Prius towing Harbor Freight 4x8 trailer (~1200 lbs)....anyone pull this type of load?

I would venture that with those light loads you would be okay as long as there are no LONG uphill roads you have to go up for a sustained time interval. Are you getting the folding or the fixed trailer? I have the folding (with no sides) and it saves space. If thats not a concern go with the straight type as I guess your going to have sides instead of flat.

 

HHHHMMMMM...NOW your giving me IDEAS! - thanks a lot!!

 

I have that exact trailer setup and have had no problem towing it with my plugin Prius.
In fact I used it yesterday to pick up some drywall (I have the interlocking corner bracket side walls that I take off to accommodate 4x8 sheets)
Just balance the load to keep the tongue weight down.

 

light towing at low speeds is harmless. now, there is a thread here about towing travel/camping trailers. that's nuts IMHO. one guy in that thread burned a transaxle and failed to see a connection to towing.

 

If I launch into the obvious "Toyota Say's No" stance is it going to stop you from doing it?

I wouldn't use a Prius to tow, for many reasons. The primary actually being I don't think it's a good tool for the job. I see no reason to ignore the manufacturer.

4-5 times a year? Are you sure you can't cut that number down a little with some creative loading of the hatch area?
2-3 times a year and I'd definitely just rent the right tool for the job.

My speculative assumption...please note SPECULATIVE ASSUMPTION...is that Toyota's recommendation that The Prius is a Non-Towing vehicle has more to do with the electric motors, and the regenerative brakes, traction control system, all which might be affected by the sudden change of having a trailer attached, than by the actual engine strength and ability to pull a load.

Just because you can do something, doesn't mean it's a good idea.

But I also assume my voice will not drown out any ones "gut feeling". Or even continued actions based on limited past results.

 

You'll be fine.

Please note that "pulling" is way less than half the battle. You have to also be able to stop and turn.
This is where people usually wind up dancing with Darwin, and getting innocent bystanders hurt in the process.

4X8 trailers are great for hauling stuff from the big box store to the house, but remember that it doesn't take much in dirt, sand, landscaping timbers, etc to amass a considerable load.

As far as the warranty?
Toyota's powertrain warranty is pretty limited, BUT they have to prove that your activities resulted or contributed in whatever repair that you're trying to get covered before successfully denying the claim.
Just pointing at an empty receiver hitch on your car and saying "HA! THAT'S why your car broke!!!" doesn't cut it.

Good Luck!

 

I would agree, except on condition that you're very careful not to overheat something (engine, inverter, motor-generators ... ) climbing or descending a large hill with much extra weight, or attempting high speeds with extra aero drag.

Stopping is another matter, as others have noted.

 

i agree with most of your post, except on the warranty part. some dealerships are very aggressive in denying warranties in modified cars. subaru comes to mind. i see no reason why a toyota dealer wouldn't pull this one. they have to defend themselves from people abusing their cars. towing with prius is in that gray-zone.

 

^ Yeah.....I get that.
This is why I said "successfully" denying the claim.
Besides....Toyota's powertrain warranty is pretty short.....something like 5/50.

Many dealerships routinely deny warranty claims, hoping that the customer either doesn't know that there is a way to fight the denial, or that the customer will just give it up and pay.
How do you fight a warranty denial???

It depends, but I got Saturn to knuckle under once with a few (dozen) faxes.
It's not much, but Toyota does have a customer care branch.
You can engage them.

There's federal law on this:
Magnuson–Moss Warranty Act - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Most people?
Just give up.

Note: If you're one of those idiots out there who tow RV's with a Prius, and you brag about it on the internet, and you come limping into a Toyota at 49,000 miles with an engine that's smoking and drinking like John Wayne used to.......then yeah.
You get what you get.

A 4x8 Harbor Freight trailer with a refrigerator on it?

Gimme a break.
Priuses aren't that dainty.
If one breaks towing a 40# bag of fertilizer, then it's probably not from towing.

 

I always thought about getting one of those trailers for the 2008, got a receiver hitch on it for the bicycle carrier.
I need to get a receiver hitch for the 2014, then I'll get the trailer.

 

I bought that exact trailer a month ago, but haven't had time to build it yet. I'm in the same situation where I need to haul yard debris, transfer landscaping material, or bring home building supplies about 4 times a year. Considering the loads people are routinely and successfully pulling in the other threads, this should be a piece of cake. As a bonus, Oregon doesn't require the trailer to be licensed since it's under a certain load rating.

The other reason I decided to get a hitch is to get a 4-bike carrier. I'm not keen on the style that attaches to the trunk with hooks. Even worse is the roof mounted racks due to their poor aerodynamics and risk of forgetting about the bikes as you pull into the garage.

Anyhow, I'll build the trailer soon, but first I need to figure out what flooring I'm going to use and then figure out how to wire in the trailer harness. My initial thought was to use diamond-pattern aluminum for the flooring, but the cost might be too much to get one that is thick enough. For the wire harness, I was thinking maybe if I replaced the lights with LEDs, I could tap straight into the wiring without using a relay box.

 

If you think you might need to make a warranty claim, it's best not to have evidence of "misuse" on the internet:

"The buzz in online communities suggests Mitsubishi is cross matching names from its owner database with SCCA autocross results. Those who turn up on both lists are notified that their vehicle warranties are void, the online chatter claims. Miller says Mitsubishi wasn’t clear on how it learned of his autocrossing."

Read more: You Break it, You Buy it: Whether abuse or autocrossing, most automakers are not covering it | Autoweek

 

interesting and makes sense. spying is not restricted to NSA.
when i used to own subaru, there was a buzz, every time owner brought modified subaru (springs, exhaust, intake, turbo, etc) for a routine service, it would be entered on a black list, so when owner broke it and put EOM parts back to claim warranty, it would be flagged.
there is no doubt owners abuse cars in various ways and than blame makers for problems.

 

Deleted.

 

I go from Los Angeles to Mammoth Mountain a couple times a year with it. Nasty uphill climbs. No issues. 2010 Prius, 150k miles.

1000mile trip usually, aveage 32mpg towing or even with a cargo basket.
Myself, wife, 3 teenage boys, 2 small dogs and a trailer.

 

I throw the Cargo basket on top of the trailer and mounted rod holders so once I drop the trailer I can drop the basket on and carry more stuff if needs be.

 

here's a good shot of the rod holders.
I went from a Chevy Silverado 1500 to a Prius and I'm still doing most of what I did in that. minus some offroading because of ground clearance.

 

Very cool, MarsMan. I've toying with the idea for a good while to tow motorized bicycles. They are less than 100 LBs a pc. So less than 400 fully loaded.