Tying Down to the Front of the Prius

[petenkate]

We're looking to haul our canoe on our Prius. We're going to invest in a Yakima rack with gunwale brackets. But the literature says we should still tie it down front and back (duh). The front is molded and the punchout for the tow hook is not centered. Any ideas? Has anyone used these gunwale brackets and will they prevent slippage to one side so that we can use the tow hook? Thanks!

[ghostofjk]

Just thinking...seems a shame to have the tow hook there and not be able to use it.

The center of the tow hook hole is 17" from the center of the bumper. The tow hook itself is 5-1/2" from the top of the thread to the center of the "eye", which means it might clear your license plate frame (if you have one) if you extended something over toward the middle of the bumper from the middle of the eye. (I didn't pop the plastic circle out of the bumper to see how deeply recessed the actual receptacle is for the eye-bolt thread.)

Wondering about getting a threaded rod (at least threaded on one end), maybe 1/2" diam. (bigger might be pretty heavy) and about 20" long, securing it to the eye with nuts/washers on both sides and extending the rod over toward the middle of the bumper. Guess you should screw the bolt in all the way first to see how the alignment of the eye would be---you might be lucky and have it "vertical", or close to it. (If not, you could adjust that somewhat, too, with another nut screwed all the way onto the bolt, but you might have to slice through the nut with a hacksaw to get it the right thickness.)

I'll stop there---you probably get the picture. I assume a 1/2" rod would be rigid enough to withstand upward pressure from the canoe tie-down without bending upward too much

[john1701a]

Prius has absolutely amazing tie-down brackets.

On the trip over from Japan, they were used to secure it to the boat. Now, you can use them now to secure a boat to it.

Just stick your head under any corner, they are very easy to see & reach.

[eagle33199]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(john1701a @ Jun 20 2006, 12:23 AM) [snapback]273921[/snapback]</div>

Prius has absolutely amazing tie-down brackets.

On the trip over from Japan, they were used to secure it to the boat. Now, you can use them now to secure a boat to it.

Just stick your head under any corner, they are very easy to see & reach.
[/b]

Agreed! for general "around town" hauling of my kayak, i never use front/rear tie downs (too much of a hassle IMO) and don't have any problems. for longer trips, the tie down brackes on the corners work great. if you stick you're head under the front or back bumper, the brackets are about 6-12 inches from the bumper, and about the same from the side of the car, if i remember correctly.

While i have a Saris rack with saddles, i would imagine that it's not terribly much different from the yakima and gunwale brackets. i think you'll find that the brackets will do more to prevent side-to-side slippage than anything else, and getting a good strap cinched tight around the canoe will do all the rest of the work. front and rear tie downs at this point are really just a safety precaution... no one wants their boat to be the one seen flying on the interstate!

[richard schumacher]

Please let us know if it damages the roof.