New hidden stealth Ecohitch for Prius v

Here are the answers from Torklift.


1) Where exactly is located this sheet metal?
The sheet metal is located towards the rear of the vehicle. The portion that needs to be trimmed is very thin sheet metal with an eyelet in it.

2) Is it thin or thick?
It is very thin. Thin sheet metal.

3) Was it hard to notch?
It is easy to cut if you have an air saw, little dremel tool, mini hack saw, and tin snips. The trimming allows for the substantially thicker trailer hitch side place to be sandwiched between it. You are trimming the hole that is already there and replacing it with something much thicker, stronger and probably the thickest metal on the entire vehicle.


4) What kind of tool did you use to notch it?
We used an air saw, and also tin snips. Tin snips make an extremely clean cut. An air saw is faster.

5) Is it possible to take a picture of one of these notches? (not necessarily zoomed, just to help us to understand where is it located and what we are talking about)




If anyone has any further questions please contact us at support@tlcentral.com


Thanks,

Torklift Central

I will be back later today. Have had a family emergency to take care of. I will try to get some pics if there is enough light.

1. Let me look at both our v to try and describe it. I do remember 2 large holes (maybe an inch in diameter) existing where it is notched.
2. I'd call it more than thin which I classify body panels but thin for under the car.
3. It took time and elbow grease but a reasonably fit person can do it in an hour or less depending on tools. My jack stands are on loan so this was done backed over a slight decline in terrain. Tight conditions.
4. Variable speed oscillating tool with metal cutting blade. (good for plunge cuts but slow in this application)
5. Absolutely. Will do when I get home. I dropped everything when my phone rang.

This appears to be a far cry from what the folks at Torklift had to say when I asked about the install process:
"It is VERY VERY EASY. We made it 100% no drill. It uses all factory holes.

You can do it with a ratchet, socket set, and a hand wrench.

I can install it in under 15 minutes, and thats from start to finish.

You can do this easily in 30 minutes with no experience at all."

Too bad they are not willing to be a little more up-front about what is really involved.

As far as I know, this is correct. The hitch is bolted on the frame, in the factory holes used to fix the car on the cargo boat.

Seems a more realistic time frame would be 1-2 hours... but who cares? At last, you'll get a hitch on your Prius

I think that providing the PDF file of the installation instruction would be nice, but they don't want "because of the competitors"... What a strange idea. A competitor just have to buy one hitch to get the instructions.

Regardless that, I still consider a Torklift hitch for my Prius, for the following reasons:

- They are sturdy: they are the only *real* class II hitches available, rated 350 pounds TW (strong enough for a 4-bikes rack)

- Available in 2 inches, so you can use serious equipment, which will not sway while riding.

As a bonus, they are hidden. But I don't know if this is really a feature, considering the fact that we have to trim some sheet metal (about 1 inch). Anyway, I think the advantages overcome this disadvantage, so the Torklift hitch, in overall, seems a good product... at least for my needs

Everything stated is true. It does indeed use all factory holes. The tools listed are used. I think 15 minutes is optimistic for a home install. I would think an hour is closer to reality for a consumer. Since I couldn't jack the car up safely I was working in tighter quarters and took longer. I do agree the notching should be mentioned. I don't like surprises. On the hidden aspect I look at it as more as less loss of ground clearance than cosmetic.

Nelligan haven't forgotten about you!
W

the visit to the rack store resulted in an expensive option to carry three bikes with torklift + thule product + i still needed to get a new roof rack for the ski box. So for cost reasons I opted to forgo the rear bike carrier approach (for now) and just get the roof system dialled with 2 new bike carriers. Still not cheap but cash only flows so fast.....

I look forward to seeing other's experinces and perhaps I'll go with the rear carrier approach in the future. Thanks all for the continued discussion.

Ha! Thanks! (Just saw this...)
I don't have a pressing need for a hitch right now, but it's definitely something I'd consider in the future. Wanderer, your reports and details have been very helpful! Detailed firsthand comments like yours make all the difference for me when I consider buying something like this.
Thanks for sharing!
Andy

So, where is the detailed install with pics? It's been nearly two months now since the contest....

