Recently, being rear-ended by large luxury vehicles is becoming too common. Sitting in traffic, or waiting for a red light, WHAM!. My poor Prius. The bumper in this picture was only 2 months old. I have learned that there are some crush points in the frame near the rear axle, that if they crush, it will total the car. Years ago, on PriusChat, there seemed to be a mod where a big metal plate was offered to bolt to the bottom of the rear of the Prius. It had holes in it for the exhaust system. It's main selling point was to possibly improve airflow, but I have wondered if it might help stiffen up the frame in the rear? Some people can stiffen up the back of their vehicles with a trailer hitch, but I do not see how that would work for a Gen 2 Prius because it only connects to the area, right where the bumper connects, and doesn't stiffen up the area closer to the axle. Even though I don't think it matters for this post, I already have the true BT Tech Plate. I really like my car, and do not want to have to replace it because the rear body gets pushed into the rear doors. I am hoping to do for it what a big trailer hitch will do to protect the underside and rear of a pickup or SUV. I am starting a new thread because I could not find this question on other threads, searching for that plate I remember seeing years ago.
This is about all I've seen for body stiffeners.. beside the upgraded 24mm Progress or Corolla rear sway bar upgrade. Make : TOYOTA Model : PRIUS Model Identifier : NHW20 Parts No. 692-050-0 ~$110 plus import and shipping if its still available ( I haven't found a company that will import them ). FRAME BRACE REAR - TOYOTA PRIUS NHW20 also here: Super GT Ltd.
Thank you. I remembered a plate, but it seems that available mods that were available, aren't. Also, I think there may be a crush point in the frame that is up in the curve over the axle, which such a plate like I am thinking of, would not work anyway.
