Towing with a Kia Sedona

[Lynn Peters]

I need some advice from you knowledgeable folks! I sold my pickup 'cause I couldn't afford to feed it and am now driving an '05 Kia Sedona minivan. I still have my Scamp 16'SD and would like to keep it. I haven't put a hitch or brake controller on the Sedona yet and need some information about what kind of setup I'd need.

The Sedona is front wheel drive, has a 3.8l V-6 and a tow rating of 3500#. Would I need any sort of stabilizing bars? Any special stuff? This will be an expensive procedure and I want to get it right! Thanks. . . .

[Robin G]

Lynn, Your profile says fiber stream, so I am assuming that the Scamp is new? I would think at the very least after putting on a hitch, you would need a brake control added as well as sway control. Do you know the weight of your Scamp? There are so many things that play with the whole tow rating cap, depending on your vehicle as to if occupants of the vehicle are added to the overall tow rate. But I know our 17ft Casita weighed in at 2800 pounds empty. I would think your's is somewhere the 2000 pound mark empty. Hopefully someone will be able to come up with a weight idea, Can you post the year of your scamp? That would help as I know the newer ones weight more than the older ones. Robin


At the very least I would use extreme caution.

[Greg A]

We have a KIA Sedona 06 that I'm getting ready to setup as a second TV for our 13 Scamp. The nice class III hitches appear to only be six bolts and seem very simple to install so I may order one and try it myself. Already have the brake controller additional hookup for our Prodigy so we can swap the brake controller back and forth between vehicles. That is all we will need since it is a 13.

I'd like to hear from some of the towing guru's as well about the sway bar for the 16 with the KIA setup since we may be in a 16 someday. Seems the KIA would be well suited to a 16 without all the sway bar, would that be necessary? I'm sure it would never hurt, but just wondering if in this instance it would be a must have.

[Lynn Peters]

We have a KIA Sedona 06 that I'm getting ready to setup as a second TV for our 13 Scamp. The nice class III hitches appear to only be six bolts and seem very simple to install so I may order one and try it myself. Already have the brake controller additional hookup for our Prodigy so we can swap the brake controller back and forth between vehicles. That is all we will need since it is a 13.

I'd like to hear from some of the towing guru's as well about the sway bar for the 16 with the KIA setup since we may be in a 16 someday. Seems the KIA would be well suited to a 16 without all the sway bar, would that be necessary? I'm sure it would never hurt, but just wondering if in this instance it would be a must have.

The Kia dealer didn't seem to think I'd need a sway bar, nor did the shop that will install the hitch. The local DOT weigh station is going to help me weigh it when it is done. If anything, it will be slightly nose-down so that should help a bit.

[Pete Dumbleton]

If a friction sway control bar is NECESSARY, you have a fundamental problem that needs fixing, esp when you consider that the sway control should be disconnected when the road surface is slippery with rain, snow/ice or loose gravel.

The friction sway control bar is an adjunct piece of equipment, not a primary piece of equipment.

[Bill MacDermod]

I need some advice from you knowledgeable folks! I sold my pickup 'cause I couldn't afford to feed it and am now driving an '05 Kia Sedona minivan. I still have my Scamp 16'SD and would like to keep it. I haven't put a hitch or brake controller on the Sedona yet and need some information about what kind of setup I'd need.

The Sedona is front wheel drive, has a 3.8l V-6 and a tow rating of 3500#. Would I need any sort of stabilizing bars? Any special stuff? This will be an expensive procedure and I want to get it right! Thanks. . . .

We tow with an Odyssey with about the same specs, I added a brake control, power steering cooler, (because with a WDH the front wheels get a bunch more weight thrown on them and the 3rd generation Ody's have P/S issues.) tranny cooler. and a single bar WDH. I use a friction anti sway bar but like Robert, I can't see how anything that some folks say "don't leave home without it" when it can't be used under slick conditions and you should take it off when backing up. I use it because it came with the trailer when I bought it and I got sick of everyone lecturing me about the reason I should use one so it makes for a more stress relieving arrival.

[Frederick L. Simson]

[b]The Sedona is front wheel drive, has a 3.8l V-6 and a tow rating of 3500#.

Would I need any sort of [b]stabilizing bars? Any special stuff?

"Stabilizing Bar[b]s" is an inaccurate term. I think I have an idea of what you want, but you have to learn the terminology.
If you have observed a pair of bars chained up below the hitch triangle, they are called [b]Weight Distribution Hitch Spring Arms.
They come in 2 styles:

1. Trunnion
2. Round Bar

[b]WARNING!!!
The most commonly found systems START at 600# hitch weight AND GO UP. You don't want that!
You want to match your [b]Weight Distributing Hitch components to your[b] Tongue Weight,
which is (for hitch buying purposes) 10% of your Sedona's tow rating, or [b]350#.
This narrows your search considerably, to one of only two choices:
Single-Arm Round Bar (400#)
Mini-Lite Trunnion Set (350#)
These will require that the receiver mounted to the Sedona is a 2" Class II Receiver
Do [b]not get a 1-1/4" Class II Receiver.

[Lynn Peters]

"Stabilizing Bar[b]s" is an inaccurate term. I think I have an idea of what you want, but you have to learn the terminology.
If you have observed a pair of bars chained up below the hitch triangle, they are called [b]Weight Distribution Hitch Spring Arms.
They come in 2 styles:

1. Trunnion
2. Round Bar

[b]WARNING!!!
The most commonly found systems START at 600# hitch weight AND GO UP. You don't want that!
You want to match your [b]Weight Distributing Hitch components to your[b] Tongue Weight,
which is (for hitch buying purposes) 10% of your Sedona's tow rating, or [b]350#.
This narrows your search considerably, to one of only two choices:
Single-Arm Round Bar (400#)
Mini-Lite Trunnion Set (350#)
These will require that the receiver mounted to the Sedona is a 2" Class II Receiver
Do [b]not get a 1-1/4" Class II Receiver.

Thanks, Frederick. The plan is for a Class III (same price) 2" receiver. Then I will go to the scale and weigh and take a test run around the valley - up and down hills. If I should need any anti-sway stuff I will install it before I hit the road. I don't usually take water and my passengers are about 70# of dogs! Weight shouldn't be a real issue. Thanks again for the info - I knew you'd come through!!

[Bryan L.]

This was a good thread. I am going to look at an '05 Kia Sedona myself tomorrow night. We currently have a Scamp 16' and a Town and Country minivan. The van was getting up there in the mileage department and the towing capacity is only 2000 pounds since it does not have the factory installed towing package. The Kia appealed to me because of its towing capabilities and affordability. This will be our first summer with the trailer and I didn't want to be pushing my luck with the Town and Country.