towing new boat
I have a chevy blazer 4 door 4.3l V6. I have a class 3 hitch on it. I
am going to tow a boat with trailer and pneumatic brakes to my house in
PA from Baltimore city. Then I will tow it to a farm close to lake
raystown, about 5-10 miles. Is this Blazer enough? I have heard the
V6 will do it, but it may be a bit slow (40-45 miles) on hills, but
would not hurt transmission and blazer. Any suggestions? |
Mike
Mar 8
2006
|
| Being a person who towed a 4400# boat / trailer with a 1996 S10 Blazer 4x4.
Only problem with the vehicle was a broken rear tranny. Crush bearing went
bad. I towed to a 4400' elevation lake. You are not going to speed up the
hills, but the vehicle seemed to tow ok and I did not have problems with
sway on the freeway. With the crappy brakes on the blazer, it actually
stopped better with the trailer and brakes that I kept in good working
order. |
CalifBill
Mar 10
|
| And the trailer - togather. It's not all about moving foward - But stopping as well. Capt Jack r.. |
Jack
Mar 10
|
| Google says for 2004 Blazer V6 - Weights: gross vehicle weight rating
(lbs) 5,000, curb weight (lbs) 3,792, gross trailer weight braked (lbs)
5,500 and max payload (lbs) 1,208. Now, if it was me, I'd have a transmission cooler installed. |
bowgus
Mar 9
|
| I assumed he meant surge hydraulic brakes on the trailer, but that's
just a guess. |
Don
Mar 9
|
| Ouch! Even if your Blazer is rated for 5000 lbs...they recommend you don't tow
anymore than 80% of your capacity as a safety factor.
That would drop you down to a 4000 lb safe tow.
The question is...is your vehicle rated for 6500 lbs?
The dealer can check this out and if not... I'd keep my trips short &
sweet under the speed limit. |
Don
Mar 9
|
| Mike, Surely you have a friend with a pickup rated for over the load you intend to
tow? If you are going to be towing this load regularly buy an older (or new if
it's affordable) 1/2 ton pickup with tow package. It'll tow your
boat/trailer well and you'll surely find it useful for other tasks as well. Don't use the Blazer to tow that load. |
Butch
Mar 9
|
| Thats alot of trailer for a little Blazer to control.
And you will lekly need some extensison mirrors to see anything past
the front of the trailer. |
jonett6
Mar 9
|
| Not to mention installing a 'transmission cooler'. That's the first
thing I did when I was planning a 2500 km round trip to pick up my
Sandpiper 565. |
Don
Mar 9
|
| What's the tow weight? Keep the transmission out of OD, downshift manually when going up a long
steep grade, and stay under 60 mph. |
Harry
Mar 8
|
| Uhhh... find out how much the boat weighs? |
Fred
Mar 9
|
| Do you know the weight of boat/trailer combo? I'm guessing over 3000
lbs if the trailer has brakes.
What is your Blazer rated to tow? I would guess at least 3500 lbs.
Are those brakes seized from sitting around, have the hubs been greased
lately etc, etc. |
Don
Mar 9
|
| On 8 Mar 2006 16:46:35 -0800, Mike penned the following well |
Gene
Mar 9
|
| Pneumatic brakes?? I don't think a Blazer is going to have air for trailer
brakes. Maybe there are there electric over air brakes, but I have not seen
any, only electic over hydrolic. Good luck! Dan |
Danlw
Mar 8
|
| My boat/trailer is about 4500 lbs. Not sure about transmission other
than brand new Jasper transmission about 4000 miles ago. Have
appointment to put new brakes on next week, brand new ball joints about
4-5k ago. |
Mike
Mar 8
|
| Your Blazer is not a good choice of a long distance highway tow vehicle for
4500 lbs. You may mechanically make it, but it's not safe. Just MHO, sprinkled with a good amount of long distance towing experience in
the past few years. RCE |
RCE
Mar 9
|
| Go slow, but even at that, not a great idea. That's a lot for a small
Blazer. |
Shortwave
Mar 9
|
| I agree, way too much boat and trailer for highway speed. You're not
going to have enough power to accelerate into traffic, the wheelbase
is too short to control trailer sway, the brakes will be marginal at
best, and the tongue weight may be high enough to change the handling
characteristics of the Blazer. |
Wayne.B
Mar 9
|
| Not only that, but even if he is able to make the trip safely, it will
have a serious impact on his transmission, brakes and rotors. It would
be cheaper to rent a truck heavy enough to safely tow the boat.
|
Reggie
Mar 9
|
