Question about tow vehicle capability

Does your Santa Fe have the towing package? Does that package include an additional transmission cooler? 5000 lbs sure sounds like a lot assuming those two bits of info...

We have had three Santa Fe's. The last one had the 3.3L v6 and towing a 700 lb utility trailer with a load of rock in it (prob 1500 lbs) it squatted pretty heavily (no idea what tongue weight was). Then again it was a 2013 and only FWD.

Might be kinda hard to find axle ratings on those as well, I'd ask Hyundai directly. But as others have said, that's a big frontal area, and a big sail catching the wind, on a short-ish wheelbase vehicle. Even if possible, you may be going up hills pretty slow.

this solaire 163x?

It's always safe to assume dealerships don't know anything. It looks like there's a Santa Fe owners message board - I didn't click on it, but you could probably get some good vehicle-specific advice there. I agree with the others that you'd really be pushing it. Not that you can't do it, but it might not be very pleasant and I'd keep a close eye on the hitch weight in particular.

We towed a large-ish pop-up (3700 lb gross) with our Pilot for a few years. It was a good match but I wouldn't want to attempt a TT with it, and it's in roughly the same capability wheelhouse as your Santa Fe.

bikendan wrote:
does your Santa Fe have a frontal area limitation?
most vehicles like yours do. and a regular TT will exceed that.

Excellent question. I've scoured the OM but can't find any statement on a limitation. Would the dealer know or should I go directly to Hyundai?

You would need to go with a less than 3500 lb single axle would be my guess and will still be at your limits. You are going to have a 500 lb hitch weight at least after battery and full propane and you would need something like a Fastway E2 WDH/antisway hitch.

does your Santa Fe have a frontal area limitation?
most vehicles like yours do. and a regular TT will exceed that.

Living in NY, you'll be dealing with hills. We had a V6 Explorer when we made our upgrade from a popup to a full-height trailer (a hybrid in our case), and we lived at the time in the flat plains. We definitely noticed a big difference in towing between the two trailers, but it wasn't until we took a trip out to the Badlands that we encountered such a stiff headwind that the poor Explorer had all it could do to go 50 mph, and of course the gas gauge almost visibly descended (we got about 6 mpg that day). We weren't even trying hilly or mountainous terrain! We realized we could never take this combination into the mountains, so we traded the car in for a truck. Never looked back. (Incidentally, the GVWR on the hybrid was 5000 lbs, and the tow capacity of the Explorer was also 5000, as I recall. I know it wasn't less.)

I would do a mix of no issues, to maybe issues to not going to be fun. All depends upon where you are towing, How much HP you have, etc.
NOT ALL vehicles have a tow rating assuming you have a single driver at 150 lbs. A friends Volvo had a 2500 lbs limit with people in the seats, all that mattered is you do not go over the vehicles GVWR. My wifes ML320 is the same per MB. In fact, the ML55 with twice the HP, torque etc was also rated at 5000 lbs. That is all the MB engineers wanted behind this model etc. In the OM, it stated, ALL versions no matter the motor would tow 5000 lbs safe and sanely, BUT< the bigger the motor, the better the performance! IE the M55 would perform speed wise etc better than the ML320 we have.
You may or may not do better than some think. Then again, some if you are not going 10mph up a 6% grade above the 60mph speed limit......you do not have enough HP motor power etc. Others like myself, will assume I will slow down some, go down a gear or two or three doing 45-50 on a grade this steep does not bother me! As long as the trailer tows straight behind me, I'm fine!

Marty

KeithJ4 wrote:
We're buying our first trailer (moving up from a pop-up) to be towed by a 2018 Hyundai Santa Fe (V6 AWD). The Santa Fe specs are 5000 pound towing capacity, vehicle capacity of 1296 pounds, and maximum hitch weight of 500 pounds (all per the owner's manual). We're looking at a Palomino Solaire Expandable 163XD, with a curb weight of 3633 pounds, gross weight of 4950 (I've calculated that with propane, batteries and gear we'll probably be around 4500), and a dry hitch weight of 367.

I realize we're pretty close to several limits on the Santa Fe with that, and wonder if others have opinions or experience with Santa Fe's pulling a trailer in that range.

Close? That would be an understatement :E ... with everyone but even no cargo whatsoever in the vehicle you'll unquestionably be over it's ratings. Add in the noticeable effects of significant wind resistance at highway speeds and you definitely won't be a happy camper. :(

A 4500 pound loaded trailer should have at least 450 pounds of tongue weight and would be more stable above that such as 12.5%, 562.5. Get a bigger TV or smaller trailer. The 500 pound limit is why I’m not in a Traverse or Explorer.

Personally I would not. To achieve that 5000 towing capacity your vehicle is totally empty except a 150 pound driver. The car also likely requires an auxiliary trans cooler.
Towing a regular trailer creates a huge amount of wind resistance, which cuta down on your actual real world towing ability too. Can you tow it? Sure. Will you be happy with the experience? Probably not.