Towing Tear Drop Trailer

Sheeple always amaze me .... oooohhh ,,, don't ever do something the manufacturer says not to .... your car will blow up immediately.

Limited and reasonable towing won't bother the Prius a bit. I tow my 900 pound landscape trailer several times a year, with a few yards of mulch on it, as well as with my motorcycle on it.

Would I tow a 3000 pound boat across country ? Nope. Would I tow a little trailer 3 or 4 times a year with a reasonable load ? Absolutely. My Prius tows the landscape trailer like it's not even there.

If Toyota asks what the hitch is for .... it's for a bike rack and a hitch hauler for a cooler.

Enjoy your trailer.


REV

 

BTW they don't recommend bike rack too, YMMV

 

I'd love to see them try to justify that 'recommendation' from a mechanical perspective.

These silly manufacturer recommendations are just that. If they wouldn't look like fools for 'recommending' it ... they'd 'recommend' that you didn't drive the car at all. Far less warranty claims that way .....

REV

 

Laddie, you are setting yourself up for the "instant Karma" award of the year.:doh:

 

Lassie, don't ever put one ounce over the recommended payload into your Prius, Teakwood ... your warranty will be void and the car will be destroyed. LOL.

REV

 

On 4/24/11, I purchased the same Harbor Freight 4x8 foldable trailer. Yesterday I towed a washing machine and wall oven to the recycle center about 60 miles round trip. No problem, I took it easy, did 55 mostly and tried not to go over 60 mph and got 45.9 mpg (normally 50.8mpg). I figured the total weight was about 750 lbs (trailer-260 lbs, 4x8x5/8" plywood-60lbs and stake/rail perimeter fence-50lbs, appliances -380 lbs). The additional aerodynamic, mechanical and weight drag were obvious but I don't think I stressed the 2010 Prius anymore then carrying 4 passengers and full load of luggage and associated stuff on recent 1000-2000 mile road trips to mountainous Utah and Arizona. I'm not sure if I would drive on extended long trips with this trailer setup/weight. My application for the trailer is to use for local drives only to Home Depot and other lumber/wood suppliers. As far as Toyota's does not "Recommend" towing or any kind of hitch is concerning. However the manual did not say it shall absolutely void the warranty? Maybe it does void warranty, I don't know. Back in 1984, my 70 HP, 2300 lbs 1983 Honda Accord had no problem towing a clothes dryer with a 4x6 U-Haul trailer 400 miles. I think if I'm careful I will not have any issues.

 

Having just purchased a 2011, I too was curious about the long-term effects of towing with a Prius. I even went so far as to join the Yahoo users group to read more. One thing that really made a huge difference for me was a gentleman from North Carolina who has 288,000 miles on his Prius. That by itself is quite a statement, but he's also been towing with the vehicle since 2007, one year after he bought the vehicle in 2006. If I'm not mistaken that's the 1.5 L engine as well ( generation two). He has one of the Harbor freight trailers where he hauls a riding mower over to his mother's place every week to take care of the lawn. He also has a 900 pound motorcycle. He designed chokes for use on the Harbor freight to put a lot of the weight upfront. The trip distance there was much longer. So, that more than sold me! if the vehicle can do 288,000 miles towing weekly, I have no concerns about hauling my small harbor freight trailer for trash runs or to pick up some occasional lumber at a big box store.

As a large corporation Toyota has a huge liability if they start recommending this vehicle for towing. People could easily destroy the electric motors if they backed up an incline in reverse for example. It's also possible somebody could exceed the capacity and head down a hill and cause damage to the vehicle or themselves. There needs to be a certain margin of safety, and from what I understand there's not much margin at all with a Toyota. Not backing up any inclines, and keeping your towing capacity low are key, along with a good dose of common sense.

Troy

 

25k+ miles so far on my 2011 while towing. In April I did a 960 mile day from marathon Florida to my NC home and had the cruise control set on 85 for a two hour stretch of I 95. Just returned on Monday from cape cod. Did 850 miles in a day with trailer in tow, again on stretches of I 95. Worst tank netted 38 mpg. Best was 46. Leaving in September on a 8k mile round trip through the north west to glacier national, down to the north rim of the Grand Canyon and back home. Granted my setup weighs under 300 pounds and is not taller than the rear hatch glass, but a small teardrop is more than capable.

 

For what it's worth I'm towing heavy trailers with my Prius. I came here looking for real data and answers but all you pansies want to do is argue about what you can and shouldn't do. And the others are towing trailers so light it's a wonder why you're even talking about it. Thanks for the no help but here's some real information for people that are looking for it.

My prius is always loaded down with 900 lb of tools inside because I use it for work.
I tow occasionally. It has 200,000 miles. The heaviest thing I tow while still having 900 lb of tools is an additional 2,800 lb trailer from sea level up a 17% grade to 4000 foot and back to sea level. Each end of the grade has about 20 miles of flats. Total trip about 70 miles. 65% Max throttle resulted in a 45 mile-an-hour speed on the steeper parts otherwise had no problem keeping up with the 60 mile an hour flow of traffic.
The engine coolant temp never varies much and isn't a problem.
Driving up the grade the ICM at 5000 RPM with no help from the electrics because high voltage battery was depleted rather quickly in the beginning of the Hill.
This trip normally averages 40 miles to the gallon but Towing the additional trailer resulted in 30 miles to the gallon which added $2 in fuel to the trip.

