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2011 Roof Racks Accessory Suggestions and Modifications

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Accessories and Modifications' started by PhanOp, Aug 16, 2019.

  1. PhanOp

    PhanOp New Member

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    Vehicle:
    2011 Prius
    Model:
    Three
    (heads up that My Prius is currently at just over 137,000 miles if this helps anyone)

    Alright, so I have finally joined the cult of Prius that I have been wanting for soooo long! I used my girlfriends awhile back to travel all up and down the west coast rock climbing, skiing, surfing, photography, and videography trips. That's my main purpose. Sleeping out of the car in a tent in such cold and crazy windy climates was not doing the trick especially when needing to do work from my laptop. But when I found out how well it cycled air and kept me warm during the night without any thoughts of insulating the windows (I learned a lot on this trip lol) I decided that, instead of VanLife I wanted the Prius life. (just giving a low down of what I intend to use my Prius for in the future)

    My biggest "complaint" was needing a space to put most of my bulky gear like my climbing equipment and I have decided that I do not need some of these rear storage modifications by installing a hitch and then attaching a hitch rack and cargo box. In the long runI don't want to have to find parking with that thing behind me and I don't need that much more space.

    I came across this video:
    How I LIVE in a TOYOTA PRIUS - LIVE EASY: Sleeping in a Car Full Time"

    And I like the rack situation but I worry about possible wind noise with these cheaper racks and cannot find any reviews from anyone who has used them. I have reached out to the creator of the video but no response yet. My primary concern is to find racks like this that will work for my vehicle and the same size that he is probably using for the Thule box on top which he does not mention the size.

    I also came across this guy:
    "Yet Another Prius Dwelling Setup - How I live in a 2008 Prius hybrid electric car!"

    Who gave me some great ideas on hooking up his solar panel to his battery to keep his battery topped off? Anyone else experience benefits from this? I know it is not charging the MAIN cells but good to know that I can charge that batter and also jump from that batter to keep my cooler box refrigerating through the night and when I need to keep my laptop powered as I'm working in bad weather.

    Speaking of bad weather I am looking into a Bra for the front of my vehicle to protect it a bit. I'm not opting in for a clear version...way too expensive but looking for suggestions and also how to properly clean and maintain or does it just kind of permanently stay on there even during washes and just remove ever so often to clean underneath? Never dealt with these things before.

    Because of the mileage on my car is this something to consider at this point?
    (on this site search for: hybrid battery preventative maintenance grid charger for 2010 2015 toyota prius)

    Will this provide more information than what my heads up display information can already provide and has anyone had significant benefits from the info it provides?
    (on this site search for: scangauge ii odb scan tool digital gauges trip computers)

    Lastly I've been reading some about Prius Performance Chips? Are these legit in anyway and can anyone report on the benefits or if they are a complete waste of money?

    Thanks for your patience with me and all my questions!
     
  2. PriusCamper

    PriusCamper Senior Member

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    That's alot of questions in just one post? I'd recommend taking a more value added approach and research each question via googling your keywords and phrase priuschat and then where you can't find an answer, post one question that we can help you figure out and include all the other links on Prius chat that relate to it...

    As for my interest, I've been looking for someone who wants to hire me to remove flying buttress and center console in a Gen3 Prius, then fabricate a new dash with shifter in a different location. That way you can take front seat headrests off, slide the seat all the way forward and it will recline flush with the back seat. Then you'll have enough room to fit a full size futon mattress in the car. Then only thing left to do is build some storage structures underneath to ensure the mattress lies perfectly flat, maybe even remove back seat entirely so there's more room for storage?

    So if you're ever in the PNW and want something like that, I'd love to be payed to create that!
     
    jb in NE likes this.
  3. PhanOp

    PhanOp New Member

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    Vehicle:
    2011 Prius
    Model:
    Three
    Ha! I appreciate the response and I apologize for the long post but that's exactly why it is long. I did A TON of research even as far back as when I was borrowing the 2008 Prius for extended periods of time and I'm just trying to get info from people who have actually used what I have suggested. So far the only response I have had is from the guy who created the first video and he told me that he does not get any noticeable wind noise with his overhead storage setup. One question down! :) But I will take your suggestion and try to section these questions off a bit.
     
