# 2" hitch on a 2010 Prius



## vuduvgn (Jan 8, 2004)

I am not trolling for Prius bashing.

Has anyone put a 2" hitch on a 2010 Prius? I have a Saris 2 bike and 4 bike hitch rack I want to put on my Prius. When I had it on my previous car with a 1 1/2" receiver it moved around like crazy on a bumpy highway.

There are now a few 2" receivers to choose from and I wanted to know people's experience with ground clearance, any scraping and ease of installation.

Thx.


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## jcaino (May 26, 2007)

They make a 2" hitch for a Prius? Pretty sure they only make Class I 1-1/4" hitches for those.


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## vuduvgn (Jan 8, 2004)

Yes.

1: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2010...r_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item2a07fb1a97

2: http://www.coastaletech.com/04hitch.htm

3: http://www.suspensionconnection.com/cgi-bin/suscon/140-hitch-toyota-prius-2010.html


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## racerwad (Sep 17, 2005)

That second hitch you listed is for a previous generation Prius. According to the etrailer.com website, there doesn't seem to be anything listed for a Prius beyond a Class 1 (1 1/4") hitch. I would be cautious about getting a hitch that size, not because it would damage your car, but because they'll probably send you the wrong one They might be similar enough to where you won't know how different until you're on your back underneath your car. That's a bummer.
Just my $.02


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## karpiel666 (Jan 7, 2005)

Get a 1.25 and take it to a welder.


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## SAL9000 (Apr 16, 2010)

Yes, there are 2" hitches for Priuses and just about any car. There is a local place where I live (Seattle) that puts 2" hitches on everything - friends have 'em on MINIs, A4s, Civics, etc. Here's their picture gallery showing a Prius w/2" hitch: http://www.mannshitch.com/page5.cfm.

I went with a 1.25" rack and hitch on an Accord. Had I known about the tendency to sway/flex I would have passed on gone with 2" hitch. I highly recommend it, though having a place like this do it will be ~$500 rather than buying one online for $100-$150 and DIY.


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## karpiel666 (Jan 7, 2005)

SAL9000 said:


> Yes, there are 2" hitches for Priuses and just about any car. There is a local place where I live (Seattle) that puts 2" hitches on everything - friends have 'em on MINIs, A4s, Civics, etc. Here's their picture gallery showing a Prius w/2" hitch: http://www.mannshitch.com/page5.cfm.
> 
> I went with a 1.25" rack and hitch on an Accord. Had I known about the tendency to sway/flex I would have passed on gone with 2" hitch. I highly recommend it, though having a place like this do it will be ~$500 rather than buying one online for $100-$150 and DIY.


Expensive, mine cost 150 and 50 to weld and repaint.


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## Wherewolf (Jan 17, 2004)

*Well?*



vuduvgn said:


> Has anyone put a 2" hitch on a 2010 Prius?


Did you make a decision? I looked at a 2010 Prius this morning and the bike shop recommended a 1 1/4 hitch.


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## vuduvgn (Jan 8, 2004)

Hey Where,
I ordered the 2" hitch and adapter for my Saris CycleOn rack. Havn't installed it yet though. The roof rack kills the fuel mileage. Driving down I5 i was getting about 30mpg with the car full of crap and three bikes on the roof. Hitch rack's gotta be better. Will report back.


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## Killroy (Mar 9, 2006)

SAL9000 said:


> I went with a 1.25" rack and hitch on an Accord. Had I known about the tendency to sway/flex I would have passed on gone with 2" hitch. I highly recommend it, though having a place like this do it will be ~$500 rather than buying one online for $100-$150 and DIY.


Is it a pin vs threaded receiver causing the sway issue???

I have 1 1/4" Thule T2 with no sway issues because the 'hitch carrier' is threaded, so it snugs tight when you tighten the supplied hex screw. Thule calls this "Snug-Tite™"

I don't think you really need a 2".


