What does the 2016 Hyundai Santa Fe Se towing package consits of?

Hi, there. We have the same car - towing capacity is 5000lbs, but keep in mind that any trailer above 2000lbs needs to have its own electric brakes and hence a brake controller in your car, which (funny part) does NOT come with from the factory! You will need to find an installer to install an electric brake controller in your car to tow any trailer above 2000lbs; however, Hyundai manual does indeed state that they do not recommend "tapping" into car wiring system, but you MUST tap into the wiring system in order to install brake controller. If you are already confused, you are not the only one. Furthermore, the factory wiring kit (4-way flat) is only for trailers up to 2000lbs; towing anything above that (with electronic brakes) will require a 7-pin round connection for your car and it (you probably guessed it already) does NOT come as an option from the factory! Is the car capable towing 5000lbs? That is very tricky question and really depends on your comfort zone. We have bought this car because of the option to tow a smaller camper trailer. Installing hitch was no problem since all the correct holes were already in the car's chase, we have used a hitch place that was used by the dealer itself for the installation of electronic brake controller and 7-way round connection. We have had few trips towing our camper (around 3500lbs) and the car did very well. We have kept engine rpms at no more than 3500 averaging most of the time at 2800. The car does have automatic transmission cooler, albeit very small one, but it uses car's cooling system to cool transmission fluid. We wanted to install additional auxiliary transmission cooler, but were afraid that it may void factory warranty. All in all, the car is very much capable to tow, but the biggest draw is that, unlike trucks, has rear springs and the car does sag a lot in the rear with a trailer attached (of course, there some remedies for that). Hope this helps!

I too purchased a 2010 Hyundai Santa Fe believing capability of towing 5000 lbs. Yet my "stock" 2010 Hyundail Santa Fe struggling to tow 3800 lbs in 5th and 4th gear. I fear it straining transmission. Reading owners manual carefully it looks to me capability is actually 3500 lbs with a "towing package". Other than 7-pin wiring harness and brake controller . . . what features make up a "towing package" ?????

Well, I am not sure about 2010 Hyundai Santa Fe, but 2016 and above with 3.3L engine and AWD explicitly states in the manual that the towing capacity is up to 5000Lbs. As I have mentioned above, the "towing package" from the factory is nothing more than just pre-wired cables for the 4-pin connector (not 7) and factory installed transmission warmer/cooler (it is questionable how efficient it is). Brake controller and 7-pin wiring has to be installed aftermarket. I did inquire with local Hyundai service department about the possibility of installing auxiliary aftermarket transmission cooler in our car. I was told that this may or may not void factory warranty. That is if there are any transmission related issues then the warranty may be void (again this is very very gray area). I was told that with the fully synthetic transmission oil in our car, the operating range is from -40F to 307F. I am monitoring transmission oil temperature while towing and have never had it exceed 244F (but even this was for a very brief moment). During most of the tow, the transmission oil temperature was hovering 215-225F. This may still be too hot, but keep in mind that transmission oil temperature without any tow is around 200F, so the tow adds some heat, but nothing too major. Granted, I have never towed in 6th gear and, just like you, tow in 4th or 5th gear at no more than 3000rpm keeping around 60mph. Hope this helps.

I have a 2016 Santa Fe, 2.4 , installed a hitch and wiring package, the only thing they told me at the dealer, that mine is limited to 1500 lbs. that means the weight of the trailer (5x8) about 400 lbs, leaves me with 1100 lbs of cargo. I have had 4 passengers, including me, the driver, baggage in the back, but never had it anymore than about 750 lbs on the trailer, it towed fine, no overheating, and towed @ 65 mph.

When two numbers are listed for towing capacity the first is without trailer brakes and the second is with trailer brakes. heavier trailers use the 7-way connector. These can be purchased to plug into a 4-way connector with additional wiring, if you need it, for hooking up a trailer brake. Most places that sell trailers can supply and install these.

I have a 2017 Santa fe se 3.3 without the so called towing package. I purchased a class 3 Curt hitch from etrailer, installed myself it was easy just make sure you use a torque wrench to do it properly. Wiring I paid $200 to get it done. I planned on getting the 7 way connector installed but decided to go with a 5 way connector flat because I wanted a clean look at the bumper and still be able to use the cover over the hitch. I tow a boat trailer with surge brakes so a brake controller is not needed and the 5 way gives me the ability of going into reverse without activating the surge brakes. Hyundai tow hitch package includes a 4 flat connector and a hitch.

Tow weight capacity is also related to the type of hitch set up on your vehicle they too are rated for tow weight capacity. I see 2 hitch option for the Santa Fe on this site. I would also consider what liter size motor and the condition of your brakes.

I see some of the answers provide conflicting information over here. You can NOT simply buy 7-way connector and plug it in into 4 way flat to make it work for the trailer with electric brakes. You do need a brake controller to be installed to properly wire it through 7 way connector to work with electric brakes in the trailer. As one of the answers had posted earlier, if trailer has surge brakes then brake controller is not needed. Also, the tow package for Hyundai does NOT include a hitch - need to buy it separately. The factory tow package is standard for Hyunday Santa FE 3.3L V6 engine with AWD (and you really should not be pulling anything above 3000 lbs with FWD car anyways). The tow package consists of upgraded transmission heater/cooler (albeit very small one) and wiring that comes all the way to the left rear wheel. You would still need to buy 4 way flat adapter (if towing under 2000 lbs), the hitch itself and install brake controller with 7 way round plug if towing anything above 2000 lbs with electric brakes. Hope this clears some of the confusion.

