.
Big deal. I've driven over 860 miles (from WA state back to the Bay Area) w/my mother + the entire hatch area and back seat area full of cargo. I'm sure my mother + cargo was well over 200 lbs. This included going up and down the hilly/mountainous areas in Oregon via I-5. If guess you're concerned about the weight on the plastic "shelf" area, maybe you can help even out the load by using boards or planks over it and spread it out over the plastic and the rear seats?
That's what I was thinking about. I'll probably throw some towels or old blankets back there to protect from fluid leaks from the tranny. I'll be getting this thing Wednesday; I'll let everyone know how it goes. Thanks for the help, just wanted to make sure I didn't kill the Prius thing!
Well, which is it, about 200 lbs or about 440 kg? as they are not even close equivalents. 440 kg is 968 lbs. But, 200 kg is about 440 lbs.
Good catch! I only looked at the 200 lbs and my response was "big deal". 440 kg (which Google as a calculator tells me is 970 lbs) on the other hand... I wouldn't haul that in the Prius. That's over the Prius' max cargo + occupant weight limit w/o even the driver.
Looks like a bass ackwards conversion because 200kg is 440lb. Even at 200 lb a trans-axle should have something like wood under it because it has force concentrated at edges and sharp points instead of being evenly distributed over a large area
It should be fine just be aware the brakes will really suck. Its almost like regen is removed when you put alot of weight on the car. At least thats the way mine acts with tow weight on it. I would have the transmission fluid changed first and the Inverter coolant replaced also. Both cheap and your diy guy so very easy. Your looking at $60 all in for fluids and 2 hours. Good luck...and oh put that thing in a crate first. One fast turn and hilarity will ensue.
Towing hundreds of pounds with the Prius is no problem. The brakes actually work really well, the regen keeps them cool. However, all that weight on the back end makes it squirly because the FWD that is used to having a nice engine over it now gets counter balanced by 600 pounds of slate tile, cement bags, paver stones, decorative gravel, and other things in my case. +1 on the strapping down or crating of the transmission. Metal vs. glass has a pretty clear winner.
Ack... Dumb. Got my calculation backwards. should have realized the kg would be a smaller number than lb, being denser. It is 200lb.
While everyone takes you to task about math, not one of them stopped to question what a 960 lb transmission would look like Can you say forest for the trees? I think the Prius will handle your 200 lb transmission just fine.
This may sound radical, but have you thought about renting a pickup to haul that tranny in? By the time you spend your money and effort to crate up the tranny which will protect your Prius from possible damage if you had to stop quickly you could have easily rented a pickup from U Haul. Besides that, tranny's are notorious for leaking fluids. No matter how many blankets, towels etc. you place underneath chances are the interior is going to get some sort of fluid on it. There is nothing worse than the smell of gear oil inside a vehicle IMO. Yeah, you can carry a lot of stuff in the Prius. But if you want to be practical about it, consider what you are wanting to carry and what could possibly be damaged if a catastrophic event took place.
