car trailer to carry bicycles?

Dang, our old Volvo wagon was going to take us to Minnesota for a 5 day bike tour later this month, and is now proving too unreliable to get us there.

The 5 of us + bikes and gear will exceed the cargo capacity of our 2008 Prius. So, I'm considering the option of adding a trailer to spread the weight some. Anyone have one I could rent? Or, have a suggestion on where to find a light trailer that I could perhaps modify for bicycles?

Thanks!

Marcus

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Permalink Reply by rb on July 5, 2012 at 1:00pm

I have used UHaul in the past to get cross country.

I had a POS Taurus, they installed a hitch and then I rented a trailer.

Another option is to find a hitch- even Amazon has them, have a friend/mechanic type install it and then just rent the trailer.

The advantage that I think that you have in renting a UHaul type trailer is that you can secure your stuff. It doesn't necessarily say "steal me" on the outside.

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Permalink Reply by mark stetson on July 5, 2012 at 3:41pm

A 2 place snowmobile trailer would be about right for 5 bikes. Add some fork mounts from ebay and a way to secure the rear wheels to the deck. There's one for $350 in Lake Villa on Craigslist.

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Permalink Reply by GabeW (not the other Gabe) on July 5, 2012 at 4:14pm

What needs to be fixed on the volvo?

And you know that the rated towing capacity of your 2008 prius is 0lbs, right? It's been done, but it's not recommended.

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Permalink Reply by Marcusn on July 5, 2012 at 4:21pm

Wont start. It turns over, but won't get gas during startup. Mechanic is having a hard time nailing down the issue. He's got it for the second time now, and the car has left us stranded twice. Fun times. (another reason I *need* a Brompton!)