Bike rack to mount on Prius model.?

Bee

Hi,















Please advise, I have a compact car ?Prius? model.















Can I install the hitch under neat at bottom of the car to install the bike rack to carry 4 bikes?















Is it safe? or overload for small car? Or any suggestion???















Thanks for your help

JerryJ

- I have a compact car ?Prius? model.































Actually, the Prius is a mid-sized car, not a compact.































- Can I install the hitch under neat at bottom of the car to install the bike rack to carry 4 bikes?































Yes.































- Is it safe?































Yes. Many of the Yahoo Prius group members have done this. No problems. You might want to join and ask for brand recommendations.

Ben Pace

We own a 2006 Prius and had a small hitch installed to use with a bike rack. The hitch is a Curtis brand, which I ordered online. It fit nicely up under the car with only the ball receptacle showing under the bumper. I was able to install it myself in a couple of hours time without much difficulty. Our bike rack is a Saris brand and is made for 4 bikes. I have carried that many before but not on a long trip. I would advise that you probably would not want to have four large passengers or too much total weight in the car with four bikes. If they are heavy department store mountain bikes it will be a little more strain on the car. We actually are even able to haul our tandem bike, but I have only done that with one other bike on the rack. We also drove over 2000 miles hauling the Tandem to California on the back of the Prius (wheels & seat removed). The tandem does stick out a foot or so on either side of the car so you have to be careful if pulling through tight situations such as a drive thru. You will notice a sizable drop in fuel economy when hauling bikes as it causes a great deal of wind drag. We see between a 4 to 8 mpg drop in economy when hauling bikes. Another option for the Prius is a roof mounted carrier. Those can be pretty expensive for good quality. There was actually one of the teams for the Tour-de-France one year that used a Prius as the team car and they carried many bikes on a roof mounted system. A roof system would better distribute the weight so it isn't all on the rear of the car.