[JMII]

They are simply clueless and should have hired any of the big three to do their brochures.

+1 from the get go its been proven that Hyundai is clueless regarding towing. They wanted a bullet point in their marketing presentation and likely did whatever minimum testing was required to make this 5,000lb claim. It could very well be that they only tested this load with the AWD model. I know this happens in the real world because a similar scenario occurred at my company. We have a product that works fine with a certain setting, however our factory doesn't recommend using it. When I asked the engineers why they admitted they simply didn't do all the detailed testing required to certify it. In the end it was deemed an edge use case not worth the R&D time and money vs an actual capacity problem with the equipment.

Either way all vehicles are conservative. If you want to tow then go for it. Toyota advertises an 8k load but tows 300k lb in a commercial. Go slow, have brakes and use your head.

+1 you can tow anything... the problem is stopping, accelerating (at a reason rate) and maintaining higher speeds without overheating the engine and/or burning up the transmission. Proof is as @Alphabeta noted in Europe a vehicle's tow rating is often higher then in the USA.

The flip side of this conversation is if you MUST tow (for example) 5k under any and all conditions (elevation, highway speeds, crazy ambient temps, etc) then get something rated to tow at least 8k to avoid potential problems.

 

[Akfan]

+1 from the get go its been proven that Hyundai is clueless regarding towing.



+1 you can tow anything... the problem is stopping, accelerating (at a reason rate) and maintaining higher speeds without overheating the engine and/or burning up the transmission. Proof is as @Alphabeta noted in Europe a vehicle's tow rating is often higher then in the USA.

The flip side of this conversation is if you MUST tow (for example) 5k under any and all conditions (elevation, highway speeds, crazy ambient temps, etc) then get something rated to tow at least 8k to avoid potential problems.

I've also seen specs and such change or just be stupid because of testing costs and other dumb things.

And again there....if it's safe to pull 5k in america... according to testing..... then thats safe to pull up through WV and PA at a 20-40% grade with a decent headwind. So if your in Texas you SHOULD be a heck of a lot easier on the car pulling 7500 than up in the mountains pulling 500.... lol.

Like another user said, I've seen 300lb juicers pull an airplane on WSM for 50 years. Lol

I see vehicles every single day pulling what is likely well under the listed loads and don't it in a manner that's absolutely unsafe. Lol. Campers in the big tourist traps are the worst. Swerving in and out. Running car tires on the truck with the front suspension all but maxed out....

Most any vehicle today is better at pulling, better at stopping, more HP, and far safer than anything from the 90s back. Americas infrastructure was built by 175-200 HP GM,Ford, dodge , drum brake equipped, 3k lb trucks that didn't stop, pull, nor drive as well as a current camry. Lol

As long as I have trailer brakes and I'm allowed to choose my speed and set up my trailer, I'll not worry about much any load in most any vehicle.

 

[Ellie's Dad]

I am just posting this for information to others who are wanting a Hyundai 7 pin wiring harness.

When I purchased my SC in June of this year, part of the purchase agreement with the dealer was that the dealer would order and install a trailer hitch and 7 pin wiring harness. They ordered both and showed me the paperwork showing the order. I received the hitch and did the install myself. The 7 pin harness however has been showing as a mystery to them even though they showed me the record (again) of where they ordered it. I had been checking every couple of weeks since August but each time they would say, it is still on order and no information. I visited them again today and I finally got an explanation. A friendly parts person shared with me today that the Hyundai 7 pin harness had been redesigned and the redesign was complete but it was still not available to fulfill orders. I had talked with this person prior and I had shared my good experiences with my Santa Cruz and he shared he also had one and loved it as well, and he seemed to be a straight shooter so I believe what he is telling me. I am hopeful now that I will receive a new "redesigned" 7 pin harness soon. Just in time as I am retiring in January and going to pick up a new lightweight travel trailer between now and then so I am hoping it will just be a few more weeks. Yes, I know I can order a Kia one and I know I can order a Curt one but I have already "paid" for this one and the redesign makes me wonder what the issue was with the original.

