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HOW TO TOW THE BLAZER?

S

sinchphoto

1/2 ton status
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Mar 7, 2000
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Location
Southern California
I got a photo shoot comming up soon and I'll be driving a 2-300 miles. Id like to take my blazer to mess around over there but i cant because i cant carry all my equipment. So, how about towing it, what type of trailer can I rent? and is there such a thing as it being to topheavy because of the weight of the blazer on top of a trailer... too high maybe?
Or is everything cool, just tie the blazer down to the trailer and go?
any ideas will help thanks. 10" lift 40" tires
 
Will not fit on the standard trailer you can rent from places like U-Haul and Ryder. They will not rent to you if the know what it is.
Typicaly the best way to secure a vehicle to a trailer is to you tire straps and let the truck moove on it suspension. Well they don't make them for 40's. You could try straping down off the tow points but you got the really pull it down and compress the suspension so it can't bounce. If it bounces you might loose the tie downs. You could srap it down by the axle but you got to be carefull of the brake lines on the rear.
 
I strap mine off the bumpers. Like grim said though, get em really tight and compress that suspension. Then when you get down the road about 10 miles, pull over and tighten them again. Then they should be good to go. I dont think you'll have any clearance problems, but to be sure, measure from the top point on your load to the ground and watch the bridge signs. We have one low clearance bridge in this town that's somewhere around 11', but your highway and interstate bridges should be fine.

What are you using for a tow rig?

I dont know what's available in your town trailer wise. Here, we have places that rent 16' junk trailers and 18' carhaulers for about $40 a day. OR just buy you one. You'll always use a trailer. And you can rent it out to your friends to recoup your investment!
 
btw, when you're strapping that thing down, have the straps where the fronts are pulling against the rears. In other words, dont strap it off to the sides of the trailer. I strap mine to the corners of the trailer or as close as I can get. Then take all the slack out, put the truck in neutral so I can get tie it down solid, and then crank it down hard. Then I put the truck back in gear on the trailer.

hope you have brakes on the trailer and a hand control...
 
im useing my 2000 silverado to tow it. I was thinking strapping it down from the bumper would be good enough. Im taking my truck to get weighed today, i dont really know how much it weighs. Im imagining the trailer i rent HAS to be a dual axle trailer correct?
 
I use a 16'HD trailer to tow mine I have 2 ratchet straps to the rear D-rings and where the spring hangers are that I tight down all that I can first then I hook the winch into the front D ring and winch down the front which tightens up the rear even more. It does not bounce that way and pulls really well. It makes 3+ 750mile round trips to Moab every year plus the local wheeling. My trailer even got hit from the side last year coming back from EJS and all was fine. I dont care to let the K-5's suspension move while towing it cause it gets real squirly if you hit a bump in a curve, course I pull it at 75+ most of the time so that may be a factor as well. Also let the air pressure down to about 10 PSI and it will help get it out of the air and make it more resistant to want to roll back and forth.
 
I'm not exactly sure of your situation, but I've got a 18' car hauler (12k capacity) that is just north of SLC in Utah. I see you are in cali, and Im sure thats farther than you want to drive to get a trailer.

As far as hooking it up, (and not to undermind any other posts) you DO NOT, for any reason wrap the chains or straps around the axle housing, NEVER. You always 100% of the time secure the straps/chains to the chassis. The point needs to be in a place that will not give. and you want to compress the suspension of the vehicle, that is what the suspension on the trailer is for.
I also usually will pull my truck on the trailer, and secure the rear straps, put the truck back in drive (4lo) and compress the suspension and then secure the front, and tighten it down as much as I can, take out of park and let the truck settle and put it back in park. If I REALLY wanted to, I could always use the winch.

In the pic link below, it looks like the rear straps may be going to the rea axle, they aren't. Its going to the rear crossmember just above the rear axle and is connected at the point where the crossmemeber meets the frame, the front is connected to the bumper.

http://www.turbodieselregister.com/user_gallery/sizeimage.php?&photoid=1050&width=1

Well best of luck with what ever you do, and if there is anything I can help with, give me a holler @: [email protected]">[email protected]</a> or <a href="mailto:[email protected]
281-216-2942

Corey
88K5
 
I haul mine on a 18ft tandem axle trailer the trailier axles are rated at 3500lbs each. I use 2 inch straps to the axles its to hard to try to pull all the suspension out of it I saw a guy hit a bump real hard and loose a strap once. Use some axle straps and then some ratcheting straps. I always tie the front and rear with them pulling against each other with truck in nuetral. Hope this helps
 
When I tow lifted rigs I usually tie them form the axle so I'm not worried about loosing the load on the bumps. I also tie the chassis down to minimize body roll. If you can get the electric trailer brakes at a minimum. My trailer is a tandem axle that uses a 2 5/16" ball. Where in Ca are you?
 
i work at a uhaul place and it wouldnt work bc the straps wont fit on those tires, but if you were to put your stock tires on the front , like some 31's, it could work.
 
well cant i rent the trailer and use my own straps to tie it down? will uhaul let me take my rig in there so i can try it on a trailer to see what i nee?
 
I tie down the axles as the primary means of retaining the truck, couple of straps on each axle (or chains) running front and rear. Then I go around my nerf bars down to the deck to keep it from bouncing. If you hook the straps right (and have the right kind) you can attach them so they can come loose and not fall off. It does help to minimize suspension movement, handling is much better that way.
You'll probably need a trailer that can haul 6K# or so which is usually a tandem axle trailer.
 
Yep, you'll need tandem axles, brakes on one for sure with a 1/2 ton truck. I towed my blazer 800 miles in Feb with a 2001 1/2 ton chevy 5.3 silverado, so it can be done. And after that trip, I came back and ordered my Cummins. LOL

I use 2" straps with the loop chains on one end and a standard hook on the other. Loop chain goes around my bumper and hooks into itself. Hook goes to the corner of the trailer. As mentioned above, letting the pressure out also helps, but I didn't think of it cause mine are always at about 10 psi/forums/images/icons/wink.gif. Good luck to ya. Sounds like a whole lot of work to me.

Bryan
 
What are the best straps to get? I need to pick some up.
I was going to get 1-3/4" 6000lb. ratchet straps for the axle & the body and some little loop axle straps. Anywhere good to find them for a decent price?
On another note, what did everyone do to reinforce the wheel wells so you could drive over them? (just got a trailer). /forums/images/icons/grin.gif
 
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