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Increased towing.?

Bronco Don

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I have 4 runner that tows 5,000 lb. I’m replacing that with my four door bronco. How can I safely tow the same? Increase radiator size? Trans cooler? Better hitch I know for sure. Any ideas?
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ZackDanger

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Lots of discussion on this already...

Short answer is we don’t know what the limitation is coming from.

Obvious weak points are the receiver and rear suspension.

Beyond that we don’t know how the brakes or cooling systems are also limiting factors.

Reading through the longer towing threads should reveal more discussion by people with way more experience in the matter than I have.
 

Hey19

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Seems to me you could increase the spring rate and install a heavier hitch, increase the size of the tranny cooler if a 10a is your choice.
Expect a rougher ride when empty. The Bronco to me is made for off road fun and equipping it to haul a heavy trailer ruins the original intention.
Like the first reply, F150.
$0.02
 

Lakelife36

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Seems to me you could increase the spring rate and install a heavier hitch, increase the size of the tranny cooler if a 10a is your choice.
Expect a rougher ride when empty. The Bronco to me is made for off road fun and equipping it to haul a heavy trailer ruins the original intention.
Like the first reply, F150.
$0.02
You don't need an F-150 to tow 5000lbs, unless you're hauling a lot of weight to go with it. And if he came from a 4Runner then he likely isn't.
 

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jaruss01

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HAHA!! Tow!? Maybe when they make it self driving so theres no weight in the truck, not even a driver.
 

PSUTE

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After market Class III or IV. Spring stiffeners, Aux transmission cooler. I would have no issue with hauling 5000 lbs with the right modifications. Cue the weight police...
 

Monster79

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It tows whatever it is rated at, I don't suggest anymore. Now you can help it tow the max easier with things like bags, weight distribution hitch, bigger coolers, gearing, programmer etc.. etc.. etc.. etc.. With saying that no "Modification" magically changes the tow rating, it's set for a reason. Now hopefully Ford will offer a max tow package with a different style hitch design and different springs for the ones who would like to haul a little more.
 

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I'm confused by the confusion.
Max tow ratings.
Escape 3,500# Bronco Sport 2,200#
F150 11,300# Raptor 8,000#

So where is the main obvious difference? Suspension
 

Lakelife36

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I'm confused by the confusion.
Max tow ratings.
Escape 3,500# Bronco Sport 2,200#
F150 11,300# Raptor 8,000#

So where is the main obvious difference? Suspension
If suspension was the only significant difference, and those were the only representative examples of a platform's off-road variant, then the Bronco should tow somewhere between (2200/3500 =) 63% and (8000/11300 =) 71% of the Ranger's tow cap. That would be 4700 to 5300lbs.

Of course that's not the only relevant difference, but I thought I'd throw it out there for comparison purposes.
 

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reidski29

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This is my biggest beef with the Bronco, a low to rating. It's based off the ranger I would have expected a 5K tow rating. It would be nice if an Outerbanks or Wildtrak could be upfitted with a max tow package therefore still allowing the BL to be the true offroading model.

I know, the Bronco is a "toy" not a tow vehicle, but I don't have the dough to have a pickup and a Bronco. Asking to tow a 3,800 lb travel trailer doesn't seem to be that big of an ask in my opinion but for Ford it is.
 
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Bronco Don

Bronco Don

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Yeah I have a boat weighs about 4600 pounds loaded , my 4runner tows it OK but could use more power and more torque, the bronco seems to have more power more toque was hoping to use this to go to the river.
 

amccue90

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Yeah I have a boat weighs about 4600 pounds loaded , my 4runner tows it OK but could use more power and more torque, the bronco seems to have more power more toque was hoping to use this to go to the river.
I have suspicions that Ford will come out with a max tow package for 5k pounds MY 22 or 23 and without any official support, it'll just be springs, intercooler, and maybe brakes. At that point, if I want to tow more, I'll just read some forums comparing the package and upgrade.
 

AcesandEights

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It's not the springs that determine the GVWR. It's a myriad of things and it's usually not just the springs.
 

alzito

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Weight, weight, weight And what Ford has calculated with options, passenger payload, etc by model. Since the 4Dr FE is loaded up they have run into a weight limitation, therefore no hitch.

Same problem applies in regards to the roof rack as well as other options. Ford does have a weight issue with the Bronco that will need to be addressed. I would bet that they are working the issue to be resolved for 22MY. They have their hands full now getting the darn thing into production with whatever issues that they are seeing on the mules and the seemingly endless problems with the roof manufacturer in Germany, WEBASTO. (Covid my butt, there are bigger problems than that IMHO)

Bronco rear suspension is totally different from Ranger and as pointed out is not built to be a tow vehicle, it has a softer/more compliant suspension specifically for on and especially off road use. Look at the very low tongue load capacity, 350 lbs. thats the problem, not brakes, not frame, not engine/trans. 350lb tongue load is so low because of vehicle GVWR, IMO due to rear suspension.

Can the tow rating be higher, the answer is yes, particularly on the 4 dr, its just engineering, 5000 or 6000 is not a stretch, anything higher than that will be unlikely due to w/b. The 2dr will always be limited to the shorter w/b. The most likely needed improvement is rear springs, but also possibly rear spring attach points to frame. Other things such as additional cooling etc as Ford does on other vehicles would probably fall into a real tow package as well. Changing the dynamics of rear suspension will come at a cost, potentially harsher ride and less compliant to off road conditions, can it be done yes, will some things be comprimised doing it, yes.

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