Flat towing gone wrong!

[GTS104]

Let me start by this is not my rig but I do flat tow my own Bronco and occasionally my F-250 behind my pusher.

Backstory:
My buddy was going to Florida and had his pusher on cruise at 65. (350 HP) He noticed his cruise control surging and fighting to hold his speed. Pulled over to see the mayhem.

He is pretty sure the passenger tire caught a nail and slow leaked to the point of falure and drug sideways and then peeled the carcus of the driver tire.

At first glance he did not notice anything in his rear camera that made him think he had any problems.

I was like "nobody tried to flag you down on the road!!"

No he said He was pretty shocked as well.

Damage consisted of the obvious two tires 1 rim and part of the wire harness on the passenger side when the tread separated.

I think I might get the add on to my tpms monitors to include the tow pig as well.

And yes he has the v6 and I asked him if his battery was dead when he got in and it was not. He has a separate battery tender that hooks to his rig while flat towing and uses the air force 1 controller. The bronco was still in flat tow mode (sorry conspiracy guys).

Just bad luck I imagine

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[Aonarch]

Carnage.

I still think flat towing a Bronco is a bad idea.

Buy a Wrangler with a manual transfer case instead.

 

[Hey Buddy]

That sucks to see our Broncos get hurt!
I am glad it was not worse.
Maybe put the Bronco in front next time & tow the other vehicle?

 

[BroncoBoy22]

Dang sorry for you buddy! Glad the damage wasn’t worse

 

[HBTFD]

Carnage.

I still think flat towing a Bronco is a bad idea.

Buy a Wrangler with a manual transfer case instead.

Or a trailer.

 

[Hopeless Diamond]

The reason I rigged a camera on the back of my camper so I can keep an eye on the toad.

 

[adamruiz2001]

Well that sucks.

 

[Crimpcap]

Adding one of these cheap little units gives me piece of mind about trailer tires going flat. Helps me stop before the tire is ruined.

 

[Tricky Mike]

Fordpass will alert for low tire pressure, it's a free way to monitor.

 

[zuke]

Or a trailer.

I use a car trailer behind my diesel pusher as it's a lot cheaper than rigging up all my toads for flat tow, and avoids a lot of these kind of problems.

But there are many disadvantages to using a trailer as well,

Your RV has to be able to tow the weight of the Bronco and the trailer... Most gas RVs and many diesel pushers are limited to a 5000lb tow rating.

Many campgrounds count the trailer as an extra vehicle, and won't allow it on the campsite. (some will allow it but insist the toad be parked on the trailer whenever it's in the campground).

An RV and trailer make for a really long rig (Mine runs 64' with the trailer hooked up, and it's not particularly long), limiting where you can camp and park quite a bit.

 

[Az_Squatch_Bronco]

Or a trailer.

This....

 

[HBTFD]

I use a car trailer behind my diesel pusher as it's a lot cheaper than rigging up all my toads for flat tow, and avoids a lot of these kind of problems.

But there are many disadvantages to using a trailer as well,

Your RV has to be able to tow the weight of the Bronco and the trailer... Most gas RVs and many diesel pushers are limited to a 5000lb tow rating.

Many campgrounds count the trailer as an extra vehicle, and won't allow it on the campsite. (some will allow it but insist the toad be parked on the trailer whenever it's in the campground).

An RV and trailer make for a really long rig (Mine runs 64' with the trailer hooked up, and it's not particularly long), limiting where you can camp and park quite a bit.

How to the campgrounds that don’t allow trailered vehicles handle pickups that pull campers?

 

[zuke]

How to the campgrounds that don’t allow trailered vehicles handle pickups that pull campers?

It's not that they don't allow 'trailers' it's that they only allow two 'vehicles' on a site, and they count the car trailer as one.

Some campgrounds have 'overflow' areas where they'll let you put the trailer, but that's an added hassle too

 

[Valhalla]

I knew a guy that wheeled with us who flat towed his jeep that he had a ton of money in. Long story short it suddenly got squirrelly after a 4x4 expedition as he was going home. The flat tow started swaying broke the pickup free at highway speed and he crashed badly. Both vehicles totaled and he was injured.

 

[aknavy]

Carnage.

I still think flat towing a Bronco is a bad idea.

Buy a Wrangler with a manual transfer case instead.

I agree with this so much that I took a big loss trading my 3 month old Bronco on a 2024 JLU Rubicon. Two years of towing two other Rubicons, never an issue.

A rear view camera is a great way to keep track of the toad, I wouldn't want to tow it without it. I can see my tow bar and the front of the Wrangler/Bronco for any issues that may arise. It has a rhythm to it's motion, so if it changes, we stop.

And no, not many people will flag you down if disaster is happening. They may video it, but only a few flag you down.

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