*Update 7.25.22* Towing Yamaha SX195 with 2.3L Black Diamond Bronco

[scubasteve]

*Update 7.25.22*

Full update in post #34 along with some boat photos for those interested.

TL;DR is the Bronco has been fantastic towing this summer including an 800+ mile trip across New York for a charity boat race.
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Hey Everyone! I wanted to share my quick experience towing with my new 4dr, 2.3L, Auto, Black Diamond, non-Sas, tow package.

For reference my Yamaha SX195 weighs about 2100lbs dry. With full fuel, gear and trailer we get close to 3,000lbs. Figure a couple of passengers in the Bronco we should be pretty much right at the 3,500lb rating when I get into more normal use next spring.

Now granted I haven't towed too much as I have only owned the Bronco for about a week and boating season is pretty much over here on Long Island, but I have put on about 50 miles with a mix of highway and normal roads taking the boat to get shrink wrapped.

Long Island is mostly flat so can't provide insight to hills, but passing on the highway (going from 60 to 70 to pass) hasn't been an issue. Power train has plenty of grunt (as expected given it's in the ranger). Fuel economy hasn't been so bad in the brief bit of towing averaging around 14mpg for those 50 miles. It's been solid and very stable, but you do know the trailer is back there so don't expect similar characteristics to a dedicated tow truck. There is a little bit of sag which is expected given off road suspension so there still may be some fine tuning with tongue weight and hitch set ups in my future.

For comparison I have towed this boat with a friend's 2017 4dr wrangler, my parents 2015 Tacoma and my most recent tow vehicle of 2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee. All have towed the boat "fine" but the Bronco has by far handled it the best and inspired the most amount of confidence. It doesn't wander and handled bumps extremely well while towing

Overall no complaints with plenty of confidence going forward. I'm excited for our new Bronco to serve as our swiss army-do it all vehicle. It's going to tow our boat, take us on road trips, take us camping in the Adirondacks, take us out on the outer beach with the dog and the occasional Costco run.

Happy to answer any questions, thanks!

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[Theherofails]

For all its weird flaws, it really is just an amazing vehicle. I traded in a 21' Ranger Tremor and thought I would miss it.. HA! I've had my Bronco about 2 weeks now (I'm at ~1,000 miles) and I still get giddy every time I get in.

Glad to hear it can handle towing ~3K just fine. I'm looking at a small overlanding trailer setup, and its going to be right in that ballpark.

 

[dingle87]

Hey Everyone! I wanted to share my quick experience towing with my new 4dr, 2.3L, Auto, Black Diamond, non-Sas, tow package.

For reference my Yamaha SX195 weighs about 2100lbs dry. With full fuel, gear and trailer we get close to 3,000lbs. Figure a couple of passengers in the Bronco we should be pretty much right at the 3,500lb rating when I get into more normal use next spring.

Now granted I haven't towed too much as I have only owned the Bronco for about a week and boating season is pretty much over here on Long Island, but I have put on about 50 miles with a mix of highway and normal roads taking the boat to get shrink wrapped.

Long Island is mostly flat so can't provide insight to hills, but passing on the highway (going from 60 to 70 to pass) hasn't been an issue. Power train has plenty of grunt (as expected given it's in the ranger). Fuel economy hasn't been so bad in the brief bit of towing averaging around 14mpg for those 50 miles. It's been solid and very stable, but you do know the trailer is back there so don't expect similar characteristics to a dedicated tow truck. There is a little bit of sag which is expected given off road suspension so there still may be some fine tuning with tongue weight and hitch set ups in my future.

For comparison I have towed this boat with a friend's 2017 4dr wrangler, my parents 2015 Tacoma and my most recent tow vehicle of 2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee. All have towed the boat "fine" but the Bronco has by far handled it the best and inspired the most amount of confidence. It doesn't wander and handled bumps extremely well while towing

Overall no complaints with plenty of confidence going forward. I'm excited for our new Bronco to serve as our swiss army-do it all vehicle. It's going to tow our boat, take us on road trips, take us camping in the Adirondacks, take us out on the outer beach with the dog and the occasional Costco run.

Happy to answer any questions, thanks!

Do you have the Adv. 4x4?

I'm trying to B&P a BD Mid with 2.3L w/ Adv. 4x4 and it won't let me build it. I'm curious as to if this is just a glitch in the B&P matrix or what. I've gone to the spec sheet dated 11/1/21 and I don't see anything stating there's an issue with my build.

 

[scubasteve]

Do you have the Adv. 4x4?

I'm trying to B&P a BD Mid with 2.3L w/ Adv. 4x4 and it won't let me build it. I'm curious as to if this is just a glitch in the B&P matrix or what. I've gone to the spec sheet dated 11/1/21 and I don't see anything stating there's an issue with my build.

I do have the advanced 4x4 and Mid package. Might be a glitch on your end unfortunately.

 

[scubasteve]

For all its weird flaws, it really is just an amazing vehicle. I traded in a 21' Ranger Tremor and thought I would miss it.. HA! I've had my Bronco about 2 weeks now (I'm at ~1,000 miles) and I still get giddy every time I get in.

Glad to hear it can handle towing ~3K just fine. I'm looking at a small overlanding trailer setup, and its going to be right in that ballpark.

Yeah it handles it no problem. Like I said I would probably be okay even up to 5k, but I think you would have to manage the sag and tongue weight. Plus the liability aspect in the event of emergency. Good luck with the overlanding trailer!

