Kia Rondo as Tow Vehicle

[Booker B.]

I have never seen mention of this vehicle on this the forum so I thought I would bring it to everyone's attention. When I was looking for our new TV this spring I needed to find a 4wd for our snowy conditions thus we ended up with a Subaru.

However, the Kia Rondo fit all of our needs. It can fit 6 people (packing extra kids to soccer games), has a great warranty, gets really good reviews, in 4cyl can do 1500lbs and in 6cyl can do 2000lbs. Best of all, it has great gas mileage - though prices have dropped now when the economy kicks back on in 2010 oil prices will be higher then ever.

Would I tow my Trillium across Canada with this? Maybe not, but for people with a couple of kids doing trips to their local campgrounds it seemed like the perfect fit.

.. and that's my two bits.

[Booker B.]

Whoops, seats 7 - that's like 6 + 1

[Kurt & Ann K.]

Biggest problem with a Kia, is finding a dealer. Many have closed.
Kurt & Ann K.

[Cam A]

Kia seems to be doing well in Canada.

[Pete Dumbleton]

I have always marveled that Kia can actually sell a product whose name is the acronym for 'Killed In Action'....

[Booker B.]

Well, there you go, what about that - I never noticed. Mind you 'Found On Road Dead' never stopped me from buying our ford wagon =)

[Donna D.]

Mind you 'Found On Road Dead' never stopped me from buying our ford wagon =)

No, no, no... that's First On Race Day! My employer: Con-way Racing

[Daniel V.]

I needed to find a 4wd for our snowy conditions thus we ended up with a Subaru.

Still Usable But All Rusted Underneath.

I'm glad I didn't get the... Made At Zoo by Demented Apes

(more fun here)

[Pete Dumbleton]

FORD - Fix Or Repair Daily
FIAT - Fix It Again Tony

I refer to ballcaps, etc., as FORD caps (Found On Road Dead)

And then there is plain, fresh roadkill -- The rats and I have enjoyed fresh Squirrel Jambalya that way!

[james kent]

Roadkill left on the road too long is a UFO
"Unidentifiable Flat Object"

[Roger C H]

And then there is plain, fresh roadkill -- The rats and I have enjoyed fresh Squirrel Jambalya that way!

Why bother? Just take it here:

http://www.route66seligmanarizona.co...dkill_Cafe.php



BTW, the Kia Rondo is only rated for towing 1000#. My VW Golf has this rating!

http://www.kia.com/rondo/rondo-specs.php

The SPORTAGE has the 1500/2000# rating

http://www.kia.com/sportage/sportage-specs.php

The names across the top of the page seem to be ordered by towing capacity, left (most) to right (least). With the cars having none, only the SUV, crossover and van.

[Booker B.]

Hmm, maybe it's a Canadian/American difference as the specs are pretty clear about towing capacity on the Canadian site:

http://www.kia.ca/cars/features/rondo

[Tom Trostel]

I can only find a Class I hitch (etrailer.com) and without a Class III hitch there is no WDH. Also, no Air Lift bags are listed to help firm up the rear suspension. Really limits towing to very light trailers IMHO.

Do you like my edit?

[Pete Dumbleton]

I have found that, like salespersons, internet vehicle specs should be verified in the Owner's Manual before investment.

Just a reminder, remember that air shocks, air springs and overload springs do stiffen the ride of a vehicle but do NOTHING to correct the weights -- They merely jack up the rear body with no discernible effect on the suspension, esp the front end -- You could get the same leveling effect by inserting a 2x4 wedge between the rear springs and frame...

Don't believe it? First, read the fine print on Air Springs and what the manf says not to expect -- Next, find someone with air springs or air shocks, park the vehicle on a split-platform scale and air the suckers up and down, watching the weight on the front end.

These things have their uses, but transferring rear axle weights to the front is not one of them.

[CD Smith]

You are absolute correct Pete.

On my Escalade which has an automatic leveling system, the air shocks did indeed return the Excalade to level after adding the 450 pound hitch weight. The problem was that a 550 pound load was added to the rear axle and 100 pounds was subtracted from the front axle (based on actual weights).