Does anyone know what the tongue weight for the Santa Fe is? I have a small travel trailer with dry weight of 3,200lbs, fully loaded about 3,400. I have a GX470 that can handle it but we just picked up a '16 SantaFe Limited with a trailer hitch installed. So I would need a 7 pin wiring harness and would be using an existing brake controller. However I"m a little concerned that this trailer would be at the cars max, even though it's a small trailer.

My manual states to not exceed 500lbs of vertical load(tongue load). I also have a beefy trailer and plan to pull it with my 2017 Hyundai Santa Fe Limited Ultimate. My trailer weighs in at 385 tongue load empty. So that leaves me with 115 pounds left of vertical load. If packed appropriately, it’s a lot. My pop up trailer has a front deck, it’s not a 1 to 1 ratio when loading. What I mean is if I add 100 pounds of gear on the front deck, it increases the tongue load by 50 pounds. The best thing to do is take your full set up to a CAT scale. I got the curb weight and GAW of the rear axle of my Hyundai. My rear GAWR is 3,075 and it had a rear GAW of 2020, so you can see that the axle can handle some decent weight. I have a two kids that together weight 280, two dogs ( add 100 pounds) and load the rear compartment with supplies maybe add another 200 pounds. Altogether that’s 2,580 pounds of load on the rear axle well within the safety limits and with my wife and I we hit right at the total GVWR for the 17 Santa Fe. That’s why they are so conservative with the 500 pound tongue load limit. They are assuming all other weight rating are maxed out. You still have quite a bit is wiggle room if you stock the camper trailer and try not to exceed total trailer weight of 4400-4500 pounds. Hope this helps.

I went through the exact same thing with my Santa Fe 2018 Ultimate Limited. At the end of the day, I had to do what Juozas calls out. In fact, I am still working on how to avoid sagging when towing. @ Juozas - can you let me k ow how you fixed the sagging part?

I installed Vera Cruise springs in my 2017 Santa Fe unlimited. No more sagging even with 300 lb young weight.

Sorry for the belated reply, "WhoAmI2019". There are few options to deal with the sagging for our cars while towing. First, not the cheapest, but the easiest to install is to buy "Sumo Springs" - they go in between the rear coils. This is what I have installed onto our car and the sagging is about 80% removed. The better option is to install airbags inside the coils (do not remember the part number) - this option allows for custom, on tbe fly spring support to your liking (I may go this route some day, though installation is not very straight forward). Finally, as someone had mentioned, you may swap Santa Fe springs dor Vera Cruz ones (apparently Vera Cruz springs are somewhat stiffer).

I was fortunate enough to ask the service manager at my local Hyundai dealer what "properly equipped" meant when referring to the 5000 lb. tow capacity of my 2018 Santa Fe SE ( v6) on the day two Hyundai factory reps were there doing training for the dealer staff. They both had the same answer..."trailer brake controller". No reference to a trans cooler or "Trailer Package". I had an RV dealer install a brake controller and 7 pin wiring along with a hitch receiver. Note:. Curt, and I imagine others, make TWO hitch receivers for the 2018 Sante Fe. The round tube one is for the 2.5 four. The one for the V6 is square tubing. There are several differences the installer wasn't aware of...had to go back and get the correct one. I tow a 23 ft travel trailer that loaded is about 3800ish pounds. Just my wife and I (325 lbs) and maybe 100 lbs more in the car. No issues with the car. I manually shift and cruise in 5th gear between 60-65. Going up steeper hills (bridges) I drop to 4th and maintain around 50. I never feel like I am working the engine/trans hard, but the fact my gas mileage is between 13-15 mph shows the car is clearly working. Once I got the brake controller set, stopping with the trailer is not significantly different than without, but you do know you have some extra mass. But both my wife and I have had to "panic stop" without issues. I saw some posts about sag. The tongue weight of my trailer is about 450 lbs. When hitched, the weight dropped the rear wheel well nearly 2 inches. I brought the trailer home from the dealer this way and clearly felt like I was working hard to keep the two vehicles tracking smoothly. Not comfortable over 60. Long story short, I had a load leveling/anti- sway hitch with an 800 lb rating installed. NIGHT AND DAY!!! Felt like I was driving one long vehicle. I am now comfortable driving 60-65 mph. Always feel I am easily in control. Load leveling hitch distributes some weight at the hitch and rear wheels of the car to the front wheels and trailer wheels. This is clearly evident by the fact that the rear wheelwell drop is now less than an inch. As such, even though I have front wheel drive the car never is a challenge to control. I think this is a better solution than adding aftermarket springs to the rear axle. This is the experience of one person... hopefully it will help someone...

GuruMSKYM - Could you tell me more about this. I am thinking about getting a boat and will need to upgrade to ensure I can meet towing capacity. Currently with my SE FWD 2.0L I believe I am only at around 1700, but if I get the trailer brake connector think it goes up to 3000.

Hi Juozas [qoute]"All in all, the car is very much capable to tow, but the biggest draw is that, unlike trucks, has rear springs and the car does sag a lot in the rear with a trailer attached (of course, there some remedies for that). Hope this helps!"[/quote] What are the remedies?

Just to correct one thing Juozas said, yes you need an electric brake controller for heavier trailers... unless your trailer has a hydraulic brake controller. Lots of boat trailers have this. so when the truck stops, the deceleration pushes a master cylinder right in the boat trailer hitch which then applies braking force to the trailer.