Santa Fe 2013 (3500lbs) and 2800lbs TT

[maxpare]

Hi,

Last weekend was Montreal National RV show, me and my wife decided to go take a look. I just bought a brand new Hyundai Santa Fe 2013 2.0TSE with a towing capability of 3500lbs, never towed anything in my life since it's my first SUV and decided to go take a look at what kind of RV we could get...

We are really interested in a Coachmen Clipper 17BH

Clipper 17BH

The base weight is 2818lbs and the tongue weight is 400lbs...can I tow this? All the salesman at the show were saying that those kind of TT were made for my type of SUV, but I am not sure...

I have no clue how the 3500lbs of the Santa Fe is calculated... I asked around and some people tell me that you need to substract the weight of the people in the car, others tell me that no, the 3500lbs already takes into account 4x 150lbs passenger and just calculate the extra weight...
The tongue weight limit of the santa fe is kind of all over the place on the web I found 500lbs but my manual says 350lbs...

Anyway I am new to all of this and any help would be appreciated, I don't want to spend 14k$ and find out that those we shady salesmen...

If I can't and you have similar TT suggestion with lower weight feel free to share 🙂 My family consist of me and my wife, a 5yo and a 3yo

Thx
Max

[traildog66]

Another thought would be to try and rent a unit for a weekend close to the weights you were originally looking at to see how it tows with your SUV.

And yes there is alot more to towing a TT than just what your vehicle manufacturer says you can tow. I towed a 4200 lb loaded hybrid TT with a mid-size V6 pickup with a 6100 lb tow rating. Sounded great on paper, but it wasn't quite as easy as I thought it would be. It worked, but was frustrating on the hills and with any winds or semis passing by (even with WD hitch and sway control).

Other thoughts are:
- try to sell your vehicle yourself
- check at a used vehicle marketplace (like CarMax here in the USA) for another vehicle you like and see if they can work a better deal that way
- get a small popup and sell or trade later
- get a nice tent 🙂

[Redsky]

For towing up steep grades and being able to handle the trailer with your vehicle's brakes in the mountains I would want a total tow load of around 2500 lbs. and subtract 500 lbs. for the food and gear that will go into the trailer.

I see lots of Burro type trailers being pulled successfully by cars such as yours and all the owners that I have talked to at campgrounds speak very highly of them. The 17' model has a dry weight of 1800 lbs.

[jerem0621]

maxpare wrote:
Well I am sure glad I decided to post in here, seems like there is a lot more to towing then I expected, and honestly If I had know before purchasing my Santa Fe I would have gone with the XL model with a 5000lbs tow capacity....Well, I will switch it in 5 years or so, just got to be a bit more patient :-)....in the meantime I will probably get a Viking Popup or a Flagstaff since it seems to be the brands that are available in my area...

Here is a thought... just a thought... It may be worth going to talk to the Dealer about getting the XL model now.. It may be cheaper to do that and go straight to a TT you want than spending 5-10k on the Pop up.. losing 5k in trade in a few years when you do get that TT, plus losing 10 plusK on the current Santa Fe in five years. You may find very little difference trading now.

(I wish my Kia had a 5000 lb tow rating!!!!)

Just another thought.

Thanks!

Jeremiah

[maxpare]

Well I am sure glad I decided to post in here, seems like there is a lot more to towing then I expected, and honestly If I had know before purchasing my Santa Fe I would have gone with the XL model with a 5000lbs tow capacity....Well, I will switch it in 5 years or so, just got to be a bit more patient :-)....in the meantime I will probably get a Viking Popup or a Flagstaff since it seems to be the brands that are available in my area...

[wmoses]

maxpare wrote:
...If only salesmen were as helpful as your are

Tell me about it.

I once had a salesman tell me I could probably pull a 4100# (unladen!) Travel Trailer with the Santa Fe. What a dork! Some of them have NO CLUE and others are so unscrupulous that they would just make the sale and let you figure out your dilemma afterwards.

In my case with the Jayco, I would not blame the salesman because the Jayco looked fine ON PAPER but theory and reality are two different things when it comes to towing capability.

Careful with the popups also - some can be as heavy as if not heavier than some hybrids, especially the high wall popups.

Here are 2 numbers you want to bear in mind when looking for your popup:
- GVWR less than 80% of your CUV's capacity, i.e. 2800# fully loaded
- Loaded associated tongue weight of 12% of that, i.e. 336# which is just about the rating for your hitch.

