Flat tow equipment needed to flat tow the 2021 Bronco?

[DndRough]

I saw a rough implementation of onboard air and toad lights on YouTube.
I'm still a complete noob on flat towing as my experience is 40 years in the past.
Isn't there an easy button? Hook up the seven pin and have vehicle braking? I am dissappointed. My tow will have on board air...good for good trailers. Useless for broncos.
And I have been waiting for the bronco. The only vehicle that could replace my FJ40.

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[pbryan]

I saw a rough implementation of onboard air and toad lights on YouTube.
I'm still a complete noob on flat towing as my experience is 40 years in the past.
Isn't there an easy button? Hook up the seven pin and have vehicle braking? I am dissappointed. My tow will have on board air...good for good trailers. Useless for broncos.
And I have been waiting for the bronco. The only vehicle that could replace my FJ40.

I think the 'easy button' would be to take it to a reputable RV dealer and have them install a braking system and lighting wiring.

All vehicles that you would flat tow will require some sort of pedal pusher to activate the brakes, and special wiring to display brake lights and turn signals on the toad. I'm not aware of any vehicle that exists from any brand that has any of this from the factory.

If you have air brakes on the coach, then you can use an air cylinder type pedal pusher on the toad, there are several brands that have these. It will require plumbing air to the toad through quick disconnects at the rear of the coach and the front of the toad. You'll also generally need to add some on board air storage on the toad so the system can apply the brakes in case of a breakaway. The braking system companies sell these too, if they aren't already included in the kit.

For lights, you can add external lights, i.e. magnet mounted or otherwise temporarily attached to the toad while towing, or hard wire into the stock vehicle lights. The latter requires a wiring kit to add a connector to the front of the toad, run wires back to the taillights, and diodes to splice in between the factory wires and the taillights so that they can be safely illuminated by either the coach or the toad itself (see some of the previous posts in this thread for pictures on that).

Installing these things yourself isn't overly difficult if you are comfortable with making wiring connections (crimp, solder, etc.), removing trim panels, tail lights, fishing and running wires under the vehicle, etc.

If that's not your comfort zone, find some help from somebody that is good at it, or pay an installer...

 

[DndRough]

Sorry bro, I have tow points strong enough to swing around on but can only pull half a bronco.
So does the bronco have integrated brake setup that can be used for flat towing? MAJOR miss if it doesnt. FORD, listen up. Seven pin wiring on a hitch Uhaul would laugh at is just plain sad.
I can just see it now...o no, you can't rent this trailer, it exceeds your tow rating. Umm...no. look at the hitch. This isn't a toy. I have the hitch the tow package should have come with.
What can I say, I like to pull more than one jet ski, one snow mobile, one motorcycle, etc.
Or flat tow a bronco.
Just hoping Ford is listening. This is one of the few areas the bronco is lacking in my mind.

 

[pbryan]

Sorry bro, I have tow points strong enough to swing around on but can only pull half a bronco.
So does the bronco have integrated brake setup that can be used for flat towing? MAJOR miss if it doesnt. FORD, listen up. Seven pin wiring on a hitch Uhaul would laugh at is just plain sad.
I can just see it now...o no, you can't rent this trailer, it exceeds your tow rating. Umm...no. look at the hitch. This isn't a toy. I have the hitch the tow package should have come with.
What can I say, I like to pull more than one jet ski, one snow mobile, one motorcycle, etc.
Or flat tow a bronco.
Just hoping Ford is listening. This is one of the few areas the bronco is lacking in my mind.

I think there is a misunderstanding here. Flat towing is towing a vehicle behind a motorhome with all 4 wheels on the ground, no tow dolly, for long distances. It has nothing to do with the hitch or 7pin trailer towing plug or towing capacity of the Bronco.

There is no vehicle built from any manufacturer with full flat towing capabily from the factory.

If you are talking about the Bronco's trailer towing capacity and/or the option of a factory trailer brake controller, then you are in the wrong thread.

 

[DndRough]

Um...trailers have this functionality built in.

 

[DndRough]

Remove motorhome from that and you might have a point. Flat tow is all wheels on the road. The tug can be a '77 pickup.
Trailers have built in brakes. You don't need to lick glass on this one. Trailer brakes on a vehicle touted as being flat tow capable. What a concept!!!

 

[DndRough]

I have been waiting on a vehicle like my old FJ40. The Bronco is the closest thing I have seen if you don't want to go Jeep. I just feel Ford has missed the boat when it comes to ability to tow and be towed.
BTW, I'm on my third Ford pickup, the first was a '47. The current one is 19 years old, bought new, and is rated for 7800# but weighs the same and has less HP and torque.