--Russ

We purchased a Prius v Five w/o ATP a few weeks ago. One of the modifications that I needed was a bike rack. On our previous car we used a strap-on carrier, and I was never satisfied with its performance. I looked into the various hitchs and hitch-mounted racks available for the Prius, and decided to go with the Ecohitch with a 2" opening, after reading various posts on this forum and elsewhere. Since I got so much info from Priuschat, I'm returning the favor by posting my experiences.

I opted for the Ecohitch fromTorkLift Central because of the stealth mounting. Raising the support structure of the hitch up off the ground as far as possible was a strong selling point, as we're in Minnesota and will be driving through snow - clearance is a definite issue! I went with the 2" mount rather than the 1.25" mount for the flexibility it offered, although I don't intend to use the hitch to tow anything.

The hitch arrived as an oddly shaped bundle. To ship, they'd tucked the box of mounting bolts, etc. next to the hitch, covered the hitch ends with cardboard, and then wrapped the whole thing in heavy-duty plastic wrap until the wrapping was about an inch thick. It came through the shipping process just fine - no dings or anything. It also made for a much more compact package, which made it easier to handle.

Construction is very solid. The metal is uniformly thick with nice heavy welds. The bolts and other mounting parts are also heavy-duty.

I spent about 20 minutes reading the directions and examining the undercarriage of the car after putting it up on ramps. The installation itself took about 45 minutes, and I needed a second pair of hands once during the process.

Installation was reasonably straightforward. The two connection points under the rear bumper that attaches the bumper panel to the undercarriage are done with plastic pins - these needed to be snapped off and discarded. You can see the end of one (a black circle) in the first picture. A set of replacement metal bolts/nuts are provided. The next step is to notch a thin metal strip that hangs down, running parallel to the rear of the car. There's already an eyelet at the location of the necessary notch - a vertical cut and a diagonal cut are needed to allow the hitch to fit into place. I didn't actually remove the metal. Instead, I made the two cuts and then bent the metal up out of the way. You can see this on the second of the two pictures I uploaded. I used tin snips - they're sitting on the bumper in the pic with the full bike rack.

The main anchor points for the hitch are the two bolt holes on each side where the brackets used in shipping the car from overseas are mounted. The two bolts on each side are removed and discarded. The hitch is lifted into place, fitting into the notches you cut. The supplied bolts are passed through the brackets you just removed, then through the hitch, and then into the undercarriage of the car. You'll need help to hold the hitch in place while you tighten the four bolts.

Next, two braces, one on each side of the car, are mounted into the hitch and through support beams on the undercarriage using already-present holes. Aligning everything is reasonably easy if you study the diagrams and look at the locations on the undercarriage. These braces are closer to the back of the car than the two mounting bolts, and prevent the hitch from rocking up and down.

Once the braces are in place, everything is tightened up, and the bumper panel is re-connected. You can see one of the new bolts in the second mounting picture. The hitch sits just back of the edge of the bumper. It is noticeable, but doesn't hang down any further than the exhaust pipe and muffler do.

We went with a Thule Helium 3 bike rack. I needed to carry 3 bikes, and the reviews stated that this rack could do that (unlike some that advertise for 3 but really only carry 2). The weight was also a consideration - given that the Prius isn't rated for a hitch, I wanted to go with a very lightweight rack. It also swings out and down, allowing access to the rear of the car, and has a couple of locks to lock the rack to the hitch and the bikes to the rack. It installed easily, the bikes loaded easily, and the bikes were rock-solid on it.

All in all, I'm satisfied with the hitch and the rack. Everything works as advertised, and is significantly better than the old strap mounts we used on our old car. The only negative was the attention to detail by the people at TorkLift. We were planning on using the hitch and rack for a weekend camping trip, departing on Friday afternoon. I opened the hitch up on Monday, and found that the two brace straps were missing. I contacted TorkLift, and they responded quickly, saying they'd send replacements immediately. Fedex was supposed to deliver on Friday, but then had problems that prevented delivery. I rushed over to the local Fedex office. Turns out that the TorkLift people had gotten my name wrong, and also only used half of the address I'd given them for my business location, so the delivery people couldn't find it. Once the brace straps were in hand, I installed the hitch and rack. In the end, we were about an hour and half late leaving for the trip. So, negatives: attention to detail (missing parts, and missing info when shipping the replacements); positives: solid, well-constructed hitch that works as advertised.

