My Prius is a 3, not a V, but the parts are available for the V and solve the same problems vs. a roof rack/cargo box of lost mileage, damage and wind noise. Last year we installed our camping upgrades to our '11 Prius. This replaced a '00 Acura Integra which lacked space for 3 + gear + firewood. The 60/40 rear bench is folded down on the 60 side, leaving room for one passenger and the "D" rings are used with adjustable straps to keep cooler, Bento Box (ballistic nylon chuck box) and wood from moving around the cabin or bumping the rear seat passenger. Now we can carry three, plus gear and enough firewood for a 3-day weekend trip using our Thule Transporter Combi. This is using a TorkLift Eco Hitch (mounted for $60 by U-Haul), a Curt wiring T-harness (I installed it), Firestone RideRite air adjustable air suspension bags (Off Road Warehouse first and later and my own added mods to the airline, 2-1 T located behind the passenger taillight hatch access), and a Thule Transporter Combi cargo box. It is illuminated with stop/brake/running/turn/license plate lamps and the wiring harness is routed under the hatch through the bumper - there is a small plastic cap that comes off inside below the turnk hatch to allow the cable to fit through and be invisible. The Firestone air bags let me set the rear deck level height and avoid any contact with the hitch/cargo box during off-roading in campgrounds and our local desert. I can add/remove lift with the line (2-into-1 T) mounted behind the right side tail light access in the trunk. The cargo box allows me to avoid mileage-killing roof racks, plus I can tow small trailers if so desired. The Thule stows upside down in my garage from the ceiling using a Harbor Freight receiver and pulley system.
Looks great is the hitch 1 1/4 or 2 inch? We just installed a curt 1.25 hitch and wires on our Prius so we could pull a small trailer. Your cargo box looks great, what is it rated for???
Thanks Schmuly, it's a Class I, 2" receiver, as I would not accept the 1.75 for reasons involving integrity and stability. That said, towing isn't affected because of the GVWR of the Prius (you and I have the same capacity regardless of hitch type). The cargo box has a 150 pound capacity, basically the same 13 cu. ft. as a Toyota Corolla trunk.
wondering how difficult it was to instal the firestone bags . how were the lines run ? i utilize a similar set up with a aluminum tray off the back and would like a little less sag as well
The bags have short "install" hoses that allow you to deflate them, then you insert them with the back raised off a jack and remove "install" hoses and install your feed hoses. Here's a link to the installation guide for this Coil-Rite setup: http://riderite.com/-/media/www/riderite/files/Install%20Manuals/W237604136_RRInstallManual_EN.pdf
thank you . looks very simple !! just 1 more question. was there a pre existing hole under the spring perch to run the line of did you drill one ? btw ive also found that mounting stuff "off the back " yields the est results
No holes to drill. The lines run to a "T", I added to only have a single air line for both, and that single line goes back to the area where other cables just forward of the battery run inside - soft gaskets make a seal between the underside and and cabling and it's easy to just insert the airline up through one of these areas and into the hatch area. Below the hatch area is the removeable bin where the battery is. You can run the line around the battery area and through one of the passenger tail light access plugs, making changing the vehicle level possible without unloading the vehicle.
I just installed the Firestone Coil-Rite kit (part 4136) in my 2013 v. It took about 2 hours total. I followed the lead of a recent post/thread on this Prius Chat that merged the airlines from the 2 airbags (inserted into the coil springs with the air connection at the top) into a quick-connect "T" ($8.00) and ran the single through an existing electric cable gasket on the passenger side into the trunk area. I routed single airline with shrader valve in an 8 inch long 'pig tail' sticking out of passenger-side cowling behind tail light. Cost of airbags was about $100 including SH. Tech help at Firestone was great and helped me find source for "T." Works great; easily raising rear of car 1.5"+. I need this to level car (head light alignment) when hauling several 100 pds. of stuff back and forth from WA to AZ and back for wintering in AZ.
Hello. I've been reading this thread and one of the towing threads in the prius forum. I'm ordering the 2" ecohitch for my prius V. The primary use would be for hauling the family bikes around on a 4-bike hitch rack. I was also considering purchasing the riderite air adjustable suspension bags to pump the rear end up for a long upcoming trip (500miles). Not sure if I would worry about inflating/deflating it for shorter trips. Does anyone have any thoughts on whether this is necessary for hitch racks? The rack is 30lbs, plus a max of 4 bikes @30lbs (conservative, since 2 are kids) = 150lbs or so of tongue weight. I'm just wondering if I should be worried about that much compression on the rear for an extended drive or if it should be no big deal (long term wear on the suspension?). Thanks in advance for any thoughts/help.
While the car is designed to run that load, it's annoying to have the rear end hang low and the vehicle not sit level. The Coil-Rite kit takes care of that problem. When not hauling loads, I just run it at lower pressure, around 15 lbs. It makes the rear stiffer, making turns feel more secure with less body roll.
The Firestone air bags let me set the rear deck level height and avoid any contact with the hitch/cargo box … I just got around to installing these air bags on my Prius and ran into an issue. I followed Firestone's directions and installed the first one "tube end down". Then when I began to get concerned about chafing of the tube with suspension movement, I looked up your posts and realized that you installed "tube end up" - makes sense. I had a b of a time removing it (finally figured out that a Mightvac helped a lot!). The issue now is that the support disc (supposed to go on the tube end) is a terrible fit in the top of the spring. It looks and feels like once installed, it would keep trying to squirt out the side, held only by the plastic tube. Did you use your support discs? if so, did you do anything to try to keep them centred and have they behaved over the years of use? Thanks!
