Towing questions

[Yossarian]

Greetings all.

I'm now told that the EX-AWD-P that I ordered earlier this month will arrive mid-September, much sooner than initially anticipated. It will be replacing a much-loved, comfortable and very capable Volvo XC-90 V8 Sport, and I'm sure it's up to the task. Chief among the duties that the Telly will inherit are annual trips from PA to big snow country (MT & UT) and, to the point of this thread, hauling our T@B 320 during the warmer months. I've of course ordered the towing package, but have a couple of questions that I hope the folks on this forum can answer.

The first is about a transmission cooler. There is no mention of one in the Tow Package info, but I could have sworn that I read elsewhere that it's standard with AWD. Is this the case? It may not be strictly necessary since the camper is well under 2,000 lbs loaded, but it's certainly a nice-to-have. The other question is about the use of a DCC charger.

Right now, the camper has a puny (80Ah) standard, lead-acid deep cycle battery but I have a LiFePO4 replacement gotten recently at the BattleBorn "blemished" sale that I plan to install. There's a lot of debate about whether a DCC charger is needed but since BattleBorn strongly recommends one, I purchased a Victron Orion Tri-smart that I planned to use on the Volvo. Since the Telluride will arrive a couple of months earlier than originally expected, I'll defer installation to the Kia. I will be dropping the Li battery in the camper though, and would like to take a trip or two with the Telluride towing the camper before installing the Victron. Now for the actual question: Does anyone have a Li battery setup with just the stock power battery connection via the 7-pole? Specifically, I'm wondering if there are any alternator issues (understand that the Li battery is unlikely to get fully charged this way)?

The final question: Is anyone using the Tekonsha Prodigy RF brake controller on their Telluride? Would be great to get some feedback on this.

Sorry for the long-winded post and thanks in advance.

 

[2020Telly]

By all accounts there is only one transmission cooler device just below the battery. The Palisade advertises this, but no direct mention of it on the Telluride. The LX FWD appears to have the same part as the SX-P with Tow AWD. It is not standard on the AWD.

With the Prodigy RF (great controller!) the only word of caution is that the controller may be a 7-way blade connection, whereas the Telluride 2021/2022 Tow Option from Kia may just be a 7-way round connection. You may need an adapter.

 

[arattle]

Greetings all.

I'm now told that the EX-AWD-P that I ordered earlier this month will arrive mid-September, much sooner than initially anticipated. It will be replacing a much-loved, comfortable and very capable Volvo XC-90 V8 Sport, and I'm sure it's up to the task. Chief among the duties that the Telly will inherit are annual trips from PA to big snow country (MT & UT) and, to the point of this thread, hauling our T@B 320 during the warmer months. I've of course ordered the towing package, but have a couple of questions that I hope the folks on this forum can answer.

The first is about a transmission cooler. There is no mention of one in the Tow Package info, but I could have sworn that I read elsewhere that it's standard with AWD. Is this the case? It may not be strictly necessary since the camper is well under 2,000 lbs loaded, but it's certainly a nice-to-have. The other question is about the use of a DCC charger.

Right now, the camper has a puny (80Ah) standard, lead-acid deep cycle battery but I have a LiFePO4 replacement gotten recently at the BattleBorn "blemished" sale that I plan to install. There's a lot of debate about whether a DCC charger is needed but since BattleBorn strongly recommends one, I purchased a Victron Orion Tri-smart that I planned to use on the Volvo. Since the Telluride will arrive a couple of months earlier than originally expected, I'll defer installation to the Kia. I will be dropping the Li battery in the camper though, and would like to take a trip or two with the Telluride towing the camper before installing the Victron. Now for the actual question: Does anyone have a Li battery setup with just the stock power battery connection via the 7-pole? Specifically, I'm wondering if there are any alternator issues (understand that the Li battery is unlikely to get fully charged this way)?

The final question: Is anyone using the Tekonsha Prodigy RF brake controller on their Telluride? Would be great to get some feedback on this.

Sorry for the long-winded post and thanks in advance.

Did your VIN pop up today, 5XYP3DHC8NG210620? It's a GWP AWD EX-P (gray interior). Pretty quick if it's yours.

 

[TONYK11]

According to @StephenCantrelle , who has visibility behind the factory curtain, the EX AWD PRE configuration is a sweet spot at present. I ordered my EX AWD PRE TOW on 14 June and it was delivered 15 July! You m ight get your Telly sooner than you think.
The 2022 TOW option has the 7 pin round trailers connector PLUS a separate electric brake harness that supports the Tek Prodigy which is the only controller I'll use for my 5000# race car rig.
Cant speak to the Li battery or charger questions.

______________________________

 

[Yossarian]

Did your VIN pop up today, 5XYP3DHC8NG210620? It's a GWP AWD EX-P (gray interior). Pretty quick if it's yours.

I saw that yesterday and was excited at first; it's the same model, options and exterior that I ordered. Unfortunately for me, my order has the black leather interior, so that one is destined for some other lucky person.

 

[Yossarian]

According to @StephenCantrelle , who has visibility behind the factory curtain, the EX AWD PRE configuration is a sweet spot at present. I ordered my EX AWD PRE TOW on 14 June and it was delivered 15 July! You m ight get your Telly sooner than you think.
The 2022 TOW option has the 7 pin round trailers connector PLUS a separate electric brake harness that supports the Tek Prodigy which is the only controller I'll use for my 5000# race car rig.
Cant speak to the Li battery or charger questions.

Thanks for the feedback @TONYK11. Great to hear about the EX Pre being the sweet spot for builds. I was actually in the process of ordering an SX but changed that when the dealer said the wait would be shorter for an EX. Looks like that was right on the money.

Thanks also for the tow information. It's good to know that the Telly tow package includes a brake harness for the controller but with the Prodigy RF, it's not needed. As for the battery question, there is a ton of controversy on the various trailer forums about charging lithium batteries and damage to the alternator Having replaced a failed alternator on my Volvo not long ago, I'd prefer to be safe rather than sorry and out a bundle of cash (the alternator on V8 Volvo is b*tch to replace and so very costly). My thought was it can't hurt to ask if anyone had experience relative to the Telluride and Li batteries.

For the record, from what I can tell from the information out there, the risk of alternator damage from charging LiFePO4 batteries via the 7-pole is small. The reason is that the harness wires are generally too small a gauge to carry enough current, so the alternator can't experience high charging loads. For that reason, and because the charging circuitry on the TV is optimized for starter rather than deep-cycle batteries, the lithium battery in the camper will not get fully charged however. That's primarily the reason a DC-DC charger is recommended, but the device also protects the alternator from damage and can prevent the TV battery from being drained in the event the wire harness left connected. while camping