2004 Trailblazer, My 1st step toward possible RVing

[johnd393]

The RV travel idea has been in my head for several years. I've looked at several cheap Class As for sale but never made the leap. I just don't like the look of class Cs. I'm not tiny enough for most class Bs. I've thought a lot about the storage problems for Class As and the difficult access to the engine for service. I've never driven a class a but the driving position never feels right to me.
So I started looking for a tow vehicle. Found a deal on a great $2500 nice one owner minivan that could't tow anything but it took us on a nice 5000 mile road trip.

Normally I avoid high mileage vehicles, but along comes a good running 2004, 99% rust free, 2WD, Trailblazer, 177k miles. I didn't want 4WD. I couldn't turn it down. It was too nice for $1250. I keep reading various forums where people are driving very high mileage vehicles.

I drove it 10 miles home, got the emissions test & license on the way. It was usable for local transportation as is but it's gotta be better for travel. I'm rebuilding the front suspension, brakes, shocks, transmission filter & fluid and a few simple things, stuck it on the lift in the garage and working on it a little bit at a time. It's still hobby fun at the rate I'm doing it. It has a 3:42 axle and about 5300 lbs towing capacity. There is scaly rust on the frame but I think it's still solid. I've got a brake controller and the Trailblazer already has the wiring for it. Once I'm done fixing it there will be a trial period of use where I assess whether it will be up the the towing/travel task. I'm not a fan of huge SUVs & trucks so the Trailblazer is a size I can use either way.

I have no experience towing anything but short distances with a 1000 lbs utility trailer, so I a bit worried about some of the youtube videos of trailers waging out and flipping over taking the tow vehicle with them.

I'm 6'2" so I need interior height, shower height and bed length. Just 2 of us. Don't want soft sided. I've kind of developed a list of preferences, but I decided to spare you all that.

I think I can meet most of my wants and keep the GVWR 1000 lbs under my towing capacity.

Just to give you an idea of what I'm thinking:
https://www.kz-rv.com/2016-products/spree-escape-travel-trailers/2016-E190.html
https://forestriverinc.com/rvs/toy-haulers/ozark/1660FQ/4657#lg=1&slide=0

What do you think? Can I safely tow these or similar with a short wheelbase 6 cylinder old trailblazer?

 

[Ex-Calif]

If I am reading the codes on the link right that is a 19 footer?  Before I bought my class A I was looking to pull a 20-24 footer with my Jeep Liberty 3.7L. I had pulled a big U-haul to Colorado from Ohio and locally some other heavy trailers so felt good about it.

Do the numbers but I think it will be OK with the 4.2L - I would worry about reliability on the engine though. If well taken care of the 4.2 is good for 250k IMO. But my kids Blazer had problems about 140k.

My kid bought a 2006 Blazer and we started work on it.  There is a bit of a fan group over them. We did the lift kit and then a couple months later he blew what we thought was an intake gasket (common failure). It sat in my driveway for almost a year before we got stuck in - turns out it was head gaskets which require (basically) an engine pull.  I bagged it (life's too short) and we sold it for parts.

You say yours is relatively rust free but take a look at the rear hangers - on my kid these were almost gone. Scary stuff replaced as part of the lift.

Nice vehicle and I've been a chevy guy but that thing was miserable to work on.

 

[Tom55555]

Watch your GVWR and tongue weight.

Speed, turning and braking are important. An inexperienced or careless driver can destroy anything.

 

[jubileee]

We have 2 Envoys and 1 Trailblazer ( all 4.2 & 4wd).  in extended family. 1 rv toad vehicle and 2 mountain cabin vehicles. Great vehicles.
  Suggestion: Start engine in park with hand on gearshift lever. Gearshift lever should be smooth, no vibration or shaking. Put foot on brake and go to reverse and then drive. If any vibration or shake in gearshift lever ( May feel like engine miss) in R or D, you have bad motor mounts.
  There has been many many useless tuneups,  spark plugs, coil packs, and ect. on these 4.2?s when motor mounts are the problem.
  Motor mounts under $50 and a snap to change on 2wd.
  TrailVoy website is great.