 

[dingle87]

I do have the advanced 4x4 and Mid package. Might be a glitch on your end unfortunately.

Thanks for verifying! B&P glitches.

 

[BroncoAZ]

I’m glad it works well for you.

I tow a 3000# boat and a 6200# boat with my 2021 Tacoma (6400# capacity), it does great with the 3000# boat, and tows the 6200# boat competently but I don’t take it on the highway. There is plenty of power for the heavier boat, I’m more concerned about braking. The short wheelbase on the Bronco (especially the 2 door I have on order) doesn’t help with stability compared to the longer pickup. I expect my Bronco will be ok with the 3000# boat, but still not as good as the Tacoma.

 

[asurfer11]

Yours is an automatic 2.3 L, correct? Also is there an anti-sway feature included with the tow pkg? If so, was it easy to set up? Thanks for the write-up, very helpful!

 

[scubasteve]

Yours is an automatic 2.3 L, correct? Also is there an anti-sway feature included with the tow pkg? If so, was it easy to set up? Thanks for the write-up, very helpful!

You are correct, 2.3L Auto with mid and factory tow package. As far as I'm aware the anti-sway is a feature that's built in. I haven't found it in a menu to activate or deactivate so I'm assuming it's just an always on feature.

 

[JKBL4]

Really psyched to see this post - I've been looking at this exact boat to tow behind the Bronco. I'm towing with a 4 dr 2.7 BD. The relatively light weight of the SX 195 makes it a nice choice. Obvs this is a bronco forum buuuuttttt how have you liked the boat ?

 

[Carreratime]

This weekend I pulled a 12 foot trailer loaded with a big Harley, a Kawasaki and loads of parts and tires. It pulled great, very stable on the freeway and the bumpy secondary roads. Brakes handled the weight fine. Looking into weekend off-road trailers next.

 

[scubasteve]

Really psyched to see this post - I've been looking at this exact boat to tow behind the Bronco. I'm towing with a 4 dr 2.7 BD. The relatively light weight of the SX 195 makes it a nice choice. Obvs this is a bronco forum buuuuttttt how have you liked the boat ?

Glad to hear it! Yeah the 195 series is a super light 19ft boat so I wasn't worried about the Bronco pulling it, but was pleasantly surprised at how well it handled it.

As far as the boat, I love it. This was our 4th season with it here on Long Island. I've grown up on and around a variety of boats over my life so I've seen it all really. For my use, the shallow sandy bay areas I typically boat in it's perfect. It's usually me and my fiance with the occasional couple and maybe some of my nieces and nephews.

It's a great platform for doing it all

 

[Dads_bronze_bronco]

@scubasteve - is your trailer braked? Electric?

I am thinking about converting to electric over hydraulic instead of my surge actuator.

Also, I did airbag helpers on my Jeep, and am thinking maybe a load balancing hitch is a better solution this time around. (Anyone make this transition before and have experience?)

 

[scubasteve]

@scubasteve - is your trailer braked? Electric?

I am thinking about converting to electric over hydraulic instead of my surge actuator.

Also, I did airbag helpers on my Jeep, and am thinking maybe a load balancing hitch is a better solution this time around. (Anyone make this transition before and have experience?)

The trailer has surge brakes so non-electric. I'm sure air bags, stiffer suspension or weight distribution hitch could make this set up better and comfortable tow more weight. That being said, stock set up as is functions fine for my needs at the moment.

 

[DesertChip]

Hey Everyone! I wanted to share my quick experience towing with my new 4dr, 2.3L, Auto, Black Diamond, non-Sas, tow package.

For reference my Yamaha SX195 weighs about 2100lbs dry. With full fuel, gear and trailer we get close to 3,000lbs. Figure a couple of passengers in the Bronco we should be pretty much right at the 3,500lb rating when I get into more normal use next spring.

Now granted I haven't towed too much as I have only owned the Bronco for about a week and boating season is pretty much over here on Long Island, but I have put on about 50 miles with a mix of highway and normal roads taking the boat to get shrink wrapped.

Long Island is mostly flat so can't provide insight to hills, but passing on the highway (going from 60 to 70 to pass) hasn't been an issue. Power train has plenty of grunt (as expected given it's in the ranger). Fuel economy hasn't been so bad in the brief bit of towing averaging around 14mpg for those 50 miles. It's been solid and very stable, but you do know the trailer is back there so don't expect similar characteristics to a dedicated tow truck. There is a little bit of sag which is expected given off road suspension so there still may be some fine tuning with tongue weight and hitch set ups in my future.

For comparison I have towed this boat with a friend's 2017 4dr wrangler, my parents 2015 Tacoma and my most recent tow vehicle of 2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee. All have towed the boat "fine" but the Bronco has by far handled it the best and inspired the most amount of confidence. It doesn't wander and handled bumps extremely well while towing

Overall no complaints with plenty of confidence going forward. I'm excited for our new Bronco to serve as our swiss army-do it all vehicle. It's going to tow our boat, take us on road trips, take us camping in the Adirondacks, take us out on the outer beach with the dog and the occasional Costco run.

Happy to answer any questions, thanks!

For a little added comfort, you might add a brake controller. I really like this one, no wiring required. It goes with the trailer not the tow vehicle. Not the cheapest option but neither is owning a Bronco.

https://www.etrailer.com/Trailer-Brake-Controller/Tekonsha/TK94FR.html

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