Tow Capacity w/ aftermarket Hitch

[MurkyAsparagus]

This past February, I bought a ‘23 Chevy Blazer w/ the 2.0L and 9T60. I do a bit of towing with a small utility trailer and jetski, so I bought and installed a Curt hitch.

The Curt hitch has a rated capacity of 5000 lbs. The blazer, when equipped with the factory tow package has a rated capacity of 3250 lbs. From Chevy, the factory tow package does not add any extra cooling to the engine or transmission of the 2.0L.

I have a bit of yard work to do that will require me to rent a small tractor and a larger utility trailer. I will be right at the 3250 lb tow capacity.

Would you be comfortable towing the max factory tow capacity with an aftermarket hitch setup? Thanks!

As a side note, here’s a nice little table of GM transmissions in SUVs and their relevant capacities. It’s interesting to see how AWD has a lower capacity than FWD, especially when AWD usually comes with the 3.6 V6.

 

[nwjones18]

I wouldn't want to tow max across the country, but if you are just going across town I wouldn't sweat it. The hitch itself wouldn't concern me at all.

 

[cptbarkey]

What is the curb weight of your vehicle? That is a major factor in its max towing capacity that is a bit more important than the engine and transmission.
Add ballast in a balanced manner if you dare to tow over the capacity. Think of gym weights and the such. Your car will look pretty cool.

 

[Elkins45]

In most towing setups the tongue weight gets exceeded before the max weight does. I'm assuming for a 5K hitch the max tongue weight is 500 pounds?

The fact it's an aftermarket vs factory hitch wouldn't concern me in the least. GM likely buys their factory hitches instead of making them anyway. And towing at capacity wouldn't bother me for short hauls, but I wouldn't want to do it for hundred of miles.

Does the trailer have brakes or are you relying on the vehicle to stop it? Stopping a heavy load scares me more than moving it.

 

[fantastic]

Would you be comfortable towing the max factory tow capacity with an aftermarket hitch setup? Thanks!

Once upon a time you had to buy an aftermarket hitch.
In your situation it would be fine at that weight but I wouldn't think you can tow 5k.

 

[IndyIan]

It's my understanding, as long as the trailer has brakes, and you aren't overloading the rear axle rating, you can probably tow the full 5000lbs legally in your state, if every component in your hitch system is rated for 5000lbs.
You can check your state highway traffic laws, but usually the manufactures tow rating usually doesn't mean anything(or is even mentioned), but the axle ratings do.

Anyways, in your case, the trailer should have its own brakes, take it easy, leave some space, probably manually shift so the engine keeps some revs up and doesn't hunt for gears constantly and it will be fine.

 

[Rand]

How does the curt attach vs OE?
On my 24 outback the OE hitch attaches differently (and better imo)

also note that at 3250lb you are required to have trailer brakes. Surge brakes do qualify.

it wouldnt bother me for shorter distances and with the proper tongue weight etc.

The tractor may not fit on the trailer in such as way as to provide the correct tongue weight..
which I'm guessing is around 300lb max for your vehicle?

The lower AWD capacity is due to the car being heavier and GVWR.

EDIT:

You left out the fact that GM says you can only tow 1500lb without the trailering package.
Which might be for odd reasons such as no trailer brake controller.. but it is what it is.
you are "legal" to tow 1500lb.

 

[AZjeff]

It's my understanding, as long as the trailer has brakes, and you aren't overloading the rear axle rating, you can probably tow the full 5000lbs legally in your state, if every component in your hitch system is rated for 5000lbs.

This comes up frequently on RV forums. Nothing you add to a vehicle will increase the tow rating of the vehicle as determined by the maker. A hitch rated for 5000 doesn’t magically raise the car’s rating from 3250 to 5000. He wants to tow at capacity so it doesn’t matter.

 

[meep]

If the vehicle is rated for 3250, then thats the number I would go by. In practice around town it will likely be workable. I find generally they ride awful dont do great as you approach the 75% rating but it varies. The gen IV Chrysler minivans towed wonderfully at 3500 pounds, their max rating, and towed far better than the pathfinder we had which was rated for 1500 more. The minivan chassis and wheelbase took the prize.

Pay attention to try to get front-rear positioning right without going over. You certainly want the weight forward in the trailer without putting more than needed on the hitch. Do you have a bathroom scale that can handle 325 lbs?

 

[IndyIan]

This comes up frequently on RV forums. Nothing you add to a vehicle will increase the tow rating of the vehicle as determined by the maker. A hitch rated for 5000 doesn’t magically raise the car’s rating from 3250 to 5000. He wants to tow at capacity so it doesn’t matter.

My understanding is that the manufacturers tow rating means nothing legally, in Ontario at least, for a private vehicle owner, and in most states.

These folks https://www.canamrv.ca/ have been in business for decades setting up safe towing packages for all types of vehicles, with rv's that are well above the manufacturers tow rating. If it was illegal I'm sure they would've been sued out of existence a long time ago.
Watch some videos of theirs, its impressive what some hitch setup tuning can do, and how well a car and trailer with a low CoG can handle emergency maneuvers, perhaps better than 1 ton pickup unloaded at all?

 

[4WD]

My understanding is that the manufacturers tow rating means nothing legally, in Ontario at least, for a private vehicle owner, and in most states.

