Santa Fe 2013 (3500lbs) and 2800lbs TT

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.