In any case, anyone out there looking for a new Hyundai OEM 7 pin harness and having trouble finding one, I am hopeful they are on their way.

 

[nmcroos]

I have a 22 Premiere model and wish to pull a trailer. Only two people will be in the trailer. I am wondering if I should stick to a R Pod, T@B 320 to keep the load down (around 2000 pounds)? What fuel economy should I expect? Can I pull a T@B 400 with my rig? What break controller should I get? What fuel economy should I expect? Any other suggestions as to trailer make/model. It needs to be 4 season.

Saw your post and saw that you followed thru with a T@B 400... How is that going? MPG? Feel?

 

[thunder175]

Been away from the forum here for a while since we've been out enjoying our new camper trailer on multiple road trips. Can report that we are doing well with a Geo Pro 19FDS. MPG varies but I can get around 12mpg depending on where we are going. It really suffers in the hills/mountains. I've gone as low as high 9's in the mountains of WV. In contrast, traveling without the trailer while lightly loaded on cruise at the speed limit on the flat sections of interstate trying to stick with a line of cars or preferably behind a truck I can get 30-32mpg. So its a nice tradeoff.

I'm still giving serious consideration to the kit linked earlier that includes the 'overload' rear springs. Even after the self leveling shocks do their thing there is still a slight sag due to the heavy tongue weight of the Geo Pro. Its enough where I'm still getting people hitting their brights at me thinking I have my high beams on. This must be due to the slight sag in the rear. I did just drop 60 pounds off the tongue by switching to LiFePO4 batteries so that will help a bit, but for serious towing I definitely would agree that stiffer rear springs should be almost mandatory. After a few thousand miles of towing the camper now I can say I'm happy with the performance.

Obviously wish the MPG would be better but the old saying that if you are worried about MPG you wouldn't be towing in the first place. Even though truck is rated for 5000 pounds, for a camper RV I would still not go above or approach 4000 if you can avoid it, but that's just my opinion.

 

[Akfan]

Been away from the forum here for a while since we've been out enjoying our new camper trailer on multiple road trips. Can report that we are doing well with a Geo Pro 19FDS. MPG varies but I can get around 12mpg depending on where we are going. It really suffers in the hills/mountains. I've gone as low as high 9's in the mountains of WV. In contrast, traveling without the trailer while lightly loaded on cruise at the speed limit on the flat sections of interstate trying to stick with a line of cars or preferably behind a truck I can get 30-32mpg. So its a nice tradeoff.

I'm still giving serious consideration to the kit linked earlier that includes the 'overload' rear springs. Even after the self leveling shocks do their thing there is still a slight sag due to the heavy tongue weight of the Geo Pro. Its enough where I'm still getting people hitting their brights at me thinking I have my high beams on. This must be due to the slight sag in the rear. I did just drop 60 pounds off the tongue by switching to LiFePO4 batteries so that will help a bit, but for serious towing I definitely would agree that stiffer rear springs should be almost mandatory. After a few thousand miles of towing the camper now I can say I'm happy with the performance.

Obviously wish the MPG would be better but the old saying that if you are worried about MPG you wouldn't be towing in the first place. Even though truck is rated for 5000 pounds, for a camper RV I would still not go above or approach 4000 if you can avoid it, but that's just my opinion.

The ratings (and lack of/ conflicting) are more of hyundai being clueless about trucks

But Toyota was equally clueless early on. Lol they sold the Hilux here in the US as a "half ton" to begin with. Then later sold the t100 as their "first half ton" 30 years later
...then sold the Tundra as their first half ton a few years later....

Lol

 

[teh603]

Ok, so update on the tongue weight issue. I test drove an XRT today, and the print owner's manual is now specifying a max tongue weight of 220#.

It did have a 7-pin installed.

Also, some good news for me: the Santa Cruz passed the "does the wife feel comfortable" test.

 

[Nagrom]

update on the tongue weight issue. the print owner's manual is now specifying a max tongue weight of 220#.

Crazy

 

[danco]

Ok, so update on the tongue weight issue. I test drove an XRT today, and the print owner's manual is now specifying a max tongue weight of 220#.

