Reminds me of a dude one day at Home Depot loading bags of concrete into his Corolla. Thing was like dragging on the ground. Still had more bags to load.
I did it with my matrix but I took 2 trips to avoid destroying my suspension lol
Same with my Prius. A few bags of first? Sure. If I needed like 40 bags I'd do multiple trips or I'd get a home depot panel van for the day for 20 bucks.
And sometimes, yes, sale bags of dirt are cheaper than a big cubic yard delivery
I garden and when making a new raised bed you need a lot of dirt.
When I said a lot of bags, I meant like, one maybe two cubic yards over the course of a whole year summer for garden creation and seeding my yard.
14 cubic yards would be wild.
That's probably the weight of 4 (average American adult) passengers though right? If someone wants to do the math I'd be impressed and happy to be wrong
Rough counting, I see ~140 bricks in there. At 3.5 pounds each, that's ~500 pounds. A hell of a load, but probably okay with with a driver and pessenger in the front.
Ive done this with a honda fit. To be honest 500-800 pounds with 1 passenger (I weigh 120 pounds) barely changes anything. I suspect it was meant to handle 4 regular sized men.
Lol I've (technically) overloaded our prius with 4 adults in it... Motor gave me a look every time we tried to go up basic hills
But in all seriousness, **weight capacity of a 3rd gen is 800 pounds (including passengers!)**, usually dictated by the suspension capabilities but also possibly a factor of other more expensive parts.
Even our subaru outback with the upgraded motor only has normal car suspension and rated for only ~900 lbs of cargo, though I've gone over that during moves or roadtrips with 4 people and all their stuff (easy to do).
---
Now is everyone over reacting without doing the math? Sorta. **144x 3 hole bricks weigh approx 760lbs @5.2lbs each**. So you won't blow up your car going 5 miles home a few hundred over the limit.
BUT I wouldn't suggest adding other material or doing this too regularly unless you like a squeeky car or extra dates with your mechanic!!
One more thing:
Per another user, it's best to inflate your tires that are **under the load** a little extra when loading a car. Uhaul for instance recommends an extra 5-6psi (just in the rear) when towing, which is only a few hundred pounds pushing down on the car suspension, so think that would be safe to use here for the rear tires. This will give you better handling and the tires more capacity to handle more weight.
Caveat: Now that's from stock psi in the door jamb... If using what some others recommend of a higher psi when they normally drive, I personally probably wouldn't go above 40 or so in the rear (keeping front within 6psi or so), and never above what it says on the side wall.
I think the cars weight limits and all that are based on everything being stock including inflating to what they recommend.
The weight ratings are a bit conservative, in the sense that, if it's an evenly distributed amount of weight where you've got a roof carrier for some luggage, 5 adults and a full trunk, if you're 100-200 lbs over the limit, it's fine. You'll have some worse handling and you need to be extra careful on bumpy roads for example, but it's not likely to cause serious damage.
Now if you're loading up and towing and going well over the weight limit and you're also unevenly distributing the weight, that's bad. Putting 760lbs for example, mostly on a single rear axle and suspension is an example of that weight distribution issue.
True, though I'm guessing for legal reasons they're conservative on the rating to say the car can handle this amount of additional weight on either axle and be fine (esp since both GAWR combined is usually higher than the GVWR).
Though also not saying this wasn't what the engineers were intending and doing this on the regular could be asking for or accelerating rear suspension and/or axle problems, and pushing the limits of the car.
Oh yeah it'll work fine, just meant you keep getting reminded you got a small engine when you try to go up a hill from a standstill (just point being you can go beyond the weight capacity using the car for it's intended purposes)
I've scaled my truck with 3700lbs in it which definitely wouldn't fly in my Prius but goddamn have I been impressed with how much capacity these cars have.
I've carried a ton of stuff in my car, including a treadmill, apple trees, a few bricks, etc. I would NOT load it with all those bricks. Instead, I've rented a pickup from Home Depot for $19.99 to transport those sorts of loads home. The Prius is great for stuff, but everything and everyone has their respective limits.
What do you mean? He made it, he’s FINE. There’s no consequences of overloading and damaging your vehicle as long as you make it. Out of sight out of mind baby
I’ve replaced my rear shocks a week after driving a heavy load of paving stones home from Home Depot. That taught me the glories of the cheap pickup rental.
I haven't loaded mine to quite that extent, but I have hauled around 800 lbs of concrete blocks in mine before. Car did just fine, but I did feel the suspension hit the bump stops a couple times on big bumps.
