What are you towing with yours ????

littleblazer

Member
Jul 6, 2014
9,265
I'll explain later. :crazy:

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RedRocketZ28

Member
May 16, 2014
114
Towed our 98 Four Winns RS with a 305 5.0L to The Lake of the Ozarks this past weekend with my 5.3 Rainier. Towed it roughly 350 miles from the Des Moines, IA area. It pulled extremely well and was running anywhere from 70-75 consistantly. Got around 12 mpg according the driver display (I didn't calculate it manually, wasn't thinking). The boat had some of our luggage in it as well as some things for the Condo. It had to be over 3500 lbs. easily. The Rainier trunk was packed full as well. The rear leveling suspension makes it nice for sure.

I have towed this boat with a few different vehicles in the past; 2000 Blazer, 2004 TrailBlazer I6, and a 2002 Avalanche. I would still have the Avalanche if it hadn't been totalled a little over a year ago. Anyway, the Rainier with the 5.3 seems to pull it better than the Avalanche did as far as maintaining speed, accelerating, and even braking which is odd to me as I did the newer body style brake upgrade on my Avalanche. The Avalanche did feel more stable due to it being bigger and having a longer wheel base though. MPG was roughly the same towing, but without towing the Rainier excels. I did like the Tow/Haul mode on the Avalanche, I should have made a towing tune transmission wise for the Rainier but I ran out of time before we left. Both vehicles I tuned with HPTuners which you can definitely tell. I really like the Rainier, just wish it was a bit bigger. I see myself getting into a newer Avalanche or Silverado in the near future though. I miss the room the Avalanche had.

Unfortunately I did not get any pictures. We left Thursday evening, and got up early Friday to get the boat in the water. Won't be able to get pictures anytime soon either as the boat is down there for good for the summer. Oh well, maybe next time!

Here are a couple of pictures of it hooked up to my 04 TB and Avalanche.


 

C-ya

Member
Aug 24, 2012
1,098
Gutless, new race car? Or a project for the road?
 

Bigj79

Member
Apr 21, 2014
23
My 2002 LTZ tows our 2014 Flagstaff Classic 625D pop up very nicely. The camper is about 3300lbs loaded. By the time I add in my wife (not gonna put weight on this one lol), our 2 young sons, myself, and our gear, we're fairly loaded down. The TB handles it great.
 

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Gutless

Member
May 27, 2014
59
C-ya said:
Gutless, new race car? Or a project for the road?
Drag car.

Its a long story. I bought the car for the interior for my 81 cutlass since it was a salon (442 minus the badging, 8.5" rear and 20HP). Car was mint, hit a deer, and taken apart for a restoration. I bought it but it was totally rust free but dissembled. Missing too much to put it back together.

Local guy suggested doing a drag car with like 10 people supplying leftover parts. I provided the car and built a 9" for it. Other people have supplied the wheels, engine, turbos, welded in a cage. Its a 5.3 with twin on3 70's. I brought it to my place this winter to fab up the lexan windows, wiring, plumbing, mount the wheels, mount seat, fab dash.
 
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{tpc}

Member
Jan 22, 2014
359
Bigj79 said:
My 2002 LTZ tows our 2014 Flagstaff Classic 625D pop up very nicely. The camper is about 3300lbs loaded. By the time I add in my wife (not gonna put weight on this one lol), our 2 young sons, myself, and our gear, we're fairly loaded down. The TB handles it great.
The nice thing about your setup is it is a popup. We tried pulling our TT with the envoy and it didn't make for much fun. Oh it could do it, just wasn't pleased pulling a giant wall behind it lol.

You need some bike rikes on that setup now. :smile:
 
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Bigj79

Member
Apr 21, 2014
23
{tpc} said:
The nice thing about your setup is it is a popup. We tried pulling our TT with the envoy and it didn't make for much fun. Oh it could do it, just wasn't pleased pulling a giant wall behind it lol.