The unibody where the tow hooks are removed and drop hitches installed is very thin and fragile so if you're going to tow much more than 1,500 lb you should reinforce this area. Tongue weight for the Prius is a problem. I have so many heavy tools in the vehicle it stays stable even with zero tongue weight which is what I aim for.

Now before you all lambaste me please just don't even bother. I do what I do and I have my own reasons and I don't need to explain it to you. You trying to change my mind is like telling a lava hunter he shouldn't tow a heavy trailer. The Prius tows trailers very well and is very stable. PS don't try that with a Honda insight.

 

Trailer has its own brakes, I trust?

 

Just because you CAN do something, doesn't mean you SHOULD.
And what does Toyota know about their car? They only designed it and built it.

There are "pansies" out their who don't respect the safety of other on the road and will
continue to put others at risk because they have not grown up and and want to say " you're not the boss of me"!

 

Bear resistance !

 

I take exceptional care of my 2013 Lexus CT200h (basically a Gen3 Prius). I'm going to tow.

I built a Harbor Freight trailer with a 70 gal fuel tank/toolbox (made for pickup bed) and will be towing over mountains up to Telluride, CO. It's about 1.5 hours drive from "cheap" gas to Telluride. I'm fueling other equipment with the car gas. After reading a lot on here, I'm not worried at all about the car accomplishing this easily (150 lb trailer, 175 lb tank/toolbox, 445 lbs of fuel when full). This is a total load of 770 lbs. My only concern is that I might hurt my drivetrain over time. I'm reassured by inverter temps posted, etc, etc. by those who have towed up mountains. There aren't any absolutes except real-world data over time. I have a very easy time not using brakes too much (downhills are gentle slopes and gentle curves, for the most part....never any hard braking on this route...and I almost never use any actual brakes...just the regenerative system). Trailer has no brakes, so I understand the need for care with that.

Anyway, this looks like it's going to happen, but I'd still appreciate any data or technical knowledge anyone has on inverter temps, etc. (I am debating spending the money for a ScanGuage II so I can monitor inverter temps). Not only that, it seems that I'll likely be able to keep the inverter temps well below the 100-deg C cutoff, but might really need to make sure they stay below 80C. I'm also not knowledgeable about the other system components of the drivetrain/CCV transmission so could use technical knowledge on weak-points or points of concern in that system. It's possible I'll opt out and only tow the trailer empty (a few hundred pounds) and only tow it with my Xterra, when it's full. I'd really prefer to tow with my CT.

For those who don't have actual technical knowledge or data, please refrain from all the commentary as it's not helpful in clarifying actual likelihood data of drivetrain losing lifespan, which is what I'm really concerned with....not whether or not you would choose to do the same. (eg: I change my oil every 20k miles and have listened to all the people on the forums chastising me with opinions. Then I posted my Blackstone Labs oil analysis data and it's better than most 10k mile oil change data....so I'm not interested about how "I wouldn't do that" etc.) I work on and operate aircraft engines, and am pretty knowledgeable about all that. I have very little/rudimentary understanding of the drivetrain components, inverters, CCV transmission, regenerative system, etc, however. Insight and education and data or real-world experience are very much appreciated!!

 

The thing about a Prius of any kind, is that it is so low drag in form, that anything towed or carried outside will noticeably effect the MPG. One example, my e fat bike, carried on my rear hitch rack. Out of the direct air flow, but no doubt screwing up the nice person end aerodynamics. I have never bothered to check it accurately, but do know it's around 3 MPG, maybe 5.

Getting back to how the hitch attaches to the car: when I got rear ended this last week, all the impact was on my bike rack and hitch, and it was hard enough to knock me forward into the SUV in front of me. The body shop will be inspecting closely the place where the rack bolts on, should be interesting.

I tow a homebuilt trailer now and then, handy for getting a sheet of plywood or something else too bulky to fit inside but not worth driving my gas hog 1 ton 4x4 into town and back. I like the comment about how Toyota, or any car company, would be happiest if we not only didn't tow, but drive our cars at all. As to the guilt trip of "endangering other people", poor driving is poor driving... a Prius with a light trailer driven by someone with their head screwed on straight, is less dangerous then one without a trailer driven by someone texting. Screw Toyota's recommendation, I use my common sense.

 

100% this.

 

Yea, what does Toyota know about the car they designed, developed and built?
Who cars about other drivers on the road?

rrriigghhhttttt

 

According to this forum, apparently Toyota knows nothing about EGR systems, ring design and 10K oil changes are too long.......

The disconnect between Toyota knows best and Toyota fucked up is astounding. Talk about picking and choosing what to believe....

 

Here's a repost of the images that disappeared from post #11

 

For years I fabricated these racks for large pole mounted solar arrays , I made and delivered over 50 of them in three different states. Being in the crane business also, they were all pre-wired and ready to set on a pre installed pole in about 20 minutes once on site. I once thought of posting a picture here of that trailer hooked onto my '13 PIP, with over 3 KW of power, and claim I was planning a coast to coast trip to set some kind of record. I was going to play it straight just to mess with you all but never got around to it, you're welcome!

 

That's 48 panels I see there? 14,400Wp with modern ones? That's free energy man! That's about what you need if you drive moderately.