Towing with Prius C

I see that this is an old thread and directed towards the C. I thought I'd share my experience with towing with my 2008 gen 2 Prius. I've had a hitch on my car since it was new. It's been to the dealer a few times and I've never had an issue or comment about it from the dealer. I tow a small harbor freight trailer (4x8) that I estimate to weigh around 300 lbs. I try to keep my total load including trailer/load/passengers under 800 lbs. per the manual. Honestly, the car is great at towing. It pulls better than my old modded WRX. So I give a thumbs up to towing with a C as long as you keep the weight close to the Toyota total payload recommendations.

 

Thanks mark5211 for the comment. It is interesting to hear from Prius owners that use trailers.

 

I have began using my C for towing. I installed the Curt hitch (very easy and well made) and wired up lights. I am towing a very light trailer that I made with a golf cart on it. The whole thing weighs about 1000 lbs. I made it so that I can move location of wheels to put more or less weight on the tongue. Currently I have about 85 lb. on it. This seems about right. I have towed it on city streets and interstate at 65 mph. My gas mileage has averaged 30 mpg when towing and I have had no problems at all. Of course handling and braking are affected but I have a lot of experience with towing so I know how to allow for that. Pictures are enclosed

 

Brilliant! This is why I don't buy used cars!

 

Awesome! I think you have the record. I'm about to pull 1200lbs soon!

Do you have a Scan Gauge?

 

I have a TSC trailer that I have towed a riding lawn mower but I have installed air lifts on the rear of my Fit to prevent over loading the rear axle.
The general rule for towing a trailer is the total weight may not exceed 33% of the car weight. And the tongue weight may not exceed 100 pounds for one with a 1.5 liter engine..
In the case of a Prius C you should be able to tow a lightweight trailer with a 50 lb wheelchair without difficulty if you make sure the tongue weight doesn't exceed 50 pounds. And the total weight of trailer and wheelchair doesn't exceed 300 pounds.
You might want to consider some better brake pads in front, for example Hawk HPS, forgot the p/n but its same as Yaris.
Incidently, why do you want to use a trailer and not just lift into the back? Ease, perhaps? And be sure to learn the proper driving techniques when towing. I believe UHaul has a nice booklet but there's also the internet. 45 mph is generally max recommended speed.
good luck.

 

I see information on the forums for towing with a Prius lift back I know I ask this before but is there any forum information on towing with a Prius C? This is what I am thinking of towing:


Heavy Duty Utility Trailer - 870 Lb. Capacity


Towing hitches for the Prius C are easy to find, but I can't find a plug and play wire harness for the breaks/taillights

Do you PLEASE have any working pictures or videos of the Echo towing?

 

I made my own PIP harness out of the Curt harness for the Prius v (lowercase v for the Prius v wagon). The plugs on the v are the same but the wiring was different. I had to re do most of them but in the end it was PIP.

 

PIP? why not just use a universal kit?

I can fined hitches for it but were did you fine the wiring harness?

 

You could do that as well. I like clean no splicing installs when possible.

 

What is PIP how did you make a t connect if they don't sell one?

 

As I mentioned you would have to use the Prius v (lowercase v for the Prius v wagon) and wire it in the correct order.

 

What trailer is that?

I am thinking of using my Prius C to tow this?: Heavy Duty Utility Trailer - 870 Lb. Capacity

 

As long as I use common sense in driving, and don't severely overload the trailer, I'd pull that trailer in a heartbeat.
Just this morning I received my Curt receiver hitch from autoanything for $97 delivered. I felt that the Curt is the best built with 6 mounting bolts (not 4).

 

most have 4 bolt holes?

 

This receiver mounts differently than other receivers that I have installed on other cars.
On the prius c, the other brands that I looked at, are mounted with only 2 bolts per end.

The prius c hitch is the 3rd from the top.

Curt Trailer Hitch - Towing Class I, II, III, IV

 

Here are a few images of the hitch installed, what do you think?

 

So with towing the jet ski, you are looking a about 2,000 pounds with trailer weight included, don't you have concern with being able to pull out of the boat launch area, especially if it is wet?

 

This is a picture of our customer’s towing setup. He didn’t mention his methods for pulling the jet ski out of the water but it’s safe to assume he is very careful and avoids steep inclines.

 

That is exactly why they put this disclaimer, so noone would come back and say: no, I just had it for a bike carrier.