    PriusCamper likes this.
  4. lech auto air conditionin

    Joined:
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    Vehicle:
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    Model:
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    To answer your large rack question to hold a Lotta gear. Get a rack that was meant for a large cargo van and add that extender in the middle and if you have a little experience with just cutting simple metal nuts and bolts and a little fabrication of simple parts you can modify it to even hold more weight by adding two additional rack mounts total number of four
    As for a trailer absolutely no problem no matter how bulky or big you can carry it . I used a U-Haul carrier trailer hitch the, receiver is a little small so you’re limited, but because it is U-Haul and their name is on it and they sell it and they install it you can guarantee it safe and strong because they do not want to have multimillion dollar lawsuits all over the country with really shoddy poorly made Chinese knock off equipment.
    The trailer I got the cheapest 4 x 4 trailer for my experimental use from Harbor freight at the time it was on sale for under $200 but I think their price is now up to 240 some dollars maybe 270 something. It takes assembly in the knowledge how to properly grease pack wheel bearings and do proper adjustment on the wheel bearings. Since that was the only kind of cars around when I was a child and my grandfather and my father were both mechanics and I started packing wheelbearings at 12 years old there was no issue.





    I put hundreds of thousands of miles on each one of my vehicles I’ve driven through the desert I’ve driven through snow and I drive a daily basis up and down steep the hills of San Francisco in the tight congested traffic in the Windee narrow streets. Just change your transmission fluid every 20,000 miles it’s cheap and easy to use the vacuum with the straw method. The engines and the transmissions easily last 300,000 To 350,000 miles plus on these vehicles so there’s no issue or debating that fact. One of the big rack manufacturers make a large long rack mounted tent that fits on top of your car that could pop up expand out with the latter access because of the size and strength of my rack I was thinking of building one myself for camping.
    Grab yourself a little portable Honda generator there quiet gas efficient and more than enough to charge the batteries and run all the laptops and small refrigerators that you could possibly take with you.
     
    RMB likes this.
  5. PriusCamper

    PriusCamper Senior Member

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    Wow, nice looking setup... I've the same trailer and seeing yours set up so well is inspiring! How many miles do you get out of those trailer tires? Guessing you have a pretty good sense of the best trailer tires to invest in? Do tell? Also what's the weight of your average trailer load for long drives?
     
  6. lech auto air conditionin

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    Trailer tires only have about 12,000 miles on them so I don’t know how long they’ll last year still looks like they have more than 50% of their life. Between the two toolboxes it’s a little over 500 pounds sometimes we double stack but with less weight on top I do not exceed the 700+Lb rating on the trailer. Inside the vehicle I’m never left and 500 pounds usually around 800 pounds plus I have put 1000 pounds inside when I remove the front seat. The rack on this vehicle is not 100% complete yet I have Tom Support’s at two at the front and rear need some brackets to attach once it’s finished it’s daily load 24 seven will be 500 pounds plus. I also have the load leveler suspension bags added Inside the springs on the rear. When I do need better trailer tires they will be heavy duty truck tires probably slightly larger rim if I could get a D or E load rating. Many moons ago as a young mechanic are used to sell and install tires at Goodyear so I’m very picky On my tires I always get the highest load rating that I could afford to buy for the size rim even if it’s overkill. I’m about to purchase a wider size steel rims for the vehicle are used up to size the 205‘s I’ve been thinking about going to 215’s. I get summer sticky Z rated tires. I like the extra safety factor in breaking and a emergency quick maneuvering. I do not care that they only last 15,000 miles. I consider the stock tires and high profile tires dangerous if not actually deadly in their poor performance on emergency maneuvers .
     
  7. PriusCamper

    PriusCamper Senior Member

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    Thanks for the info... I'll suggest in terms of vehicle tires to favor the best Low Rolling Resistance tires over load rating because over the course of 60K miles the LRR are going to save so much in MPG it'll be the difference between a $100 tire vs. a $300 tire...

    Lastly, what's your impression of load rating and traction with boosted to higher than recommended PSI in the tires? If you always keep it at reccomended PSI and no experience with higher I encourage you to experiment a little.

    I find that 6 - 12 psi higher improves, handling, MPG and slows tire wear... Once you get above 47psi though traction and handling benefits start to decline, but I suspect a more heavy duty tire would do that at lower pressure, but who knows, maybe they keep traction better at even higher pressure. I Got 70K miles out of my LRR Ecopia's rated for 60K miles by running them at 47 and 45 front and rear, but I'm usually never rolling with more than a few hundred pounds of stuff on road trips and haven't had a need to be concerned with load rating, just MGP...
     
