Roof Rack heart attack!

Thule and Yakima are both good racks, you get what you pay for....

 

You are buying something to protect your items outside of the vehicle at generally high speeds. They need to be robust, and they are expensive. If you want to play that game, you will have to pay. You can buy cheap crap, but the cheap will come out expensive when your bike flies off the top of your car hopefully into the curb but most likely into traffic maiming the innocent people driving behind you. I have seen them for about $100-$200 at Crappy Tire. I wouldn't trust my thousand dollar bike to a $100 bike rack outside my car, but that's your gamble.

Do you really need a roof rack? I can get bikes in the Prius with the rear seats folded. But for 4 bikes, I am guessing you need 4 people inside. Might be better to get a hitch installed (a couple hundred bucks) and then mount them on the back. As for the tree, 1 time a year just throw a blanket over the roof and tie it down with string like people have been doing for decades.

 

Quality racks are expensive. On the Prius, I prefer the hitch rack. Curt hurt receiver is about $140. Hitch racks range from $200 and up.

The main issues with roof racks are noise and reduced MPG.

Lots of threads on various racks for the Prius.

Trailer hitch | PriusChat

 

Ditto comments above. You get what you pay for. I bought a Yakima roof rack 25+ years ago and have used it and the many attachments (cargo box, bike carrier, kayak mount, etc.) over all these years with many different vehicles. I probably paid $600 just for the cargo box which I only used a handfull of times up until this year. Now I use it almost every month going back and forth to Fl. It is invaluable.

Good luck.

 

Bungee cords are cheap.
Cargo isn't.
Lawsuits are VERY expensive.


.....your call.

 

Why bother with a roof rack when you could easily fit the tree inside and bikes on back?

I have a roof rack. It works absolutely fantastic for carrying 2 kayaks on top.

But I have recently carried several loads of 8-foot cargo back from the hardware store inside the Prius. I have also packed the inside silly with 3 very full loads of trash to haul away. Once, I even squeezed in 15 bags of leaves to bring to the compost. You'd be amazed with fits. So, I just plain cannot see ever using the roof for carrying misc items.

My receiver hitch on back is great for carrying 4 bikes all at once too. It locks to the Prius and tips down. You can even open the hatch with the bikes on.

 

Hijacking the thread, but I have a 4 bike carrier for my van, but have been a little leary of using it on the Prius. My concern has been the weight and levering action may cause damage to the car. What has your experience been and what rack are you using?

 

I've had a Rola rack on my 2010 Prius since the car was new never had any problems with it. I use a Thule basket and a Yakima Skybox 16 no problems there either. Paid 219.00 for the rack, they all pretty much attach to the car the same way.

 

As noted, you get what you pay for. Good racks will last you many years, won't cause any damage to your car, and you will be able to drive comfortably any distance at most any speed without worry when you have a heavy load on top. You can also typically re-use some of the parts from one car to the next so the outlay is really amortized nicely over time.

I prefer roof racks to hitch racks generally for bikes except in the case of large SUV's or vans where roof access is difficult. Hitch racks can severely limit access to the rear hatch, cause ground clearance issues when navigating driveways (especially on a car which is already somewhat low), extend the length of the vehicle greatly, are exposed to the worst of the road elements, and still cause a drag in fuel economy, in some cases nearly as much as a roof rack.

Roof racks are more versatile, allow full access to the hatch, are easy to leave on, are easy to load on a car, and, imo, be a better option for carrying cargo and 4 bikes. You will have some wind noise and a mpg hit (significant at highway speeds with 4 bikes - but again, so would a hitch rack).

 

Perhaps renting a pickup truck for those few occasions……

 

This is for the OP...

I've been biking for many years and used almost every sort of bike rack out there. Both roof and hitch racks have their place. For the Prius, I chose the hitch due to mpg hit, easy to use and it doesn't touch the car.

