Draw-Tite, Curt, or Hidden Hitch...

I would be careful and not overload the hitch by carrying 4 bikes or using a hitch extension.

 

I got a draw tite hitch from uhaul and a thule th990xt platform bike rack.

 

Last weekend I installed my hitch. It was $150 at U-Haul (picked up, no shipping), looks identical to the Curt hitch except for the label sticker. The installation took about 30 minutes. I had to use a knife to trim about 1/4" from one side of the hole on the underbody plastic through which the tow hook formerly protruded.
For the bike rack, I went with Allen Sports 3 bike model from Walmart for $80 (I know, 2 bikes max, but it was only $5 more than the 2 bike model and I knew from experience that I might want a little wiggle room between the bikes). I have the same model, but for 4 bikes, from a previous car with a 2" hitch and it is a good buy. The only issue I really had was that the top part of the vertical bar (that tilts out for trunk access) would wobble a bit as it nested inside the bottom portion. I solved this with a black plastic shim, which I drilled a hole through and attached to the cable that tethers the locking pin. Since the Prius hatch raises vertically, I never need to tilt the bike rack anyway.
Not bad for under $250.

 

I'm a new Toyota owner just having purchased a 2014 Prius Two on Memorial Day. Yesterday I had a Curt hitch installed, which I selected because it require nothing to be cut and I do not find it to be obtrusive in its visibility at all. I liked that the under tray and rear body work required no modifications to mount. Only using it for a bike rack.

 

Looks good. I guess I probably could have got the hitch on without trimming the underbody, but I didn't even have the car jacked up.

 

What kind of rack did you get? We have a Thule but it's not super stable for long distance highway travel, and are considering a platform like Kuat sherpa. Our mileage went to about 40 with the Thule, and was wondering if anyone has mileage information with a platform.

 

I think you should expect about a 5 to 10 mpg drop with bikes on the back at highway speeds. Just drove a long distance with my 1 up rack and one bike on the back in the inside position. Got 46 mpg over 500 miles. Normally I would have gotten about 52 mpg. I got 42 mpg on the same trip last year with the bike in the outer position.

 

I bought the (presumably) same Curt hitch (#112761) for our Prius Vagon for $106 from hitch anything.com

Very easy to install, once I figured out how to pull off the rubber thingy to drop the exhaust pipe.

 

Deleted.

 

This is standard packaging and shipping for Draw-Tite products, which incidentally are made in Mexico, but are stocked in a small town in San Bernardino County, California, Bloomington, which is very close to an almost direct highway route to Baja California, Mexico.

Draw-Tite products are generally wrapped with single-sided sticky corrugated paper wrapping around the "arms" of the hitch, sticky side in, non-sticky side out. The mounting points, the "ends", and the receiver, the "center", are not protected.

Finally, the fasteners and installation instructions are placed in a heat-sealed bag, and this bag is taped to the hitch using filament tape.

A simple shipping label is affixed to the corrugated paper wrapper, which Fedex Ground accepts.

This practically eliminates all packaging costs, and significantly reduces shipping costs as well.

Alas, some marring of the "powder coat" paint is unavoidable.

However, 2-day "free" shipping from Bloomington to points on the west coast are routine.

 

Will a Curt hitch have enough vertical clearance to clear a Prius with a Prius Plus Package, kit?? Anyone?

 

Same question for my Plus as well. Willing to measure if it would help.
Thx

 

I am installing the same setup on a new-to-me 2012 Prius Two.

The Curt T-connector is about as good as it gets, but the Toyota connectors, into which Curt's Ts have to interconnect, are a little tricky.

It is best to remove the Phillips screw at the top and the 10mm bolt and the bottom of each side of the interior, and then carefully peel it back before attempting to install each T.

Yellow wire on the driver's size, Green wire on the passenger's side, as per instructions.

As usual, Curt is providing an incorrect battery positive terminal ring connector ... 3/8" ID, and yellow for 10-12 AWG wire.

The correct connector is 1/4" ID and blue for 14-16 AWG.

Otherwise, the Curt T-connector product is fine.

 

Trimming the underbody is not required.

You remove the towing loop and its bolts and save these. You remove the exhaust pipe isolator and save these bolts, too.

You use a 5/8" open end wrench and a pry bar to pop the rubber (well, it is really neoprene) exhaust pipe isolator and lower that assembly, then you install the hitch with the left side in place of the towing loop and the right side above the exhaust pipe isolator. On the right side, you install the hitch first, then the exhaust pipe isolator, then the washers and bolts, top to bottom.

12mm Class 10.9 bolts with conical washers replace the original fasteners, and torque these to 86 ft-lbs.