 

[donn]

Bought brand new a 2004 Trailblazer.  Nice vehicle in its day, but was hard pressed to tow anything.  At the time we had a 19 foot Arctic Fox TT.  Towed it maybe three times and traded the Trailblazer off on a Tahoe.  It was horribly underpowered and lets not talk about climbing over the Cascaded to central Oregon.  In short it is way under powered, too short of a wheel base to tow much more than a utility trailer of a pop up.

 

[johnd393]

We have 2 Envoys and 1 Trailblazer ( all 4.2 & 4wd).  in extended family. 1 rv toad vehicle and 2 mountain cabin vehicles. Great vehicles.
  Suggestion: Start engine in park with hand on gearshift lever. Gearshift lever should be smooth, no vibration or shaking. Put foot on brake and go to reverse and then drive. If any vibration or shake in gearshift lever ( May feel like engine miss) in R or D, you have bad motor mounts.
  There has been many many useless tuneups,  spark plugs, coil packs, and ect. on these 4.2?s when motor mounts are the problem.
  Motor mounts under $50 and a snap to change on 2wd.
  TrailVoy website is great.

The engine ran smooth for the short time I drove it. The power steering felt right. The trans shifts felt good. I took it up to 80 mph for a few seconds. There was a power steering fluid leak which I already fixed. All I know about the history of the vehicle it it was originally a California car, last owner was a woman but I bought it from her brother, there's a sticker on it from Yosemite. There's a date on the oil filter and a mileage on a oil change sticker the seems to indicate its only been driven 1000 miles in the last year. There was a lot of dust in seams, door jams,
making me think it sat for a while in some dusty area and than got a quick wash. The radio is missing and the drivers seat lumbar support does not work. No other interior faults. There are heavy 12v cables from the battery to under the rear seat, left in place from some prior equipment, which I'll probably connect to an inverter. Tires were new in 2016 and have lots of tread. I'll take a look at those motor mounts. I have joined the Trailvoy site.

 

[scottydl]

A large pop-up or a small hybrid trailer would probably be the best style to consider towing with the Trailblazer. As donn mentioned, an often-overlooked factor in towing stability is the wheelbase length (distance between front and rear axles). That's pretty short on Trailblazers, and often one of the contributing factors of "tail wagging the dog" in those nightmare swaying trailer wrecks you see. Tow capacity is not just a product of the powertrain, since nobody simply pulls in a straight line on flat ground, like all the truck commercials show. To really control the trailer and not be white-knuckling the whole time also requires sufficient tires, suspension, brakes, and engine/tranny cooling in addition to the engine, transmission, and gear ratio.

 

[johnd393]

There's a guy on youtube that has towed a Winnebego Micro Minnie 1706FB all over the country with a Kia Sorento. The 1706 has a higher GVWR than the trailers I'm looking at, the Sorrento has a shorter wheelbase and lower towing capacity than the trailblazer.

When the vehicle is ready I'm gonna have to rent or borrow something to find out what the towing experience feels like.

When a tow combination is unstable, can you tell something is not right at low speeds, or do you have no warning until you're going too fast to recover?

 

[steveblonde]

We towed a 3900lb boat + 1000lb trailer behind our GMC Envoy twice traded the Envoy in for a Yukon. Worked well untill we got the Yukon znd realized how good the Yukon was. The trailblazer and envoys were good the day. Still see lots around

 

[TheBar]

When a tow combination is unstable, can you tell something is not right at low speeds, or do you have no warning until you're going too fast to recover?

My dad always said you can tow anything with anything, its just a question of how fast and how dangerous. You can be doing fine until you get hit with a 25 mph wind gust and a semi passing then you/re in the ditch. Don't get a trailer too close to your max weight. Also check out the rear suspension. At 177K miles 1" of play in the springs and bushings translates to disaster at the hitch.