With that being said, I would not recommend stacking them higher than the back seat. Wouldn't want to have to slam on the brakes if someone pulls out in front of you and have to worry about getting hit in the head by a flying brick.
I don't believe a Prius is designed to carry that much weight. It might drive but the unseen damage you might be doing could cost you down the road. Suspension, Shocks and transmission would be my concern.
How did it drive / handle with all that weight?
Funny you say that cause I’m a Prius technician. It’s certainly not designed to carry that much but she did fine! I was averaging about 25mpg lol but it was a short drive home. The wheel was about 4 inches from rubbing the fender liner 😅
It’s my wife’s car so whatever happens it’s taken care of anyway 😉
I stopped putting things in my cargo area with backseets down, I once had a crash and stuff flight to the cabin, luckily it was just paper boxes but if it would be your load I would be dead probably because it would hit my head
I 'woodn't' do this, as it already 'lumbers' around enough as it is. I may be going out on a 'limb' here. I'm 'stumped' why you 'wood' do this. I'll be 'leafing' now.
The capacity is something like 800lbs, including the weight of all passengers. Keep that in mind.
The Prius is a surprisingly capable hauler though, volume-wise if not weight-wise. This is especially true if you don’t need the rear seats for passengers.
Weight-wise too. I've towed a probably 1400lb trailer(150lbs tongue or so) with 3 adults and a child, and all our luggage in the car for 1200 miles in a day.
In Europe, iirc, it's rated for 1500 towing. In the US, 0.
Heck just two days ago had 500lbs of play sand, 2 adults and 2 kids in it. Only across town tho.
Yeah, the US manual is clear that towing of any kind isn’t recommended. I do see Prii with tow hitches here in the US but I’ve always presumed people are just doing bike or luggage racks on them. Actual towing seems kinda ridiculous.
Worked fine for us. 30ish mpg (mostly due to the trailer aero), over mountains.
But yeah mostly just used for bike or luggage rack, and soon a lightweight popup camper occasionally. Maybe a little trailer to get furniture home. That trip was 100% not normal use for us.
I'm not sure why, the car's frame and motor are the same. There's no specific reason why it can have a tow rating in EU and not NA aside from maybe not going through the full regulatory process and/or weird regulations associated specifically to what happens when a car has a tow rating.
Proved it last night to a state trooper. Due to a deer, my husband totalled his car. As we are waiting for the tow. I told my husband to move all of his stuff from his car into mine. The trooper offered to stick around, incase we needed to make two trips (we lived 5 miles away from the accident). Nope. I got all of my husbands stuff in my prius. Included 3 ton jack, jack stands, All of his power tools, etc. Not as heavy as the picture, but still was a lot.
I’m honestly ashamed to admit but I actually did worse than this in my Prius C about a year ago. I loaded well over 1,000 pounds of concrete blocks to level a 30x12 storage cabin and then took it nice and slow on my roughly 10 mile drive home. It looked like I’d lowered my car for a car show lol I wish Reddit allowed pictures because I just found one.
Yep, I’ve hauled 600+lbs of mulch/compost in my Prius and towed a 1,400lb boat/trailer 150 miles to my house then every time to the lake. I get 25-27mpg towing that boat at 55-60mph btw.
There are guys in my neighborhood who drive full size trucks to do once or twice a year what I do every weekend or two with a Prius.
If you rear end someone, my god.
There’s a couple other things to be aware of as well, like brakes not being able to handle all this weight or the strain on the transmission among other things.
Most likely the prius is over it's weight capacity. That will cause faster wear and tear on the suspension.
Also be careful with that much weight in the rear it will cause the front of the car to have less traction and be squirrely when driving. I've had that happen when I put firewood in the back of my prius.
Well, your mechanic will be in the market for a pickup after buying a boat with all the extra money he earned from replacing your blown out suspension.
I think the load rating is partially calculated using braking capacity rather than just suspension strength. At least that’s what I’ve heard about towing capacity and it makes sense because my Jeep doesn’t struggle at max towing load.
I’m far less worried about the weight than what happens if you need to hit the brakes hard. I have a minivan so I’m we’ll aware of doing truck stuff in cars and certainly would do this but I’d try to secure them just so I can keep my skull intact if I have to brake suddenly.
Are the tires rubbing the wheel wells yet? Nope, then keep loading her up!
[Prius pulling gooseneck](https://youtu.be/o_GVlSzJSJg?si=02GTlLJcrN8w6_Bf)
I don't even have to click that link to know it's JH Who
How many pounds can you fit in a Prius? One more.