To get the second number you will need to get the popup weighed and then shift loads as needed to achieve the right balance.

With the low projected frontal area, added windage load would be low and 2800# will feel likle 2800# to the CUV. Moreover wind-induced sway will be much less of an issue when a semi blows by at 70 mph.

[maxpare]

Alright I guess I will go back to my original idea of getting a popup trailer tent....since I just bought my Santa FE, I will have to live with the restrictions....

Thanks a lot guys
If only salesmen were as helpful as your are

[maxpare]

Alright I guess I will go back to my original idea of getting a popup trailer tent....since I just bought my Santa FE, I will have to live with the restrictions....

Thanks a lot guys
If only salesmen were as helpful as your are

[jerem0621]

IMHO... Our TV's are great platforms for pulling decent weights. And they handle about 250 -300 lbs of tongue weight very well. I love my Kia Sorento and I would have no problem pulling a camper with it.

That camper being a small pop up.

Thanks

JMHO

Jeremiah

[wmoses]

Still not far enough away from the limits of the Santa Fe, in my opinion. You keep looking at unladen trailer weights. These are fictitious numbers. Scale weights when loaded for camping is what matters and before purchasing you have to rely on the experience of others. I know you are all excited about getting a trailer and I don't mean to rain on your parade but if you buy a trailer that is at the limits of the FWD tow vehicle, you will live to regret it and towing will not be pleasant experience.

When fully loaded up this trailer can be at or exceed its 3500# GVWR. With the effects of wind that will be too much for the trailer, regardless of what the hitch load is.

Please note that 12% of 3500# is 420# which is where you want the hitch load to be to minimize sway, BEFORE you account for the mitigating effects of any anti-sway mechanism at the hitch. That hitch load may be too high for the receiver which is rated for 350#.

[maxpare]

So if I can find something with a lower weight on the hitch but approx the same dry weight I would be ok? Let's say the Clipper 16B

http://www.coachmenrv.com/products/clippertt.aspx?page=floorplandetails&floorplanid=4415

Dry weight is 2421lbs and weight on the hitch is 290lbs, would that be ok?

[jerem0621]

Please do not exceed the receiver hitch rating.

I can debate tow ratings as I feel they are subjective, however, the receiver ratings are not something to exceed.

Thanks

[rexlion]

Oasisbob wrote:
Our basic dry HTT weight is around 2,900. With full tanks, food, clothing and everything else we need for camping we tip the scales at 3,490. We have been towing this for more trips than I can count through several states. It tows great. Have we exceeded our CVWR? Probley. We did add rear air suspension assist bags, electric brakes and load leveler bars. Our tow rating is same as yours 3500. This is our experience and others will have their opinions. I am just sharing our experience.Best of luck

Excessive weight on the hitch can't be corrected by air bags. They are a band-aid solution. The problem is, how strong are the attachment points of the hitch and the hitch itself? I've towed for over 125,000 miles with a Toyota Highlander, rated for 5000/500 lb. My trailers don't exceed 430 lb tongue weight. Yet I have had two receivers break (I blame the brand), and I sometimes hear the sheet metal flexing under the HL when traveling at higher speeds. Wind resistance and weight put a lot of stress on the back end. Putting 400-500 lbs on a hitch and attachments rated for 350 lbs, what if the hitch tears loose and your trailer bounds off on its own and strikes an oncoming car head-on? That's why I prefer to leave a margin for safety.

What one can do, and what one should do, are two different things.

[Oasisbob]

Our basic dry HTT weight is around 2,900. With full tanks, food, clothing and everything else we need for camping we tip the scales at 3,490. We have been towing this for more trips than I can count through several states. It tows great. Have we exceeded our CVWR? Probley. We did add rear air suspension assist bags, electric brakes and load leveler bars. Our tow rating is same as yours 3500. This is our experience and others will have their opinions. I am just sharing our experience.Best of luck

[ChooChooMan74]

I think you would be pushing it or exceeding it. One thing you didn't mention is maximum frontal area. More than likely, you will be over what the manufacturer recommends for maximum frontal area. I laugh when I am going by a runaway truck ramp pulling because if I let off the throttle, I slow down due to the lack of aerodynamics.

Here is a good place to start. www.learntorv.com