I've spent hours reading about this subject online trying to come up with a decision so I can put in my order.
It is known that a WDH is not recommended for a unibody frame unless stated in the owners manual, and from what I understand the manual for the Telluride is vague, as stated in another post by 2020Telly in that it mentions sway control but not a WDH specifically.
I have read RV forums with quotes from manufacturers that say tow vehicles with a 500# tongue and 5000# limit do not need a WDH. I have also read that many users with unibody frames use a WDH successfully. I've seen the difference one makes, but the thought of putting unnecessary strain on the vehicles unibody if it's not required leaves me questioning that.
The only conclusion I can come up with, is to stay well under the tow and tongue limits of the vehicle for the safest results. I'm looking at a camper with a dry weight of 3000 and a tongue weight of 300. Taking that into consideration, do I really need a WDH?
If I don't use a WDH, then I assume I need the Tow Package for the "self-leveling" at a minimum, possibly with additional anti-sway upgrades?
But then also reading that the "self leveling" shocks are more expensive and don't have the longevity of the regular ones leaves me even more confused...
That guidance you are reading for no WDH with a unibody is very likely old information meant for smaller SUVs. Unibody frames of today are built stronger than the early days. The unibody frame of the early SUVs was built off of car platforms with lighter steel and rivets to maximize fuel efficiency and comfort over a truck body. Today the unibody frames still aren’t built to haul like a truck to distribute weight but they also aren’t built like they use to be as a frame designed for a car adapted for an SUV. They are now purpose built for an SUV with stronger lighter steel (or aluminum) and better engineering as evidenced by higher towing capacities. Look at modern Land Rovers, Jeep Grand Cherokees, and Pathfinders, they are all SUVs with unibodies with even more towing capacity than the Telluride. The Durango is the only unibody rumored to go back to a body on frame. A good example from Kia is the
Sorento. The first generation 2002
Sorento was a compact SUV and a body on frame truck based design. By the third generation
Sorento in 2014 moved it to a midsize SUV as Kia changed to a unibody frame shared with the Carnival and claimed it had 14% more rigidity and strength than the previous model. A compact 2002
Sorento has a 2,000 lb towing capacity, while a midsized 2009
Sorento with V6 engine has a 5,000 lb towing capacity, but after going to unibody in 2014 the
Sorento dropped to a max of 3,500 lbs yet the the frame of a 2021
Sorento is shared with the Telluride which is rated for 5,000 lbs. By comparison to the
Kia Sorento I think the Hyundai Santa Fe was always a unibody. The Santa Fe may have shared the same frame platform as the Sonata sedan just as the early Toyota Highlanders shared with the Camry. From 2001-2011 the Hyundai Santa Fe's towing capacity was capped at 3,500lbs. Then in 2012 Hyundai switched to a stronger unibody and stronger engines to accommodate up to 5,000 lbs of towing.
I think the RV guidance is old because of 2 things, older and smaller travel trailers were heavier and SUVs just weren't up to the task. But as with vehicle advances, the travel trailer manufacturers started building lighter weight and better engineered travel trailer frames and materials so the option to tow with an SUV has become more and more popular as more capable SUVs get on the road.
A unibody is designed to be somewhat flexible by joining multiple frame sections where a truck has a body on frame with solid steel or aluminum rails extending the length of the vehicle to help with heavy cargo and hauling at the expense of comfort and fuel efficiency. Who cares about rear passenger comfort in the bed of a pickup truck? The rails on a truck are what make WDH and leveling easier to configure on a truck. A unibody it’s not as straightforward.
A level load with weight distributed when towing (ideally as close to normal drive height) is going to give you the best and safest ride however you get there. At 300lbs TW and 3,000lbs towing you might be fine, except rarely do people tow with no cargo (passengers and luggage). The proof of a WDH is visible. This
thread tells me all I need to know, a single axle pontoon trailer supposedly weighing 4,500 lbs broke a rear axle. The excessive rear sag should have been a sign that it was weight over spec. With a WDH system the sag is minimized and the towing trailer goes back to level and the tongue weight decreased when the trailer load has even more axles and is distributed. A pop up travel trailer or one that is smaller than 20ft often has a higher hitch weight (what sits on the tongue) than a slightly longer travel trailer (20-23ft) with more than one axle. A very heavy and uneven boat likely puts so much down force on the tongue that you are more likely to blow past the capabilities of self-leveling shocks and put too much weigh over that rear axle. To put it another way, the weight distribution of a pontoon boat on a single axle trailer is very different from a normal boat with a skinny bow on a single or double axle trailer. The hitch weight sitting on the tongue is going to be very different. Leveling the load and distributing the weight across the trailer's axles takes the strain off the towing vehicle's rear axle and rear brakes and distributes it back to the trailer axle(s) and brakes and some to the towing vehicle's front axle and brakes. I didn't appreciate this fully until someone on this forum posted specs for a two axle horse trailer and I realized that with a distributed weight, lighter material, two axles and a stable load (horses not moving around too much) you can get up to 5,000lbs with a lower than 500lb tongue weight. Hitting max weight on the rear axle and relying mostly on the tow vehicle rear brakes means you have at least 2 other axles and 4 more tires and wheels with brakes that could help you more if you distributed the load to them.
With all that said it really comes down to how often you plan to tow and what you plan to tow. Just understand that raising the rear with leveling shocks is not the same effect as weight distribution. Simply raising the rear might give the appearance of a leveling but you aren’t taking the weight off the rear axle and distributing it. Sure the tongue might go up and some small amount might go back to the trailer, but that's not the same as torsion bars designed to take some stress off the rear suspension, axle, tires and brakes. I just wish Kia would publish some guidance around all this to ease everyone’s concerns.
There are a number of aftermarket shocks that will hopefully hit the market that may be more affordable than these from the Package. Hopefully the aftermarket options will be designed specifically for the Telluride for towing, comfort, or off-road. They may be height adjustable or can be adjusted for comfort or performance and will also carry a warranty. I stand by my assessment that the Mando self leveling mechanical monotube shocks may be ideal for ride comfort and work great when hauling in a station wagon or minivan. They also work great on motorcycles that have a rigid frame or even work okay on a truck that has weight distributed in the frame and they help with comfort. As a towing benefit I can see some anti sway benefit if they work and you are towing something that is already close to level. The phrase "jack of all trades, master of none" comes to mind. They are not air suspension nor are they equivalent to an electronic auto leveling system. I see these mechanical pumping monotube self leveling shocks as counter intuitive to what you would expect to get out of a more serious towing vehicle. The other challenge is that there isn't really a measuring stick to go by. The Telluride and
Palisade appear to be the only FWD based large mid-sized SUVs that implement this type of self-leveling shock. If you look at the Volvo, GM or Saab applications not many of them are FWD or large mid-sized SUVs. The Dodge Durango has Nivomats similar to the Mando but it's a unibody RWD vehicle, the Dodge Caravan is a minivan and the Yukon/Tahoe is a truck based frame on a RWD vehicle. That’s where I think the aftermarket purpose built shocks for the Telluride will overcome. If you are planning to do a lot of heavy towing, perhaps the large mid-sized Telluride is not powerful and strong enough for your needs and you might want to move up to a large SUV or crewcab truck.
tellurideforum.org