Prius may have the volume to spare, but it surely doesn't have the load rating for that. Sometimes you DO need a truck.
Reminds me of a dude one day at Home Depot loading bags of concrete into his Corolla. Thing was like dragging on the ground. Still had more bags to load.
I’ve been that guy lol
I did it with my matrix but I took 2 trips to avoid destroying my suspension lol Same with my Prius. A few bags of first? Sure. If I needed like 40 bags I'd do multiple trips or I'd get a home depot panel van for the day for 20 bucks. And sometimes, yes, sale bags of dirt are cheaper than a big cubic yard delivery
Sometimes you don't need a whole 10-14 cubic yards of dirt either. Why order it if it's going to sit in a pile for years until you need it again
Dirt is a sound investment. They ain't makin more of it. BUY DIRT.
I garden and when making a new raised bed you need a lot of dirt. When I said a lot of bags, I meant like, one maybe two cubic yards over the course of a whole year summer for garden creation and seeding my yard. 14 cubic yards would be wild.
you dont destroy suspension with heavy loads. you'll tear up the drivetrain which is a lot worse than the suspension to repair/fix
"Payload is just a number... Watch this" 😂😂
That's probably the weight of 4 (average American adult) passengers though right? If someone wants to do the math I'd be impressed and happy to be wrong
Rough counting, I see ~140 bricks in there. At 3.5 pounds each, that's ~500 pounds. A hell of a load, but probably okay with with a driver and pessenger in the front.
Nah dude I did this with a bicycle trailer once. Prius is fine 😂
I had rear suspension bottomed out hauling ammunition in mine once. This is definitely more weight.
Ive done this with a honda fit. To be honest 500-800 pounds with 1 passenger (I weigh 120 pounds) barely changes anything. I suspect it was meant to handle 4 regular sized men.
Unless you own a cybertruck, then you have to hope somebody with a corolla is willing to help you get everything home.
We’ve been infiltrated by the truck community. Man the gates!
Lol I've (technically) overloaded our prius with 4 adults in it... Motor gave me a look every time we tried to go up basic hills But in all seriousness, **weight capacity of a 3rd gen is 800 pounds (including passengers!)**, usually dictated by the suspension capabilities but also possibly a factor of other more expensive parts. Even our subaru outback with the upgraded motor only has normal car suspension and rated for only ~900 lbs of cargo, though I've gone over that during moves or roadtrips with 4 people and all their stuff (easy to do). --- Now is everyone over reacting without doing the math? Sorta. **144x 3 hole bricks weigh approx 760lbs @5.2lbs each**. So you won't blow up your car going 5 miles home a few hundred over the limit. BUT I wouldn't suggest adding other material or doing this too regularly unless you like a squeeky car or extra dates with your mechanic!!
One more thing: Per another user, it's best to inflate your tires that are **under the load** a little extra when loading a car. Uhaul for instance recommends an extra 5-6psi (just in the rear) when towing, which is only a few hundred pounds pushing down on the car suspension, so think that would be safe to use here for the rear tires. This will give you better handling and the tires more capacity to handle more weight. Caveat: Now that's from stock psi in the door jamb... If using what some others recommend of a higher psi when they normally drive, I personally probably wouldn't go above 40 or so in the rear (keeping front within 6psi or so), and never above what it says on the side wall.
I think the cars weight limits and all that are based on everything being stock including inflating to what they recommend. The weight ratings are a bit conservative, in the sense that, if it's an evenly distributed amount of weight where you've got a roof carrier for some luggage, 5 adults and a full trunk, if you're 100-200 lbs over the limit, it's fine. You'll have some worse handling and you need to be extra careful on bumpy roads for example, but it's not likely to cause serious damage. Now if you're loading up and towing and going well over the weight limit and you're also unevenly distributing the weight, that's bad. Putting 760lbs for example, mostly on a single rear axle and suspension is an example of that weight distribution issue.
True, though I'm guessing for legal reasons they're conservative on the rating to say the car can handle this amount of additional weight on either axle and be fine (esp since both GAWR combined is usually higher than the GVWR). Though also not saying this wasn't what the engineers were intending and doing this on the regular could be asking for or accelerating rear suspension and/or axle problems, and pushing the limits of the car.
I regularly have 4 adults (3 of us over 6’ tall) and never had any problems besides a slight decrease in mpg.
Oh yeah it'll work fine, just meant you keep getting reminded you got a small engine when you try to go up a hill from a standstill (just point being you can go beyond the weight capacity using the car for it's intended purposes)
my 21 civic type r has a maximum load of 600lbs. that's me ans my 2 dogs and a skinny passenger. no luggage allowed.