I've had my hitch rack on the Prius for almost as long as I owned it. With that hitch rack, MPG didn't change when folded up. Total weight of the system(hitch receiver and rack) is around 80 lbs. With it loaded, maybe a 1 mpg decrease and more so than without.. which is obvious due to additional drag. With my Yakima Hold Up, there's plenty of clearance to open the hatch even without using the tilt option. In regards to ground clearance, my car is lowered and I only have to watch out on steep driveways. All I do is angle my approach.

The best part about hitch rack is if you don't need it, fold it away or remove it with just one bolt.

I've had roof racks on other cars I've owned. Unloaded, 1-3mpg reduction. Loaded, much more like 3-4 mpg and that's on cars that get 1/2 the gas mileage as the Prius. Based on other's comments who have roof racks on their Prius, mpg hit is substantial.

The other bad things about roof racks in general for gutter less cars, is they use pads that do slowly scuff on the area they rest on. Also, remove or install is somewhat time consuming. The good thing about the roof system is they are very flexible with a lot of different attachments to haul all sorts of items securely.



For tree hauling which is once a year, there must be a more creative way besides inside?

 

IMO 4 bikes or a Christmas tree are pushing the envelope of rational transport for a Prius, especially on top! Check out the 4'x4' or 4' x 8' (folding) trailers at Harbor Freight or other light-weight trailers. They will handle the bikes, or the Christmas tree, or many other occasional loads like furniture, bedding, lawn tractors, etc. I've hauled all of the above and more on numerous occasions with no problems whatsoever. The gas mileage hit is a function of the drag of whatever you're hauling (the trailer itself will have a negligible effect). A large Christmas tree (I've hauled 13 footers!) would be the worst offender. My 4x8 trailer weighs about 250 lbs. (including the 5/8" plywood "deck"). If the total load (people, trailer, and whatever) doesn't exceed the vehicle limit by more than a few hundred pounds, you'll enjoy greatly expanded utility with only a modest reduction in gas mileage. That my trailer folds out of the way in the garage when not in use is an added plus. The bulk of my Quality S hitch unbolts, leaving only two small brackets for the 99.9% of the time I'm not pulling the trailer. The model-specific plug-in wiring harness is hidden out of the way next to the cargo box. I feel like I have my cake and eat it too, with a total investment less than the $600 you're contemplating.

 

I guess no one has ever damaged their bikes or other cargo driving into a low ceilinged garage because they forgot the load was up on the roof, or they were distracted for any number of reasons?

 

I forgot to mention that as well.. oh yes, I have as many friends I know have also.. I did that many years ago.. leaving a chair in the garage to block yourself to re-enter is a good tip.

 

It's been a complete non-issue. But as has been pointed out, you get what you pay for. I bought a top-of-the-line 4-bike rack (the standard _|- shape). All the bikes have been on the lighter side too (roughly 35 pounds each), which falls well within the tongue weight-limit including the rack itself.

 

Totally agree. I've driven many tens of thousands of miles with bikes on racks and just offering my preference here. I haven't actually bought a rack for the Prius yet, as we still have a rack on the other car, but expect it will be a roof one when I do...

 

With a rack on back, I haven't every heard anything. Noise has never been brought up. It hadn't occured to me that would be something to mention, since on the roof is far from quiet.

As for versatile, I'd call that a wash... especially when taking into consideration the loading of bikes is trivial on back in comparison. There's no where near the lift requirement. I leave mine locked on during vacations, with the bikes are elsewhere then. It's not in the way and there isn't a MPG hit.

 

A roof rack can be easily converted from hauling bikes to skis to canoes or kayaks to luggage in a net or in a box, from carrying Christmas trees to lumber home from the hardware store. That's what I mean by versatility.

For some, the lift requirement is an issue, I can easily grant that.

 

I agree in terms of hitch rack being very quiet. You really can forget the bikes are back there.

The issue I find with the bikes on top in the Prius is loss of power at freeway speeds. Though I have not hauled them on my Prius on the roof, in my other cars, the loss of power is very obvious. That's with a car with over 250hp. Hitch racks are very popular now as I see a lot of bike racers using them. We drive long distances to get to races and hauling them safely and efficiently is key.