New Prius Bike Rack

[barrycoll]

if anybody is in the market for carrying bikes on a tow bar fitting, i can't recommend this Thule (tooler!)

system highly enough

the bike are separated, strongly mounted, can be locked in position, together with the rack and the detachable tow bar.....and best of all, the whole lot drops down for easy boot access, plus being so well counterbalanced that it is no effort!!

the detachable tow ball fully (expertly) fitted in my driveway was £250, and the top of the range rack was similar, but a lot cheaper ones are available

we have just come back from Spain, with the bikes easily on and off the car every day

[smalltalker]

Hi Barry,

That looks neat indeed. Who did the fitting? Did they use a generic wiring or a car specific one for the Prius? One fitter warned me that using a generic wiring could ruin the Toyota warranty.

Thanks,

Diego

[barrycoll]

the wiring was car specific, and very professionally done.....

the company are a mobile team based in N.E London that have fitted tow bar racks to my last 3 Golfs, with never any come back or problem....

GT Towing quoted over £100 more for the same job

[barrycoll]

if anybody is interested, the company is

http://www.autoinsider.co.uk/local/towbars/ai_7160.php...

they don't seem to have there own website, but fitted my first bike rack in 2002, so not fly-by-nights!

[barrycoll]

sorry folks, but that link doesn't seem to work, but the company is called automanor towbars, which needs to be googled

[theoilburner]

Where did they get the towbar from? I've been looking around for an EU approved towbar for our Prius and can't find one anywhere,

[cootuk]

The Prius isn't EU type approved for towing, so there's no official towbar available.

This sort of setup can only be used as a bike carrier, not for towing.

[theoilburner]

I see. If you don't use it for towing, just for a bike carrier (which is what we were thinking), does the type approval not matter?

[barrycoll]

the whole removable tow hitch is designed and made by Thule.....

my local main dealer has seen the conversion, as he managed to locate and fit the space saver spare, and did not make any comment

http://www.towriteupminster.com/#/contact/4549590560 try again with the link, although any Thule stockist would have it in their catalogue...

I think that the ball is designed differently than one used for towing, as the fitting of the rack onto the hitch is fascinatingly effective, and lock solid

[barrycoll]

on the other hand...check this out

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151700663596112&set=a.10151700663361112.1073741846.101417046111&type=1&theater

[cootuk]

I don't think Construction and Use regs say anything specifically about bike carriers apart from possibly having a lighting board and number plate visible - as shown in the OP pics.

How the hitch fits in with towbar regs would be something lawyers would argue about for hours, though would only possibly be a problem if you left the ball part of the hitch on permanently and were pulled over for having it on. Possibly a grey area, thoguh if it's all detachable then it only ever looks like a bike carrier.

[sanzomat]

http://www.thule.com/fitguide/Default.aspx?language=en&market=AT&pimid=SubcategoryWeb_202377&productid=#

This seems to be the one referred to. It does specifically state it is not for towing and doesn't have type approval so would be illegal and invalidate insurance if used to tow. It doesn't list one for the 'plus either so no use to me!

[barrycoll]

this is the hitch before fitting...the ball is NOT for towing

[jlpri]

Many thanks for sharing this information! It is some time since you posted it, but with a bit of research I have been able to get something similar for my 2009 prius. All set up and ready to go with the bikes. Thank you

[barrycoll]

Good to hear Juli.....

Mine is still doing yeoman service, even carrying 2 X 20kg e-bikes without complaining, although now gone back in the other direction to carbon mtbs.

I am wondering what the factory Gen 4 tow kit is like??