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This custom-fit trailer hitch with a hidden cross tube installs behind your Toyota Prius's rear bumper, leaving only the receiver visible beneath it. Aluminum and steel alloy construction is durable and eco-friendly. Powder coat finish resists rust.
Features:
Specs:
The EcoHitch Hidden trailer hitch is designed to be as inconspicuous as possible. The hitch's cross tube bolts onto your vehicle's frame, behind your rear bumper. No drilling or welding is required. Once the hitch is installed, only the receiver will be visible beneath your bumper. This means that your vehicle can maintain its stylish, from-the-factory look, and you won't have to do any major modifications to its body or frame.
With a combination of aerospace-grade aluminum, steel, and stainless steel, each EcoHitch is made of a strong metal alloy that will withstand the test of time. The lightweight alloy is composed of recycled materials. Traditional steel hitch manufacturing can use coal or oil, which can contribute to harmful gas emissions. The EcoHitch's recycled materials limit the carbon footprint during manufacturing, so you get a sturdy trailer hitch while also helping the environment.
This EcoHitch trailer hitch is tested for durability and sturdiness. Using Finite Elemental Analysis (FEA), individual points of stress on the hitch can be detected and remedied. Designers can accurately test the hitch to ensure that it will meet or exceed SAE J684 standards. The EcoHitch Hidden trailer hitch is carefully researched and strength tested for a durable, high-quality hitch that can resist damage while on the road.
At etrailer.com we're committed to the products we sell, and to our customers. Our experienced and knowledgeable staff are available via both phone and email to address your questions and concerns for the lifetime of your hitch. The technicians at etrailer perform hitch installations on a daily basis, making them a valuable resource for do-it-yourselfers. The one-on-one, personal service you'll receive comes straight from an expert in the towing and automotive field. We've installed it, we've wired it and we've towed with it, so whatever your question, we can answer it.
Average Customer Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars (87 Customer Reviews)
This custom-fit trailer hitch with a hidden cross tube installs behind your vehicle's rear bumper, leaving only the receiver visible beneath it. Aluminum and steel alloy construction is durable and eco-friendly. Powder coat finish resists rust.Solid unit, no issues with fit-up to existing Prius frame rail holes. Even the location for the added heat shield hole was spot on, only thing I would add is to locate hole in line with existing holes, (for clarity). On a side note the instructions have the muffler and hold down on the opposite sides. (Prius muffler for 2012 is on the right) Had more issues with the plastic splash pans than I care to elaborate on - Toyota junk. Also, the hitch tucks into the bumper, I did not see any indication in the instructions. Replaced my Curt 1 1/4" hitch and it appears this one, even though a 2", sits higher off the ground. A solid purchase!
Yeah, this hitch didn't even come close to fitting my 2013 Prius. I could get the bolts started on one side, just enough to hold the hitch up and give me a little wiggle room to get the bolts on the other side started. But as you can see in the pics, the holes don't come close to lining up. Wasted an entire day tiring to get this thing to fit.
Hitch is excellent quality, fit my 2010 Prius almost perfectly and installation was technically very easy. I'd recommend heeding the advice to mark where you're trimming the fairing before removal as it doesn't appear to be dead center once removed. Besides a few of the 10 year old brittle bumper clips breaking, installation was as easy as the two other hitches I've installed. It fits almost snug against the bottom of the bumper, my rack hasn't bottomed out on anything yet amazingly, ends up being fairly close to the rear axle.
The final installation is incredibly clean and professional. The only real modification to the car is cutting the plastic splash guard after removing it. Like others mentioned, I would recommend installing the hitch and cutting the splash guard to fit after completing the installation.
The only negative I would say was that the photos for where to cut the splash guard in the instructions weren't very clear, so I wound up doing a few test fits to get it to fit with the minimum amount cut. Also, the instructions said "passenger side" when referring to the driver side of the vehicle. I would say to just pay attention to if it's referring to the side with the exhaust or not. Aside from those minor things, the instructions were great, all hardware was provided and there was very little "searching for tools".
I would recommend a second set of hands to actually place the hitch into the vehicle, because it requires both lifting it and pulling the bumper out slightly to get it to fit. Everything else I was able to complete by myself.
It was a great kit, easy to install, IT FIT! Seems strong and a good design. We have hauled our e-bikes all over, on rough roads and had no problems at all.
The hitch was fairly easy to install if you are somewhat capable at working on things. I highly recommend Having the two inch receiver so you can use common accessories on the back of your Prius. I have pulled a a tent trailer for a couple thousand miles with out an issue.