That's a typo. Someone cut-and-pasted it from the Tucson manual, which only has available a Class II (1.25") hitch, NOT the Class III (2" - 5000 lbs) hitch the Santa Cruz has...

My 2024 XRT Manual (from July 2023) doesn't even have the tongue weight table in it, but the text does clearly say not to exceed 10 percent of the max tow rating....That's 500 lbs...

 

[Sledsandsaws]

First tow with the new trailer (other than the day I bought it). A couple of Atvs in there now, hopefully the sleds will be in there soon. The roads were slick but the santa cruz did well.

 

[Tater]

I have a question about trailer tires. Due to life and illness my sailboat and trailer sat in the garage. I have blocked the trailer but discovered my new tires are no longer round. Will this self correct?

 

[Akfan]

I have a question about trailer tires. Due to life and illness my sailboat and trailer sat in the garage. I have blocked the trailer but discovered my new tires are no longer round. Will this self correct?

If they are bias ply that's pretty normal and they should.

 

[gmc]

Greetings..
New to the forum and a soon to be Santa Cruz owner.
My question on choice of models revolves around towing - looking for experiences towing with the SEL (base engine and 3500 lb max) vs the Turbo engine.
Will be towing a 2000 lb max trailer with brakes (Curt bluetooth controller).

Looking at ~$6K-$10K more for the Night or XRT trims to get the turbo engine... so trying to get a feeling for the capabilities of the SEL towing this weight.

@Ellie's Dad - did you receive your 7 pin harness yet?

Thanks!
gmc

 

[Akfan]

Greetings..
New to the forum and a soon to be Santa Cruz owner.
My question on choice of models revolves around towing - looking for experiences towing with the SEL (base engine and 3500 lb max) vs the Turbo engine.
Will be towing a 2000 lb max trailer with brakes (Curt bluetooth controller).

Looking at ~$6K-$10K more for the Night or XRT trims to get the turbo engine... so trying to get a feeling for the capabilities of the SEL towing this weight.

@Ellie's Dad - did you receive your 7 pin harness yet?

Thanks!
gmc

I have the base engine. It's pretty weak empty. I wouldn't buy one to pull anything. And mine will never have a hitch but I have trucks for that. The turbo is a good deal stronger. Has a dct trans so you can decide on that one. 2k isn't a lot to tow but the NA Cruz is already one of the slowest cars made today and the mileage is no better than the turbo.

Get the turbo.

 

[JMII]

My question on choice of models revolves around towing - looking for experiences towing with the SEL (base engine and 3500 lb max) vs the Turbo engine.
Will be towing a 2000 lb max trailer with brakes (Curt bluetooth controller).

I tow 2,500lbs with a turbo. Personally I can't imagine doing the task with only 190 HP / 180 TQ. That torque figure is lower then my old V6 4.0l Ranger which struggled at highway speeds pulling the same load. However if you were just towing around town then the NA would be fine. Like most things it depends on your expectations. Do you want to tow comfortably with reserve power for passing or getting up hills? Or are you fine chugging along slowly? People have towed way more with even less power so its possible.

 

[Ellie's Dad]

@Ellie's Dad - did you receive your 7 pin harness yet?

Thanks!
gmc

Hi @gmc,

I did not receive my 7 pin harness from Hyundai. I went to them a couple of weeks ago as I will be needing the 7 pin for towing and they shared that Hyundai has a new part number for the 7 pin, but it is not yet available for ordering. Even though this harness was ordered as part of the original purchase agreement in June of 2023 (paid for by the dealer along with OEM hitch), they did not try to wiggle an offered me a refund ($150) and I accepted. They were really nice about this and I had a check cut to me the same day. I ordered the Curt 56466 from NAPA $81.49 and installed it yesterday.

I also ordered a Tekonsha Prodigy iD brake controller and have removed the panel as shown in this thread by @jfetter. I will be towing a ~3,100 dry weight (3,830 max loaded), 330 lbs dry tongue weight travel trailer that I expect will have about 3500-3700 lbs loaded along with ~450 - 480 lbs tongue weight.

