Towing with a 2005 Chev. Trailblazer

Our I6 Trailblazer is a fantastic car for my wife, hauling kids, etc. I have used it to pull our 5500lb camper a few times and it did the job for short distances. The camper pushed and pulled me all over the road and the motor screamed going up hills. It is a heck of a kid taxi, pulling trailers not so much.

Interesting how varied everyone's experiences are with the GMT 360/370 series trucks. Trailblazer/Envoy towing capacities range from 4900# to 7100# depending on configuration and gears. With the I6 they max out at 6k. This chart will help you determine your overall towing capacity.

While I can't say I love our Trailblazer, it has been one heck of a great tow vehicle. We have an EXT, I6 and 3:42 gears. We towed our old hybrid (GVWR of 3500#) through mountains and all over WI for the past 7 years. Never put an axillary cooler on until this past summer due to purchasing a new 4750# GVWR hybrid. With that 17 ft HTT our Trailblazer was a far better TV than the previous Suburban I owned.

The truck currently has 150k on it and its going strong. I upgraded the trans with a shift kit and new separator plate. When I had the valve body off, the parts that normally break down or show wear looked like new. I attribute that to using Dex VI fluid and not beating on it from a dead stop.

What I will say is that I would not tow this combination with our current trailer through mountains. Its fine on the flats of WI but its clearly not good for cross country towing. Not a big deal for us anymore. At least not for a while.

The best part, is that I don't have a payment!

So for your needs, it may work just fine. You have to consider how often and how far you need to tow with it.

I had an '04 Envoy I-6. With a 3800# HTT it was marginal but I towed with it for 6 years. Even with an extra cooler at 60K the transmission went south. And at 80K I had to put in a new cylinder head, exhaust manifold, cat converter, and fuel pump. Its replacement is in my sig.

If papK is only towing short distances it may work. I certainly wouldn't want that combo for traveling any distance. I see they're in Pa, so I assume there's some hilly towing involved.

Our trailer is 26 feet from hitch to bumper, and 4300 pounds ready to camp. We towed it for 4 years with a Trailblazer with the inline 6. Towed it 5426 miles in 8 western states, and we dont live in the flat part on the country.

I added a transmission cooler, had the ECM custom tuned to firm up the shifting and inprove power, upgraded the shocks, and put tires with the highest load capacity I could get on the Trailblazer. I had the transmission serviced every spring when we were towing.

Never tow in OD, the OD clutch pack wont take the load.

The narrow track and short wheelbase of the Trailblazer really limits what you can safely tow. If I had to do it again I don't think I would. I got tired of being pushed around whenever a truck passed us and got a bigger tow vehicle.

Gary

PS. we still have the Trailblazer, 105K miles and the transmission is still going strong.

Envoy's and Trailblazers are basically the same. Sister-in-laws trailblazer - never towing - transmission gone at 100,000 miles. My Envoy - never towed - transmission gone at 135,000. I don't know about hers, but I had mine serviced regularly and the transmission had been serviced as the maintenance schedule required. I'd be worried about the transmission.

I dunno', it seems like it might be a bad combination. You're asking an undersized tow vehicle to perform adequately in a situation that may even challenge a bigger vehicle, i.e. wet surfaces and in a hurry.

I have an 05 Trailblazer with the 5.3 engine and it tows my twenty foot car trailer loaded with all our toys just fine.No one ever has anything good to say about a Trailblazer but I think they are a fine vehicle

I pulled approx. 3500# TT with my Envoy with the 6 cylinder engine. On level ground, it was ok. going up grades was not. This combination will work for limited use like you are thinking of. Don't try to climb the mountains Pa has.

I tow a 3500# TT with an 06 Envoy and have had absolutely no problems. I installed a trans cooler and always tow in 3rd. I've put many tow miles on and it is still going strong. The I-6 has a lot of HP and torque, more so than a lot of SUVs with V8s. In talking with a fellow camper at Luray VA, my rig did better towing than his F-150. You should visit the forum at gmtnation to see what folks are towing with these vehicles as well as getting some advice with regards to towing with them.

papK wrote:
We are in the market for a tag along that we can easily pull with our Trailblazer. Basically we need to pull it home from where we purchase it and to our river lot where it will stay until we have to move it due to severe flooding. I know we need a certain type of hitch (weight distribution) with sway bars or torsion bars. The towing weight limit on the Trailblazer is between 4000 & 5000. Most of the tag alongs we are looking at are slightly more than that (between 5000 6000) so we're hoping that even if we have to get someone to tow it to our site for us that it wouldn't be a big problem for us to yank it off the site in case of flooding. Any of you guys had some experience with this situation?

How far are you towing it come flood time? Just up the hill to a high spot at the campground? Would it be just the driver in the driver's seat?

IMO- if you're just pulling it within the campground, and keep the people/stuff to an absolute minimum in the vehicle- you should be fine. BUT- that's not coming from a place of experience; just my best guess.