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Old 02-23-2015, 10:49 PM   #1
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Friend pulling with trailblazer

Hey everyone, been awhile since I've posted but I wanted to get some opinions on a towing issue. I have a buddy that just bought a 2000 ish 27' prowler weighing 5500lbs dry. He is going to be towing with a 2003 trailblazer with the I6 and let's assume 342 gears. Is this at all safe? I told him to immediately buy an equalizer hitch and brake controller. He says it tows great but all he has done is tow it home maybe 15 miles. My current whitehawk 28dsbh weighs 5600 lbs and I'm thankfull that I have a 3/4 ton to pull it with. Maybe it's just me but I would think he would be over his max limit gvwr.
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Old 02-24-2015, 05:45 AM   #2
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Hey everyone, been awhile since I've posted but I wanted to get some opinions on a towing issue. I have a buddy that just bought a 2000 ish 27' prowler weighing 5500lbs dry. He is going to be towing with a 2003 trailblazer with the I6 and let's assume 342 gears. Is this at all safe? I told him to immediately buy an equalizer hitch and brake controller. He says it tows great but all he has done is tow it home maybe 15 miles. My current whitehawk 28dsbh weighs 5600 lbs and I'm thankfull that I have a 3/4 ton to pull it with. Maybe it's just me but I would think he would be over his max limit gvwr.
2003 Chevrolet TrailBlazer LS 4dr SUV 4.2L 6-cyl. 4-speed Automatic Features and Specs

Shows a 03 trailblazer has a tow cap of 6300lbs MAX

IMO - it's REAL close - closer than I would feel comfortable with. - A 03 Silvarado/Sierra 1500 would do much better - a 2500 would be best, a 3500 would be overkill and you would never know the thing is hooked up.
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Old 02-24-2015, 06:02 AM   #3
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Maximum tow for my wife's 2004 is listed at 6300 lbs.

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Old 02-24-2015, 07:27 AM   #4
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My Trailblazer SS is rated for 6600 lbs but the only thing it hauls is ass !!!
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Old 02-24-2015, 07:49 AM   #5
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I want to stay tuned to this thread. My wife has the GMC Envoy which the same as Trailblazer. I have thought about pulling our 27BHS but get to gun shy when it's that close to limits.
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Old 02-24-2015, 08:02 AM   #6
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My Trailblazer SS is rated for 6600 lbs but the only thing it hauls is ass !!!
Thank you, I really did LOL!!
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Old 02-24-2015, 08:04 AM   #7
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While the weight appears to be close, I think he should be more concerned about length. Towing a long trailer with a short wheelbase vehicle can get you into a "Tail wagging the dog" situation which could result in this:
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Old 02-24-2015, 08:28 AM   #8
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I used to tow tow with an '03 Trailblazer, I6, 3:42, 4WD EXT. My towing capacity was 4900#. But...

First things first, ignore the dry weight. No one tows anything at the dry weight. Once options are added and his "stuff", it's a fair bet that trailer will weigh 6500#+ with an 850# tongue weight. Those are the kinds of numbers you have to think about.

Also ignore what the online sources say. Get it right, this is too important to guess at. Everything he needs to know about that truck's exact specs is in 3 places, his owners manual, the RPO sticker in the glove box, and the weight sticker in the door jamb. There were 3 gear sets available for GMT360/380s, look for one of the following RPO codes: GU6 = 3:42, GT4 = 3:73, GT5 = 4:10. Very few I6s had 4:10 gears. Most have 3:42s.

Towing capacity and payload are also determined by 4WD vs. 2WD, and EXT vs standard length. The payload of that truck is likely less than 1100#. Assuming a loaded tongue weight of 850#, that leaves about 200# for his family and their stuff. Not much room for anything inside the truck. I believe the GCWR is 11000#, but again, the owners manual has the most accurate information on this.

BTW, the W/D limit of the hitch is 970#, DO NOT go by the sticker on the hitch. That's for the hitch itself, not considering the vehicle it's attached to.

We towed our X20E with our Trailblazer for one season. The X20E has a GVWR of 4750#. Yes, it "towed fine". But it got about 8mpg (our Sierra gets 10.5 or so towing the same trailer), struggled in the wind, and no way would I have towed with it on longer trips or in mountains. It was at the max I would ever consider towing with a Trailblazer. Your friend's trailer is going to be about 2000# heavier and is several feet longer than my X20E.

We sold our Trailblazer in part because it had a lot of miles on it, and in part because it was marginal at best for towing our X20E. Towing our trailer with our Sierra is a real pleasure. Rightsizing your trailer/TV combo makes all the difference in the world. BTW, our Trailblazer was great when towing our old Kiwi 17A, a 3500# GVWR trailer.

