Towing a trailer.

[darieus07]

No electric brake controller on ANY Palisade; you'd have to buy one... along with the Kia harness. I have a 2021 Calligraphy too, and all you get is the rear leveling shocks, and the extra cooling capacity. And of course the empty connectors for the trailer lights at the back, and the brake controller in the front.

Thank you. It appears you have done the research. I will look into the required system.

Everything else tow kit, harness and 7 pin installed. I will have to figure out the braking piece of the equation. Thanks again.

 

[Packard8]

Is the tow package part of the Calligraphy trim or must be ordered separately. Thanks

 

[tihamilt]

Thank you all for the feedback. I also bought the Curt hitch unit and really like the resulting clean look. I doubt if I will need the brake controller since I mainly need for the hitch to pull a 19' boat & trailer, which I very rarely need to trailer. I ordered the wiring kit from E-Trailer and am awaiting delivery to complete the installation.

thanks again for all the guidance!

 

[elp_jc]

Is the tow package part of the Calligraphy trim or must be ordered separately. Thanks

It's my understanding that ALL Palisades have both the 'auto leveling rear suspension' (POWERTRAIN TECHNOLOGY), and 'Trailering pkg (pre-wiring, transmission cooler, sway control)' (EXTERIOR). But to make sure, look at the window sticker under those 2 sections (in capitals) for those features.

 

[Azdriver]

My new hitch arrives tomorrow (Curt #13427/e95ZR) from eTrailer and looking forward to the install. I have the 7-pin plug n play set-up from Kia (#AC500) for the rear and the 4-pin brake controller harness (#AC060)for the interior. I already have the RedArc Tow Pro Elite that I will install for brake controller. This will tow a 22 foot camper trailer with a dry weight of about 3500lbs; loaded will travel with no more than 4000lbs. I will also put on a weight distribution/sway control system (likely the Andersen #3380) to optimize safety and performance. I am very comfortable that this set up will provide a great towing experience with my 2021 Calligraphy AWD. Total cost for the towing system will be about $1200.

Where did you mount the 7 pin female plug on you Palisade, I have a Curt hitch also but don’t know where to have plug located

 

[Azdriver]

Where did you mount the 7 pin female plug on you Palisade, I have a Curt hitch also but don’t know where to have plug located

 

[PK75]

I have not done this part yet. I have my brake controller completed but had to put the hitch itself aside for a bit. When I do the install, I will likely use the Curt 58000 product. I think you can get this at Walmart or Home Depot; or etrailer. Honestly though I would prefer to find something that I can use as a mount to tuck the female end of the plug further up under the bumper.

 

[Azdriver]

I have not done this part yet. I have my brake controller completed but had to put the hitch itself aside for a bit. When I do the install, I will likely use the Curt 58000 product. I think you can get this at Walmart or Home Depot; or etrailer. Honestly though I would prefer to find something that I can use as a mount to tuck the female end of the plug further up under the bumper.

Thanks for the reply! Will get that. Not much to attach a bracket to under bumper. All plastic and curved inward to make the back end look nice. That’s why I asked, will post a pic in a few days with completed product.

 

[elp_jc]

That giant plug is not going to look pretty at all exposed, at least without being integrated (like on the Telluride with optional -real- hitch package). I'd also hide it out of view, with a large zip-tie like 6" behind, and then a velcro strap, to be able to quickly drop it, with the zip-tie preventing to undo the harness routing.

 

[Zenar]

Yep. Was going to go with the OEM accessory hitch, but it's hideous. So went with the much cleaner looking Curt alternative, along with their much cheaper (and also plug and play) 4-pin harness, since I'll never tow anything larger than a single motorcycle trailer, and maybe a small U-Haul utility trailer. Besides, larger utility trailers (like a medium size one ), have surge brakes (if at all), not electric, so no need for a brake controller, in my case. But if I needed one, I'd probably install an 'invisible' Bluetooth unit, like the one E-trailer sells, to make it fully reversible. I bought everything from E-trailer, by the way. Best prices I found. Good luck.

I had the exact same hitch on my sante fe, it was ugly. But even uglier once it starts rusting and looks like complete shit in 3 years.

 

[tjd5635]

My new hitch arrives tomorrow (Curt #13427/e95ZR) from eTrailer and looking forward to the install. I have the 7-pin plug n play set-up from Kia (#AC500) for the rear and the 4-pin brake controller harness (#AC060)for the interior. I already have the RedArc Tow Pro Elite that I will install for brake controller. This will tow a 22 foot camper trailer with a dry weight of about 3500lbs; loaded will travel with no more than 4000lbs. I will also put on a weight distribution/sway control system (likely the Andersen #3380) to optimize safety and performance. I am very comfortable that this set up will provide a great towing experience with my 2021 Calligraphy AWD. Total cost for the towing system will be about $1200.

Can you tell me where in the interior you installed your RedArc controller and switch?

 

[PK75]

Can you tell me where in the interior you installed your RedArc controller and switch?

Hi, I mounted the controller vertically on the inside firewall of the cabin, like hanging a picture frame. There is a space that is flat and big enough to place the unit; the firewall is covered in the black light-weight carpet and has a thin pad underneath before you get to metal. So I used self-tapping screws about an 1" long and tapped through the carpet/pad, twisting them in with my fingers until I hit the metal and then mounted them securely in that wall using a Philips head screw driver; my neck and back hurt for days after .... I only used two crews in the bottom mounting bracket fo the controller, one on each side; I could not get screws into the top bracket. I also placed two-sided adhesive tape (Scotch pads from Dollar Tree) on the back of the controller so when I placed it in position the tape grabbed the carpet and provides additional adhesion. I mounted it about four months ago and it has held in place just fine.

For the switch, I mounted it into the removable interior fuse panel cover. I placed in the upper left hand corner of the fuse cover. I placed it there so that I could see it and reach it easily with my left hand as I would watch the trailer in the outside rearview mirror. If I ever sell the vehicle I can easily buy a replacement fuse cover and remove the RedArc. Good luck!

 

[ScottInCarmel]

My new hitch arrives tomorrow (Curt #13427/e95ZR) from eTrailer and looking forward to the install. I have the 7-pin plug n play set-up from Kia (#AC500) for the rear and the 4-pin brake controller harness (#AC060)for the interior. I already have the RedArc Tow Pro Elite that I will install for brake controller. This will tow a 22 foot camper trailer with a dry weight of about 3500lbs; loaded will travel with no more than 4000lbs. I will also put on a weight distribution/sway control system (likely the Andersen #3380) to optimize safety and performance. I am very comfortable that this set up will provide a great towing experience with my 2021 Calligraphy AWD. Total cost for the towing system will be about $1200.

How has this turned out? I’m considering a very similar setup.

 

[PK75]

Big procrastinator here lol, haven't finished but have all the parts ... I installed the brake controller and quite happy with the set up but haven't had a need to install the hitch yet so haven't done that. I see the hitch and rear wiring as just plug and play it is so simple. My big concern was wiring the controller and getting the main box unit installed under the dash; and happy to have that done with no problem.