You need some bike rikes on that setup now. :smile:
Yeah, I'd be hesitant to pull a travel trailer. Pop up is nice and low behind us.
Funny you mention the bike rack. I've been meaning to build one, just haven't quite found the motivation yet lol. We camped Rock Cut State Park in Rockford, IL last weekend, and the wife ended up driving her Traverse with the bikes in the back.
 

dmanns67

Member
Apr 3, 2013
32,979
Ohio
Its been a long time since I have towed anything with the TB and first time towing since getting a PCM tune. I have to say I had no issues towing 3,000lbs up and over South mountain. It did burn some fuel though.

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gmcman

Member
Dec 12, 2011
4,656
My sis' jeep, had to bring to my place to perform minor surgery, much easier than toting a bunch of tools. Probably should have turned it around but it was borderline on the tongue weight but not too bad.
 

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Bow_Tied

Member
Dec 21, 2014
453
London, ON
gmcman said:
My sis' jeep, had to bring to my place to perform minor surgery, much easier than toting a bunch of tools. Probably should have turned it around but it was borderline on the tongue weight but not too bad.
Would have thought you had it right, engine gives forward weight bias - if you turned it around it could have been negative tongue weight or at least less than 10% , no?
 

Escapepilot

Member
Sep 21, 2014
35
Towed my TT this weekend to Blount's Creek. Towed great and the aux cooler kept the trans temps below 200 even when traveling through Kinston. On the highway, temps stayed between 180-184. 5.3L w/ 3.73s (for now) and 35x12.50x18s. Trailer weight is around 4750 empty and it was just a weekend trip so I estimate about 500 lbs of stuff. BTW - I really like the Equal-i-zer wd hitch. Easy to connect once it's set up properly.
 

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gmcman

Member
Dec 12, 2011
4,656
Bow_Tied said:
Would have thought you had it right, engine gives forward weight bias - if you turned it around it could have been negative tongue weight or at least less than 10% , no?
You're thinking is correct, my trailer has the axles roughly at the last third of the trailer so when empty it tows perfect, but loading you have to make sure all the weight isn't up front. Jeeps are a little nose heavy but not by much, I had her spare tire a couple inches forward of the ramp. Had I turned it around I could back it up closer to the front of the trailer regulating the weight bias better.

I think I was good on the tongue weight though, a WD hitch would be perfect.
 
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Harpo

Member
Dec 4, 2011
411
Sweden
Escapepilot said:
Towed my TT this weekend to Blount's Creek. Towed great and the aux cooler kept the trans temps below 200 even when traveling through Kinston. On the highway, temps stayed between 180-184. 5.3L w/ 3.73s (for now) and 35x12.50x18s. Trailer weight is around 4750 empty and it was just a weekend trip so I estimate about 500 lbs of stuff. BTW - I really like the Equal-i-zer wd hitch. Easy to connect once it's set up properly.


Nice

And whats your milage?.
 

Escapepilot

Member
Sep 21, 2014
35
Harpo said:
Nice

And whats your milage?.
Towed the same route again this past weekend and estimate it to be close to 9 mpg. Still haven't corrected the speedo after the tire swap so having to do the calculation correction.
 

Stewzer55

Member
Feb 15, 2014
419
Cub Cadet 3186 with a 54' deck, turned 15.5 keeping it about 65 MPH. Gate on the trailer catches a lot of wind and its noticeable, but I just ran the hills keeping the converter locked as much as possible. Running with semis really does help with the mileage. I estimate between the trailer and the garden tractor it was about 1600-1700lbs. The aero is what kills mpg it more than anything.
 

C-ya

Member
Aug 24, 2012
1,098
I pulled my brother-in-law's 17' Ranger bass boat to the river so we could fish on Lake Michigan Saturday morning. I forgot to get a picture beforehand as we wanted to get on the water. Of course, everything looked good until we got down between the piers. That was when we first had an inclination that it might not have been a good idea. We normally go when it is flat as a flitter since we don't have much freeboard with a bass boat. Weather looked good, but we didn't pay attention to the stiff south wind. Since we were there, we pressed on and went out. We got out into to 3-5' rollers and got soaked heading south to the spot we wanted to get to. Perch fishing with that much motion was not very productive. I think we brought home 25-30 fish. Two weeks ago when we were out, we brought 56 home and they were much bigger fish. I forgot to get a picture afterwards as well because I was feeling a little queasy. I normally don't get motion-/seasick, but something about the coffee that morning and the motion did me in.
 

