Ok, I am trying to see if anyone ha an idea of how I might can haul some long sticks of metal, say 10 foot or slightly longer on the prius. I thought about a rack, but what a pain. Any ideas? Thanks
Put passenger seat all the of the way forward. Remove headrest. Put passenger seat all of the way back. Put back seat down. Bundle metal sticks together. Put padding or protection down. Wrap ends of metal sticks with plenty of padding to prevent damage. Put bundle in car as far as possible into the passenger footwell under the glove compartment area and tie it down. Tie down hatch if they still stick out and add red flag. It's possible you might be able to get them all in and still close the hatch. I was able to get 10 foot boards from Home Depot in and still close the hatch.
Truck-tire inner tube on the roof. Metal on that, tied to the front tow bolt (install it) and the rear diagonal tie-down point. Red flag required for 'overhang'. Later, go tubing on the river with your new toy.
It's funny you should say that. I just haled 2 10' pieces of 4" wide by 3/8" thick steel just yesterday. I joked to my wife about putting it in the Prius but I hauled it with my long bed truck. My metal at 3/8" was thick and heavy. Depending on how heavy the steel you're carrying is you can probably make it work for a short distance in the Prius. You could take the head rest off and recline the passenger seat all the way back and forward. It reclines (at least in my '08) just about completely horizontal. Then fold both rear seats and have it diagonal out the window somehow. Good luck.
From rear hatch to console is 8ft. Lumber fits perfectly. If you're willing to put material on the dash... that's 10ft. If you don't want to put items on the dash, wrap a towel or other cloth around the ends of the metal and tie each end to the tie down points. ( like a little hammock for the ends) attach red flags to the end. If you want to do a little trick for closing and opening the hatch.. try this.. If you have a piece of twine, tie a loop into it. Where the hatch receiver as, pop off the cover plate. place the loop into the hatch receiver and use a butter knife or screw driver to make the latch close in over the loop so it gets caught. At this point you have a string that works off the hatch button. pull the string through the hatch's loop and tie it down. when you want to release it, just press the button and the hatch will let go of the loop.
Hey thanks everyone for the ideas. I will for sure put some of them to use. I have ALWAYS had a truck since high school, and hauled some stuff but never could justify full time use for a truck. I got my prius back in october and have not regretted it since, just said I would figure it out.
This is EXACTLY why I kept my 1995 4Runner. It may be a GASHOG!!, but you can't put a piece of plywood in a Prius!!!! But I do LOVE the Prius... I think I will keep them both!!! 73 de Pat KK6PD
If you are hauling small sticks, you can first put 10 foot long piece of large diameter PVC pipe in your car. Put a cap on one end. Place pipe with cap end toward the front of the car. Load pipe from hatch end of the car.
I've hauled plenty of ten footers inside my Prius. Do what the previous poster suggested and carry them inside. Tom
I have a couple of ideas I am going to research. The first is a set of four mounts that will extend from under the car to over the roof. They would have a connector bar that goes from one side to the other and thus allow you to even haul a sheet of plywood or two. But who knows, maybe a roof mount hauler or something. The second idea would be a telescoping frame on two small wheels that could hold some metal. I really hope the first idea will work though.
