Towing a 21' Yamaha with a Hyundai Santa Fe?

[Falcon_Boater]

We have a 2015 AWD Hyundai Santa Fe Limited with the 3.3L V6. It is rated for 5,000 lbs. towing capacity. We are considering purchasing either a 19' Yamaha boat (probably an AR 192) or a 21' Yamaha (likely an AR 210, possibly a 212X).

I'm sure the Santa Fe will be able to handle a 19 footer with no problems. I'm not so sure about a 21 footer though so before I plunked down the $$$ I figured I'd ask if anyone here has any experience towing one of the 21' foot Yamahas with a Santa Fe or similar SUV?

Thanks!

 

[waterboy]

I used to have a Honda Pilot. Same rating with 2007 SX210. My normal tow is about 20 miles to the lake. No problems at all ever on the road or on the ramp. Yeah you know it is behind you so drive smart. Towed from NC to Lauderdale last year. Did just fine on the highway. Got 10 mpg overall. Got almost 14 mpg for a stretch when I kept speed s reasonable.

Some folks will tell you never tow at the limit of your vehicle. SUre in a perfect world. Balance you vehicle with what your towing needs are. If you are going to tow cross country, the wear and tear will kill your car. If it is usually short tows or not towing that much, you'll be OK.

I recently upgraded to an Expedition, needed more cargo space for the family and the Pilot didn't cut it. If that size vehicle works for you that you have now, keep it and roll with it. It'll do fine.

 

[BobJohnson]

For an apples to oranges comparison, I have a 22 foot chaparral that weighs 3100 lb dry/ empty of stuff and gas. Pulled it a couple times with our front wheel drive Chevy traverse. Rated at 5000 or 5500 (now that I am writing this I can't remember which). But the traverse pulls and handles like nothing behind it. Pulls it up ramp with slight incline with no issues.
Again, apples and oranges, but directionally might help

 

[Bruce]

I think this question should be broken into can you tow it and should you tow it

The answer to the first part is that yes you can tow it.

Moving on to should. How far and where play big roles in this. If you are towing a short distance on level road to and from a ramp and below highway speeds then very little tow vehicle is required. If you are towing up and down hills or at highway speeds then you will likely want a more capable tow vehicle.

Your 5,000 pound tow rating likely includes a driver and one passenger at 150 pounds a piece and no cargo in the vehicle. Every pound you add to the vehicle removes several pounds of trailer capacity.

Our boats are taller than most. When towing they require an amount of force that is greater than their weight would require similar to a camper or enclosed trailer. I burn more fuel towing my SX230 than I do towing 8,000 pounds of farm tractor.

You will end storing lots of stuff in your boat that will add to the rated weight.

Is your vehicle front wheel drive? Most trucks spend most of the time without a load in the bed. So generally speaking I think that trucks should be front wheel drive. But when you are towing a load you have hopefully 10% of that weight pushing down on your trailer hitch. That weight is also trying to lift your front wheels off of the ground. So I would not want to be towing with a front wheel drive vehicle.

Having said that, there is no contest between a single engine 19' and a twin engine 21'. Unless you have an overwhelming reason to buy the 19' buy the 21'. Otherwise you will wish you had and likely be trading the 19' in at a loss in the near future.

 

[Murf'n'surf]

What will be the terrain of your towing?
Highway?
Hills?

Lots of great points in Bruce's post.

 

[Falcon_Boater]

Thanks for the opinions so far. Keep 'em coming!

Here are more of the requested details.

The vehicle is all wheel drive. I plan on installing a transmission oil cooler on it if I get the 21' boat. Otherwise, I probably won't bother if I get the 19.
Most of my towing will be to lakes within 30 miles of home. For the nearby lakes I could tow on highways if I chose or I could avoid them. There are a few small hills involved though nothing substantial.
Two or three times per summer we will probably take trips of 150+ miles over to central/eastern Washington (we live in the Seattle area) and to central Oregon. These trips would involve crossing mountain passes with elevations around 6,000' and grades in the neighborhood of 3-5%. And of course, these trips would involve substantial highway driving.

 

[GTBRMC]

Thanks for the opinions so far. Keep 'em coming!

Here are more of the requested details.

The vehicle is all wheel drive. I plan on installing a transmission oil cooler on it if I get the 21' boat. Otherwise, I probably won't bother if I get the 19.
Most of my towing will be to lakes within 30 miles of home. For the nearby lakes I could tow on highways if I chose or I could avoid them. There are a few small hills involved though nothing substantial.
Two or three times per summer we will probably take trips of 150+ miles over to central/eastern Washington (we live in the Seattle area) and to central Oregon. These trips would involve crossing mountain passes with elevations around 6,000' and grades in the neighborhood of 3-5%. And of course, these trips would involve substantial highway driving.

++on the trans oil cooler

Also, keep in mind both the mass of the tow vehicle and its braking capability - from a safety viewpoint, this is often the real limitation of any tow vehicle + trailed load combo.

From your description of likely towing needs, I would be very comfortable with the local lakes towing you describe with the Sante Fe.