HARDTRAILZ

Moderator
Nov 18, 2011
49,665


Already had it unloaded
 

Mooseman

Moderator
Dec 4, 2011
25,257
Ottawa, ON
Two Swedish girls, back to back!

Picked this '05 9-7x up for a song. No motor and the body is in better shape than mine but the interior is the ugly beige seats and trim and the front frame has some damage from under. There was no way to balance this thing properly without the motor. If I would have put it on the trailer frontwards, it would have been light on the tongue and be really dangerous for whipping. Drove it over 300km and it was pretty stable.

Stay tuned for a "Parts for sale" thread in the classifieds.

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Mooseman

Moderator
Dec 4, 2011
25,257
Ottawa, ON
I think my next vehicle will be a tow truck. This is my son's new project car. Luckily I had the trailer rented for two days.

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Bow_Tied

Member
Dec 21, 2014
453
London, ON
keitho64 said:
2006 Jayco 26L trailer.
I'm very impressed you are pulling 26' with the I6. What's it weigh?

My V8 handles our 24' but it is working and certainly doesn't like OD.
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keitho64

Member
Mar 27, 2012
21
Bow_Tied said:
I'm very impressed you are pulling 26' with the I6. What's it weigh?

My V8 handles our 24' but it is working and certainly doesn't like OD.
The trailer is about 4,200 empty. I bet it is close to 5,000-5,100 when I tow. I never use the OD when towing and the Saab has the 3.73 gears. As long as the terrian doesn't get too hilly it is fine. The hills do stress it out but I live in the flat midwest so not too much of an issue.
 
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C-ya

Member
Aug 24, 2012
1,098
Moose, is the front edge of your hood rusted or is that some kind of trick of the light?
 

Mooseman

Moderator
Dec 4, 2011
25,257
Ottawa, ON
I wish. It's Swiss cheese hence the reason I bought a parts truck. Even that one has rust but it's repairable. It's a common problem on this particular model only. The hoods are highly sought after.
 

keitho64

Member
Mar 27, 2012
21
Mooseman said:
I wish. It's Swiss cheese hence the reason I bought a parts truck. Even that one has rust but it's repairable. It's a common problem on this particular model only. The hoods are highly sought after.

I am having the same problem on my 97X but right now it is limited to the paint bubbling. I am planning to sand the hood down, treat with POR15, paint and then do a small band of Plasti Dip. I am going to treat it from both sides. I doubt it will stop it from returning, but it will buy me time.
 
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C-ya

Member
Aug 24, 2012
1,098
Thanks for the reply, Moose. I was wondering because I see lots of TB and Voy's with no hood deflector and their hoods look good. Mine has a deflector, but it isn't rusty under there. (Pretty dirty, tho!) I'm guessing there isn't one for the Saab's? It wouldn't fix the problem, but it would put it out of sight. :lipsrsealed:
 

Mooseman

Moderator
Dec 4, 2011
25,257
Ottawa, ON
None for these trucks. If you look carefully, you will see sheet metal screws through the hood. It's so bad I was afraid that the top sheetmetal would peel back in the wind. Anyway, I'm keeping the "new" hood safe and dry until I am ready to have the whole body done. Seems that the rust starts on the underside so rust protection behind and under would help.
 

Bow_Tied

Member
Dec 21, 2014
453
London, ON
My Envoy hood was starting to bubble on the seams on the underside, damn salted roads!! Had it taken care of along with the bottom seams on all 5 doors before it took hold.
 

C-ya

Member
Aug 24, 2012
1,098
B_T, I need to get my driver's side back door fixed (and maybe the lift gate while I'm at it). It is starting to bubble/rust through on the visible portion of the door. May try to do it myself.
 

Mooseman

Moderator
Dec 4, 2011
25,257
Ottawa, ON
:offtopic:

We should take this to the appearance section...
 

littleblazer

Member
Jul 6, 2014
9,265
A honda...
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