Flat tow equipment needed to flat tow the 2021 Bronco?

[Happy]

Thank you!! I appreciate your posting this.
I will try to get back here and report if how it fits on modular bumper and factory metal skid.

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[Tilzbow]

Thank you!! I appreciate your posting this.
I will try to get back here and report if how it fits on modular bumper and factory metal skid.

Thanks! If mine don’t fit they’ll be listed on eBay in about a month and I’ll move on to plan B.

 

[Happy]

I adjusted my printer scaling and came out with a cardboard jig that is very close to Tilzbow's measurements. I believe those tow points will work so we will order a set.

Where the pencil is pointing in these pics are 2 points of a little concern. Picture 1. pretty sure the skid plate will require a 1/2 to 1 in deep notch as wide as necessary to fit an emergency tow hook. Probably 3 inches wide would be all that is required. Without having a working copy, it is hard to tell if the bumper will need material removed. Its may touch an inner bracket in the bumper. If the bumper does require a little material removed it is just in front of where the pencil is pointing to the skid plate. But, if any material does need to be removed , it will be small and I believe I would take it off the LOD bracket.

On the rearward side of the bracket (2nd pic where pencil is pointing) there is a vertical channel on the frame. It appears that the bracket can be fit into this. But if my cardboard model is off a little then the LOD metal bracket may need just a touch of a grinder. Again, I am going to buy these brackets as I think they will work with minimal fuss.

The other part in the photos show the u shaped bracket that must be taken off. The two black items are plastic thumb screws that need to be removed to take off the u-shaped piece. The LOD brackets replaces the u-shaped piece.

maybe all this is clear as mud??

 

[LOD Offroad]

I adjusted my printer scaling and came out with a cardboard jig that is very close to Tilzbow's measurements. I believe those tow points will work so we will order a set.

Where the pencil is pointing in these pics are 2 points of a little concern. Picture 1. pretty sure the skid plate will require a 1/2 in deep notch as wide as the bracket is. Without having a working copy, it is hard to tell if the bumper will need material removed. Its may touch an inner bracket in the bumper. If the bumper does require a little material removed it is just in front of where the pencil is pointing to the skid plate. But, if any material does need to be removed , it will be small and I believe I would take it off the LOD bracket.

On the rearward side of the bracket (2nd pic where pencil is pointing) there is a vertical channel on the frame. It appears that the bracket can be fit into this. But if my cardboard model is off a little then the LOD metal bracket may need just a touch of a grinder. Again, I am going to buy these brackets as I think they will work with minimal fuss.

The other part in the photos show the u shaped bracket that must be taken off. The two black items are plastic thumb screws that need to be removed to take off the u-shaped piece. The LOD brackets replaces the u-shaped piece.

maybe all this is clear as mud??

Nice Job!

I was able to get some cad to show what you suspect. Depending on all the tolerances involved, you might see the OE front skid rub the bottom of the Frame Ties. You might be able to avoid cutting the skid plate by placing a couple of "strategically placed" washers to shift it down slightly.

 

[Happy]

Very good. This is the best option I have seen for an emergency tow hook.

 

[Happy]

Just to add that if skid plate does need to be cut, it is at a point that is mostly behind the modular bumper. I just placed my order!!

 

[Tilzbow]

Very good. This is the best option I have seen for an emergency tow hook.

Happy,

I’m planning to connect a quick link to the LOD mount, then attach a safety cable extension of the proper length to that then click the tow hook from the longer safety cable to that. It actually looks like the Roadmaster extensions come with quick link so the one in the first picture below might not be needed.

From your picture it appears the quick link might hang out far enough to attach the standard safety cable‘s hook directly to that and cable extension might not be needed.

https://www.amazon.com/Curt-Manufac...xtension+safety+cables&qid=1648588163&sr=8-11

https://www.amazon.com/Roadmaster-9...master+extension+safety+cables,aps,147&sr=8-2

 

[Happy]

I think you are right. That would make everything easier! And that's good!

 

[beerme1986]

so it looks like most flat tow folks are using the front D-ring mounts to flat tow. but fount this on the bronco nation forum. so am confused it it is a good thing to use them.

https://thebronconation.com/forums/threads/an-update-on-flat-towing-a-bronco.2853/page-2
see post #23.

also looks like the go to sleep feature after 45 minutes on the EBB on the 2.7L has been resolved. will test out once i get my motorhome.

https://www.bronco6g.com/forum/thre...c-brake-bms-time-out-nthsa-claim.36496/page-5
see post #74.
great job interior guy.

 

[Tilzbow]

so it looks like most flat tow folks are using the front D-ring mounts to flat tow. but fount this on the bronco nation forum. so am confused it it is a good thing to use them.

https://thebronconation.com/forums/threads/an-update-on-flat-towing-a-bronco.2853/page-2
see post #23.

That’s my post. Did you look at the picture in that post? It’s a picture of a capable or standard bumper with D rings included, it’s not the modular bumper. I wouldn’t use the D rings in the bumper that’s pictured for flat towing. There’s also a lot of confusion in that thread.

The shackle mounts included with the modular bumper should be fine for flat towing and are what people are attaching Blue Ox or Roadmaster adapters directly to. If you’ve got one of the other bumpers you’re likely going to need a separate base plate.

It’s all discussed in this thread and there are pictures of a modular bumper with adapters and another with the other bumper with a base plate near the beginning or middle of the thread. It’s worth a read and we’re all figuring this out as we move forward.

 

[grtharris]

Here you go. I’ll admit the brackets look a little bit different in hand than they do in the drawing above.

Thank you so much, just what I was looking for.