 

[scottydl]

There's a guy on youtube that has towed a Winnebego Micro Minnie 1706FB all over the country with a Kia Sorento. The 1706 has a higher GVWR than the trailers I'm looking at, the Sorrento has a shorter wheelbase and lower towing capacity than the trailblazer.

That's valid information... it might be fine, I can just forsee potential issues with say a "high winds" day and the sway control (or lack thereof) from a smaller V6 SUV. As well as the power demands that would be required if you plan on towing in hilly or mountainous areas. It's likely more of a comfort-while-towing issue, and not an immediate safety issue if you are within your towing specs. You are dealing with a smaller trailer too, that picks up wind a little less than longer trailers I may be envisioning. Make sure you know the tow capacity and tongue weight limitation of your hitch too, which could be lower than what the vehicle itself can handle.

When a tow combination is unstable, can you tell something is not right at low speeds, or do you have no warning until you're going too fast to recover?

I'd say split the difference. Slow speeds will probably seem fine. You'll feel/see more of the sway effects at high speeds, with higher winds from weather or passing traffic. Some of that just comes with towing, and you get used to it after driving for awhile. If you ever start to feel like the trailer is swaying to the point where you actually have to steer out of it, something is wrong. That happens when the trailer is traveling slightly faster than the vehicle and pushing on it from the rear. Most of the time even in those situations, you can regain control quickly by manually activating the trailer brakes (a quick tap on the lever) to slow it down, forcing it to start following your tow vehicle again. If that happens a lot in various towing conditions (and you have your hitch and braking set up properly), I'd say your vehicle may be underpowered to handle the trailer.

 

[johnd393]

One thing I'll be sure to do is install the brake controller where it will be easily reached.
I haven't given a lot of thought to rear suspension. I put some new rear shocks on it but might eventually switch to shock with spring helpers. 

The idea here is to dip out toes into the rv waters, at minimum cost. We won't encounter steep hills for several hundred miles around here in NW Indiana. There are plenty of places to visit in surrounding states without encountering mountain passes.

If we get a few trips in, and we know RVing is for us, then we can talk about upgrading.

 

[scottydl]

Being in NW Indiana, make sure you put Covert, Mi on your "places to camp" list! www.covertpark.com

That's our favorite place to visit from central Illinois, with the Lake Michigan beaches (on the Michigan side) being the closest thing to the ocean that we have within a day's drive. 8)

 

[johnd393]

Being in NW Indiana, make sure you put Covert, Mi on your "places to camp" list! www.covertpark.com

That's our favorite place to visit from central Illinois, with the Lake Michigan beaches (on the Michigan side) being the closest thing to the ocean that we have within a day's drive. 8)

I grew up about a mile from Lake Michigan. As a kid I was all over those sand dunes and up and down the beach. I still own the property which is just a decaying shack on a overgrown lot.
I'm thinking about UP Michigan, and maybe circle Lake Superior sometime.

 

[johnd393]

Work is progressing slowly on my Trailblazer. I'm treating like a hobby project so I don't put a lot of time in each day.
I'm always shopping. A low price 2004 Envoy XUV RWD with a V8 has come up for sale. I don't see V8 RWD ones often. With 7100 lbs towing capacity and long wheelbase it's a better tow vehicle. Looks good enough in the pictures. I won't be able to go see it till after the holiday. I hope I get there before someone else buys it. 

 

[donn]

Work is progressing slowly on my Trailblazer. I'm treating like a hobby project so I don't put a lot of time in each day.
I'm always shopping. A low price 2004 Envoy XUV RWD with a V8 has come up for sale. I don't see V8 RWD ones often. With 7100 lbs towing capacity and long wheelbase it's a better tow vehicle. Looks good enough in the pictures. I won't be able to go see it till after the holiday. I hope I get there before someone else buys it.