These folks https://www.canamrv.ca/ have been in business for decades setting up safe towing packages for all types of vehicles, with rv's that are well above the manufacturers tow rating. If it was illegal I'm sure they would've been sued out of existence a long time ago.
Watch some videos of theirs, its impressive what some hitch setup tuning can do, and how well a car and trailer with a low CoG can handle emergency maneuvers, perhaps better than 1 ton pickup unloaded at all?

Looks like a large hitch equalizer on that setup …

 

[02SE]

My understanding is that the manufacturers tow rating means nothing legally, in Ontario at least, for a private vehicle owner, and in most states.

These folks https://www.canamrv.ca/ have been in business for decades setting up safe towing packages for all types of vehicles, with rv's that are well above the manufacturers tow rating. If it was illegal I'm sure they would've been sued out of existence a long time ago.
Watch some videos of theirs, its impressive what some hitch setup tuning can do, and how well a car and trailer with a low CoG can handle emergency maneuvers, perhaps better than 1 ton pickup unloaded at all?

Yeah, they've been advocating towing larger, more expensive trailers, so they can sell larger, more expensive trailers to more people without a proper tow vehicle for a given trailer. Yes, they have their carefully set up tests they take videos of, to push their agenda of selling more of those larger, more expensive trailers...

I've seen enough carnage on the roads with sketchy towing set-ups, to not want to follow their poor advice.

 

[4WD]

On some smaller SUV’s with rear coils - air bags are inexpensive and fairly easy to install - does not increase the rating - mainly keeps the vehicle level and a bit more stable …

 

[AZjeff]

My understanding is that the manufacturers tow rating means nothing legally, in Ontario at least, for a private vehicle owner, and in most states.

What an RV dealer in Canada is doing has little or nothing to do with what's legal in the US. Do some searching, in the US everything about towing capacity is based on the GVWR, GCWR, max hitch weight etc. as determined by the maker.

 

[johnmyster]

My understanding is that the manufacturers tow rating means nothing legally, in Ontario at least, for a private vehicle owner, and in most states.

Correct, except the ratings are often a marketing tool derived using J2807 test methods.

 

[IndyIan]

What an RV dealer in Canada is doing has little or nothing to do with what's legal in the US. Do some searching, in the US everything about towing capacity is based on the GVWR, GCWR, max hitch weight etc. as determined by the maker.

Yep, for sure do the research in your state. I think you'll find in most cases that there is no legal issue at all with towing over the manufacturers tow rating as long as you stay under the axle ratings or under GVWR, or under GCWR. It seems many vehicles have no GCWR published at all, so I guess its not a legal requirement for some vehicles anyways.
Years ago, I talked to trailer/hitch inspection business here about why our company vans all tow around 2900lb trailers unbraked when all our vans only have a manufacturers 1000lb unbraked trailer capacity? Long story short is as long as your hitch and trailer are legal for the weight, and you are not overloading the axles or GVWR of the tow vehicle, the law doesn't say anything about the manufactures ratings.

 

[IndyIan]

Yeah, they've been advocating towing larger, more expensive trailers, so they can sell larger, more expensive trailers to more people without a proper tow vehicle for a given trailer. Yes, they have their carefully set up tests they take videos of, to push their agenda of selling more of those larger, more expensive trailers...

I've seen enough carnage on the roads with sketchy towing set-ups, to not want to follow their poor advice.

If you watch more of the videos, I don't get the impression they are just greedy, but that the fellow likes to solve a technical problem efficiently, and that with a good set up, a Chrysler 300 is probably a safer tow vehicle than most 1/2 tons?

I do agree, that towing that 32' air stream without the hitch setup properly, isn't going to go as well in the 300 as it would with a 3/4 ton pickup, but both would tow better with a good hitch setup.

 

[Jetronic]

Yep, for sure do the research in your state. I think you'll find in most cases that there is no legal issue at all with towing over the manufacturers tow rating as long as you stay under the axle ratings or under GVWR, or under GCWR. It seems many vehicles have no GCWR published at all, so I guess its not a legal requirement for some vehicles anyways.
Years ago, I talked to trailer/hitch inspection business here about why our company vans all tow around 2900lb trailers unbraked when all our vans only have a manufacturers 1000lb unbraked trailer capacity? Long story short is as long as your hitch and trailer are legal for the weight, and you are not overloading the axles or GVWR of the tow vehicle, the law doesn't say anything about the manufactures ratings.

that's how it works in Europe, the GCWR - GVWR is the tow rating. But towball download limits still apply, it's quite easy to go over those, and they do add a lot to the rear axle weight (and also shift some weight from the front axle to the rear).

 

[Elkins45]

I saw some pix on a Nissan Titan group on Facebook from a guy who didn’t understand tongue weight and trailer balancing. He was complaining because the hitch had ripped off his truck when towing a tractor that was under the weight limit. The towing capacity on these trucks is something like 9k but he had almost all of the weight forward of the axle so it was no telling how much the tongue weight was on that thing. It was enough to shear the factory welds on the hitch.

 

[meep]

Didnt watch video but I’m guessing for that 300 to play well with the airstream, I’m gonna take a guess that they’ve got a good WDH and it’s cranked down to get all that weight forward. Just how much torque can the oem hitch mount support? I had a 6000lb camper (loaded) behind a truck rated for 6900, and it was scary how much torque it took to get it even half way to level. You could see the twist in the hitch. WDH is an important tool, but there’s a practical element of too much tail behind the dog, especially in crosswinds or complex semi traffic.