 

[Tilzbow]

Thank you so much, just what I was looking for.

You guys are all helping me out a bunch so returning the favor is my pleasure! This has got to be one of the best threads on the forum.

 

[Happy]

https://www.bronco6g.com/forum/thre...c-brake-bms-time-out-nthsa-claim.36496/page-5
see post #74.
great job interior guy.

Even after reading this thread a couple times, this is the 1st time to notice post # 74.
Adding a charge line to our TOAD battery is now on the radar. Cheap enough to try and it it solves the problem so much the better.

Thanks beerme1986 and interior guy

 

[pbryan]

I will try to get back here and report if how it fits on modular bumper and factory metal skid.

Looking forward to some pictures of the installation... this looks like a good solution if it's not too crazy to install and/or deal with the skid plate...

 

[rsmag9]

I'll brain dump my experience. This info is worth every penny you'll pay. I have a 2001 motorhome on a #20500 GVW F53 chassis. Flat towing a mid size SUV is easy on this and a P30 (Chevy/Workhorse) chassis.

If you buy used and do the work yourself, you'll pay around $1500 - $2000 to set it up if you are looking around for deals. Unless you have money to burn, I'd buy at least some of this stuff used. Installation of the wiring and braking system I'm going to guess will be about $1000, but I've never paid for it so I don't know. If you are handy the lighting is easy.

Below are the basics:

Tow Bar:
A 4dr Bronco is less than #5000, so you'll want at least a mid-level tow bar. I had a #6000 Falcon 2 and I wanted to get a little better one so I got a used Blue Ox Avante with #7500 rating ($300). Towmaster and Blue Ox are the big names as far as I know.

Some of the scuttlebutt you see here is about the recovery loops width. Tow bar bumper adapters seem to usually be set up for 1" and the Bronco's Modular bumpers are 1 1/8" (29mm), with a 7/8" pin. There may be a ready-purchase solution out there, but I bought a pair to replace the Blue Ox "3 prong" connector to a Off Road bumper connector for about $230 and ground the gap to about 30mm. Was an easy hack.

Base Plate:
(you don't need one) We have a OB with modular bumper. The reason we got the bumper was for the tow attachments. A base plate on a TOAD for a tow attachment costs usually around $500 and can take all day to install yourself, so it is nice to have a tow hookup bumper. I installed the base plate on our old TOAD, so don't know what it costs to get one installed, but it has to be way over $1000, based on just the general over-pricing of anything to do with RV service.

"Trailer" Lights:
The cleanest way to get the lights going are to use the Bronco's brake and parking lights in the rear. You could go the easy route use some magnetic ones for like $30 and run wire externally. If you don't mind the look it is a fine way to go, but I don't mind spending a little extra early to save years of hassle and my wife would go ape shit if one of them fell and dented/scratched her new ride. She doesn't even like to drive near bushes when we're wheelin' now. To use any TOAD's tail lights, you have to have diodes in to prevent the motorhome from back-feeding power into the Bronco's system. 4 diodes costs between $20 and $40 and the wire is like $10 for a DIY solution. I've done it and it isn't hard.

I didn't want to mess around with these probably very expensive and currently under warranty LED tail light assemblies on the OBX, so I purchased the Curt harness, which is around $100 now. A lot of the scuttlebutt you've seen in this thread is how those are not currently working properly. Looks like there is a fix which I'll be trying this weekend. I don't know what Curt is doing about it because they haven't gotten back to me. I'm pretty must assuming I'm going to have to fix it myself.

Ideally you'll keep the battery on the Bronco charged from the motorhome, but this isn't too critical if you keep an eye on things, aren't multi-day towing and aren't braking a lot. I did this on our old one, but for the Bronco I added a DC to DC charger (with wireless monitoring)

Supplemental Braking system:
I rolled for a long time without brakes on a TOAD, and that is just because I was young (read dumb), was (am?) cheap and I always was going to 'do it next time'. Aside from being irresponsible to others on the road, there is no way I'm going to tow this $50000 Bronco without a supplemental system.

There are a lot of options out there. There is a surge brake one, but I don't know how it works. There are built in systems, that I think usually involve an air pump, wires and pulley's. There are also portable ones that just use power from the TOAD.

Plan to spend at least $1000 new, at least $500 used. Probably double if it needs to be installed by someone else. I prefer a portable system because they are all I know and I don't want a bunch of pulleys, cables and stuff in the TOAD. I just purchased the RVi full package including the portable braking system, battery charger, wireless break-away and tire monitors. It was expensive but my old tire monitors took a crap last year so I justified it that way and needed the battery charger, too.

Since you have the 2.7 there is also a lot of scuttlebutt about that in this thread, too. Apparently the braking booster times out when you don't have the key on, changing the TOAD braking performance. There are some work-arounds posted here and I'd expect there to be a hack or firmware solution to come out at some point. We have the 4 Cyl. so I won't have this issue.

You also need a trailer electrical cable to connect the lights and safety chains.

To find used parts:
On Facebook there is a group for flat tow stuff. Here are 2 I follow:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/887849704574901
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1086137578488314

Join those (and maybe other) groups and keep your eyes open. Someone just listed the whole RVi Big Brake package for maybe $1200, which was a steal. I just paid $2300 for that. If you live in Florida you'll see a lot of deals which might be within reach. Arizona is another hot spot for used TOAD stuff. If you purchase used, inspect any seals, check to see if it moves smoothly, look for rust and see if it has been regularly serviced. If possible, get them to throw in the wire and cables, too.

thank you so much for the detailed response. I’ve been subscribed to this thread for months but was still unsure how to tackle the flat towing issue as it’s all new to me. Thanks again!

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