Gen 4 2016 Trailer Hitch

What's the distance from the load point to the fulcrum? I probably should have measured that, huh? lol... I don't suspect it more than a foot or so, is it?

 

It sure is a shame that the towing package available for the Gen 4 Prius in Europe, can't be found here. A European '16 Prius liftback is rated in Great Britain as having a towing capacity of nearly 1600 lb. I don't see much of a difference between the U.S. and European models, so I wonder what a U.S.-of-A. Prius could tow. Of course, the manual says that Toyota doesn't recommend it. I have found this to be the case for many vehicles; they are rated for much higher towing capacities in other countries, or the manufacturer states that towing is not recommended or allowed.

If I mount a hitch and pull a reasonable load (< 1,000 lb.) could I void the warranty?

 

Damage caused by towing would not be covered, and if you had, say, a transmission failure, you'd have a big fight on your hands if they saw evidence that you were towing, to prove that it wasn't your towing. (Technically, the law says that Toyota has to prove that it was your towing that did it, but in practice, unless you sue Toyota, that's not how it works.)

European tow ratings are typically assuming 4-7% tongue weight, as opposed to the 10-15% common here, which greatly reduces stress on the vehicle's unibody and rear suspension. However, it also affects trailer stability, so trailers are often limited to 80 km/h (read: 50 mph) by law in most European countries. That further reduces stress on the vehicle, but wouldn't fly in the US - we expect to do our towing at full freeway speed, keeping up with traffic.

 

ETrailer has a good video showing the installation process for the Curt Class I hitch. While time-consuming, it doesn't look like too tough a project. Go to the following page, then click on the
2016 Toyota Prius Trailer Hitch - Curt

 

My local UHaul dealer gave me a quote of $366 for the hitch, ball mount, wiring harness, installation and tax. The hitch is a Cequent brand, but the appearance and instruction guide are identical to the Curt hitch. I'm thinking that is a reasonable price and makes it not worth my time to fumble around pulling and cutting trim panels.

 

Installed!

Receiver by afriedma posted Sep 11, 2016 at 9:39 PM

Receiver Closeup by afriedma posted Sep 11, 2016 at 9:38 PM

Hitch by afriedma posted Sep 11, 2016 at 9:35 PM

Trailer Plug by afriedma posted Sep 11, 2016 at 9:40 PM

Bike Rack by afriedma posted Sep 11, 2016 at 9:19 PM

 

And here is the next part of the plan; a motorcycle camping trailer that weighs less than 400 pounds:

Motorcycle Camper by afriedma posted Sep 11, 2016 at 10:01 PM

 

Towing capacity differs not because the cars are so different in each market, but because of different rules.
The Australian-built Camry Petrol is rated to 1200kg/500kg braked/unbraked. The Camry Hybrid is rated 300kg/300kg braked/unbraked.
The UK towbar is rated to 726kg/1600lb.
In Australia the Prius 50 is not rated for towing at all; though that omission could be because it hasn't been assessed.

 

I just installed the Curt hitch on 2016 Four Touring.

While the installation was straight forward, the clearance sonar/ pre-collision thing is driving me mad when I have a bike rack back there. It's one thing if the car beeps a warning, but it applies the brake and prevents me from backing up.

I have to turn off 2 menu options to keep this from happening (park assist and pre-collision), and the later defaults to ON when I turn on the car. So have to turn it off each time

Is there an easier way to turn off these systems? And have them stay off till I turn them on again?

And I wish there was a button instead of having to navigate the setup menu.

 

Nice. I just bought a Honda Grom, which is essentially a street legal, 125cc air-cooled minibike. It weighs 235 pounds when full of fuel. I am considering my options of carrying it on a tray-style hitch mount (with the Craig 1-1/4 inch receiver. The receiver is rated at 500 pounds of tongue weight, so I think I may be ok, but near the limit or within the boundary of redundancy. My largest consideration is the wind resistance. I am currently towing it on a Harbor Freight Trailer with 15-inch wheels, which drops the mileage about 3 mpg per gallon. I am sure with the bike sideways, the mileage will go way down, but the convenience about not having to worry about parking the trailer, trailer flats and trailer wheel bearings is attractive.

Thoughts? Concerns?

 

I don't have an answer for you, but thanks for posting that. Now I feel better about not ordering my Four with that advanced package, which I always regretted not getting!

 

Hubby installed hitches from eTrailer on our 2012 Three and 2013 V, and uses them for a heavy Thule bike rack without any problems except sliding the rack into the hitch. We decided not to butcher our new 2017 Four and not to tow anything with it. Just about to sell our 2005 Element, which has been our pretend pickup for 11 years. We use a small utility trailer to haul larger items around town, but have full sized wheels and tires on the trailer so it can go 60mph on short highway spurts. Parking a small trailer in our subdivision is not allowed, so we have to store it at my in-laws most of the time. When the Prius does come with a trailer hitch option, we will be watching with open eyes. It would be so much easier if they installed it at the factory and upgraded the other parts needed to smoothly tow 500-1000 pound loads. This needs to be an option on base models Two, Three and Four without the touring package. The other cheap option is just to rent a pickup truck when needed for $50. a day and move large, heavy items that way avoiding the use of a trailer, which I never feel comfortable towing. And we don't get stuck owning a low MPG, huge pickup truck that we would rarely use.

 

My guess is, if you want a Prius with a manufacturer-approved towing package (and it'll be dealer-installed), you'll need to move to Europe.

 

I would appreciate if anyone in the UK wcould advise me where to locate a towbar for gen 4 prius or a rack and straps that would fit. Appreciate advice and help

 

I have a 4 Touring with proximity sonar and it was also applying the brake with the bike rack and bike attached. To fix this, all I did was turn off proximity sonar off. Car backs up without braking now, but just gives the continuous proximity warning chime.

Interesting that I didn't have to turn off the park assist and precollision features off in my car... do you have proximity sonar installed on your car? Have you tried turning that feature off?