I apologize in advance if this has been covered but I haven't seen it. We own a 2015 Santa Fe Ultimate and are looking to purchase a LivinLite trailer. Here is some background and am hoping for advice and if this vehicle will adequately tow 16"
Normally this will be used to go to dog obedience trials, barnhunts and tracking tests. The vehicle is not 4WD and normally its not needed where we go. I am retired and husband is also but working PT. I will usually be taking one large dog (bullmastiff) who rides in cargo of Santa Fe. I will occasionally take two dogs with me. More than likely husband will stay at home. We live in TN and most travel will be to TN, KY, NC, SC, GA, IN, MO. I don't plan on staying in it more than 5 days at a time. Occasionally we would go to state parks and stay 1-2 nights and hike (no dogs). I originally was looking at Itasca Navion/Win View but after reading horror stories about all Class A-C rv's and travel trailers/5th wheels got spooked. Thinking I need to ramp up to larger units. Once he retires for good would like to do longer distance/3-4 weeks but that would have to be an upgraded unit in terms of size.
One thing I did notice that concerns me were several posts about water leakage through the floor of trailers during rain while hauling?? Not liking that. Does the factory spray on insulation seal the floor?
Any advice regarding what specified tow vehicle (15 Santa Fe Hyundai) could tow? I am low maintenance and would just like to not have to pay 2-3 nights hotel fees every time we trial, hunt, show. Thanks so much for any help. We don't have a dealer anywhere close but are willing to fly to factory once we make a decision. I chose LL because of the weight, reputation and also I saw a lot of RPOD owners upgraded to LivinLite.
The first thing to do is to look at the owner's manual to find the towing capacity of your vehicle, particularly paying attention to your vehicle's engine size. That will tell you if you can tow a 16' model, or need to look at a smaller camper.
[font size="3"]My first thought is the Santa Fe with its 3.3L engine will be a bit light for the 16' LLs, but it should be OK if you don't do much mountain climbing. Although it's rated at 5000# towing the pulling power of the small engine will definitely be a factor on the highway and climbing hills. When loaded for camping the 16s will be close to 4000# which will affect your acceleration and hill climbing ability. At highway speeds the towing requirement is determined by the cross sectional area of the camper and vehicle speed. There's no substitute for horsepower.
The aluminum plank floor can leak water/air/dust because it has cracks along the planks. It is also cold. Therefore most people opt for some kind of total floor covering. LL is offering a sheet floor covering on new models that probably will fix the leaks, but not address the cold factor. Throw rugs can help there. The best solution seems to be thick interlocking rubber floor tiles, but they take some work to install. The factory optional spray on insulation does nothing except cost money. It does not seal because it does not seal the cracks and it does not insulate. Save your money.
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I looked online for towing capacity for Santa Fe, and found a towing capacity of 5,000 lbs for a V-6 engine. I wonder if that will be sufficient once you load up your camper. You don't want yo be towing at the maximum capacity of your vehicle.
Although some people have reported water/dust "leaking" through the floor I have not experienced that. I drove through some fairly substantial rain storms and dusty areas. I do understand how it could happen, but it has not been my experience. I would not let that be part of your decision making process. Like Charliem stated, the floor does get cold on the feet. I also put down some interlocking foam floor tiles and couldn't be happier with them.
The floor covering in the new Camplites does not leak water and looks nice. However, as others have noted, it's cold without extra insulation of some sort. In addition to comments others have made about the Santea Fe for towing, look at the owners manual for specs on tongue weight capacity. That can be the limiting factor in mid-size SUVs. Even with the 290 HP engine and 5000 lb towing capacity, the total weight going down the road (vehicle plus trailer) and the tongue weight may limit what you can pull. Look at the Camplite 14 too. Others on this forum have towed a 16 with a mid-size SUV, so look at some other towing threads using the search function to get their thoughts.