WDH on KIA Sorento

Originally posted by offgrid Originally posted by Olddawgsrule You really need to consult your manual (not the dealership). Could you? Certainly.. Should you? That's a BIG maybe.. Not recommended with most uni-body's.  Run the question by a couple Kia Forums and see what the consensus is.  Which mid size 5000 lb rated unibody suv's don't allow WDH's? The only one that I could find in a quick review was the Subaru Ascent. Subaru is an outlier, once a market segment (and the unibody 5000 lb midsize suv is a well defined segment now), all the manufacturers need to be able to offer the same basic capabilities to compete. Toyota, Nissan, Kia, Ford, and GM all offer SUVs in this segment and all allow WDHs and have 5000lb (in the case of Explorer its 5600 lbs) towing. Of course, you must use the factory hitch as well, which is designed to carry the tongue and wdh moment loads to the unibody frame.

Originally posted by lostagain If they are avoiding the subject, then all the more reason to request the information from Kia customer service in writing.  It's harder to dodge the question.

Doubt you'll get anything from Kia beyond "follow the manual". There's no benefit to them to do so. But that just my expectation, by all means try, see what happens.

WDH's are commonly available and customarily used consumer products, a reasonable person would expect to be able to use one on a vehicle in this tow rating range. If their vehicle was at risk of being damaged by them Kia would have an obligation to inform it's customers of that or risk having to pay for the repairs. So, they are well motivated to say no but not yes..

I have a 2018 sorrento AWD rated for 5000.  We’re towing a 171.  I couldn’t find much about towing from the manual or the dealer.  I ended up using an Anderson WDH.  We’ve been happy with it but never tried it without, so don’t really know.