My two cents relative to your question about pulling a 2,000 lb trailer. My comments are more related to the performance of the turbo and all of the bells and whistles that came with my 23 SEL Premium. I love the lane centering and adaptive cruise control, the large touch screen, heated seats and others that come with the higher trims. I Drive all of the different trims and see which one fits you best.

 

[CasitaTim]

Anyone towing a 17' Casita or Scamp with SEL non Turbo? If so....how's the tow? Thinking of possibilities but sure would like some real world experience.

2023 turbo version pulling 2016 Casita 17SD, used RedArch Tow Pro Liberty brake controller (we set at 3), mounted left of the steering wheel, 8" rise ball mount (just under level when connected and just over level after shocks correct). Installed Tuson Sway Control TSC-1000 on the trailer (removed the sway bar), fed the wiring harness through a new hole under the hanging closet. After about 34 National Parks: I was anxious since all three devices perform connection and system checks, that we might have possible cross-talk issues, only the Santa Cruz had an issue which resolved after a couple of days. The hitch is mounted low, we scraped the ball mount twice. No issues with power, 15-19mpg depending on grade, used AWD only when needed as it burns a lot of gas. The brakes overheated several times, (I suggested to Hyundai they should upgrade the brakes with the turbo version). Hyundai requires the transmission to be left in auto mode. (Transmission does try to control speed after braking). Three passengers, gear, and ~ 3300lbs trailer, no issues, no sway, we recommend the setup.

 

[Akfan]

I tow 2,500lbs with a turbo. Personally I can't imagine doing the task with only 190 HP / 180 TQ. That torque figure is lower then my old V6 4.0l Ranger which struggled at highway speeds pulling the same load. However if you were just towing around town then the NA would be fine. Like most things it depends on your expectations. Do you want to tow comfortably with reserve power for passing or getting up hills? Or are you fine chugging along slowly? People have towed way more with even less power so its possible.

The Cruz has double the gears the Ranger had. But the Ranger weighed 1k less lbs too. Probably not a huge difference but id bet the Ranger would even be better than the NA Cruz pulling the same weight. And that's petty sad

 

[Akfan]

2023 turbo version pulling 2016 Casita 17SD, used RedArch Tow Pro Liberty brake controller (we set at 3), mounted left of the steering wheel, 8" rise ball mount (just under level when connected and just over level after shocks correct). Installed Tuson Sway Control TSC-1000 on the trailer (removed the sway bar), fed the wiring harness through a new hole under the hanging closet. After about 34 National Parks: I was anxious since all three devices perform connection and system checks, that we might have possible cross-talk issues, only the Santa Cruz had an issue which resolved after a couple of days. The hitch is mounted low, we scraped the ball mount twice. No issues with power, 15-19mpg depending on grade, used AWD only when needed as it burns a lot of gas. The brakes overheated several times, (I suggested to Hyundai they should upgrade the brakes with the turbo version). Hyundai requires the transmission to be left in auto mode. (Transmission does try to control speed after braking). Three passengers, gear, and ~ 3300lbs trailer, no issues, no sway, we recommend the setup.

Awd is automatic and uses itself when it sees fit?

 

[teh603]

After about 34 National Parks: I was anxious since all three devices perform connection and system checks, that we might have possible cross-talk issues, only the Santa Cruz had an issue which resolved after a couple of days. The hitch is mounted low, we scraped the ball mount twice. No issues with power, 15-19mpg depending on grade, used AWD only when needed as it burns a lot of gas. The brakes overheated several times, (I suggested to Hyundai they should upgrade the brakes with the turbo version). Hyundai requires the transmission to be left in auto mode. (Transmission does try to control speed after braking). Three passengers, gear, and ~ 3300lbs trailer, no issues, no sway, we recommend the setup.

What was the issue you had- needing to keep the trans in auto, or the brakes, or something else?

I'm looking at getting a Casita myself, but probably going with a Curt Spectrum instead of an Echo or Tekonsha.