Telluride 5,000lbs Has Additional Towing Requirments

[Wap52]

I've noticed that there appears to be some inquiries about potential discrepancies to tow 5000lbs with a Telluride.

The Telluride is rated to tow 5,000lbs, because of it's power train abilities. This does not mean with either the Tow Hitch accessory or the Tow Hitch w/ Auto-leveling package avaliable on the EX and SX you can simply hook-up a 5,000lbs trailer/load and drive off safely.

Here's what I mean;
Customers are purchasing their Telluride's with the understanding they can immediately tow the maximum capacity because that's how it is being advertised. There are additional required equipment in order to tow this. First, each state has laws in regards to pulling a trailer.
For example;
I live in Iowa, and our Iowa Code per https://drivinglaws.aaa.com/tag/trailer-brakes/ is as follows.

"Every trailer of a Gross Vehicle Weight (GVW) of 3,000 lbs. must be equipped with brakes adequate to control the movement of and to stop and hold the vehicle, and so designed as to be applied by the driver of the towing motor vehicle from its cab, or with self-actuating brakes, and a weight-equalizing hitch with a sway control. Every trailer of a GVW of 3,000 lbs. or more must be equipped with a separate, auxiliary means of applying the brakes on the trailer from the cab of the towing vehicle."

With this being said, in my state, if you are towing more then 3,000lbs you must have an electronic brake controller in the vehicle. Even if you have a self-actuating braking system and not an electronic one, you still must be equip with a separate means of applying the trailer brakes from within the cab of the Telluride. Again, this is the law in the State of Iowa.

Adding this hardware is common in MANY vehicles that are capable of towing capacities that exceed certain requirements by your state. In my personal opinion, this is not something Kia is refraining from disclosing, but something that as a corporation they are simply disclosing the towing capacity of their vehicle.

Also, the tow hitch on the Telluride is in fact a 4-pin. Some states require that to be 7-pin, etc. Here are two illustrations to give you an idea of harness requirements and options depending on what it is you're towing.

View attachment 1045

Also, here are some optional ways to achieve the proper harness adapter you would need;

View attachment 1046

References;
State Trailer Brake requirements; https://drivinglaws.aaa.com/tag/trailer-brakes/
Trailer pin and harness breakdown; The Ins and Outs of Vehicle and Trailer Wiring

Great article. Thanks for the pictures. I am assuming I will be okay pulling my 3100 lb bass boat in Texas without brakes on the trailer, but then again we all know what happens to anyone that assumes.

 

[monkeyman]

Just looked at the Pallisade manual and it says 350 lb tongue weight and 5000 lb towing too . I didn't find anything about it being 4 or 7 pin though.

 

[utmeep]

Just looked at the Pallisade manual and it says 350 lb tongue weight and 5000 lb towing too . I didn't find anything about it being 4 or 7 pin though.

It's the same platform as the Telluride. So 4-pin.

 

[monkeyman]

It's the same platform as the Telluride. So 4-pin.

Probably. The 350 I wasn't sure on, seeing the Santa Fe says 500 lb tongue max and Sorrento says 350 lb.

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[Lou Panozzo]

Great article. Thanks for the pictures. I am assuming I will be okay pulling my 3100 lb bass boat in Texas without brakes on the trailer, but then again we all know what happens to anyone that assumes.

On my 2013 Kia Sorento I found the red wire was for back up lights and I wired in a 5 pin connector for surge brakes on boat trailer. I needed the back up light to Disengage the surge brakes while backing up. I found in on the left 1/4 rear trim see photos

 

[Lou Panozzo]

#2 08-01-2017, 10:21 AM

Miss Rita MC Devotee Join Date: Jul 2009 Boat: 1992 ProStar 205, 1991 Ski Pro Location: Black Hills Posts: 1,423

A boat trailer, if set up properly, should have a tongue weight of 5-7% of the total towed weight. The weight of my boat and trailer is around 5000 lbs, so my tongue weight should be 250-350 lbs. I tow it with no problems!

 

[Vietvet]

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#2 08-01-2017, 10:21 AM

Miss Rita MC Devotee Join Date: Jul 2009 Boat: 1992 ProStar 205, 1991 Ski Pro Location: Black Hills Posts: 1,423

A boat trailer, if set up properly, should have a tongue weight of 5-7% of the total towed weight. The weight of my boat and trailer is around 5000 lbs, so my tongue weight should be 250-350 lbs. I tow it with no problems!

This is just with the "4 pin tow package" or are there other items or adapters??? Forgive me, I am new to towing much more than a small flat trailer. I ordered the tow package thinking it would have abilities for more than that. I also wanted the load leveling that came with it. I would like to be able to tow something beyond a rowboat. Maybe even a motorcycle or small car. Again... thanks for any help.

 

[FireMartZ]

Don't forget that for any vehicle, the towing capacity is its capacity to tow stuff, ALL stuff, including passengers, luggage, trailer, ... everything except the driver himself.