I now use a WDH. It doesen't completely compensate for this weight distribution, but it does balance it out a little better.

[Pete Dumbleton]

I put Firestone Ride-Rite air bags on my old Dodge truck, replacing 16-year old air shocks -- The axle stud the shocks were attached to was bent so far I was surprised it hadn't broken.

Lots of problems with air bags -- One leaked, so I was constantly having to air it up -- If you go for anything that lifts the frame, you must empty the bags before lifting and then pump up the bags before driving -- Failure to do either may result in damage to the bag -- On my half-ton Dodge truck, it was hard to keep the minimum pressure without getting a harsh ride (Air bags are springs, not shocks).

If I ever want to have overload compensation in future, it will be with the overload springs that only come into play when a load is greater than the stock springs -- Also, they will be a lot less expensive!

[Booker B.]

I started this thread mainly to point out another possible vehicle for people in my families situation. Generalizing here - I find there are two trains of thoughts when it comes to tow vehicles here on FGRV.

First, there are people who believe you should have a tow vehicle that well exceeds the trailer specs so there is a good margin of safety when towing - for example Pete likes to pull his Scamp with a full size dodge truck. He can pull that trailer across the country and the truck would hardly notice it.

On the other hand there are people (like myself) who use their TV as their primary vehicle and cannot justify having a large vehicle that is under utilized when they aren't towing - probably less then 5% of my miles will be towing. Most urban dwellers would have no use for a full size truck in the city and even a mini-van might be overkill.

There is no question the Rondo falls into the latter category but for a family who has a 13' with trailer brakes this might be a good choice.

[Pete Dumbleton]

You are right!

However, in a sense you are wrong -- My full-sized 82 Dodge D150 truck had a tow capacity of only 2,000 lbs and for my first three years of full-timing I was ignorantly pulling a Jayco 16' that had to have weighed about 2,400 lbs with my gear in it, plus a lot of extra stuf in the truck bed.

I believe the limit on the truck was the small manual clutch -- The engine was the venerable Slant-Six, but even with the 318 V8, the limit was still 2K -- With the V8 and an auto trans the limit became 3.5K.

I had to have several clutch jobs done, plus replace the main bearings -- When I got rid of the truck, it had a blown head gasket and one of the piston rods was very worn and making a lot of noise -- The truck only had 215K miles on it -- Had I not been towing, esp over the limit, I would have expected to get 300K and more out of that engine...

Also, on a wet gravel road in BC, I had the trailer slide out and yank the truck like you wouldn't believe (1,700 vs 4,500 lbs!) -- I realized that I had a lot of weight in the truck -- So, I moved tools and heavy stuf as far forward as possible, including putting the spare tire on front of truck -- I shortened my overhang by four inches by moving receiver hitch and by shortening ball mount bar -- All became noticeably more stable.

Think about what it means to put a tow vehicle that has a shorter wheelbase and is lighter in front of a 13' Egg on a wet curved gravel road (And I was doing LESS than the speed limit at the time).

Now I have a so-called "small" truck, a '98 Ranger -- It is rated to tow almost three times as much as the Full-sized Truck -- Has a longer wheelbase, bigger 6-cylinder engine with better fuel and ignition system, bigger rear differential, same diff gear ratio but lower gears in transmission and weighs almost as much.

The Devil is indeed in the details...

BTW, the reason I posted about WDH, air springs, etc., was for general information and not for the Rondo -- And Brian B-P informed me that the Owner's Manuals for the CA and US versions do differ in towing capacity, although we don't know why.

[Pete Dumbleton]

I misunderstood what Brian told me -- Here's the straight scoop from him on why the tow capacity specs SEEM to differ:

"The Rondo manual is quite clear, and shows that both web pages are correct: the U.S. page shows the 1000 lb rating for trailers without brakes (and says to refer to the manual, where more detail is available); the Canadian page shows the 2000 lb (for V6) rating for trailers with brakes, and has a footnote to that effect."

I will add that I believe trailer brakes are a good thing!

[Booker B.]

I 3rd the motion... trailer brakes should be standard on all FG's trailers.