Towing requirements

forjonny wrote:

camperdave wrote:
I have a hard time believing that a Sorento will pull 5k with any adequacy. My trailer weighs 5k, with a 650 pound tounge. I've moved it a few times with my Nissan Fronier, I thought that thing was going to hit the ground lol.

Anyway, maybe a 5k boat with 8% tounge weight and no frontal area. But I don't believe a 5k TT will be acceptable.

But I'm old and like steel frames and V8's.

Btw, what kind of mileage will a V6 Sorento get? I bet it's not much better than a larger SUV (or, god forbid, a nice full size van :B )

To answer your very original question, a tow vehicle with a higher tow rating will tow better and handle better than a tow vehicle with a lower tow rating while towing the same trailer, even if that trailer is at/below both tow vehicles ratings.

Yes you must be old because I have said a few times that my TT is only 3500 Lbs. Let me repeat that while I got your attention: 3500 lbs is my TT.

I have the TT in mind and will get that next year and I hope to get from the seller of the TW or the Sorento that again tows 5000 Lbs, that it will be able to tow that lesser poundage TT with or without a WDH. I like the idea of a WDH and I hope I can find someone that can install it. I hope that this vehicle will be able to fit this hitch on the rear end too.

Ok, sorry to be rude but I am tired of telling people how much my vehicle is rated for towing and what my TT will weigh.

If you will listen we are telling you that the Sorento will almost assuradly NOT be capable of towing 3,500 pounds once you load your family and camping equipment in it. The calculation is fairly simply, take the payload number from the yellow sticker (average 1300 pounds) subtract the weight of the passengers (4x150) and their luggage (4x25), that gives you 700 pounds of payload removed or 600 remaining. Take 3,600 and multiply it by .15 (because trailer tongue weight is generally 10-15% and you want to be pessimistic) and you get 540 pounds leaving you with 60 pounds of payload, but you have to add the weight of the wdh because you're going to need one and suddenly you're at 0 payload left. Basically you're going to be at or over the weight carrying capability of the platform. 290/252 might be enough to tow the trailer and family but again it's going to be marginal. I've got 355/383 and it's fine most of the time but I found myself wanting more in the Western mountains. Finally it's unlikely the transmission is actually designed to tow at the very limit so it's likely you'll run into transmission related problems. You CAN try this combination but the combined experience of the folks around here which totals in the tens of thousands of years combined says it's not going to be a good experience and you'll end up buying a more capable tow vehicle in short order. So either buy the right tow now or try for a lighter trailer. If you've already bought the tow vehicle then I strongly recommend you rent a trailer in the weight class you are considering and try towing it in difficult conditions and see how you like it.