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## Killroy (Mar 9, 2006)

vuduvgn said:


> Hey Where,
> Driving down I5 i was getting about 30mpg with the car full of crap and three bikes on the roof. Hitch rack's gotta be better. Will report back.


30 MPG is good fuel economy for a lot of cars/SUV that carry about the same amount as a Prius:thumbsup:

People don't realize how much money they are wasting by putting there bikes on the roof --Even when just the rack is on. Bugs on the bike and driving into a carport/ garage sucks also.


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## SAL9000 (Apr 16, 2010)

Killroy said:


> Is it a pin vs threaded receiver causing the sway issue???
> 
> I have 1 1/4" Thule T2 with no sway issues because the 'hitch carrier' is threaded, so it snugs tight when you tighten the supplied hex screw. Thule calls this "Snug-Tite™"
> 
> I don't think you really need a 2".


Yeah, I have the same setup and even keep a cordless impact wrench in trunk to make sure she's good and tight.

It's the whole hitch and rack structure that flexes. A class 1 hitch simply bolts into the sheet metal pan of the trunk plus the T2's 1.25" male portion flexes too.

Don't need 2" but if/when I have to do it again I'll be going with 2".


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## Litemike (Sep 13, 2007)

Not be a smart a$$, but, wouldn't a hitch, mod cost and T2 sort of out weigh the whole mileage loss? 100 miles with the top rack and bikes @ 30 mpg vs 37 mpg = a .529 gallon diference. After 1000 $ in mods / rack / hitch, it would take you 500+ 100 mile trips to break even, if gas was 3.00 a gallon. But, when a dude wants a hitch mount, he wants a hitch mount, I can respect that!


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## SAL9000 (Apr 16, 2010)

Litemike said:


> Not be a smart a$$, but, wouldn't a hitch, mod cost and T2 sort of out weigh the whole mileage loss? 100 miles with the top rack and bikes @ 30 mpg vs 37 mpg = a .529 gallon diference. After 1000 $ in mods / rack / hitch, it would take you 500+ 100 mile trips to break even, if gas was 3.00 a gallon. But, when a dude wants a hitch mount, he wants a hitch mount, I can respect that!


Hybrids have never been about MPG.


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## Killroy (Mar 9, 2006)

Litemike said:


> Not be a smart a$$, but, wouldn't a hitch, mod cost and T2 sort of out weigh the whole mileage loss? 100 miles with the top rack and bikes @ 30 mpg vs 37 mpg = a .529 gallon diference. After 1000 $ in mods / rack / hitch, it would take you 500+ 100 mile trips to break even, if gas was 3.00 a gallon. But, when a dude wants a hitch mount, he wants a hitch mount, I can respect that!


The 2010 Prius is 50 MPG US EPA compined, so vuduvgn is seeing a 20 MPG drop with the bikes on the roof. Speeding and payload have something to do with that.

Remember that burning gasoline has other impacts other than lightening your pocket book. Since we are out of oil in the US we pump lots of money to not nice places to import oil. This is a major national security issue for the US government. Also think about the pollution, climate change risk, the gulf spill, yada yada.

Carrying around a roof rack constantly might have a small 3 mpg impact with no bikes, but over the 10 year life of the car that could be $700. YRMV (your results may vary)

Running you bike into a garage or car port can be expensive too. Bike shops see this a lot also.


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## SAL9000 (Apr 16, 2010)

Killroy said:


> The 2010 Prius is 50 MPG US EPA compined, so vuduvgn is seeing a 20 MPG drop with the bikes on the roof. Speeding and payload have something to do with that.
> 
> Remember that burning gasoline has other impacts other than lightening your pocket book. Since we are out of oil in the US we pump lots of money to not nice places to import oil. This is a major national security issue for the US government. Also think about the pollution, climate change risk, the gulf spill, yada yada.
> 
> ...


EPA estimates for hybrids are way overly optimistic; plus there's no way a bike rack is costing 40% mpg - that's the kind of efficiency drop a pickup truck sees when towing a heavy load.