  8. lech auto air conditionin

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    Depending on the load you’re caring will vary the wear pattern on your tire . If your psi is too high you will start noticing just the center of your tire wearing out rapidly while the edges have deep grooves this means you have a very low rolling resistance yes but you have a extremely small footprint attaching to the ground that will affect your breaking safety and handling because you’re basically just riding on a 1 inch to 1 1/2 inch wide tread that’s only about 2 1/2 inches long. As you lower the pressure you widen the contact area but if you keep lowering the pressure you start writing on the outside walls of the tire and your side wall starts flexing more and building up heat. So different tires with different ratings react differently to heavy individuals circumstances of weight and type of driving and whether you have low profile tires or high profile tires.

    I given up the better miles per gallon with the lower resistance rolling tires over the safety and performance gains of the wider stickier tires yes I’m paying more money for the tires and the tires have a shorter life and I get reduced to gas mileage. I’m on the road too many hours and miles per day per year and it’s a risk management assessment you only can roll the dice so many times before your numbers up and somebody slams into you or cut you off or the car three lanes over gets hit goes into a spin and hits you all these situations have happened to me many times over the last million miles. And I go for the heavier duty load rated tires when it’s time for a trailer tire replacement because of the valuables that I carry I do not want to risk a blowout on a trailer and scatter $10,000 $40,000 of tools or equipment all over the highway. Or worse yet one of my customers $50,000 heat recovery unit I just pick up from the warehouse and lose it because of a cheap trailer tire onto the way to a job site.
    I currently run my tire pressure at 51 psi and when I have no load I lower it down to 43 psi to 47 psi I carry a tank of dry nitrogen with a regulator attached all the time because my job requires it on a daily basis so I also have a tire pressure gauge hooked up to it for filling my tires and filling my nitrogen load lift bags inside my rear springs.
    When I used to drive SUV or van or pick up trucks I would purchase insanely high load rated tires with side walls as stiff as a telephone pole you can feel it and you can hear it but I was one of those guys who goes over railroad tracks and curbs and never think about bursting a side wall.
    And yes sometimes I would experiment with very high pressures a little overrated of the tire when I go on a straight long highway Cruz say from San Francisco to LA, caring no load just passenger and change my oil to 0-20.
    But when you would go over pressure if you ever got on any of those concrete freeways where they put the lines in the grooves like a saw machine grooved the roadway you sometimes would notice your car steering will easily jolt to the left or to write following groves.
     
  9. PriusCamper

    PriusCamper Senior Member

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    Yea... That's why I asked if you had direct experience with higher PSI... The balloon theory you just floated is what everyone who thinks about over-inflation says, but not what actually happens if you actually try it.

    I got an extra 10K miles beyond what my tires were rated for and the wear pattern was same thickness with no signs of uneven wear after 70K miles. The flaw in the balloon theory is that tires are not balloons and over-inflation on a tire that's carrying a weighted load is structurally nothing like a balloon at least at PSI below 47...
     
  10. lech auto air conditionin

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    When you over inflate and sometimes GIF that the limit have you noticed the ring found like the hollow over inflated balloon when you flick it with your finger it echoes every time up in the car not just the vibration is actually a resident frequency when it strikes them up small objects.
    Tires and alignment I got a lot of when nearly my first decade as a Mechanic and at home my dad taught me alignment with the old bubble camber and caster and everything to do with suspension modifications and Racecar driving on the track before I finish high school.
    It’s amazing to people who think you have to follow the vehicle manufactures recommended specifications by the letter that if you go outside of that you can have drastic improvement both in vehicle handling and a vehicles longevity. Vehicle manufacture usually choose the cheapest tire they can get away with and a lower air pressure for their vehicle will get a better Comfort for a soft wide and quieter in the cabin for their magazine reviews and customer ride experience.
     
  11. PriusCamper

    PriusCamper Senior Member

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    Yes, once you have a sense of how the motivations behind vehicle manufacturer recommendations for safety, comfort, lowest price you can begin to experiment with improvements and upgrades. Building something for everyone at lowest possible cost is pretty safe and boring and hackers and modders have so many options and ideas to build upon that. But there certainly are the overly-obedient ones on here that don't trust, or even like to think about any of that.