can a 03' Chevy trailblazer towing 20' Jayco?

Campfire Time wrote:
The Quest line was everything from pop-ups to 5vers. It sounds like this is a 20' travel trailer.

I wonder if the 4190# is dry weight, or GVWR? If it's it's dry weight, the towed weight will likely be closer to 5500#.

I owned an '03 Trail Blazer with similar specs. I6, 4WD, 3:42 gear, and EXT. It was an excellent tow vehicle for smaller trailers, 4000# and under GVWR. And while it towed the trailer in my sig OK (4740# GVWR), I would not have towed it through mountains or on trips longer than a couple of hundred miles. Lots of downshifting on hills and in wind. This is, in part why I bought the Sierra.

Here's what you need to know, your real towing ability. Not what people here are guessing at. Your owners manual has a chart that lists possible body configurations, with and without 4WD, and the different gearing options available. In your glove box is an RPO code list, you will have one of the following codes:

GU6 = 3.42 RATIO
GT4 = 3.73 RATIO
GT5 = 4.10 RATIO

3.42 is the most common for the I6. While adequate, you really want the 3.73 or 4.10 for towing a bigger trailer. I'm not sure too many I6s came with 4.10.

Finally, look at the weight sticker in your driver door. It will list your payload. If I recall, mine was just over 1100#. That sounds good, but it's not a lot. Once you subtract the weight of the loaded tongue and the hitch, you may only have a few hundred left for your family and "stuff" in your truck.

As far as your transmission. Add an axillary cooler, make sure to change fluid and filter every 50k as specified in the manual. And use DEX VI, not DEX III as it came from the factory with. DEX VI runs cooler and is a far better fluid, and is backward compatible on the older transmissions. My Trailblazer had 160k on when I sold it, and the transmission was excellent. And I towed one trailer through mountains with it. The trick is to keep it from shifting a lot to maintain a reasonable temperature.

agesilaus wrote:
people have commented that the hitch on these small SUV's are usually rated at 600#.

The GMT 360/370 family of trucks are not small SUVs. The EXT's wheel base is only a few inches shorter than a Suburban. They were considered mid-size and were also available with the 5.3 V8. The Trailblazer's dead hitch weight limit is 720#. The limit with a W/D hitch is over 900#, I can't recall the exact number.