Look, its really simple.  GET A TAHOE.  The Tahoe is way more capable for towing up to about 6500 pounds plus family.  Like I said before bought a brand new Trailblazer towed maybe three trips and traded it on a Tahoe.  Fuel economy was barely any difference, but the towing experience is vastly superior.  Add ride comfort is way better.

 

[johnd393]

Look, its really simple.  GET A TAHOE.  The Tahoe is way more capable for towing up to about 6500 pounds plus family.  Like I said before bought a brand new Trailblazer towed maybe three trips and traded it on a Tahoe.  Fuel economy was barely any difference, but the towing experience is vastly superior.  Add ride comfort is way better.

Well, it's a compromise. I like the Trailblazer size. The long wheelbase Trailblazer/Envoy is 8" longer than the Tahoe wheelbase and the 5.3l V8 is the same engine, so it ought to good enough. The XUV is a unique multipurpose vehicle. There are many reasons to disqualify a cheap car for purchase, so I'm probably stuck with the short WB Trailblazer, but I gotta give this XUV a look.

 

[alan6051964]

I hate to be ( that guy on here ?! ) but, i will toss my .02's worth at ya, and you can do as you wish . first off, that trailblazer is not really made to pull anything larger than a pop-up like some have said here. its swb, and does not have the power for much anything bigger than a pop-up ( SAFELY MIND YOU ! ). coming from someone that has been down that road, not once ?..but twice with the tail wagging the dog, and being jack knifed from a drunk driver pulling a 29ft noman with my '00 reg cab, 5.3L, 2wd silverado, hd tow package that can pull 12k lbs ( there is a difference in pulling 12k flat lbs ?, and 12k loaded lbs ! ), you soon will discover tt, tv, hitch weight, brake control, engine power, everything plays a part in towing a tt, please..PLEASE FOR YOU AND OTHER'S SAFETY !!, do the home work on what your trying to do. again..do as you wish ?, but please think of others while pulling this down the highway .

 

[johnd393]

The long wheelbase v8 XUV Envoy is sold. The guy was supposed to msg me when he could show it. Somebody else got there first.

 

[johnd393]

My trailblazer project has suffered a lot of neglect due to cold weather, lack of motivation, and time spent trying to help a ailing self neglecting family member.
I've read a bunch of towing posts on various forums. There are some interesting calculators and spreadsheets. One spreadsheet computes the contribution of tongue weight to rear axle weight using the ratio of rear overhang to wheelbase.

Here's some of my numbers as I try to understand this stuff
GVWR 5550
GAWR Front 2950 Rear 3250,
Payload 1096,
GCWR 10000

Curb weight from some specs I found online, Front 2304 + Rear 2019 = 4323
Somewhere else says Curb weight is GVWR minus Payload so that's 4454
Can't weigh it till i'm done fixing it

Rear overhang 43" or 43.84" depending on is it was my measurement or a spec I found online


Occupant & driver 400 lbs, Should have some margin in it

I'm not totally convinced whether or not 150 lbs driver weight is already in the numbers somewhere

A pound of cargo in tow vehicle is a pound of cargo in tow vehicle
A properly distributed pound in trailer might be 0.13 lbs of tongue weight. So the thought is minimize cargo in toe vehicle and put it in the trailer.

Tire weight capacity exceeds axle weight capacity so I'm not worried about overloading the tires
WDH's are heavy and contribute to payload, Anderson WDH appears to be the lightest and has sway control.
Payload seems to be the limiting factor
A rule of thumb says 110 WB can tow a 20ft trailer and add 1ft for every 4 inchs, That figures out to 20 ft 9 inches for 113 WB
That's all I got. No conclusions have been made.

Edit: I realized I left tongue weight out
Tongue Wt 400lb weight carrying hitch or 900lb with WDH
I can see how 15% of 5300 towing capacity might fall within max wdh tongue wt, but add the 100lb for a WDH that leaves 165lb of payload left for driver. Just trying to figure out how they can state 5300lb towing weight. Theoretically possible. We ain't goin there.