Hi, new to MPG and this forum

2gocamp

Member
We have a Coleman tent trailer and would like to upgrade to the MPG. I have a 3.3 Santa Fe which has a towing capacity of 3500 lbs. I'm told that with a weight distribution system, I should be okay. Of course the saleperson will say that. This is my biggest concern. I want to be safe and not always worried. Anybody out there towing an MPG with a Santa Fe? I did some searches but can't find much.

Thanks
 

jimtoo

Moderator
Hi 2gocamp,

Welcome to the Heartland Owners Forum and hopefully to the family. We have a great bunch of people here with lots of information and all willing to share their knowledge when needed.

I am sure some of our other members will jump in soon with some help for you.

Enjoy the forum.

Jim M
 

RAZORBILL

Member
If the salesman is so confident I'm sure they'd let you hook it up and try it out. I'm gonna bet that it's too much trailer for your Sante Fe.
 

TXSWICK

Member
We pull our 185 with a Toyota 4Runner with no problem other than cutting our gas mileage in half. We are looking to move up to a Tundra or F150 to go further distances and possible higher elevations.
 

ptarthur2

Member
Hi 2gocamp,

We initially started towing our MPG 183 with a 2011 Hyundai Santa Fe which had A 3.5 V6 engine with a towing capacity of 3500 lbs. It got the job done but on long trips down hilly interstate highways the Santa Fe just seemed under too much of a strain and that was with keeping my speed to 55 MPH. Even at that speed I was only getting around 11 MPG. We traded in the Santa Fe on a new Ford F-150 equipped with the V-6 Eco Boost engine which has a towing capacity of 97,00 Lbs . I'm still only getting about 11 MPG when towing but with all that additional torque and horsepower I feel much more confident towning on long trips. The Sante Fe will get the job done on short trips, just don't expect to get the great gas mileage you normally see when not towing and be very very careful about how much weight you load into the trailer and go slow. I never weighed mytrailer loaded but I suspect I was very close to the max towing capacity of the Sante Fe and the faster you go the less stable that rig will be.
 

2gocamp

Member
Thanks for the info. That is exactly what I was thinking of doing. I rather have a lot of spare horse power and be in total control and be safer.
 

ptarthur2

Member
I think you'll be happy with the decision to get a vehicle with more tow capacity, I know I was. I do miss my Santa Fe though, it's a great little car and gets good gas mileage when not towing. The F150 Eco Boost gets good gas milage when not towing too and now I have more space for carrying cargo.
 

kb0zke

Well-known member
The mpg has a gross weight of 3,800 pounds. You "have a 3.3 Santa Fe which has a towing capacity of 3500 lbs." That means that you will need to be very careful about what you put into your mpg. You will also need to pay attention to how it is loaded, as you want 10-12% of the trailer weight on the hitch. Even if you stay under the 3500 pounds, you will still have 350-400 pounds on the hitch. Can your Santa Fe handle that? Can it handle that with you and your gear in the vehicle? Now you are looking at Gross Combined Weight Rating, which is the total weight of the trailer, tow vehicle, and contents. As others have said, you are probably a little short in tow vehicle.
 

TXSWICK

Member
We have pulled our 185 with the 4Runner V6for about a year - same here - low gas mileage and concern for the engine strain - traded for GMC 8 cyl. 4 x 4 - so much better pull and confidence. We feel we can now go further distances and higher elevations - we will be traveling from Spring TX to Indianapolis IN in June - really looking forward to the trip.
 
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