Meh - I don't care about that stuff - I simply love oil as does the world economic engine.

The average ownership time of a new car is a lot less than 10 years and even the avid bicyclist will have bikes in rack a relatively little.


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## rob1208lv (Sep 8, 2007)

I'm in the same boat trying to find one for my (buying a prius today) rack..
I really don't want to rock adapters


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## Litemike (Sep 13, 2007)

Roof rack on my 01 Accord (32 gpm ave) is not noticed - however two bikes, ac, and a guy trying to get home before my wife = 25 mpg!
Best of luck. 
Oh, by the way the lithium batteries will be the new "I hate oil".


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## Killroy (Mar 9, 2006)

SAL9000 said:


> EPA estimates for hybrids are way overly optimistic; plus there's no way a bike rack is costing 40% mpg - that's the kind of efficiency drop a pickup truck sees when towing a heavy load.
> 
> The average ownership time of a new car is a lot less than 10 years and even the avid bicyclist will have bikes in rack a relatively little.


I suggest that there are other facters at play the 20 MPG his is not all bikes. Today's EPA estimates are good for hybrids. Most Prius owners get ~50 MPG, good drivers get better. I get 6 to 15% better than EPA. Cars that are areo like the Prius are going to get a bigger MPG hit with bikes and racks on the roof.

The numbers I gave were for for rack only. Bikes + Rack is more of a hit in the pocket book.

A Civic Hybrid owner took a 5-6 MPG hit with racks only in this thread: http://www.cleanmpg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=16026

Notice he normally gets 57 MPG


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## vuduvgn (Jan 8, 2004)

SAL9000 said:


> EPA estimates for hybrids are way overly optimistic; plus there's no way a bike rack is costing 40% mpg - that's the kind of efficiency drop a pickup truck sees when towing a heavy load.
> 
> Meh - I don't care about that stuff - I simply love oil as does the world economic engine.
> 
> The average ownership time of a new car is a lot less than 10 years and even the avid bicyclist will have bikes in rack a relatively little.


I've been watching my mileage since I got the car and though it's a bit below the stated 51 mpg, it's good. Three tanks worth of driving from the California valley to the foothills and back and up to Tahoe and back and the foothills and back is giving me an mpg of 44. This is without the roof rack and with passengers.

My observations are correct regarding the fuel mileage with the roof rack and three bikes and cargo.

I only drive the car a few days a week and there is a bike on the car 75% of that time. I ride 6 days a week, but don't always drive the the trailhead.

I got the 2" receiver hitch from Quality S. Installed it in about an hour, pretty simple. I've attached my Saris Cycle On rack and used it already. The rack, when not in use, hides behind the car almost completely. With two bikes on the bikes stick up above the tail, but not too badly. The rack is more secure than the 1 1/4" receiver I had on my previous car with this rack. I'm happy that I went with the 2" receiver.

I will post some pics.


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## vuduvgn (Jan 8, 2004)

Got the 2" hitch on, took about an hour. Drove 2 1/2 hours each way to a race last weekend with 2 bikes on the hitch rack and car full of gear on a mix of freeway, rural and mountain roads. Got 39.9 mpg for the trip. The best i've gotten with the car so far is about 45 mpg and that's without passengers and no bikes. Not too much of a fuel mileage hit.


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## PaulRivers (Jan 2, 2009)

jcaino said:


> They make a 2" hitch for a Prius? Pretty sure they only make Class I 1-1/4" hitches for those.


They make a 2" hitch for the previous, but it still has the exact same weight and load restrictions as the 1.25" version.

In fact, on the Gen 2 Prius the only company that made a 2" version was "Coastal", and the Coastal hitch had a reputation for becoming permanently bent over time even if you stayed within it's stated weight limits. People would get a welder to reinforce the hitch so it could handle it's rated capacity.

