Towing with a TrailBlazer

[enjoytheride]

My new boyfriend would like to purchase me a horse trailer to tow behind his trailblazer so he can take me to horse shows and so we can go trail riding together once I find him a horse.

While I’m waiting for him to turn into a psychotic nut job, is this possible?

He’s an experienced mechanic and has lots of experience towing and has been googling horse trailer weights, sway bars, and wants me to weigh a bale of hay so he can include all of the equipment as well. He says the max towing capacity on his trailblazer is 6500 and he uses it to tow a car carrier as well as a boat already.

I’ve been showing him aluminum 2 horses without dressing rooms as well as the European style trailers but i think his suv is too small.

[SuckerForHorses]

No.

[Macimage]

Not a good idea at all.

[Toaster]

The trailblazer may be able to pull the trailer but it won’t be able to stop it.

[cloudy18]

No, no, and no.

[VelvetsAB]

There are lots of threads in “Around The Farm” with this topic.

The majority of them will say not to tow with anything less then a full size truck, if not a 3/4 or full ton truck.

While smaller vehicles can certainly TOW a trailer…it isn’t the towing that is a concern. It is the ability to STOP the trailer when needed.

[Sandy_M]

Wheelbase too short for starters. If your trailer is a Brenderup, then maybe, but otherwise, no.

[cheerio280]

Definitely not without a weight-distributing hitch and brake controller. Even still, might not be the best idea.

I did tow with a TrailBlazer for about a year. It was not a euro-style trailer but very small and still pretty light. I was towing about once a week, maybe a bit less- and usually just one horse. After about a year of that, my brakes were shot, something else was damaged, bye-bye TrailBlazer. (And this was with the weight-distributing hitch, professionally installed brake controller, etc, etc.) Thank god, there were no accidents or anything like that- but the vehicle really wasn’t suitable for the job I wanted it to do.

I have a friend who has been towing her aluminum 2 horse Trail-Et with her TrailBlazer for several years now. She only hauls maybe 3-5 times per year though, and usually is only going short distances.

See if you can get him to trade his TrailBlazer in for a truck :winkgrin:

[whbar158]

Maybe because I grew up with 3/4 ton truck for towing, and while I have not towed a horse trailer with my trailblazer, I have towed a Uhaul trailer a few times. I found it to feel severely under powered and easily moved around by the trailer. I did not enjoy towing the bigger uhaul at all although it was easily within the limits, the smaller one was ok, we just happened to have to drive on an extremely windy day.
But I agree with the no, no, no statement. I would never haul with a midsized SUV like an explorer or TrailBlazer. A tahoe, suburban, expedition possibly for random times here and there. But for consistent hauling, I would want a truck and prefer a 3/4 truck although they have beefed up many of the 1/2 ton trucks for hauling and depending on location could think about using one of those.

Also I remember how much one of my horses could rock our rig with the 3/4 ton truck with her kicking…I couldn’t imagine that with an SUV.

[InCircles]

Just because the statistics say in CAN tow, doesn’t mean it SHOULD tow.

I towed a 2 horse bumper pull with a jeep grand cherokee v8 for about a year, and only with one horse in it. I had the sway bars and stabilizer hitch. Some longer distances (4 hours plus), but mainly around “town”.

The thing I noticed while pulling was that I sometimes felt “pushed” if braking. I always had to plan WAY ahead when braking, and the times I had to brake more suddenly were a bit scary. Also, if larger trucks passed me…I felt a lot of movement with my rig.

After about a year of towing, my jeep wasn’t running well. A family friend with years of mechanical experience said that my entire engine and transmission would need to be overhauled.

Could you consider trucks? Something with a longer wheel base, that is heavier, and has an engine designed to for the type of driving you’ll be doing?

Good luck!

[jn4jenny]

A traditional 2-horse bumper pull? The answer is “Yes, barely, but I wouldn’t want to do it.” For reasons that others have articulated.

A European-style trailer, like the Brenderup? Yes, absolutely. It’s a whole different engineering system than a traditional 2-horse trailer, so don’t compare apples and oranges; it’s like trying to compare Windows and Mac, Android and iPhone, or whatever. They’re just too different to reasonably compare head to head. That said, run the budget numbers on the European option, and you may find it’s a non-starter. Once you retrofit your Trailblazer with a transmission cooler, lights, hitch, etc. + find a Brenderup in suitable condition (most of the time, this means finding it out of state and driving it home or getting it delivered), this plan can get pricey. There’s also the question of whether you wish to maintain a trailer from a brand that’s discontinued in the US, which can be a hassle sometimes. Fautras and St. Georges would be your alternative, but since they’re fairly new to the US market, they’re $$$$$$$.

[dungrulla]

Was told by my dad when we started vehicle shopping that anything LESS than a full size pickup or full size LARGE SUV is not safe to tow with.

