Prius Camping with the 17' Bass Boat

[hayden55]

Originally Posted by Ecky

Highly enjoyed this post.

I wish I had more confidence in my Insight's hitch. I may try to reinforce it, but given the entire car is made of thin aluminum sheet metal, I'm reluctant to overdo it. When I'm pulling a trailer (especially with some weight) I'm very cautious about how I accelerate and decelerate.

You'll be fine. I think the tongue weight on mine is only ~100 lb.

[hayden55]

Originally Posted by Vman455

Are those skirts over your rear wheels? Did I miss a post on those?

I just made a Goodwill run with 4 large plastic totes full of books, two floor speakers, and two floor lamps. It always amazes me how much this car can swallow.

I buy boat motors all the time and put them on the inside with a tarp. Way more cost efficient when you can just put a huge long shaft yamaha outboard on the inside of a Prius than taking a truck that gets 18 mpg lol
I think the trip I'm thinking of was Jonesboro to Illinois and back with a 40hp yamaha, two gas tanks, a deep cycle battery, a tilt and trim kit, and some relays.

[Ecky]

Originally Posted by hayden55

You'll be fine. I think the tongue weight on mine is only ~100 lb.

Yeah but how about slamming on the brakes with 1200lbs in the trailer? That's a lot of impulse for the sheet metal to take.

[slowmover]

Hitches can be reinforced. It’s old hat. Diagonals out to other points, or extensions plus a new crossmember. Unit body cars are “stronger” than BOF.

[slowmover]

Originally Posted by Ecky

Yeah but how about slamming on the brakes with 1200lbs in the trailer? That's a lot of impulse for the sheet metal to take.

Nothing stops you from adding trailer brakes. Surge-type is the most common for boat trailers.

For that matter, a boat trailer sans boat could have a platform fitted. It would need to have some numbers run.