I don't have a great deal of knowledge on the 1.25" vs 2" debate, but personally don't see any reason why a 2" hitch on a Prius would be any more of less bouncy than a 1.25" hitch. My opinion would be different if the 2 hitches were rated for different capacities - but on the Gen II at least (and I've heard it's the same on the Gen II, the latest version) there's no change in capacity, so I highly there's any difference in "bounciness".

In other words, I would expect that if they put a 2" hitch with the same rating on the Honda, it would have also bounced around just as much.


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## SAL9000 (Apr 16, 2010)

PaulRivers said:


> They make a 2" hitch for the previous, but it still has the exact same weight and load restrictions as the 1.25" version.
> 
> In fact, on the Gen 2 Prius the only company that made a 2" version was "Coastal", and the Coastal hitch had a reputation for becoming permanently bent over time even if you stayed within it's stated weight limits. People would get a welder to reinforce the hitch so it could handle it's rated capacity.
> 
> ...


The resistance to sway and bounce is the 2" vs. 1.25". This is size of the square female tube of the receiver and the square male tube of the rack. This additional size, even if everything else is the same about the hitch, resists torsion (rotational flex) much better.

I've personally seen the difference with the Thule T2 and a co-workers car - he has a 2" on an Outback vs. my 1.25" on an Accord. It makes a noticeable difference although it's not to the point of good vs. bad.


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## PaulRivers (Jan 2, 2009)

SAL9000 said:


> The resistance to sway and bounce is the 2" vs. 1.25". This is size of the square female tube of the receiver and the square male tube of the rack. This additional size, even if everything else is the same about the hitch, resists torsion (rotational flex) much better.
> 
> I've personally seen the difference with the Thule T2 and a co-workers car - he has a 2" on an Outback vs. my 1.25" on an Accord. It makes a noticeable difference although it's not to the point of good vs. bad.


Well I do not claim to be an expert on racks or hitches, lol.

But in your example, we have -

Subaru Outback
- Class 2 hitch rated to tow 3500 pounds (I looked up a 2005 Subaru Outback on uhaul.com)
- On a vehicle designed to take a hitch (hitch probably taken into account in frame design)
- 2" receiver

Honda Accord
- Class 1 hitch rated to tow 2000 pounds (2005 Honda Accord 4 cylinder on uhaul.com)
- On a vehicle where the hitch is probably an afterthought, where they tack it to whatever they think will work with the least amount of extra weight on the frame
- 1.25" receiver

Maybe the size of the hitch matters, I cannot say for sure, but you gotta figure what matters a lot more is that a hitch built to handle almost twice the weight, on a vehicle designed to take a decent hitch, is going to have a lot less play in it for the same amount of weight.


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## PaulRivers (Jan 2, 2009)

vuduvgn said:


> Yes.
> 
> 1: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2010...r_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item2a07fb1a97
> 
> ...


The first one claims to be a Class 3 hitch, a claim that I find highly dubious on a Prius (or on any other small or medium car that wasn't specifically designed with towing in mind). Their own chart (on the ebay page) says that for "Subcompact/Compact Cars" a class 3 hitch isn't available for a car in that size class.

The second link is to the Coastal hitch for the Gen 2 Prius which I mentioned. Which, on Prius chat, developed a reputation for becoming permanently bent down over time even only hauling it's rated load. Some people made modifications to get it to work right involving welding.

The third link says it's a "2010 Toyota Prius - "NO-DRILL" Class 3 Trailer Hitch" (again with the class 3 thing), but then if you scroll down also says:
Weight Capacity: 2000 lbs.
Tongue Weight: 200 lbs.

Which are the specs for a class 1 hitch, not a class 3 hitch.

I'm just saying, you can decide for yourself if you think the structure of the 2" hitch is somehow better than the 1.25" version (it doesn't seem likely to me), but you're not otherwise going to get a stronger hitch. If you're comparing a 2" hitch on an suv to a 1.25" on your car, keep in mind that the size of the hitch probably isn't the determining difference, it's the better mounting points on the suv and the stronger hitch construction that make it more sturdy. Putting a Class 1 2" hitch on a Prius isn't going to transform the hitch capacity into a Class 3 2" hitch.


