hitch capacity

I'm guessing your hitch is only attached to the car at two points, probably where the chain tie-down brackets were attached while it was on the transport. The thing to watch with a bike carrier is that it extends farther back than just where the hitch ball/trailer tongue would be of a conventional trailer. 200 lbs straight down on the hitch ball probably corresponds to 100 lbs or less out at the end of the long lever formed by your bike carrier. And nobody knows how much force it would really take to damage the body channels where the hitch attaches, because Toyota officially never said you could attach a hitch at all.

I never saw any damage with mine, but I used to worry about unintended extra forces like somebody stepping up on the end of that lever. Finally I took my hitch off and asked a welding shop to add two more attachment points about half a meter forward (finding a couple convenient holes in the body channels there to attach to). I think the Gen 2 has some sort of reinforced central jacking point that works well for that.

I really haven't worried about excess forces (within reason) since.

-Chap

 

Yes, 0 pounds

 

Hi All. I installed the Curt hitch today on my 17 Prius. It's 29 lbs. I have a 52 lb bike rack for a 2" hitch that I use on my Highlander. I was hoping to get an adapter for my 1-1/2 hitch, and carry two MTB's. I think I'd be adding about 132 lbs to the hitch when all said is done. The hitch is rated for 200 lbs, but I'm more worried about the Prius. It seems pretty sketchy thinking about the "lever" action mentioned above, especially when you hit those unintended bumps on the hwy at 70 mph! Maybe I should get a lighter bike rack? I really was hoping not to take up more space in my garage, and hoping not to fork out more money for another rack. But of course, saving the Prius comes first. Does anyone have any hitch horror stories, and/or insight into this? Thank you

 

General rule of thumb is that max tongue weight should be 10% of your towing capacity. That's 200lb of tongue weight if you would consider yourself to have 2000lb of towing power. The question is will your frame support the weight. Personally I have a small harbor freight trailer I use to tow a motorcycle, I wouldn't put weight directly on the tongue without wheels to support it. The trailer is pretty sweet and lets me do a lot more stuff than without.