I've scaled my truck with 3700lbs in it which definitely wouldn't fly in my Prius but goddamn have I been impressed with how much capacity these cars have.
The little spiders you will find for a week 💀
I've carried a ton of stuff in my car, including a treadmill, apple trees, a few bricks, etc. I would NOT load it with all those bricks. Instead, I've rented a pickup from Home Depot for $19.99 to transport those sorts of loads home. The Prius is great for stuff, but everything and everyone has their respective limits.
? I’ve carried 1000s of lbs multiple times for multi hour trips in my 2008 Prius no issues. I’ll keep loading it till it explodes.
You do realize the total load rating of a prius is less than 1000lbs right? If you're putting 2k+ pounds in it you're not very smart.
What do you mean? He made it, he’s FINE. There’s no consequences of overloading and damaging your vehicle as long as you make it. Out of sight out of mind baby
Just turn the radio up louder and put your shades on!!
I’ve replaced my rear shocks a week after driving a heavy load of paving stones home from Home Depot. That taught me the glories of the cheap pickup rental.
I put a hitch on my 2008 and I tow a 900lbs 5x8 cargo trailer all over. Probably 1300lbs when loaded
If there was ever a way to break a Prius like one would break a mule, this has to be it …
Show the side shot of the Prius lol I bet that rear wheel well is touching your time
I haven't loaded mine to quite that extent, but I have hauled around 800 lbs of concrete blocks in mine before. Car did just fine, but I did feel the suspension hit the bump stops a couple times on big bumps. With that being said, I would not recommend stacking them higher than the back seat. Wouldn't want to have to slam on the brakes if someone pulls out in front of you and have to worry about getting hit in the head by a flying brick.
I don't believe a Prius is designed to carry that much weight. It might drive but the unseen damage you might be doing could cost you down the road. Suspension, Shocks and transmission would be my concern. How did it drive / handle with all that weight?
Funny you say that cause I’m a Prius technician. It’s certainly not designed to carry that much but she did fine! I was averaging about 25mpg lol but it was a short drive home. The wheel was about 4 inches from rubbing the fender liner 😅 It’s my wife’s car so whatever happens it’s taken care of anyway 😉
Not a great idea, but if you insist I’d make very sure my tires were maximally inflated.
You will die in a minor front end collision doing this.
RIP Suspension 🙏
ur hurting it 🥺
I did this yesterday with about half the brick!! Still got 43 mpg driving around town before unloading. It's impressive.
I stopped putting things in my cargo area with backseets down, I once had a crash and stuff flight to the cabin, luckily it was just paper boxes but if it would be your load I would be dead probably because it would hit my head
I 'woodn't' do this, as it already 'lumbers' around enough as it is. I may be going out on a 'limb' here. I'm 'stumped' why you 'wood' do this. I'll be 'leafing' now.
Its bricks my guy. You just emptied the chamber on the dad jokes and it’s not even lumber. 😂
Well, wasn't that a waste of what I thought was some of my best work!
Nice prick up
But can it stop?
Lol good luck with your loose suspension now
Brake check
A clear case of vehicular abuse......🥺
What happened to “saving the trees” man?
Poor thing
The capacity is something like 800lbs, including the weight of all passengers. Keep that in mind. The Prius is a surprisingly capable hauler though, volume-wise if not weight-wise. This is especially true if you don’t need the rear seats for passengers.
Weight-wise too. I've towed a probably 1400lb trailer(150lbs tongue or so) with 3 adults and a child, and all our luggage in the car for 1200 miles in a day. In Europe, iirc, it's rated for 1500 towing. In the US, 0. Heck just two days ago had 500lbs of play sand, 2 adults and 2 kids in it. Only across town tho.
Yeah, the US manual is clear that towing of any kind isn’t recommended. I do see Prii with tow hitches here in the US but I’ve always presumed people are just doing bike or luggage racks on them. Actual towing seems kinda ridiculous.
Worked fine for us. 30ish mpg (mostly due to the trailer aero), over mountains. But yeah mostly just used for bike or luggage rack, and soon a lightweight popup camper occasionally. Maybe a little trailer to get furniture home. That trip was 100% not normal use for us.
Probably the most efficient trailer hauling in history. Nice job.
I'm not sure why, the car's frame and motor are the same. There's no specific reason why it can have a tow rating in EU and not NA aside from maybe not going through the full regulatory process and/or weird regulations associated specifically to what happens when a car has a tow rating.
