Gen 4 2016 Trailer Hitch

I have a 2016 Touring Four and I have been following this thread. I ordered the Curt hitch today, where do I get the wiring harness for the vehicle and instructions. Thanks

 

Looks like Curt doesn't have a harness for the 2016 yet.

Toyota has harnesses, but only for European pinouts (which have separate turn signals, and a few other things), and they're designed to be mounted in the Toyota hitch.

 

Well, I just started the installation and I'm already stumped. The three twist fasteners that need to be removed will not disconnect, regardless of how many times I turn them. I don't want to pry them off, cause I may break the plastic. Of course, Curt is not there today and I get a recording. So much for the easy installation! I'll go make another attempt and report back....

OK, after spinning and pulling on the assembly I finally got them off. What a weird fastener!

Update, a couple of hours later, the hitch is installed.

A few notes for those installing the hitch......

1. The twist fasteners will eventually come off while unscrewing them and applying downward pressure. Funny, they go on super easy. Just push them on the threads to start, and a turn or two and they are tight. The instructions say there are three, but I removed four. There was also one on the passenger end piece. I'm not sure that end piece had to be removed, but I did and it gave a little more clearance to get at the wire, tabs and such.
2. The Curt measurements are pretty much spot on, so don't make the cuts any smaller. Slightly larger will be OK, but not smaller. I elected to just cut with a large pair of scissors, instead of aviation snips. The plastic cuts super easy. To make the cross cuts, use a razor knife (and don't slip and hit an artery!)
3. I took down the bumper assembly, before removing the large plastic piece (the one that's visible from the rear of the car). It gave me better clearance to deal with the wire holder tabs, that need to be pinched on it's ends to remove.
4. Don't attempt to install the hitch without a helper, when it comes time to actually use the supplied bolts. If you can prop it up to the necessary height, the helper might not be needed. Once you get one bolt started on each side, the rest are easy.

BTW, no modification is made to the piece seen from behind the vehicle. Cuts are made to two of the three pieces that mount just behind that piece. Installation comes out very factory-like.

This is the second hardest hitch installation I have done, with the Chevy Volt being the hardest. That was a hidden hitch, so a lot of disassembly was required. The manual says "challenging" and I think to most people it would be. Of course, if you had to do it a second time it would be a fairly easy installation. A YouTube video would make it a lot easier.

 

There is a new, induction-based/no-cut converter on the market. https://www.etrailer.com/Custom-Fit-Vehicle-Wiring/Tekonsha/119250.html E-Trailer has it on sale. It will fit virtually any car. A bit pricey, but it is also removable and portable and completely isolated from the vehicle circuitry.

 

Good morning!

I've been trying to decipher this and my hat's off to y'all who have accumulated so much experience and understanding of how this works.

Bottom line: I need to transport at least three bikes on the back of my Prius Four. There exist trunk mounts and there's this thread on the hitch solution. I'm a tad wary of damaging the hatchback and/or its alignment using the trunk mounted solutions, and I don't really have the experience to understand all the jargon here. So for clarity, the Toyota hitch solution will NOT work for a bike rack. Did I read that correctly? Therefore, I assume that the only solution is either a trunk mount or the Curt version of the hitch. Am I reading this correctly?

Thanks for helping me find clarity on this!

Dan

 

I have a bike rake that plugs into the hitch receiver. You won't damage the car at all if you use one of these racks. I believe they even make the type that will fold down, so you can load cargo into the car with the carrier in place. The Curt hitch is the way to go. The installation is a bit "challenging" but you can have a service station do it. Personally, I like doing things like this myself. I'll take twice as long doing the installation, but I know it's a neat installation, and all the bolts are tightened 100%. BTW, I will soon be towing a jet ski with my Gen IV Prius!

 

Heres what you want. Curt hitch from etrailer and rack from Amazon Prime. But you need the four bike rack.

 

Toyota has their towbars made by About us - Brink tow bars.