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## SAL9000 (Apr 16, 2010)

PaulRivers said:


> Well I do not claim to be an expert on racks or hitches, lol.
> 
> But in your example, we have -
> 
> ...


1.25" comes in both class I and class II; the standard Outback hitch is 1.25" class II. Like the Prius you'd have to look a fair amount to find a 2" hitch off the shelf for an OB (i.e., won't find it at the local Uhaul).

The individual I mentioned above had his 2" hitch custom made/fitted for his Outback at a local place that does such things (mentioned earlier in this thread). You'll just have to get the two racks side by side (1.25" vs. 2") to see.


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## PaulRivers (Jan 2, 2009)

Actually, for the 2005 Outback model at least UHaul says "75159	Square Tube 2 inch Rec. Class 3 4000 (pounds max weight)", so it sounds like they do sell a 2" hitch - a little beside the point perhaps. 

I wish that custom hitch place was in Minnesota! I think I'm fine with 1.25" or 2", either way, but I'd think they might be able to modify my hitch with more support so I could carry the Saris Cycle-On rack on it with 4 bikes. (I know there's a mount thingy that could maybe be used farther back, that the hitch isn't normally attached to)

I agree that we'd have to get two racks with the same rating side-by-side to come to an agreement - if you ever get a 1.25" hitch replaced with a 2" that's the same rating on your car, let me know haha.


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## alexrex20 (Dec 20, 2005)

i can't believe people are actually arguing about this


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## PaulRivers (Jan 2, 2009)

P.S. You might try priuschat.com, to, for people's specific experiences with putting a 2" hitch on their 2010 Prius.


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## SAL9000 (Apr 16, 2010)

PaulRivers said:


> Actually, for the 2005 Outback model at least UHaul says "75159	Square Tube 2 inch Rec. Class 3 4000 (pounds max weight)", so it sounds like they do sell a 2" hitch - a little beside the point perhaps.
> 
> I wish that custom hitch place was in Minnesota! I think I'm fine with 1.25" or 2", either way, but I'd think they might be able to modify my hitch with more support so I could carry the Saris Cycle-On rack on it with 4 bikes. (I know there's a mount thingy that could maybe be used farther back, that the hitch isn't normally attached to)
> 
> I agree that we'd have to get two racks with the same rating side-by-side to come to an agreement - if you ever get a 1.25" hitch replaced with a 2" that's the same rating on your car, let me know haha.


Nah - uhaul.com says 1.25"/class II/3,500 lb hitch for a 6cyl. Outback. Having almost bought one instead of my '05 Accord I know for a fact the '05 6cyl. Outback tow rating is only 3,000 lbs (meaning, a 4,000 lb class III hitch is not suitable):



Wouldn't recommend modifying the current hitch. Should you ever lose a load and cause and accident you'd have even more hell to pay.


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## karpiel666 (Jan 7, 2005)

SAL9000 said:


> Hybrids have never been about MPG.


Or being "green". Tis all about the marketing and image (of the CO. and owner). Most prius I see are being driven in a non mileage friendly way also. Most people buy jeeps and hummers for the same reason.


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## PaulRivers (Jan 2, 2009)

karpiel666 said:


> Or being "green". Tis all about the marketing and image (of the CO. and owner). Most prius I see are being driven in a non mileage friendly way also. Most people buy jeeps and hummers for the same reason.


*sigh* Seriously, what is it about a single car that just threatens your entire ego so much that you have to come into thread about what hitch to mount on it and try to stir up the ridiculous, back and forth ego tripping about "in what way does this car define your identity"?

I strongly feel you're both wrong, but is there ANY chance we could just talk about what hitch or rack would work on the vehicle? Or something bike related at least?


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## Flyer (Jan 25, 2004)

Nicely done. Priuses are all about aerodynamics and low rolling resistance. That hitch rack will make a pretty big difference. I'm impressed they actually make one for it.


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