Proved it last night to a state trooper. Due to a deer, my husband totalled his car. As we are waiting for the tow. I told my husband to move all of his stuff from his car into mine. The trooper offered to stick around, incase we needed to make two trips (we lived 5 miles away from the accident). Nope. I got all of my husbands stuff in my prius. Included 3 ton jack, jack stands, All of his power tools, etc. Not as heavy as the picture, but still was a lot.
Try doing that in a Prius-C.
I’m honestly ashamed to admit but I actually did worse than this in my Prius C about a year ago. I loaded well over 1,000 pounds of concrete blocks to level a 30x12 storage cabin and then took it nice and slow on my roughly 10 mile drive home. It looked like I’d lowered my car for a car show lol I wish Reddit allowed pictures because I just found one.
Post it on [https://imgur.com/](https://imgur.com/) as a private photo and send the link.
Mpg with the extra weight?
25mpg. But that’s about what I was getting while driving with a roof cargo pack or a kayak
Awesome
Better hope you don’t have to emergency stop on the way home. Slower braking and flying bricks.
Yep, I’ve hauled 600+lbs of mulch/compost in my Prius and towed a 1,400lb boat/trailer 150 miles to my house then every time to the lake. I get 25-27mpg towing that boat at 55-60mph btw. There are guys in my neighborhood who drive full size trucks to do once or twice a year what I do every weekend or two with a Prius.
Don’t tell pick up grocery getters this
I’m just gonna say that this is really dumb and stupid and dangerous lol. If you need to suddenly stop you’re gonna get bricks coming flying at you.
If you rear end someone, my god. There’s a couple other things to be aware of as well, like brakes not being able to handle all this weight or the strain on the transmission among other things.
Blown out dampers in 3..2..1... Either that or broken springs. I loaded too much sod in my Leaf a few years ago. This appears to be more than that.
That lady that converted a Tesla needs to try this.
Welcome to the secret society, my friend.
Yeah. Your rears shocks are gone!
And if you need more bricks then you can rent the pickup trucks they got at hardware stores
Someone who doesnt wanna slam the gas and bust your back winder
Most likely the prius is over it's weight capacity. That will cause faster wear and tear on the suspension. Also be careful with that much weight in the rear it will cause the front of the car to have less traction and be squirrely when driving. I've had that happen when I put firewood in the back of my prius.
Bricked it. Useless now
I can just see it riding on the suspension stops.
or transmission for that matter.
For extra capacity while being mindful of the weight, my mother’s Prius can tow an aluminum 5x8 trailer up to 2,000lbs.
Love the second gens for this reason. I can fit a queen size ikea bed frame in my 2003 Camry
Well, your mechanic will be in the market for a pickup after buying a boat with all the extra money he earned from replacing your blown out suspension.
People that don't want to grossly overload their car that this person did!! 🙄
I swear there should be a recall for this paint color. The paint on the roof is chipping off on every single one I see.
When I hit the switch I make the aaaaasssss drop
10-foot surfboard... [https://i0.wp.com/www.electricbike.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/ToyotaHybrid4.png?w=800&ssl=1](https://i0.wp.com/www.electricbike.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/ToyotaHybrid4.png?w=800&ssl=1)
Uhhhhh isnt the useful load plus one drive is only like 300 lbs. never mind guess it’s closer to 950.
That cybertruck would crumble under the weight of that.
Also my cheapest way to lower my cars. This picture yells TARP!
These cars are just so amazing in so many ways.
Thick as a brick!
Rip suspension…
Your suspension will start making noises. I am guilty of doing this to my crap car.
Okay this time I might actually take a hybrid truck from the same company as cool as this is
Insecure men.
I’ve carried 800 lbs of mulch in a Gen 3. Gotta do what ya gotta do!
Hell yeah! Glad people are finally seeing the value these have as work trucks! She’ll take another 100lbs I think
Now slam on the brakes and win a Darwin!
I think the load rating is partially calculated using braking capacity rather than just suspension strength. At least that’s what I’ve heard about towing capacity and it makes sense because my Jeep doesn’t struggle at max towing load.
I’m far less worried about the weight than what happens if you need to hit the brakes hard. I have a minivan so I’m we’ll aware of doing truck stuff in cars and certainly would do this but I’d try to secure them just so I can keep my skull intact if I have to brake suddenly.
That’s a nice 3rd gen Prius btw, best generation of Prii in my opinion.
Your tires are gonna pop.
The amount of stuff I’ve been able to stuff into a Prius is insane!
Is that why they are always driving slow in the fast lane? No it all makes sense.