Anyone with a Prius who uses tie down? How do you attach them to the car? FishHawk
Look at the Subaru Forester thread.
Same thing.
Yes and no. It’s the same thing if he
decides to do the attachment loop thing. It may not be the same thing if he looks for tow eyes under the Prius and doesn’t find them. My son’s Ford Focus has no tow eyes whatsoever, but a Subaru Forester has a full set.
I guess he could tie the boat ends to the battery terminals…
No prius here.
I don’t have a Prius and honestly have never looked at them closely – however, I’m a huge fan of Top Ties. They’re cheap, quick and easy.
I’m a Prius owner
I opened the hood found two bolts that didn’t seem to be holding anything down. Used a loop of nylon webbing put the bolt through webbing. When not carrying boats the loops fold under the hood. I did the same thing a the rear of the car. The tied rope attaches in under the hatchback.
On the '01-'03 Prius …
– Last Updated: Apr-22-09 9:30 AM EST –
I have an '02 Prius and it happens to have a pair of tow eyes on the front and the rear. These work great as they are near the corners and symmetrical.
I use a relatively thin rope with a simple carabineer on one end to clip it, the rope goes thru something on the kayak bow or stern. "Something" = a deck fitting, deck rigging rope, metal U hook, handle - all depending on the boat I carry, and in case of really long boats with no deck fittings, like surf skis, I just loop around the stern or bow - they stick out so much that the ropes stay put. The other end of the tie-down goes down to the other side where I tie it down with little pull so there is no slack. There are gizmos that can allow you to tighten the rope without the need for a know but a knot has worked prefectly and it only takes about 15 seconds to tie, so no real problem to use it.
I was initially worried about rubbing the bumper and what not, but have not noticed any ill effects from almost a year carrying one or two kayaks this way. You may want to cross the line under the kayak for a tighter triangle that starts under the kayak as opposed to over it. And the thinner the rope, the better, as long as it is strong enough.
I would not use belts for the entire length of the tie down, due to the potential for flapping at speed and being more expensive than plain rope. Just pick-up rope that does not stretch or shrink with humidity! Perhaps use straps instead of rope only for the first few inches, should you decide to hook under the hood or use a 3-piece solution for the tow eyes...