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GPCamper2428's avatar
GPCamper2428
Explorer
Jun 18, 2018

First time buyer

Hey there, young family w/ 3 to 4 kids at a time, tired of tenting and looking to invest in a used pop up tent/trailer.

We have a AWD Kia Sorento (V6) with a tow capacity of around 5000lb.
Just looking for a few pointers, tips or suggestions that any of you may have as far as brand, size, useful or not so useful accessories, etc.

Thanks in advance!

12 Replies

  • I did a quick look-up for a 2017 Kia Sorento AWD

    Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR) is 5622 lbs
    Curb weight for the vehicle is 4343 lbs

    That leaves you 1279 lbs for all passengers and stuff you're going to carry in the vehicle. Once you deduct passengers and stuff you're left with something close to the maximum tongue weight the vehicle can support which is going to be 10% ~ 15% of the trailer you tow.

    Another way to look at this is considering a 5,000 lbs trailer. A 5000 lbs trailer is going to place anywhere from 500 ~ 750 lbs of weight on the tow vehicle (tongue weight should be 10% ~ 15% of the weight of the trailer). That weight is deducted from the payload of the vehicle which means you're left with a maximum of 779 lbs to as little as 529 lbs for passengers and stuff if you are towing a 5,000 lbs trailer.
  • The first thing you need to do is confirm the actual maximum towing and PAYLOAD capacity of your vehicle. That is going to tell you the gross weight of the trailer you can tow with your current vehicle. In many cases the maximum payload is the limiting factor so it's important to know that number as you begin your search for a trailer IF you don't want to upgrade the tow vehicle also.