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?

towing new boat
 

Mike wrote:
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?


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.

towing new boat
 

"Mike" wrote in message
oups.com...
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?


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

towing new boat
 

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.

towing new boat
 

"Mike" wrote in message
ups.com...
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.


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

towing new boat
 

On Thu, 09 Mar 2006 11:30:43 GMT, Shortwave Sportfishing
wrote:

Go slow, but even at that, not a great idea. That's a lot for a small
Blazer.

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.

towing new boat
 

Wayne.B wrote:
On Thu, 09 Mar 2006 11:30:43 GMT, Shortwave Sportfishing
wrote:

Go slow, but even at that, not a great idea. That's a lot for a small
Blazer.

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.

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

"That's my story and I am sticking to it."

towing new boat
 

Danlw wrote:
"Mike" wrote in message
oups.com...

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?



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



I assumed he meant surge hydraulic brakes on the trailer, but that's
just a guess.

towing new boat
 

Mike wrote:
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.



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.

towing new boat
 

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
"Don White" wrote in message
...
Mike wrote:
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.



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.

towing new boat
 

towing new boat
 

Fred Dehl wrote:
"Mike" wrote in
oups.com:


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?


Uhhh... find out how much the boat weighs?

And the trailer - togather.

It's not all about moving foward - But stopping as well.

Capt Jack r..

towing new boat
 

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.

towing new boat
 

"Reggie Smithers" wrote in message
...
Wayne.B wrote:
On Thu, 09 Mar 2006 11:30:43 GMT, Shortwave Sportfishing
wrote:

Go slow, but even at that, not a great idea. That's a lot for a small
Blazer.

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.

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

"That's my story and I am sticking to it."

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.

towing new boat
 

If you have mostly expressway and can do the trip with light traffic and
don't need to strain the engine/transmission you should be ok. As other
people have said, don't lug the engine/trans in overdrive. I'm not familiar
with pneumatic (air)brakes on a boat trailer. Are you sure they're not
hydraulic? It would be highly advisable that you have them working. Be
prepared for the possibility of loss of control due to swaying of the
vehicle/trailer. You may not be able to safely go over 50-55mph. I would
recommend around 300lbs tongue weight. (The usual 10% is probably too much
on the back end of your Blazer making the front end too light.)
LD
"Mike" wrote in message
oups.com...
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?

towing new boat
 

"LD" wrote in message
...

If you have mostly expressway and can do the trip with light traffic and
don't need to strain the engine/transmission you should be ok. As other
people have said, don't lug the engine/trans in overdrive. I'm not
familiar
with pneumatic (air)brakes on a boat trailer. Are you sure they're not
hydraulic? It would be highly advisable that you have them working. Be
prepared for the possibility of loss of control due to swaying of the
vehicle/trailer. You may not be able to safely go over 50-55mph. I would
recommend around 300lbs tongue weight. (The usual 10% is probably too
much
on the back end of your Blazer making the front end too light.)
LD
"Mike" wrote in message
oups.com...
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?




Bad advice.

RCE