I am contemplating doing a trip up to NY and back from Georgia working our Prius, 2000 mile round trip. Trailer weighs 112 pounds Motorcycle is about 400 Myself the driver 200 Passenger (wife) 120 My child and dog...50 Suitcase...about 80 Probably 1000 total weight being moved by our Prius with about 500 in tow. Any idea what the tongue weight would be? Planning on doing this in July. (may be hot)...(worse for mechanics of car.) Looking for opinions for giggles if I should attempt this. I haven't bought the Curt hitch yet or Camary plug n play wiring but need to do so soon. Would like some input to help me decide if this will be a struggle on the car or not. :rant::usa2:
If you are OK with the warranty risk, go for it. Also, check earlier threads about exhaust gas melting bumper cover. It may be fixed, just double check. GOOD LUCK! Bob Wilson
Don't let your wife know you've shared her weight with the rest of the world and I think you'll be ok! Do a search with my user name (timm) and and you'll find my tips, tricks and pics on pulling a trailer.
Your payload plus trailer is right in there around the GVWR, so I would think you would be fine. Obviously you have to decide for yourself on the risk to warranty status. Rob
Yea, the new Curt hitch is redesigned and shouldn't melt the rear bumper. Anyone know the cheapest place to buy the Curt manufactured hitch?
Yes, I know I'm right there at the max GVWR and wouldn't wanna push the car anymore then what I have planned here. Car is under warranty and it's my wife's car anyway, so whatever.:tape: No really... I try to take care of the car and keep it mint both appearance and well maintained. If I tow my bike on this trip with the Prius, I'll be trying to go easy on braking and acceleration. I don't wanna hurt the car. A few weeks ago I saw a Honda Hybrid civic pulling 2 jet ski's out of the water at a local boat ramp. I fiqure a double jet ski trailer with ski's gotta be over 1000 pounds. Looked like the Honda had no problem pulling them up the ramp.
For a traditional trailer you want about 10-12% tongue weight. That trailer looks a bit lighter in the front than 50lbs but the tongue weight minimum isn't as crucial on a lighter trailer.... although you could still get some sway.
Joe, I suggest that you plan to do an early ATF drain/refill (Type WS, about $90 at the dealer) if you are going to subject your Prius to some additional stress. I and several others have been doing lab analysis of used ATF from Classic and 2004+ Prii. We normally suggest that 2004+ Prii have ATF replaced every 60k miles. You should do it at 30k miles under this scenario to be safe. Please capture some used ATF in a clean poly bottle, send it in to PDMA (about $40) for testing and report the results back here. JeffD
NY <-> GA does not require you to cross any really large mtns. This is my only concern with Prius at gross weight. Not saying don't go, rather to drive a little slower on the uphills. I ran a 2001 Prius at or above gross wt. through several passes in the Rockies, it's fine. You just don't need to be the 1st one to the top. Obviously you are experienced at towing so will have no problems keeping it nicely 'in trail'. However, I did not notice safely chains in your photo. That should be standard procedure. It's always good to see Prius trans fluid analyses, esp. those operating nearer the edge of the envelope. So if Jeff can scare you into doing that, I say great. Enjoy the trip. Oh yeah, was 80 lbs. *one* suitcase?
Thanks guys for the reply's!!! Yes, I did add a safety chain. The Curt hitch was a PIA to install because it needed to be spread and bent to get it bolted up. It was way off. I made a trail test run towing the bike and trailer with the Prius and it felt fine. I'm gonna use the B on the shifter for assisting in engine braking when needed. I set my tonge and trailer level but there is not enough tonque weight as I get some slack noise when pulling the above set up. I am going to try a drop tonue to get more trailer tongue weight and see if it gets better. I also tried the tonge flipped and had the trailer a bit on a wheelie and it also towed ok up to about 70. Seemed 65 is the comfort tracking speed. On a different note, I'm tossed which way to go on the wiring. I actually returned the 02 Camery repin then plug n play kit because the kit has a different part number that came with different arrangement of the wire colors, so following the posted instructions became unclear for me. I might research doing the other isolater trailer wire install.
I put a trailer hitch on and have a 4ftx4ft Harbor Freight trailer (I lengthened the distance from the ball to the trailer 12 inches by moving the second cross bar towards the front of the trailer) and it has 12 in. tires to carry 2 kayaks and 2 bikes (I welded a frame for the bikes in the middle of the trailer so it would be balanced with just the bikes or boats or both.) I went to a junk yard and got a pair of white plugs from an old Toyota (pins were in the correct position but could have been easily moved) and made my own T connector for the lights that I ran to a relay switch to the trailer plug. (The connection to the 12v battery from the relay I made with alligator clips.) It works great.
I showed our dealer what we would be towing and got the hitch installed by them. Although the Toyota dealer did not install it themselves, they farmed it out to a hitch dealer, who also wired the Prius for us. The Service Manager stated that it would hurt the Prius as long as you watch the weight and did not over load. Tongue weight is very critical for good control of the trailer. You need 10 to 10% of the weight on the tongue. I have pulled our MC trailer loaded over 7000 miles behind the Prius with no problems. I do watch maintance and insure if I am working it hard that I do change oil etc sooner than recomended. We go to TX & FL regularly to visit kids. I usually run about 60 mph to not work to ICE to hard. Of course without brakes on the trailer you need to add a little for stopping distance also.