So all in all, I see this as a really bad combination. Set up properly he'll be safe if he does short trips on mostly flat terrain. Anything else will be an unpleasant experience at best. He'll be replacing that Trailblazer in less than a year.
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Old 02-24-2015, 08:48 AM   #9
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We towed a 4400 lb hybrid with a 1/2 ton Avalanche with 5.3 liter and 4.10 gears rated for 8200 lbs and it was at redline on any hills at all struggling. I could not imagine towing more with less.
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Old 02-24-2015, 09:01 AM   #10
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We towed a 4400 lb hybrid with a 1/2 ton Avalanche with 5.3 liter and 4.10 gears rated for 8200 lbs and it was at redline on any hills at all struggling.
This tells me there was something wrong with that truck, clogged CAT perhaps? That should have been a great combination. My K1500 Sierra has 3:73 gears, 5.3, and tows our 4700# X20E like dream. It hardly ever downshifts.
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Old 02-24-2015, 09:15 AM   #11
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It sounds like he will be close to the max tow weight. That suggests he will be over the Rear GAWR. A quick trip to the CAT Scale will tell the truth.
The CAT Scale is your friend.
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Old 02-24-2015, 09:15 AM   #12
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We had the same Trailblazer when we got our first Jayco 22ft., and I knew before I got home from the dealer that it just wasn't going to cut it. Flat level ground, it did fine, but on a hill, it literally killed it. And we don't have much flat level ground around here. We upgraded then to a 1500 Silverado 5.3.
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Old 02-24-2015, 09:28 AM   #13
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My $.02.

I have towed with "Small" pick ups and suv's all the way to 1 tons. Some of my best towing experiances were towing with the small SUV. One of my worst experiances was towing with our 3/4 ton diesel. IMO, its all about how you have it set up and how fast you travel.

It makes it a whole lot easier to not go 80mph when towing with a small suv or truck.

I used our 3/4 ton a couple years back and vow'ed I would NEVER tow our 24' 242 Eagle with it again. That camper and truck was all over the road for my 3 hour trip. Now, hooking up to my folks 5th wheel with it is a whole differant story. You could nap while towing it.

I now tow our 314 bhs eagle with my Tahoe. Its a lot of camper and im sure i am slightly overweight, BUT, rarely do we travel more than 60mph when towing. I run load range D tires on the tahoe and sway control to help keep things straight. It tows nice and I wouldn't heasitate to go anywhere with it

I think your buddy will be fine with their set up. Just remind them to take their time to get to their destinations and keep the trans out of overdrive and as long as their paying attention while towing (which most people dont when just driving) they will most likely not have any problems.
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Old 02-24-2015, 09:50 AM   #14
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If GM is like other manufacturers where the tongue weight limit is equal to about 10% of the tow rating (e.g. 630 lbs), your friend may already be over the tongue limit of the Trailblazer, even dry.
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Old 02-24-2015, 10:30 AM   #15
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I would rather tow any day of the week at 70% or less of gross than 95% to 110% of GVRW. What happens when you are booking along at 60mph with the DW, kids and fido if you have to do 60- zero in 5 seconds? Give me a big set of brakes, an equalizer and a little more truck!

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Old 02-24-2015, 10:34 AM   #16
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If GM is like other manufacturers where the tongue weight limit is equal to about 10% of the tow rating (e.g. 630 lbs), your friend may already be over the tongue limit of the Trailblazer, even dry.
??? I've never heard that one before. GM has tongue weight specs for the Trailblazer, as I said in my earlier post, it's 970# with W/D hitch for this truck.
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Old 02-24-2015, 12:38 PM   #17
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This tells me there was something wrong with that truck, clogged CAT perhaps? That should have been a great combination. My K1500 Sierra has 3:73 gears, 5.3, and tows our 4700# X20E like dream. It hardly ever downshifts.
No, she was tip top. Just a lot of hills around me in central NY. Mostly it was fine, just the steeper ones. My block alone people get stuck trying to make it up in the winter without awd. My point being, unless you live and camp where its flat, I would not want that Trailblazer setup. Your results may vary.
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Old 02-24-2015, 03:47 PM   #18
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??? I've never heard that one before. GM has tongue weight specs for the Trailblazer, as I said in my earlier post, it's 970# with W/D hitch for this truck.
Aaahhh..didn't see that. Some manufacturers, like our Nissan Pathfinder, spec the tow rating at 600/6000, and for the 3500lbs tow capacity crowd, will spec it at 350/3500.
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Old 02-24-2015, 03:58 PM   #19
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Another factor to think about is insurance coverage - IF - you tow overweight and, god forbid, have an accident it's a good bet the insurance adjuster will have the weight specs and deny your coverage for operating out of the Vehicle specifications - towing overweight is just too much risk for me.
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Old 02-24-2015, 04:01 PM   #20
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I've hauled 30 bags of mulch in my 2003 TB, which was 1200+ pounds. I cant imagine the same type of weight on the hitch and people in the back seat with a trailer behind.It is just not enough truck for the job.
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