Best travel trailer for value?

This is us towing our camper home. We were within the weight capabilities of the vehicle; however, real world towing capabilities are SIGNIFICANTLY different. The OP's Sante Fe is comparable to our Ford Escape.

Weight alone is not the determining factor of a vehicle's ability to tow safely.

Here you go: Travel Lite i18

Bruce

I'm familiar with the Lance brand, so I'll 2nd the suggestion for a Lance 1575. Lots of room with a slideout, and storage galore!

donn0128 wrote:
Seen lots of Rpods this summer. They must be doing something right? But to be frank I would look at tent trailers. Wind resistance is going to be your killer as much as weight.

the "right" thing that they are doing is building to a very inexpensive level.
bumpy

I have a Flagstaff HW pop up camper that weighs close to 3000lbs. We towed it home from the dealership with our Ford Escape V6 rated at 3500 lbs. It only left our driveway once before I got a new truck, and that time I borrowed my brother in law's F350 to go to Arkansas.

There is no way I would recommend anything other than a 2-2200K pop-up, the smallest R-Pod or a hard-sided pop-up because by the time everything gets loaded up, you will be at the max capacity of your vehicle. The wind resistance from the frontal area of the camper is a killer.

I would look for a used "Egg trailer" Casita etc, or new Mini Lite by Flagstaff, or used 1575 Lance. The R-Pods (18ft) are actually pretty heavy when loaded.

Seen lots of Rpods this summer. They must be doing something right? But to be frank I would look at tent trailers. Wind resistance is going to be your killer as much as weight.

Shelley748 wrote:
Hi all, I am interested in purchasing a travel trailer which would be a max of 3578 pounds ( maximum towing for my 3.5 litre V6 sante fe) . ...

Welcome to the forum.

I once owned a V6 Santa Fe which had a maxiumum tow rating of 3500# and which was not up to the task of pulling my previous hybrid travel trailer - Jayco Jayfeather X17Z. One of the problems is the lack of payload, while another is the shortness of the Santa Fe's wheelbase coupled with FWD (on mine) making it not a good choice for towing any travel trailer. Since I intended to travel to California to visit my daughter and knew that there would be mountains to go over, I figured I had better get a different tow vehicle and ended up with the one in my signature. Just completed a trip to CA with the current rig, and based on my experience towing the X17Z home from the dealer across Houston (the only towing experience with the Santa Fe and X17Z) that combination would have failed. Period.



Having stated that caution, I can offer the following based on my experience. The X17Z had a GVWR of 3500# and was something like 2900# light with an unladen hitch weight of 350# - that was the weight towed that one time with the Santa Fe. Actual camping-ready weighed weights were 3800# and 600# respectively. Any trailer you get you might want to allow for 800 - 1000# cargo and a 12% of that loaded weight on the tongue. You will likely find a payload problem on the Santa Fe.

The Santa Fe needs a low-profile trailer which nixes your permanent bed requirement. However, a close approximation might be in a TrailManor. Again, watch the tongue weight component to the payload loading of your crossover Santa Fe.

Good luck.

casita or Rpod might work. and keep well below that 3578 lbs. claimed dry weight to allow for AC, batteries, fluids, etc.
bumpy

I think for the weight and things you are looking for you will need to stick with a molded fiberglass style TT -- Scamp and Casita come to mind.

You can do an internet search for molded fiberglass travel trailers and there are a few websites that will come up.

When looking at major brands from Thor or Forest River (just to name a few major manufactures) all of their mini-ultra light trailers start in the 3000# dry weight (with no options). I think all would overwhelm your Hyundai Santa Fee.

If it was me, I would try to find a molded fiberglass TT.