Takes some work getting on, but once you do it’s rock-solid. Depending how handy you are, you may want to seek out a certified installation service. If you do it yourself, you should be able to do it in one afternoon or faster if you have a jack/snips/etc…
Clever, those long, stiff-wire bolt guides... really helped align the hitch holes with the factory holes. Looks smooth and clean when installed, with no bracing framework showing.
Tip: Buy yourself a fresh box of those pop-in plastic pins at a paint and trim auto store... hard to salvage the originals.
My 2010 Prius is load-rated at 927 lbs. Counting down, that's 200 lbs of me,10 gallons of gas for 60 lbs, hitch and insert at 43, snowmobile trailer & spare at 418 for 721 lbs, leaving me just 206 lbs spare capacity for my 150-lb aluminum brake. With tools and materials adding another 200 lbs, I'm over the manufacturer's recommended limit, yet it seems not to labor. Some have commented of towing 1500+ with this hitch.
Glad I went with the full 2" receiver... nice product.
I do 100-mile runs to MPLS to work on son's house and still get better than 51 mpg.
Instructions could have been better. Had to cut the plastic cover underneath the car. Installation took an hour and half. Its been great though. nice solid hitch
Great hitch for my Gen3 Prius! Installation is a little tricky compared to others I've done due to the "fishing line" nuts, but watch the vid and follow directions carefully and you should be fine. The hitch looks great and doesn't lower the car much as only the hitch itself sticks out below the bumper.
Works great for a full size bike rack and two e-bikes
I have only used this for transporting an ebike on a 1up rack, a few times over the past year. It is great - solid, I forget it’s there, held the rack no problem. As a bonus it’s provided me with more places to tie my canoes down from the overhead rack.
Great for hauling and charging my electric motorcycle
Everything went fairly well. Instructions & Pictures on cutting the plastic under panels could be clearer
Amazing. I use it to put my 450 dirt bike on the back of my Prius. I know what you are thinking but its totally ok...My Prius identifies as a truck so no worries. It is built tough and has held up great for well over 1K miles with the dirt bike on back. I think this is still the only hitch that has a 2" receiver that will fit on a Prius. Its by far the best/strongest one.
After a year of use, this hitch receiver works great and still looks great. buy it!
eTrailer took 5 weeks to ship an IN STOCK item, due to "shipping delays" and wouldn't give me any partial credit.
The installed hitch works extremely well and this is one of the only available 2" hitches with 300# tongue weight. But installation takes at least 2-3 hours and involves several complicated steps. (I've installed two other hitches in my life, and neither of them required removing/modifying so many parts of the car.)
The biggest problem is that one of the "rectangular metal plates" that you feed into the frame had a sloppily-formed hole. That prevented the hidden bolt from popping through the hole! MAKE SURE THAT YOU TEST FIT THE BOLT/WASHER/METAL PLATE COMBINATION BEFORE YOU FEED IT INTO THE FRAME. I ended up spending an extra 2 hours (5 hours total) trying to get the bolt into the hole without pulling it off the wire. The eventual solution was to epoxy the metal plate into the proper position, then use a Dremel with a skinny grinding bit to carefully open up the hole. Then the bolt pulled right through.
Try not to install this alone as it’s rather heavy. Other then that follow the instructions and you won’t have a problem. Make sure to have something on hand to cut the under covers so they can be reinstalled around the hitch.
The instructions to attach to the car were fine; however, whomever wrote the instructions did not take into account the undercarriage mud guard of the Prius. We had to cut away a portion of the guard in order to make it fit under the hitch. In addition, we had to add a couple of bolts to keep the guard attached to the undercarriage. I am very glad that I hired a car lift in a garage so that we could see what we were doing.
It did not fit my 2012 Toyota Prius as advertised. I had to return it for a full refund, which I got. Thanks anyway.
Everything was great except the black backer bars to install the 3rd smaller bolt on each side. The bar was a little too wide and the hole was not clean enough to put the bolt in, I had to clean it out. Good thing I am a handy person but a normal person they would not be able to resolve without a return and frustration. one not cleaned out and one cleaned out. Plasma cutter slag was the issue.
Hitch is well made. Instruction could be better. Black and white photos make it hard to determine areas that need trimming.Hitch is a tight fit, takes two people to install. Other than that it will work perfect for my MTB trips.
Fits well, works fine. Much more convenient that the 1 1/4” receivers available for the Prius. Install was straightforward.
Was pretty easy to install by following the instructional video on the website. It works great and provides incredible stability for the bike rack on the back of my Prius
The hitch kit came with everything needed to install it. It was a bit tricky installing it by myself, another pair of hands would have helped, but I managed. Only used it a few times to haul our ebikes with no problems at all.
My only problem is I've sold my Prius along with the rack and etrailer doesn't have a 2" hitch for my Elantra Hybrid.
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