[rothmpp]

I get that mechanic BF knows what the weight limitations are - but one thing he is not considering is that horses are a “live” load. You don’t strap them down and they never move an ounce until you get there. They are always shifting - even the good haulers do - and when you start talking about 2000 lbs of your load moving around - do you really want to be at the max haul rating of your vehicle?

I have a 3500 Chevy - definitely overkill for my two horse with dressing room, but my husband also uses it for his giant race car trailer. I can still feel horses moving around when I am stopped at a light or if one of em really starts pawing.

I don’t think you need a truck my size, but I would definitely want something with a longer wheelbase. Trailblazers these days are pretty tiny vehicles in my book. Those people who said that they had a trashed engine/transmission after a year are not the exception.

[roamingnome]

My horse had to be transported by a Trailblazer with a light 2-horse attached (needed to go to the hospital in the middle of the night and BOTH of the BOs pickups were dead)- sitting in the passenger seat was TERRIFYING.

Thank goodness it was like 3 am and no one was on the road, because the trailer was pushing us all over the place. Yes you can PULL it, but you can’t STOP it.

[Snowflake]

I tow with a TrailBlazer but I have a Brenderup. Would I ever haul a heavy steel trailer with it? Hell no. I feel perfectly safe with my tow rig and have hauled through blizzards and mountains (at the same time mind you!) and in heavy traffic without ever feeling like I was being pushed around by the trailer. Most times, you forget it’s back there. My TrailBlazer has a beefed up suspension, premium brakes and a large auxiliary transmission cooler. My first TrailBlazer, a 2002, went 300,000 miles with a good year of regular towing at the end but didn’t have the factory tow package. I upgraded to a 2009 TrailBlazer with the factory tow package last year and this thing is a beast. I need my truck for commuting since I live in the snowbelt but don’t want to have to gas up a V8 engine and drive an hour each way back and forth to work. The investment in the Brenderup was very smart for me since my tow and commuting vehicle are one in the same. So, if you’re hell bent on keeping the TrailBlazer, the only way I’d tow with it - EVER! - is with one of the light euro trailers.

[beau159]

Can it be done? Of course.

Do lots of people do it? Certainly.

Is it the BEST choice? Nope.

With that said, I pull a 3-horse GN trailer with my hubby’s 1/2 ton pickup. I usually only am pulling 2 horses but I have had 3 horses in there before. I am patiently waiting for the day when we can afford to get a 3/4 ton pickup but that day hasn’t quite arrived yet. I’m making do with what I can afford.

Ultimately, it is up to you to decide. But if you have the choice and can afford it, it is always a smarter decision to go with a bigger engine and better towing vehicle.

Totally random sidenote: Is this horse trailer going to me in your name or his? How about this horse you are going to find him? I only ask because in the event that your relationship goes on the wayside, that you aren’t going to have a battle about the horse trailer and the horse. Just something to plan ahead for, just in case.

[GoForAGallop]

With all due respect to your boyfriend’s ego, hauling a boat or a car trailer is so far removed from hauling a horse trailer that they are basically not worth comparing.

I’ll dump a car trailer w/Jeep on a half ton and go down the highway doing 80mph all day, every day. I have towed a boat (a big boat!) with a Jeep Cherokee, a vehicle that can sometimes barely stop itself :lol:, with no worries. They are relatively stable loads that behave how you would expect them to.

Guess what I pull my horse trailer with? A 3/4 ton that I have put hundreds of miles on, and when my trailering was going to be more frequent, I upgraded to a 1ton. (Which is, admittedly, over-sized for my current 2 horse steel trailer, but the intent is to upgrade to a three horse gooseneck with dress.) I am well aware, in both the 3/4 ton and the 1 ton, if a horse is kicking the back door, or struggling in any way.

I have towed plenty with a half ton, and don’t you believe anyone for a single second who tosses an airy “I don’t even know it’s back there!” dismissal about their half ton. You know the trailer is there, and you SHOULD.

A properly-equipped Trail Blazer would be fine for a Euro-style or other super lightweight trailer. I would be aiming to keep my trailer weight under 2500lbs, 2000lbs is even better. It is not appropriate for a heavier trailer, not for regular hauling.

Start showing new boyfriend the “You know you want a truck” Chevy commercials.

[danceronice]

jn4jenny is right–if it’s a Brenderup (good luck finding one used) or a Euro style trailer, easy-peasy. We haul our 2-horse B-up with a 2010 Explorer. You don’t feel a thing, handles easy, no wind issues, if anything it’s much easier to deal with than utility trailers for the Explorer. As long as you have a professionally-installed hitch, it’s fine. They also hold up like crazy. Ours hasn’t really needed any replacement parts until it was about 15 years old and has been stored outside the entire time. Never had a horse in it who could kick hard enough to do more than scratch it. Only down side to our version is the incredibly heavy ramp.

Regular trailer, unless you’re dealing with those teeny “vintage” things that barely fit a pony, probably not a good plan.

[Ambitious_Kate]

Hah hah hah, oh my.