Envoy as a tow vehicle?

[ed72vette]

I have 18' CC that weighs about 2200# ready to go. I presently tow it with a Jeep Liberty to the local ramp. The Jeep pulls it without any problems. MY wife and I want to take some road trips with the boat. I feel the Jeep is a little light for over the road trips. The trailer does not have any brakes. It gets dunked in salt water every weekend form April to Oct and I did not want to deal with the maintence. Would a Envoy make a good over the road vehicle and be able to stop my trailer with out adding brakes? Have there been any maintence problems with a newer Envoy?

 

[rndn]

Re: Envoy as a tow vehicle?

New Envoys are nice. That inline six cylinder has lots of HP and torque. Make sure you get the towing package. Your 2200# is including the weight of the trailer and gear?

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Envoy as a tow vehicle?

The Envoy is twice the vehicle the Liberty and will tow just fine. The total weight is much more than 2200 pounds thougnh. Don't know of many 18.5 footers that weigh under 1000 pounds minus engine. Add 350 for the engine, battery, gas, gear, and the trailer and you are well over 2500 and probably closer to 3000 pounds. The Envoy has an inline six with good torque and HP as was mentioned. It's longer wheelbase will benefit high speed handling.

 

[Rusty Boater]

Re: Envoy as a tow vehicle?

This is what we tow our boat with. Pull my 18' Bayliner with gear etc with NO problem. Very comfortable on the inside.

Little Trick: If you want leather; buy the base model and have the dealer add the leather. The only package to get leather is the XLT i think and it is $$. I negoiated the leather in the deal for $500. We have been VERY happy with it.

 

[ed72vette]

Re: Envoy as a tow vehicle?

Thanks for the replys. The boat and load weight I reported is close, I did not include the 600#wt of the trailer[ I should have]. I thought There would have been numerous comments on the no brakes issue for the trailer. I was wondering how robust the brakes on the Envoy were. I know that the Jeep gets you attention if you have to stop in a short distance. The following are the weights for the boat and gear.

Boat 1350#
Motor 261#
Fuel 300# full tank 50 gal
gear 250#
Trailer 600#
Total 2761

 

[rndn]

Re: Envoy as a tow vehicle?

Most rigs would alway benefit from having brakes on the trailer. Would brakes help your 3000# trailer stop, sure, but I don't think it's mandatory. My Tacoma with the V-6 and towing package tows and stops my roughly 3200# boat and trailer just fine.

 

[edgutgesell]

Re: Envoy as a tow vehicle?

I have a 2002 Envoy with the Vortec 6. I use it to tow my 20' 6" Wellcraft that weighs in at about 3000+ Lbs. depending on how full my 84 gallon fuel tank is. Trailer is an Easyloader tandom with surge drum brakes. I figure I am towing approximately 4300 Lbs total weight most times without any problems. Last fall I towed my boat 110 miles home from S. Jersey and when I got home I found out that I had a broken trailer brake line. The Envoy brakes stopped the 4300 Lbs without a problem. I do not have the towing package, but I am considering installing the tranny oil cooler this winter.

Ed G.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Envoy as a tow vehicle?

i tow with 5000 with a surburban, with brakes on all 4 wheels. i highly recommend brakes, and my is exclusively salt water, with wash outs on the brakes. don't know where you tow, but you better look at the state requirements, one slip up, and it could be costly. http://www.towingworld.com/articles/TowingLaws.htm

 

[ed72vette]

Re: Envoy as a tow vehicle?

Thanks for the great information. It looks like the Envoy is a good match for me and the boat. Thanks for the state info regarding brakes. NJ requires brakes at the 3000# point.
Ed

 

[MrBigStuff]

Re: Envoy as a tow vehicle?

I tow about 3500 lbs with my 2004 Trailblazer which is essentially the same vehicle. My truck has the I6 and it hauls the boat without much problem. The trailer has no brakes and stopping can be interesting at times. Fade is an issue under hard braking. I think you'll be OK but brakes would certainly be helpful for those invariable panic type situations.

 

[Rusty Boater]

Re: Envoy as a tow vehicle?

I tow about 3500 lbs with my 2004 Trailblazer which is essentially the same vehicle. My truck has the I6 and it hauls the boat without much problem. The trailer has no brakes and stopping can be interesting at times. Fade is an issue under hard braking. I think you'll be OK but brakes would certainly be helpful for those invariable panic type situations.

Mine did this and I checked the rear calipers and found one of the bleed screws loose. Fine ever since then.

The Envoy/ Trailblazer has disc brakes with twin piston calipers front and rear. Stopping should be cake...

 

[mikey.himself]

Re: Envoy as a tow vehicle?

One big problem with under powered brakes is glazing (overheating). When this happens your braking power is sacraficed greatly...Not fun.