If anyone has any questions, I'll try and answer them next time I check in to Priuschat.

If I end up buying my Prius instead of just letting the lease expire, I'll definitely be adding one of these. Looks great.

David,
Thank you for the detailed post. This is precisely what I was hoping to find. My concern is with self-installing as I do not have the confidence to attempt even the fairly simple process you detail. I will have to ask around to see if anyone local would do it. Did this installation affect the car's warranty in any way? thanks again.
Doug B.

I'm new to this forum. Took delivery of our v Three last Halloween. My wife loves it almost as much as her 2001 Prius. I'm interested in getting a hitch put on the car so we can carry bikes. I have to point out that the owners' manual states specifically on page 275 not to place a hitch on the car ( for towing or bike racks). Has anyone had any issues with their warranty once they placed a hitch on their vehicle?
Assuming I go ahead ( and put the hitch on the car) I am confused by this thread as the manufacturer of the ecohitch states it is a simple, bolt on process yet one of the writers states he had to notch the sheet metal of the car to get it to mount properly.
Can someone please clarify these issues if possible?
Thanks.

PriusBet - the notching is a required part of the installation, and is shown in the directions provided with the EcoHitch. When the makers first posted on this forum, they didn't mention it, and there was some confusion and annoyance about this issue, as you can see from earlier posts in this thread. There's another hitch available, the Curt hitch, that doesn't require the notching, but hangs down quite a bit lower (there are pictures in another thread that show this). I decided that clearance was more important to me, and went with the EcoHitch for that reason. You'll need to decide based on your own circumstances. The notching is very easy - tin snips easily make the necessary cuts.

Doug B - any garage should be able to install the hitch in less than an hour, if you're willing to pay them to do it. They'll have all of the necessary tools and a car lift would speed the process up quite a bit.

Regarding warranty - That's a grey area, just like all after-market modifications. Usually most modifications aren't an issue unless the damage is directly connected to the presence of the modification. However, it could cause a problem in the future - it's a choice you'll need to make for yourself. Some things that I considered: 1) These hitches are mounted into existing holes that were used for brackets that secured the car while it was shipped overseas to the US, so the area being used is meant to be able to restrain the car if it happens to shift during the trip; 2) I don't plan on towing anything - the weight and stress distribution are very different between a bike rack on a hitch and a towed trailer; 3) While the Prius v is new, there's quite a few regular Prius that have had a hitch for a while now without reports of problems.

DavidK44,
Thanks for taking the time to clarify your thinking on the warranty question. Regarding installation, you and others make it sound simple enough I may attempt it.
Doug B.

Hi,
I have yet to purchase and install the ecohitch. I am wondering of those who are using one with a bike rack what do you like and what would you like to see improved in how the system works? For example, what are your driver sight lines like with the bikes mounted? What is your mpg with bikes mounted?
Thanks
Doug B.

We've only used our Thule Helium 3 bike rack a few times so far. With two bikes installed, the wheels don't extend much further out than the rear view mirrors on either side, if you take care to center the bikes on the rack. The bikes do interfere with sight from the center rear view mirror, but we usually had the back loaded up with enough camping equipment that it wasn't going to be useful anyway. I didn't notice a huge hit on mileage, but we haven't taken the bikes on a long trip. The best way to determine impact on mileage would be to do the same long trip with and without the bikes, to directly compare. Haven't done anything like that.

I just contacted my dealer, and he answered that there's no problem about the notching, even if the car is leased.

Does anyone here can also confirm with his dealer?

Really? I'm thinking of just rolling the dice and doing it. I can't go back to a roof rack!

I think it would be a good idea to confirm with your dealer. Mine did not consider the notching as a "damage" to the car. It would be interesting to confirm this with many dealers.

Thanks to everyone that posts on this site...great information for those of us trying to make the new V be all it can be. I've been waiting to pull the trigger on the Eco Hitch. Seems like the best option as far as hitches go. Anyone else out there having good/bad experiences with the installation or performance? Thx in advance for the input!