Anyone tow large trailers with their Blazers/Jimmys?

[hemi43]

This topic was mentioned on the gear ratio thread so I thought I would start a new thread .
I just sold my street rod in order to build a Blazer, and the main reason was to be able to tow a trailer when my Son and I go to shows. I towed a Coleman Switchback pop-up trailer as well as a teardrop trailer behind my street rod for years, but now that my Son is taller than me we wanted something larger and more comfortable.
I realize the Blazer is not the ideal tow vehicle because of it's short wheelbase, so I figured I'd ask the members here what their thought on the subject was.
I currently own a 27 foot travel trailer which has a dry weight of 4000 lbs, so realistically I'd be towing around 5000lbs loaded.
Power wont be the issue, but concerned about the handling. I will be using a load distributing hitch as well as an anti-sway bar.
Thanks, Dan

BTW, here's the car and trailer that I sold.

[jobrla]

Couldn't tell ya yes or no, all I can say is I have towed trailers that shouldn't even be towed wit a 1 ton. I have never had a issue with the tow aspect. The turbo 350 tranny held up as well as the gears. I would sugest a trailer brake. Poor old blazer was hurting on the stops

[partsstoreguy]

in my opinion I believe that a blazer should be able to tow anything that you might pull with a short bed 1/2 pickup with ease. the wheelbase difference isn't really enough to be noticed

[Bladeboy1998]

Originally Posted by jobrla

Couldn't tell ya yes or no, all I can say is I have towed trailers that shouldn't even be towed wit a 1 ton. I have never had a issue with the tow aspect. The turbo 350 tranny held up as well as the gears. I would sugest a trailer brake. Poor old blazer was hurting on the stops

Lol, I was thinking the same thing, I've hauled and towed stuff with my 2500hd that shouldnt be hauled with a 1 ton, for example, 4 ton of gravel and a backhoe at the same time, it only squatted 3 inches! That poor f350 squatted with just the stone!

Sorry for the derail, lol

[BobbyK]

Well it wasn't big (5'x8') but it was loaded to the top with house stuff.
Santa Barbara, California to Flagstaff,Az with no problems.




A 27' trailer though... definitely a load distributing hitch and good brakes on the trailer.

[dubds10]

They can tow whatever provided you have the power & good springs out back & brakes etc of course lol. Most I towed was probably 10-12,000lbs with my '72 K5. It did lots of 6-8,000lbs trips without issue.

Longest trailer was our 24' equipment hauler, heaviest was our 16' dump trailer which is 7-8,000lbs empty I believe.

[dubds10]

Regular dump trailer with scrap metal came in around 12,000lbs I think. Luckily it was a short drive. I put extra leafs in the rear to be able to handle the weight though, the stock springs didn't cut it for heavy hauling. This my daily driver and hauler as my work trucks were always busy on sites.

[72gmguy]

Years ago I towed a 22 foot boat 75-100 miles every other weekend with my 72 blazer and it was great. I would suggest at least front disc brakes. I tried to tow with my 70 blazer with drums and bad rocker boxes and was much more difficult than the solid 72.

[RustyBucket]

... just moved it around the yard with the Jimmy. Trailer was loaded way nose heavy so it really squashed the Jimmy down pretty far.

[robs71k5]

I have a pretty long tungue here it tows ok but could use some more pony's its a 383 mild cam. It trails pretty nice but higher speeds not a good idea. Boat weighing in at 5000lb . Thankfully I don't need to go far to the boat ramp

[2003 silverado]

Electric Brakes no matter, 8000lbs pushing 3600? NOT GOOD