2016 Toyota Prius Manuals and more if you want to take apart your vehicles.

Prius Towbar Wiring Kit 13-pin Installation instructions.
94836.pdf

Prius Towbar Wiring Kit 7-pin Installation instructions.
94840.pdf

Prius Towing Hitch Fixed Installation instructions.
88190.pdf

Prius Towing Hitch Detachable Installation instructions.
94849.pdf

This is a much stronger setup than our aftermarket hitches here in the US. Full 1500 lb tow rating.
Does the US Prius have wiring compatible with these EUK wiring kits?

Having now studied the EUK towing setup I prefer it to what we have here in the US especially the 13 pin connector. Wonder if higher amp pins could be installed and if the plastic would melt if you tried to run 15 amp AC circuit through the connector? Not that there is anything wrong with the independent 12v supply intended for a fridge.

Is installation included in the price given for these on Toyota's EU websites?

 

I am pretty good with a wrench and have done front and rear brake jobs on the old 2005 Prius as well as replacing the headlight on the old Prius which turned out to be relatively challenging for me. Well, it was easy once I knew what to do, but it took me WAY longer than the people in the YouTube video. lol... And I've done window regulators and blower motors and the like on other cars.

Two more questions: In your opinion, is this something I cal legitimately do myself? With a tongue weight of 200 lbs, is the Curt solution sufficient for four bikes and the rack? It looks like a really short moment arm, so I'm thinking yes -- and by a decent margin.

Thanks for the reply! I'm probably going to drop the order for the hitch and see if I have the testicular fortitude to do it myself.

 

Looks as though that's just what the doctor ordered!

 

Also, I should thank you for the reference to etrailer. Holy Toledo, helluva difference in price between the two for the same item.

'Preciate that!

 

I think a bike rack, even a 4 bike rack, will not be a problem. I'll be testing this hitch big time possibly this week. I'm buying a jet ski and will tow it with the Prius. It should be within the maximum parameters..... hopefully. I've been know to push the limits, like many years ago when I towed a small cabin cruiser with an Audio Fox wagon. Got it home, with both the car and boat in one piece!

 

i think you will be fine. I towed a jet ski for years with a small car. The only issue might be the amount of weight any distance behind the receiver. The force multiplying effect of leverage can be astounding. But bikes should be ok.

 

Nice rims! May I ask where you got them from and the cost? New tires also? Would they fit a Prius Two Eco?

 

They sure look like the 17" touring wheels that come stock on the Prius with the hub caps removed. They would fit a two.

 

Do a lot of people generally remove the hubcaps and are the stock rims that dark?

 

Many people take the hubcaps off. I took mine off of my four. I don't have the 17" wheels, so I don't know what color they are - my 15" wheels are gray/silver.

 

Good day to y'all!

As a follow up, I purchased the Curt solution and had a Curt authorized installer do the work. Turns out I was in a hurry because of a family emergency, so they were able to get it done for me with the time I had. They seemed to do OK, though they took an awfully long time to do the work, having waited over an hour and a half before they even pulled the Prius into the garage. But they got it installed and the next morning, I took off to Ohio with the Yakima 4-bike rack I got at the bike shop the night before.

I was -- and AM a little concerned about the overall weight of the rack with 4 bikes. The Yakima rack is steel and is VERY heavy. It's also VERY sturdy. I need to get my bathroom scale out and make sure I wont' be exceeding the tongue weight of 200 lbs with the rack and all 4 family bikes attached. I'll get to that eventually.

Bottom line: omitting my possibly too-heavy choice of bike rack, I am pleased with the install and subsequent use of the rack.

Thanks to you all for the assist!

Dan

 

Doing the installation myself, and seeing exactly how it's mounted to the car, I wouldn't worry about your rack, loaded up with bikes. I just towed a jet ski a good distance, and found I had a bad wheel bearing after arriving home. The hitch worked great, and the Prius towed it like it wasn't there, even with the bad bearing.

 

The hitch connects where the frame "rails" box into a bumper flange, so it's plenty strong. But you have to be careful when you start putting weight on a rack that extends behind the hitch point. You should do a calculation to determine what the effective weight is, given the position of each of the bikes. A 50 lb bike might have an effective weight of several times, depending on the placement. Here's a calculator for doing the calc.