145rb Tow Vehicle Question

[Poochpa]

I'm interested in buying a Jayco 145rb travel trailer, but am unsure as to whether my tow vehicle is adequate to tow it. I have a 2015 Hyundai Santa Fe Sport, 2.0T (240-hp turbo 4-cylinder). It has the factory hitch, and trailer prep package, which includes a larger radiator core, more powerful fan motors and transm. fluid cooler. With this package, the vehicle is rated to tow 3500 lbs. I would have to upgrade the factory-installed 5-pin harness to a 7-pin and get a brake controller (brakes on TTs over 1,000 lbs. are mandatory in NY).
The 145rb has a listed base weight of 2410 lbs., and a hitch weight of 250 lbs. GVWR is 2995 lbs. I would be travelling with no passengers and no fluids in the TT tanks., but with about 175 lbs. of gear in the TV.

Thanks for any advice.
Mike

[Kravchenko]

You will have a max tongue weight of 350 lbs on the Santa Fe. You need to know what the loaded tongue weight will be, including battery, propane and whatever else you will put in the trailer. The only way to know is to load it and weigh it.

[Homersimpson]

Tongue weight will depend on added weight and distribution, but based on my 145rb, you should not have a problem. Just weigh it, loaded, to be sure.

My TT had a 4,000# limit with 400# tongue weight; it never even come close. But mountains caused me grief. Not your NY mountains, but the Rockies. There is a 10% grade near Jackson WY that I climbed in 1st gear with semis passing me. Be glad that your turbocharged engine should offset any engine losses at higher altitudes.

[CampNow]

Curb weight on your Santa Fe (~3,700 lbs.) is a good bit more than the 145RB's 2995 lb. GVWR, so that bodes well for stability. Although all your numbers (and OEM tow pkg) look good in terms of mechanical safety, you'll have to cross your fingers the tow experience itself will be to your liking. The key determinant for you will probably be the 145RB's frontal area (wind resistance). Kinda hard to calculate the impact of that with any accuracy. Good luck!

[Kravchenko]

Originally Posted by Homersimpson

Tongue weight will depend on added weight and distribution, but based on my 145rb, you should not have a problem. Just weigh it, loaded, to be sure.

My TT had a 4,000# limit with 400# tongue weight; it never even come close. But mountains caused me grief. Not your NY mountains, but the Rockies. There is a 10% grade near Jackson WY that I climbed in 1st gear with semis passing me. Be glad that your turbocharged engine should offset any engine losses at higher altitudes.

I think they will have plenty of power for any situation

Make sure you have a weight distribution hitch ith sway control and get a good trailer brake controller.

[SkyBound]

The frontal area would be my concern as well. These hard sided trailers generate tremendous wind resistance at speed.

Our grocery getter / kid hauler is a Ford Escape, and in the manual it states a max frontal area of anything towed of 30sq feet. It's a 2WD V6. This basically limits that vehicle to tent trailers.

Check your owners manual for a similar publication specific to your vehicle.

[Poochpa]

Thanks everyone for your input.

Nothing in the owners manual concerning frontal area towing limits. Concerning tongue weight, won't I be at or above the 350 lbs.-limit, if the unloaded hitch weight is 270 lbs., and I add a battery and propane tank, plus any items inside the trailer? If I go forward with this, I will certainly get a WDH with sway control for safety.

Mike

[SkyBound]

If the published dry tongue weight is 270lbs then yes, you will exceed the 350lb mark by adding a battery, propane tank, and food, clothes, gear, etc inside the trailer. A battery alone is 50lbs+ and a 20lb propane tank is 37lbs full. So ~90lbs added to tongue without even putting anything inside the trailer.

[Kim Gass]

The WDH weight has to be added in too. And even on a light trailer you may well need it. Your tow vehicle is not twice as heavy as your TT which is one of the guidelines for needing a WDH. Otherwise you may find your TT skipping and hopping and leading the TV.

We have a 195 RB which has a max trailer load of 3500 and a TV rated to 5000 lbs. The tow vehicle comes in at 6100. We don't have a WDH but it was a trial and error thing.. hoping there was no error as our manual discouraged WDH.. IIRC you can add it later. You might just experiment cautiously on the NYS Thruway

We are OK with the trailer but any heavier and gas mileage would suffer as well as hill climbing without getting squashed. There are significant grades in the East but don't know where you are going. I am coming to the conclusion that for a ball park estimate we ought to stick with max 70 percent of the tow weight that the tow vehicle is rated for.

Of course that is not the only number. Your hitch weight of 250 lbs seems too low.. again the back end of the horse will be leading.

[Kravchenko]

As long as he keeps the tongue weight at 12.5% or close to, he might be OK to load things in the back to balance it out a bit. You really never know until you weigh it.

[RogerR]

I would suggest you are cutting it to close to the max. There is just no leeway for error.

If you decide to go with that car then I would suggest the Andersen hitch as it is the lightest and incorporates sway control.

The closer you get to being outweighed by your RV the worse a sway event can become. Also, you say you will tow alone. This could change, cargo can be added to either one and the result will be not good.

[Tiguan Tow r]

At the risk of being dumped on, we tow a 145RB with our VW Tiguan 2 Litre (200hp turbo). It tows well although we are in southern Ontario, where the geography is reasonably flat with hills. Acceleration, braking and stability are all good. Vehicle and trailer sit level. Gas mileage while towing is 15/mpg (US gallon). We won't win any drag races when hitched up but we certainly have no problem keeping up with traffic. I believe your Santa Fe Sport turbo will easily handle this trailer.

We have the Prodigy RF brake controller. It works well and eliminates having to mount the controller to the dash.

I've attached this link as although it doesn't include a Santa FE, it does talk about towing with 4 cylinders. Granted the 145RB is flat front vs Airstream front.

https://rvlifemag.com/4-cylinder-tow...le-comparison/

[Tinyhse]

I just picked up my 2018 145RB. I tow with a 2012 Standard Cab Toyota Tacoma 4WD. 4 cyl. I am also rated at 3500 Lbs.
I do have rear air bags.
I do not have WD or Friction Sway.
Towed over 1600 miles. It tows like its on rails.
No issues whatsoever!
Good Luck..

[Astronuts]

I have a 2016 145rb and tow with a 2016 Grand Caravan. TV rated for 3600 lbs. No issues towing at all. The 145rb is one of the easiest RV's to tow. You should have no issues towing