 

[Tilzbow]

Remove motorhome from that and you might have a point. Flat tow is all wheels on the road. The tug can be a '77 pickup.
Trailers have built in brakes. You don't need to lick glass on this one. Trailer brakes on a vehicle touted as being flat tow capable. What a concept!!!

Name an automobile made anytime, anywhere that’s fully set up from the factory to be flat towed and requires no aftermarket additions. I’ll wait and wait and wait and wait……

 

[Grey Pony]

Everything I needed, I ordered from NSAtowbars dot com. I spoke to Monica and she helped me with all the parts I needed. Installed over a period of a couple of days. I'm 60 years old and crawling under the Bronco was a little challenging, but doable. We've towed it all over the place. Photos of us leaving our gate. The second photo has our YAKUP rack installed for a trip to the coast. It can also carry two bikes.

 

[DndRough]

Volkswagen Thing...drop the mic.

 

[DndRough]

Um...pretty much any military vehicle.

 

[DndRough]

We get adaptive cruise control, stay in your lane, self driving, etc. But no trailer brakes? Come on...do we have to wait for Google?

 

[Ranbronc]

installed a Rock Hard 4x4 bumper and NSA Ready Brute Brake system over the weekend, 4 door badlands SAS
tow tab height is 24" my RV as it sits now is 16" so i will use the riser I already have.

for toad lights i'm going to try the wireless ones, since I will need my riser for the Hitch and will have 2 Ebikes with a cover on the back of the Bronco.

I got these that were posted previously for $100 , I seen them on Ebay too and had them bookmarked couple days after I got em from amazon I got an Ebay offer for $75

https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B0936C6SCZ?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

 

[Happy]

Good job!
If you have not yet adjusted your braking cable, start with it long and make slow adjustments to shorten it. If it is too tight your tow vehicle will buck and bump when you do a fast stop. If you get that just loosen/lengthen the cable a little. Best wishes, this is a good system.

 

[Viuhkola]

I agree this isn't just a 2022 problem and that Curt is still claiming to be unaware of the scope of the issue.

We have a 2021 Outer Banks and installed the Curt 58992 in February. I didn't finish wiring it up because I was waiting on my RVi system to come in and wanted to finish the wiring all at once. Once I heard about this problem I tested it out and sure enough, the wrong lights are being activated. I e-mailed them 2 weeks ago with the concern and they never got back to me. I called early last week but I it was after hours. I called again yesterday (Friday) and the Tech Support guy was saying that this sounds exactly like the problem they have when being connected to incandescent lights. I said I have LED's because that is what the Outer Banks has. He said he won't proceed until I take the tail light apart and verify that it is LED. I'm like, dude, I paid extra for these upgraded tail lights, they're LED. Ford literature says they are LED, Outer Banks has upgraded LED lights standard and I'm pretty sure most people would say incandescent is a down-grade anyways. He wouldn't budge.

So last night I went out there to shoot a video (attached) and you can see the typical LED flicker with them. This morning I went to see how they come apart and I just can't tell. I really don't want to try to dis-assemble this tail-light assembly just because Curt won't believe the obvious. These things aren't cheap and I have a warranty to respect. I have wired TOADs with diode's before. I know I can do that for about $40. I paid $130 for this because I didn't want to risk my warranty and it is my wife's dream car, so I want to make sure she sees that I'm doing everything I can to make it stay nice.

I've sent the video and I expect them to provide a fix to me without having to go any further.

I don't mind at this point modifying the harness, because that is the least pain in the ass way to get this on the road in 8 days. I just expect the manufacturer to own up to it. This issue was documented months ago in this and other forums. There is a whole lot of IRL testing being done that they are ignoring. They should know by now that this is happening to LED's too without making me jump through hoops. To their (hopeful) credit, the tech support guy said they'd send out a fix once they confirm it is happening with LEDs.

On another issue, I have a Blue Ox and ended up just grinding the tabs myself. It took about 1 hour, 4 disks and about 12ah on my DeWalt 4 1/2" 20v angle grinder. I widened it out to 30-30.5mm and there is plenty of clearance. Primed and painted and they look fine. You will need a caliper to do this properly. I went to 1 machine shop because I figured I could maybe get them milled for a 12 pack, but they were saying that it was going to cost too much to be worth it. I'm glad I did it myself.

I just ordered some nylon washers to fit in between the loop and the tabs since I have some extra play. I ended up having to order 100 washers so if anyone wants them, DM me and as long as I have the right thing delivered to me, I'll mail 4 of them out to anyone that asks for the price of good karma.

It’s November and Curt still hasn’t updated their website,,, I’m out $130.00 ,,, took me a long time to find all his info.

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