forest river HW276 TENT CAMPER hyundai santa fe

[swj]

I have a 2010 hyundai santa fe limited with 3.5L engine, factory tow package, class 3 hitch and primus brakecontroller... can I tow a forestriver HW 276 tent camper? specs look right on paper... anyone have any experiences oropinions? and I seewhere HW267 has a build in weight distribution A frame for a weight distribution hitch... opinions on using WD hitch in this setup?

[bikendan]

NO.
as far as i know, your Santa Fe has a towing capacity of 3500lbs. if it has the factory tow package and only a 150lb. driver in it.
the HW276 has a GVWR over that, 3741lbs.
and it'll easily weigh over 3000lbs. sitting on the dealer's lot, before you add a battery, water and cargo.

take a look at the current thread "HW277 GVWR", to get some insight.

[Trevor43]

The 2014 Santa Fe will...............but the 2010, No.

[BigBaron]

I wouldn't...

[swj]

Originally Posted by Trevor43

The 2014 Santa Fe will...............but the 2010, No.

the 2010 is rated 3500 gross traler weight... and has a 275 HPower 6 cyl.... the HW276 has a dry hitch of 279 which I can improve on with a weight distribution hitch, and the HW276 has a dry trailer weight of 2806lbs... so with 700 lbs of gear, I should be operating within spec... my overall question was to get a guesstimate of the ability of the SantaFe to tow the HW276(the lightest HW I can find) up and down the mountains....

[dsrace]

swj those specs from the manufacturer are seldom accurate so you'd want to scale that to be sure and the wd hitch doesn't reduce tg weight it just spreads it out more evenly but the hitch itself actually adds to tg weight. I have a 2003 kia sorento suv, bought it with 13k miles on it years ago. been an ok suv for the most part. it has a 3.5 lte v6, 6 rung ladder frame, tow package and a towing capacity of 3500 lbs. I used it many times to pull a 8'6" wide by 12' long single axle trailer that weighed 1300 lbs empty and I added 2000lbs of gear onto it. I towed in the hills but never the mtns but I crossed 2 to 3 state lines on most trips. one thing I can tell you for sure is to make sure the brakes on the tent camper are working good and good ones at that, you'll want to get a better trans cooler too and have the trans fluid changed every 30k miles too. mine down shifted more than I cared for, so much over 60 to 65 mph is going to be pushing it for sure. Hyundai and kia are a parent and son company so they are more a like than people know. when I towed I put all the load I could on the trailer but it was never a safe feeling while towing it. I had a truck at the time but it was large and hard to get into places that I was going at the time so I tried the kia and where it worked......I look back and think what a bad idea that was and I got lucky doing it. I now have 200k miles on it and all that abuse flat wore it out because even though it was rated for it ......it really couldn't do it. this is just my personal experience and opinion. do what you must but be safe about it. just a thought.....maybe trade it in for a Tahoe? ours get 21 to 23 mpg hwy depending where my brothers '06 Tahoe with a 5.3 ltre get 19 to 21 mpg depending but has a better tow rating and far more comfortable, just a thought.

[bikendan]

Originally Posted by swj

the 2010 is rated 3500 gross traler weight... and has a 275 HPower 6 cyl.... the HW276 has a dry hitch of 279 which I can improve on with a weight distribution hitch, and the HW276 has a dry trailer weight of 2806lbs... so with 700 lbs of gear, I should be operating within spec... my overall question was to get a guesstimate of the ability of the SantaFe to tow the HW276(the lightest HW I can find) up and down the mountains....

NEVER go by bogus "dry" weights you read on the website or brochure, that includes the "dry" hitch weight. ESPECIALLY when you have a marginal tow vehicle.
these "dry" numbers are for a stripped-down trailer that will actually weigh more when it leaves the factory.

that's why i suggested the other thread on the HW277.
http://www.forestriverforums.com/for...vwr-52785.html
that poster found out that his HW277 weighed 288lbs. more than the website "dry" weight, when it left the factory.

so, adding that 288 number to the "dry" weight number of 2806, you get a ballpark real-world number of 3094lbs.
now add 30lbs. for the battery and you're at 3124lbs.
this leaves you only 376lbs. for water and cargo, IF you only have a 150lb. driver in the Santa Fe and it's also at its max amount to tow.

as far as mountains, you'll be burning up that Santa Fe, pulling this popup through mountains.

and a WDH doesn't work in the way you're thinking. it doesn't lower the hitch weight. that trailer, loaded for camping, will have a hitch weight of closer to 350lbs, even with a WDH.

[BigBaron]

I live in Korea and see Santa Fe's everywhere. I have never seen one used as a TV by any of the trailer owners. Don't know why, but I suspect it's because they're short. A H/W trailer is also a lot more trailer than most have here weight-wise.
Anything can be done, but be careful. Your safety is all that matters to us!

[surv294]

If it were me - no. The motor may be up to the task, but the trans, brakes and suspension will not, especially for mountain driving. As others mentioned you are nearing max weight and that's without passengers or gear in the vehicle.