02 Trailblazer towing question?

[T_BOLT]

We have a 02 Trailblazer and wanting to upgrade or 8' popup to a larger HW popup. Have narrowed it down to either the Forest River HW29SC or HW27KS and would like to know everyone's thought on the Trailblazer towing one of these. For numbers sake lets use the heaver of the two (HW27SC)

HW27SC specs from website I added the box size as it is a High Wall and have read HW affect handling with SUV and shorter wheel bases:
Hitch Weight..............................359 lb
Axle Weight ..............................2600 lb
Unloaded Vehicle Weight.............2959 lb
Gross Vehicle Weight Rating .......3859 lb
Cargo Carrying Capacity .............882 lb
Box Size ...................................14'

02 Trailblazer Spec:
GVWR .................5750 lb
GAWR RR.............3200 lb
GAWR FRT............2950 lb
Payload ...............1018 lb
MAX Trailer Wt .....5700 lb
GCWR .................10500 lb
Axle Ratio ............3.73

I know I would have to deduct the cargo, people and trailer tongue wt from the Trailblazer GVWR of 5750 lb. I have est with deducting that from the 5750 I would be more close to 4460 Lbs for the GVWR.

If most feel that I could tow the HW27SC, thought on a WD/Sway hitch.

Thanks for any and all help or suggestions in advance!

[cbenslay]

I just answered a similar question... I have a 2005 Trailblazer (4.3L) rated about 5,500 pounds and purchased a Coachmen Catalina 19RD that weighed about 4,200 pounds. I have a weight distributing hitch and sway bar as well.

The Trailblazer will pull the trailer. However, I could only go about 60mph on flat Indiana highways. You definately know the trailer is there! I ended up buying a 2006 Chevy pickup with a 5.3L engine and it made a huge difference. I could go 75 easily if I wanted to and I have no problem with pick up now.

That is my experience only. Maybe my Trailblazer is a weakling!

[bikendan]

you're well within specs but you should get at least a anti-sway bar.
your manual should state what tongue weight requires using a WDH.
if i were you, i get a WDH with built-in sway control.
all your TB's specs are if it has the factory tow package. if it doesn't, you can tow that amount.

[Triguy]

It seems that your TV will pull this trailer, but keep an eye on the TV's Payload of 1,018lbs.

Assuming a tongue weight of about 500lbs, then you are left with about 500lbs for you and your passenger(s) and any cargo carried in the TV.

That's usually not a problem for 2 or 3 people camping, but a family of 4 or 5 could cause you to be overweight on payload.

[T_BOLT]

Originally Posted by Triguy

It seems that your TV will pull this trailer, but keep an eye on the TV's Payload of 1,018lbs.

Assuming a tongue weight of about 500lbs, then you are left with about 500lbs for you and your passenger(s) and any cargo carried in the TV.

That's usually not a problem for 2 or 3 people camping, but a family of 4 or 5 could cause you to be overweight on payload.

I think I will weigh the TV this weekend as if going camping then add the tongue weight. At least I will know excatly what the real weight of TV will be.
It will only be my wife and I plus our Lab which is 90 lbs. plus a few things in the TV.

When I get that weight I would deduct that from the Max Trailer Weight of 5700 lbs and that would be weight of a trailer I could tow, correct?

[T_BOLT]

Originally Posted by bikendan

.....
if i were you, i get a WDH with built-in sway control.
all your TB's specs are if it has the factory tow package. if it doesn't, you can tow that amount.

You have a economical WDH with sway control?

[bikendan]

Originally Posted by T_BOLT

I think I will weigh the TV this weekend as if going camping then add the tongue weight. At least I will know excatly what the real weight of TV will be.
It will only be my wife and I plus our Lab which is 90 lbs. plus a few things in the TV.

When I get that weight I would deduct that from the Max Trailer Weight of 5700 lbs and that would be weight of a trailer I could tow, correct?

no, you deduct the TV's loaded weight from your GCWR. that will give you the most you can tow.
but, remember, most recommend only towing at 80% of your max and you need to pay attention to the tongue/hitch weight. can't use the "dry" tongue weight since that is a fantasy number.

[bikendan]

Originally Posted by T_BOLT

You have a economical WDH with sway control?

i love my Equal-i-zer i got from RVW. it costs about $439 with free shipping, now.

my dealer installed it for free when i picked up my trailer.

since you have to have a brake controller, i recommend a Prodigy, also cheap at RVW.

[Triguy]

Originally Posted by T_BOLT

I think I will weigh the TV this weekend as if going camping then add the tongue weight. At least I will know excatly what the real weight of TV will be.
It will only be my wife and I plus our Lab which is 90 lbs. plus a few things in the TV.

When I get that weight I would deduct that from the Max Trailer Weight of 5700 lbs and that would be weight of a trailer I could tow, correct?

Its good to see you are interested in weighing things first. In this case where you weigh only the truck without the trailer you would just use that figure to help you calculate two numbers: 1) The gross combined vehicle weight (GCVW) of the truck and trailer together, which would show you the max amount of trailer you could tow, and 2) your truck's true payload cap.

GCVW: You can use the TV's actual weight to calculate your GCVW, which is important to make sure you are under the truck's GCWR of 10,500..

10,500 - the actual weight of the vehicle - weight of people and cargo = the max weight of the loaded trailer possible for you to tow.

Payload: TV's GVWR of 5,750 - the actual weight of the vehicle = payload remaining for passengers, cargo, and hitch.

This payload number will usually be smaller than the listed payload of 1,018 since you probably have tools in the truck or if you added after-market accessories to the truck.

[Triguy]

Originally Posted by bikendan

i love my Equal-i-zer i got from RVW. it costs about $439 with free shipping, now.

my dealer installed it for free when i picked up my trailer.

since you have to have a brake controller, i recommend a Prodigy, also cheap at RVW.

X2

[T_BOLT]

Thanks again for the help and I may be back with a few follow up questions to tidy up about the towing once I weigh the TV for the real weight Thanks for all the great information.

I have looked at the WDH and seen it approx a little less than $700. You all have saved me about $300 in suggestion in looking at RV Wholesales.

It is odd that I have researched and looked at all the makes and models that are out there when I considered of upgrading our PUP. After all this looking and research I did I narrow it down to one manufacture and that was Forest River. Once I did that I come to realize that my Trailblazer is not the best suited TV for a Hybrid or TT with the exception of the smallest ones.

With that I got it down to the Forest River HW27KS or the SC.
If the great people here at the Forest River Forum helping in answering all my questions are any indication of what I see of the style and workmanship of the Forest River line I will have nothing but years of great experiences.

[bikendan]

well, don't be hasty and judge FR's quality, by the quality of the members here.

unfortunately, quality is not a common thing in the RV industry, anymore.
it's all about production and being lean. and it's true for all brands unless you're dropping a million down for a custom DP Class A.
but, IMHO, FR products offer the best quality/fit&finish for the best price.
can you find better quality, probably but at a higher price. can you find a better price, maybe but you won't get the quality and features that FR offers.
for me, FR offers a great balance of both issues, price and quality.

i also think that Reese makes a WDH for large popups that is very popular for PUX members. PUX is Popup Explorer, the top popup owners' website.

[adkjake]

You should add air lift 1000 to stablelize the trail blazer .They worked great on my trail blazer towing a 4200 lb trailer. I saw a set on craig's list for $50 new