So, for example, if you, the driver, is carrying 3 passengers, each weighting, in average, 175 pounds, each having 25 lbs of luggage, that's 600 lbs (3 x (175 + 25)) eaten from the 5000 lbs. You have now 4400 lbs left for the trailer. You have a cargo roof weighting 50 pounds and carrying 150 pounds, then 200 lbs must be removed from the 5000 lbs. You have now 4200 lbs for the trailer. Your camping trailer weights 4200 lbs? Then it must contain nothing, not a single gallon of water at this point or you are now over 5000 lbs.

People often think they can attach a 5000 lbs trailer to a car/suv/truck than can tow 5000 lbs, but this is wrong, unless only the driver is in the car.

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[mikeg112]

Don't forget that for any vehicle, the towing capacity is its capacity to tow stuff, ALL stuff, including passengers, luggage, trailer, ... everything except the driver himself.

So, for example, if you, the driver, is carrying 3 passengers, each weighting, in average, 175 pounds, each having 25 lbs of luggage, that's 600 lbs (3 x (175 + 25)) eaten from the 5000 lbs. You have now 4400 lbs left for the trailer. You have a cargo roof weighting 50 pounds and carrying 150 pounds, then 200 lbs must be removed from the 5000 lbs. You have now 4200 lbs for the trailer. Your camping trailer weights 4200 lbs? Then it must contain nothing, not a single gallon of water at this point or you are now over 5000 lbs.

People often think they can attach a 5000 lbs trailer to a car/suv/truck than can tow 5000 lbs, but this is wrong, unless only the driver is in the car.

From what I read in the Kia manual, your passenger/cargo is only added to the tongue weight, not the total towing capacity of 5,000 pounds. So let’s say the GVWR is 1,300 lbs, you have 1,000 lbs of passengers and cargo, that leaves you only 300 lbs for the tongue hitch weight, separate from the towing capacity.

However to your point, you still want to leave 80% towing capacity open as a safety margin, which leaves you at about 4,000 lbs.

 

[FireMartZ]

From what I read in the Kia manual, your passenger/cargo is only added to the tongue weight, not the total towing capacity of 5,000 pounds. So let’s say the GVWR is 1,300 lbs, you have 1,000 lbs of passengers and cargo, that leaves you only 300 lbs for the tongue hitch weight, separate from the towing capacity.

However to your point, you still want to leave 80% towing capacity open as a safety margin, which leaves you at about 4,000 lbs.

Good points too!

I'm coming from a Honda Odyssey and considered a Honda Pilot before choosing the Telluride. Honda subtracts the cargo weight and passengers weight (starting from 2 passengers) from the towing capacity (and adjust the maximum tongue weight accordingly). At the end, however, we end up with pretty much the same limitations as limiting trailer weight or tongue weight has the same effect since tongue weight should be around 10% of the trailer weight.

Taken from the Pilot owner's manual:



On a side note, do you think an ATF cooler would be recommended on the Telluride?

 

[Crazymom5]

Well this discussion has me very frustrated. We spent the money for the AWD and tow package to pull our boat. According to what I’m reading here, we can’t actually pull our boat. I could have saved $3k and got the color I actually wanted if this hitch is worthless.

 

[Wap52]

Well this discussion has me very frustrated. We spent the money for the AWD and tow package to pull our boat. According to what I’m reading here, we can’t actually pull our boat. I could have saved $3k and got the color I actually wanted if this hitch is worthless.

How much does your boat and trailer weigh

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[Crazymom5]

How much does your boat and trailer weigh

We’re under 3000lbs just we also have a camper that we had planned to pull. My husband is VERY frustrated after hearing this info and is going to contact our dealer about it next week.

 

[Vietvet]

 

[Vietvet]

Interesting..

 

[Crazymom5]

I think this is something the definitely needs to be addressed with the dealership. My husband will be calling ours this coming week.

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[G-560082]

Great article. Thanks for the pictures. I am assuming I will be okay pulling my 3100 lb bass boat in Texas without brakes on the trailer, but then again we all know what happens to anyone that assumes.

How did it pull for you? We have an LX FWD band just bought a pontoon and trailer no brakes. I’m in KY

 

[Wap52]

How did it pull for you? We have an LX FWD band just bought a pontoon and trailer no brakes. I’m in KY

I am very satisfied with the way it pulls my boat. My Telluride is an SX with AWD. KIA put out a bulletin that’s says to correct the manual from 350 tongue weight to 500 tongue weight. But it says this Is if you trailer has electric brakes. Not so much the towing the problem as is stopping with a heavy load. I have Not encountered any problems towing my boat but I do have AWD and the 20 inch wheels.

 

[Steve in Denver]

I recently towed my camper with it here in Colorado (over Freemont pass) and it did fine. Camper tongue weight was around 320 lbs, and total trailer weight was around 2400. I had about 500 lbs of people and gear in the vehicle. Trailer has electric brakes.

 

[surefirewizard]

The 351 TW listed in the owner's manual is a typo. The correct TW is 500. This information can be found in the Telluride Technical Service Bulletin section of this website.