What would be a realistic towing capacity?

[Cookieck]

There may be more to that story. Typically a carrier cannot cancel for no reason and no notice. Non payment? Yep! Material misrepresentation on an application yep! No reason, no notice? No place I have ever done business.

Maybe so, it wasn't me personally so he might've left something out. I just remember him being extremely upset about almost getting his first ever ticket because his insurance company randomly canceled his policy, he's never had an issue since. And I've always been under the impression most have a clause in those agreements that everyone signs but few people ever really read that say they can cancel your policy at any time for any reason. So I'd rather not risk giving them any possible reason.

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[LarryZiegler]

No disrespect intended, as that may be true, but do you really want to go to court to prove it? If it's just a little fender bender, then the trailer weight probably wouldn't even come up. But what if the damage is excessive or someone gets injured. Then the insurance company will be looking for ways out and and if you're using the vehicle beyond the recommended safe limits that are set by the manufacturer, then you can be sure the insurance company will try to use that against you. It's possible they wouldn't be successful, but it could tie you up in court for quite some time.
In my younger days (I'm now old and wrinkly) I wouldn't have thought twice about it. I'd have put a better hitch on it and towed my 5000lb boat, but now I don't think it's worth the risk.

You don’t have to go to court to prove it.....you file a claim with your insurance company and they start the investigation process and go from there. Again, there is nothing in the policy agreement that contains any exclusion for trailering weights. It really is no different than an incident whereby having more people in a car than there are seatbelts for or that the total weight of all the passengers exceeds the rated weight capacity of the the vehicle

 

[LarryZiegler]

There may be more to that story. Typically a carrier cannot cancel for no reason and no notice. Non payment? Yep! Material misrepresentation on an application yep! No reason, no notice? No place I have ever done business.

Typically, if an insurance carrier is going to terminate a policy, they must give 10 days notice for any reason.....non payment, unacceptable driving record, a material misrepresentation, etc. it’s an unfair business practice to terminate a policy with no advance notice.

 

[Lakelife36]

@Granger Ford says that FoMoCo is watching this forum and I sure hope so. The first poll showed that some people are willing to modify their Bronco to tow above the low TC, and now this thread is being hijacked by a group of people discussing whether or not their insurance company can or cannot deny them (and by extension others who may be injured in an accident) coverage for doing so.

There is a potential safety concern brewing here that should be avoidable with a separate max tow package that allows the Bronco a higher TC. Do the right thing Ford!

 

[Mattwings]

I am not contemplating exceeding the tow rating, but I am contemplating modifying my vehicle to increase the towing capacity. That would be a WD hitch and potentially different rear springs/sway bar if that’s the limitation. I would look for confirmation from the manufacturer of those parts to identify the potential change to capacity. Or, will use our Explorer, that has a higher rating of need be ??

 

[Broncocito]

I honestly think if you upgrade to a Class III (3) hitch up to 5K you will be fine. This is what I am going to do on a 4D 2.7.

 

[Lakelife36]

I am not contemplating exceeding the tow rating, but I am contemplating modifying my vehicle to increase the towing capacity. That would be a WD hitch and potentially different rear springs/sway bar if that’s the limitation. I would look for confirmation from the manufacturer of those parts to identify the potential change to capacity. Or, will use our Explorer, that has a higher rating of need be ??

I can't see how an aftermarket manufacturer can claim to raise the tow rating, but if it's possible then I'd be all in. I thought that they just helped you tow more comfortably when you're at the upper end of the OEM's tow rating, especially at high speeds, in strong crosswinds, or under any other adverse conditions.

 

[Broncocito]

One of my crawlers (2nd gen 4runner), I swapped out the rear coils for some large flexy Chevrolet truck springs and I towed a 7,500 trailer for 500 miles with no problems and it was still stable and I had no sway bars.

 

[Lakelife36]

I honestly think if you upgrade to a Class III (3) hitch up to 5K you will be fine. This is what I am going to do on a 4D 2.7.

If the only issue was the Class II hitch then I can't see why they wouldn't already have a Class III on it to get the rating to where the rest of the vehicle allows. It will be the tall and soft coilovers - exacerbated by the short wheelbase - and the lack of a rear sway bar that does it.
There will be some who put a Class III on to allow a drop hitch, or in combination with other improvements if there are some that raise the rating, but the larger hitch on its own would not increase the tow rating of the vehicle. And if it somehow does this would be as bad of a failure as the B&P so far.

 

[Broncocito]

If the only issue was the Class II hitch then I can't see why they wouldn't already have a Class III on it to get the rating to where the rest of the vehicle allows. It will be the tall and soft coilovers - exacerbated by the short wheelbase - and the lack of a rear sway bar that does it.
There will be some who put a Class III on to allow a drop hitch, or in combination with other improvements if there are some that raise the rating, but the larger hitch on its own would not increase the tow rating of the vehicle. And if it somehow does this would be as bad of a failure as the B&P so far.

I agree it won't improve the rating, but I think with the 4D it is much more capable then 3,500 and I am not saying remove the sway bars on the Bronco.

 

[Mopar2Bronco2021]

I honestly think if you upgrade to a Class III (3) hitch up to 5K you will be fine. This is what I am going to do on a 4D 2.7.

Upgrading your hitch receiver alone is not always a safe way to increase tow capacity. The hitch receiver may just be one limitation. The frame, brakes, suspension, and axles could all be limitations as well. I would be careful telling people on this thread, some of which don’t know much about towing, that towing 1500 lbs past rating is “fine”. That’s 43% increase from rating which is assuming 1.43+ safety factor in the design. Not recommended in my opinion.

As we all know, the class 2 hitch receiver is rated at 3500 lbs. DO NOT assume that this is the only limiting factor about the new Bronco tow rating.

 

[Broncocito]

Upgrading your hitch receiver alone is not always a safe way to increase tow capacity. The hitch receiver may just be one limitation. The frame, brakes, suspension, and axles could all be limitations as well. I would be careful telling people on this thread, some of which don’t know much about towing, that towing 1500 lbs past rating is “fine”. That’s 43% increase from rating which is assuming 1.43+ safety factor in the design. Not recommended in my opinion.

As we all know, the class 2 hitch receiver is rated at 3500 lbs. DO NOT assume that this is the only limiting factor about the new Bronco tow rating.

I hear you too. I would really like to learn the rationale from Ford limiting the tow capacity to 3,500. A bunch of us have been speculating, but I want the science. You are absolutely right how you laid out your response in theory.

 

[Lakelife36]

I honestly think if you upgrade to a Class III (3) hitch up to 5K you will be fine. This is what I am going to do on a 4D 2.7.

Here you say it's just the hitch

I agree it won't improve the rating, but I think with the 4D it is much more capable then 3,500 and I am not saying remove the sway bars on the Bronco.

Here you say it's not just the hitch, and that you're not going to do something that no one said you should. Remove the rear sway bars? Part of the problem is that there doesn't even appear to be rear sway bars in the first place. There isn't even anything to remove!

I hear you too. I would really like to learn the rationale from Ford limiting the tow capacity to 3,500. A bunch of us have been speculating, but I want the science. You are absolutely right how you laid out your response in theory.

If you want the science, you should probably not tell everyone to implement an overly simplistic solution that is likely not going to actually solve the problem.

 

[BroncBro]

I think somewhere around 3,500lbs is realistic for this specific vehicle.

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