New Shocks?

[Huck]

Hopefully I will be picking up my new Parkliner in a couple of months. I plan on towing with a 1996 Chevy Blazer.

I am not very mechanically inclined, so thought it would be good to do some maintenance on the Blazer to learn a little bit, so if necessary I can do emergency repairs. I just took the old, dented bmperer off and am waiting for the junk yard to call me and say they have 1 ready for me to pick up.

Should I replace the rear shocks? If so, what type would you recommend?

What other maintenance/upgrades should I do before towing?

[stevebaz]

With a high mileage tug I personally would check The rear brakes, fronts are usually better maintained since they do most of the stopping in daily operation, lube/ check the drive shaft, by 100,000 miles the u-joints have done their time. This applies to sealed rear axle bearings too. When these items fail on the highway you will hear a grumbly noise and then a disasterious bang, not much interval between the 2. Raise the rear tire pressure for the load incountered when you tow. If your rear tires are not showing any weird wear patterns the shocks are probably OK. Warn shocks usually show up when the cars is lightly loaded instead of heavily loaded. Any loose or squirly steering issues will be worse with the trailer load on the back. If you dont feel comfortable with your Blazer to hop in and drive cross country it would probably be prudent to have a good established mechanic put it on the rack and give it the once over. it will cost you some coin but you will sleep beter.

Of course you will have to deal with the Tow hitch and brake controller and trailer wiring hook-up.

[cpaharley2008]

I'd install helper shocks, the one with springs attached.

[Mike Magee]

If you push down on the rear bumper 3 or 4 times and let go, the rear should stop moving pretty quickly. If it keeps bouncing, the shocks are shot.

I put adjustable Rancho 9000 shocks on my Mountaineer a while back. I can set them firm for towing and light for everyday driving. They've held up very well.

[Byron Kinnaman]

When I first got my trailer I towed it with a 1998 Blazer. It's a great tow as far as I'm concerned. I stopped towing with it when I bought the Dakota. There was only one major problem when I sold it, the steering box was wearing out after only 215,000 miles. I couldn't really justify keeping it when I had the Dakota, other wise I would have had the steering box replaced.

[Huck]

Originally Posted by Byron Kinnaman

When I first got my trailer I towed it with a 1998 Blazer. It's a great tow as far as I'm concerned. I stopped towing with it when I bought the Dakota. There was only one major problem when I sold it, the steering box was wearing out after only 215,000 miles. I couldn't really justify keeping it when I had the Dakota, other wise I would have had the steering box replaced.

I've only got about 92k miles on it and it is in really good shape; but being that old, I know I will have some failures.

[Roy in TO]

Originally Posted by stevebaz

I personally would check The rear brakes, fronts are usually better maintained since they do most of the stopping in daily operation

???
If I had a mechanic that only checked or maintained only half of the braking system, I'd be looking for another. Must be the origin of the phrase "a half-fast job".