Towing a 2005 Prius

Well, after a month and a half of travel, the Bounder, the Prius and I arrived home late last night.

The Prius was towed around 5000 miles total over the course of the trip, and had another 2500 added to the odometer too (mostly trips between Southern Wisconsin and Chicago, but a couple of weekend trips to Cleveland and Indianapolis helped too).

Lessons learned? When I disconnected the Prius after the initial 2000 mile trip to Wisconsin, and started the engine to take the first untowed trip, there was a heavy "burned" smell in the cockpit. My initial thought was that the brakes on the rear wheels had been activated during the tow trip, and that I had burned them up. I pulled into a mechanic and had them checked... they looked fine to him. When I described the problem, he said that when you tow a vehicle without applying the brakes, you are likely to get all sorts of road gunk in the wheels... 2000 miles worth. He felt that the residue burned off very quickly when I first hit the brakes, and that was the smell. Normally, residue never gets a chance to build up like this, as you use the brakes all the time during normal driving. This is as good an explanation as any, I guess.

The other lesson isn't necessarily Prius related, but if you plan to tow a vehicle like this, double check your tow straps often. On the trip out, I lost a tow strap a couple of times. It came off the wheel, and was dragging on the ground behind the trailer. Getting the straps on properly requires a bit of practice.

Oh, after towing a Prius, leave time to get it washed. Mine is filthy, and is getting a bath this morning.

I'm more than happy to answer any questions about how this all turned out, or give advice on how to do it yourself. Post away!

Dan