The 6,000 foot mountain passes, I would not try that with your proposed combo. You will be under max tow load for extended stretches at seriously power-robbing altitude. Then, you will have long down slopes to contend with. Even with a trans cooler, your gearbox might well be over matched. Also, even the best brakes will generate fade when they heat up. Reduced brake power on a nearly maxed out GVW tow setup coming down a mountain = not for me.

Another set of opinions for your consideration, anyway.

 

[Falcon_Boater]

Thanks for the input, GTBRMC! Maybe I'll borrow my folks truck for the long hauls over the mountain passes.

By the way, I threw out the 6,000' number without actually researching it. Upon further review, the pass between western and eastern WA is only 3,000' while the pass into eastern OR is only 4,000'. I don't think that changes the equation all that much but I figured accuracy in the details is always a good idea!

 

[njmr2fan]

I think for local towing you'd be fine, the long distance stuff become the nail biting situations. If you have a truck you can borrow for those few tows, than I think you look good for a 21'. We have a 19' and even though our SUV had plenty of "get-up-n-go" (and after slotted rotors and Stainless steel brake hoses) lots of "Whoaa!" We still added a Ram 1500 Truck to be the primary tow vehicle for safety sake.

 

[Speedling]

Had a sante fe with 3.3 and it towee the exciter well. Don't pull anything more. These boats are pretty tongue heavy and even though the horsepower seems to be there the suspension is not.
gcvw is the key number.

 

[4x15mph]

I think a 21 foot boat may have a trailer with brakes while the 19' boats will not. I could be wrong but look into this. It is not all about being able to pull the boat but also about stopping. I think with a smaller SUV like that you will want brakes and then either boat is probably within the tow limits. You will definitely want to watch the weight of passengers and supplies but when we go for a longer haul and more people, we take 2 cars.

 

[Falcon_Boater]

You're partially right 4x15. The 190 series of boat trailers I believe do not have brakes. However, the 192 series do I'm pretty sure. For that reason I'll probably go with a 192 boat if we go the 19' route. All of the larger boats have brakes on their trailers.

 

[Seadeals]

I'm with @Bruce: Can you? Yes. Should you, probably sparingly and definitely NOT over the pass. You can do things to cope: extra trans cooler, manually shifting, towing with minimum fuel in the boat and always keeping extra distance from the car ahead, for examples. I towed my 21' with an Enclave for a few years and added a huge transmission cooler. If there was no traffic, I was okay; but if I hit traffic or lots of stop lights on a hot day, the coolant and trans fluid could not keep cool. In that case I needed to shift into neutral and rev the engine to 1500-2000 RPM to keep temps from climbing while stopped. I also let it idle (cool down) after reaching my destination. Yes, it got the job done. Yes, the transmission eventually had an issue (most of the early Enclaves do regardless); but it definitely was not an ideal situation. I wasn't going to buy a boat AND a truck/SUV at the same time. Tackling a pass will hurt from the climb, the altitude, and your brakes on the way down; which will certainly be tested to the max. I have an F-150 Ecoboost now and trailering is a lot less stressful. Could I still wreck or break down? Sure, but there is a LOT more safety margin in the equation. Hope that helps.

 

[Speedling]

Suspension on those thing is actually built very well but the springs will bottom out.
I did it for my launch a couple times but thatwas less than a mile. Getting out of the ramp after loading it struggled as the lowest gear isn't all that low really.
I also have a wife and 3 kids and associated stuff so it's extra heavy.
I wouldn't do it.
I had the exact vehicle. I went with an expedition xlt 4x4 and installed a brake controller and electric brakes on the trailer.

 

[Eurocat]

19 foot boats DO have brakes. Well at least the 192SX and 192AR have them, not sure about the 190 series.
Also above what was said above, is the possible damage to the rear differential. Strongly advise you to have it serviced at 1/2 the interval or even more frequently than that to avoid problems.

 

[njmr2fan]

190s dont. All the mounting plates are there for brakes, but the brakes are missing. Lol

 

[4x15mph]

I recall that when the 190/192 first came out, the 192's didn't have brakes and were pushing the limits based on what people were posting. Now that the 192 series have brakes, it is probably for that reason. Just check for sure so that you know what you are getting and I would recommend brakes. I would also recommend the auto-trans cooler. I added one myself to our MDX and it was pretty straight forward.

 

[SCSTWG]

One thing you may want to consider is "dry docking". This is where you leave your boat on the trailer at the marina and launch it yourself each time you use it. I have down this for a few years and it works for us. I have a vehicle that is more than capable, my issue is that you can't keep a boat in my neighborhood. In your case, this will cut way down on the number of miles you tow and not beat u your vehicle too bad.

 

[DoubleThrust]

Do not recommend re original post...

 

[Addicted]

Typically braking is where the problem is when pulling a trailer that is close to, or over the capacity of the tow vehicle. If it were me, local lakes would be the limit, with plans to upgrade the tow vehicle when the time is right. It is shocking how much weight we end of adding to our boats when we load them for a day on the water. The truck and boat tend to be heavier than we think by the time we roll out of the driveway.