Trailer behind a K5

[PaulZ]

I'm considering a toy box trailer to be towed with my '83 K5. I have an 18' car trailer I tow behind it now and it does that fine. My question is how long a trailer is safe, or is it more of a weight and length question?

On a side note, anyone know the capacity of the stock large diesel tank? Pretty sure I have put over 30 gallons in it before.

 

[sweetk30]

blazer is 25 or 31 gal . same size just deeper drop on the 31 .

 

[PaulZ]

Thanks you. 31 it is then. But I must have about 5 gallons left when it shows empty.

 

[sweetk30]

gm senders in this vintage never show true empty in the tank as to empty on the gauge . . . . but dont push it ether or you can be walking .

 

[diesel4me]

Especially if its a diesel!...last thing you want is to run a diesel out of fuel..chances are excellent you wont succeed in bleeding the air out and getting it started again without killing the batteries at least once--easy to fry a starter too,cranking it too long,and they ain't cheap!..

 

[Moody Bricker]

I would not toll anything behind a 10 bolt,

 

[diesel4me]

When I moved in the mid 1980's I towed a dual axle trailer about 12 feet long a U-Haul,for 75 miles to my new location ,with my 72 K5 Blazer..had to make two round trips ..

I was not worried about the truck's ability to pull it--it had a 350 ,4 bbl,4 speed,and a 12 bolt rear end (no stronger than a 10 bolt really),and I was not pulling 6000 lbs or anything..

But I hated the ride--towing with a short wheelbase vehicle feels very squirmy,your constantly correcting with the steering wheel,back & forth ,and I had to keep it under 60 mph ,or it would feel like the trailer was wagging the tail end of the truck around..
I had most of the weight towards the front of the trailer too,so it had plenty of tongue load..
Maybe my truck had other issues,maybe the tires were doing it,I cant say for sure..but I made a third trip with the same trailer using a '68 Chevelle wagon,my dad's car,and you'd never know it was even behind you in that thing..

 

[Chevman88]

My biggest concern towing with these isn't getting the rig moving, but controlling and stopping it. The short wheelbase on these things definitely doesn't help, and if you haven't upgraded your braking system (to include a trailer brake controller) stopping in an oh sh*t moment would also be difficult.

In the end it comes down to what you are comfortable safely towing.

 

[imiceman44]

I'm considering a toy box trailer to be towed with my '83 K5. I have an 18' car trailer I tow behind it now and it does that fine. My question is how long a trailer is safe, or is it more of a weight and length question?

On a side note, anyone know the capacity of the stock large diesel tank? Pretty sure I have put over 30 gallons in it before.

If you want to tow something like that invest in a weight distribution hitch.
It's only $200-250.
The short wheelbase of the k5 makes it wander without it.