Hi folks. I have a road trip coming up toward the end of June. There will be 4 of us, and we will be away for over a week. I don't know if the Prius will be able to swallow all the luggage we'll be bringing .... the 3 others are female, and I'm guessing they'll pack BIG! So ............ I've been doing some research on hitch mounted cargo carriers. I already installed the Curt hitch, so I'm good there. I've read all the related posts here, and still have some questions/concerns. My BIG concern is weight. I don't want to damage my hitch or the carrier. I certainly don't want to take the chance of the thing breaking and flying off at speed! The Curt hitch (class I) is rated at 200 lbs of tongue weight. However, I'd like to be conservative and will load it with less. My other concern is dragging the carrier on steep pavement changes like driveways. So I'll need a carrier with a rise, and one that can be adjusted as close to the rear bumper as possible. So ................ here are the 2 racks I'm considering now. The first is made for an ATV, but etrailer.com tells me that it will work fine with my hitch. Any thoughts on that? It's also a smaller (20"x36") and lighter cargo carrier (which I like) .... the max weight is 150 pounds which shouldn't be an issue. It also has a 5" rise built in: 20x36 Cargo Carrier for 1-1/4" Trailer Hitches - Designed for ATV's TR65855 : Trailer hitch bike rack and trailer hitches - etrailer.com This is the second one is a heavier and larger (20"x48") rack. It is rated at 200 pounds. It also has a 3" rise built in: 20x48 Cargo Carrier Fits 1-1/4" Trailer Hitch Receiver Hitch 6500 : Trailer hitch bike rack and trailer hitches - etrailer.com Both racks adjust so that I can move the carrier closer or farther away from the rear bumper which is also very important to me. I want to insure that the cargo carrier is as close as possible to minimize down forces. Okay ........ sorry .............. that was a lot. I'm not married to the 2 cargo carriers listed above, but they are the only ones I've found that meet all my criteria. Any comments/suggestions are welcome. If you have personal experience with a cargo carrier, I'd love to hear from you. Also pix would be FANTASTIC! ThanX so much! ... Brad
This is a nice addition to the cargo carrier threads. Thanks for the work. I do not have a hitch (yet!), so I cannot offer any meaningful input for you except to say that I'd probably prefer the platform that folds for tighter storage of the carrier itself.
My favorite cargo-extending solution is a cargo box on the roof... thusly. Advantage is that it doesn't tax just the rear end of the car, and it is always out of the way. Disadvantage is that it causes more air drag and is tough to reach for the height-challenged.
We went a totally different route in that we pull a small aluminum motorcycle cargo trailer behind the Prius. Ours in a Aluma which has over 17 cf of storage. We pulled it to TX and back in March and still got 50 mpg at 60 mph. 2 adults and a cat and all our stuff for a months stay. It is weather tight and very versitil.
Me too. However, I've found no Class I cargo carriers that have this feature. It seems you need a Class II or greater to get a fold up. Does anyone know differently? How about the cargo carriers I link to in my original post? Anyone have one of these, or an opinion? ... Brad
Hi Brad. Sorry to tell you that I have no experience with a cargo carrier, but several here do. I'm sure they will chime in eventually.
I like the ATV one better. I think the higher rise is important, plus it is lighter than the other carrier. 20x36 is plenty big. You are going to be limited on weight more than volume. Other than that, I don't think many people have used this type of carrier on a Prius. You are just going to have to jump in by yourself.
Hey Winston - thanX so much for the comment! :thumb: I AM leaning toward the ATV style, but I still have some reservations. I'd really like to hear from those who have a cargo carrier, but ALL comments/suggestions are welcome. ThanX again Winston! ... Brad
Goldwingerx2, What brand of hitch do you tow that with? That is a nice trailer and only weighs 225# I assume you have the MCTXL by the cu ft you specified. Any chance (if you have easy access) you can measure the inside floor (flat, lower section) distance front to back. Their website only gives the outside long dimension to the point on the nose section. Are you towing it with a Class I or II hitch? Thanks
As far as I know, there are no Class II hitches made for the Prius ... only Class I hitches. Some have modified these Class I hitches to beef them up a bit though. If you do a search, you'll see what I mean. BTW, anybody have ANYTHING to say about the original question regarding which cargo carrier to buy? I need to pull the trigger soon, so ANY comments are welcome!!!! ... Brad
Reviving an old thread since I have the exact same question as the OP, and would love to hear any recent thoughts on hitch-mounted cargo options. With a new baby and a giant stroller, the Prius's cargo capacity has really hit a limit for us!
bac and all: I have the Everthere Everthere Carriers carrier that we got at Costco. Its more expensive than the ones you are looking at but I can tell you the matching all weather bag they have is just the greatest thing and will allow you to use much lower weight bags / sacks to pack things in to cut weight there. They do have an optional 1.25 converter package that allows it to work with your hitch but no bend in the bar, so that may rule it out for you. It folds up nicely and as I said, the all weather bag is its real value. Let us know what you end up using and how you like it
Thanks for the update! I remember that carrier, and I think I excluded it because it did not have a rise to raise the carrier a bit. However, I'm sure you could easily get someone to make the bar with a rise, and just snap it into the carrier. Got any pix? ... Brad
Hey, did you use this with the Prius? Like bac, I'm interested in the riser bar but am curious if it's necessary. I've been googling about and another option might be the Hitch Haul Lite, which claims to be lighter due to its aluminum construction. Unfortunately, not a lot of info available on the thing, and I see no evidence of a riser bar. So far, bac's ATV option still seems the most plausible, but as he mentioned, it sure would be great if we heard from actual users. p.s. An interesting thing -- if you click on bac's original link to the 20x48 cargo carrier, the "Vehicle" picture links show the carrier on a Prius!
I have looked for a rear cargo rack as well and have come to the conclusion the only one is on etrailer.com. This is for Class I hitch which is what the Prius requires. I have switch my thoughs to a pull trailer, www.pigglybacker.com, this is really a neat trailer and most reasonably priced. 695 and 895. It weights 300 lbs. I am not an expert but I would think this would be easier on gas than the cargo rack, as long as you don't overload. If any one has any info please respond.
Brad, see my response RESOH02, I think this is the best option the only down size you need to wire for the lights and its has to be licensed
Who is the rack manufacturer in your photo? I'm looking for a roof rack that can be easily taken on and off and that will not require any permanent mounting or mar the finish. Will this one meet those criteria?
