Pics of Canoe on Prius w/front&rear tow hitch tie down points

Here's some pics of a canoe with my rack setup. I have a drill holes in the roof Yakima (EV Nuts type, I take no credit, I took his idea) and then some quick metal things I welded up for the front and rear tow hitches. Held the boat fine and no paint/rope rub on the bumpers.

I enjoyed being able to remove everything as I rented the canoe up there (Wyoming, Grand Teton NP) so that the 2000+ mile drive was without roofrack (yakima and welded things were inside the car).

I did drive 200 miles in a weekend with two kayaks on top with this setup, held them solid.

What MPG did you get and how much hit did it take?

On the trip to Wyoming (from San Diego), we removed the rack and kept all parts of the rack inside and rented the canoe up there (Wyomin).

I was surprised how much of a hit the rack does. I've had the car two years and 70k miles and record my MPGs but havent gone back to average it out. From a swag, I'd guess that my normal average is 50, maybe 51ish. Same conditions with the roofrack brought me down to 42-44. I would not have guessed that. I bike alot and although my bikes fit inside, its nice just throwing them up on the top rack. I have a rear rack but that is also a mpg hit and I am worried about being rear ended (happened twice since I have owned the car). I dont want $4k of bikes to get smushed. Anyhow, I now drive with the rack off but in the back of the car. Its very quick to install.

One more:

When doing the 200 miles with 2 seakayaks up top, I was at 40, but alot of city driving in that. On the freeway at 70, I'd guess I would be in the low 30s. I drove SD to San Fran with a longboard and bike on the roof and headwinds and was in the very low 30s, I actually recorded 29 once on that trip, which is my Prius worst ever.

That's still batter than a lot of cars and none of them can fit that canoe inside.

Great work Fastring! I like your "quick metal things"

Here's my car with a canoe attached. Of course I'd already taken off the front tie-down... and my daughter looks ticked off... but hey.

http://evnut.com/images/prius/rack_pads/06080704shasta.jpg

I realize that this is an old thread, but I'll ask in case you're still monitoring replies... Is that front receiver hitch something that you fabricated, or is that a commercial product that can be purchased somewhere? If so, who makes it?