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Tow capacity will keep me from switching...

Pancho Kornwallace

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They do on the Gladiator. Not on your suggested F-150 or Explorer though, so I'm a little confused about what your point is supposed to be here.
My point is that the Bronco is a purpose built vehicle meant for fun.
Few that buy a Mustang care about trunk capacity, as an analogy.

Gladiator is "tween-er" vehicle... it isn't going to to over the same rocks that a Bronco can go over. It's wheelbase is pretty long.
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Lakelife36

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My point is that the Bronco is a purpose built vehicle meant for fun.
Few that buy a Mustang care about trunk capacity, as an analogy.

Gladiator is "tween-er" vehicle... it isn't going to to over the same rocks that a Bronco can go over. It's wheelbase is pretty long.
Remember that your definition of fun is not the only one that's valid. For some people it's crawling over rocks. For others it's dune jumping. Some like mud bogging. Some people like camping with their family. Or late-season hunting with a warm bed at night. All of those fun things are accomplished best with slightly different configurations of vehicle, but a well-engineered vehicle should be able to accomplish them all. For example a 4-door Wildrak and 2-door Badlands are going to be very good at their own specialty, but they are still capable at the alternate. For the Gladiator you have the Mojave and Rubicon trims for those same purposes.

As a thought exercise, can you give me a really good argument against a separate max tow package that provides higher tow cap for those of us who would like to option it but doesn't affect those of us who would like to keep the Bronco as-is?
 

2Jeeps&PatriotX1

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My point is that the Bronco is a purpose built vehicle meant for fun.
Few that buy a Mustang care about trunk capacity, as an analogy.

Gladiator is "tween-er" vehicle... it isn't going to to over the same rocks that a Bronco can go over. It's wheelbase is pretty long.
But my wife in her grand Cherokee trailhawk offroads 98% of the trails that Bronco owners will ever see and she rock crawls the suv too. Hell, my camper sees more difficult trails than 95% of Broncos will see. I have a built wrangler and lifted f150 and the F150 has ran several dozen moderate to difficult trails here in CO, UT & AZ even being a boat compared to jeeps, including the gladiator, sometimes wheelbase actually helps. Why do you think the LJ wrangler is that much better than the TJ wrangler. Same 2 doors, but extra wheelbase. My built LJ sits in the garage and gets left out on all the fun.

It's actually funny watching people in their built Jeeps watching my wife on the trails and impressed at her and the GC's capability.
 

grtskydog

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I'm not too concerned about tow cap (yet). Flat in coastal NC, and the boat ramp is just around the corner. I have an 18' boat and trailer that is likely in the 2500-3000lb total range. I plan to tow with a Bronco base 2D and 2.7L...replacing my 4.0L Ranger. No idea what the tongue weight is on my setup. How the *** do you measure that anyway?
 

Rubisquatch

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Supposedly the Gladiator is a horrible, scary rig to tow with.

https://www.motortrend.com/cars/jeep/gladiator/2021/2021-jeep-gladiator-pros-and-cons-review/

Direct quote “Worse, the towing experience with either version can only be described as scary and, frankly, bordering on dangerous.”

Another “I experienced more trailer anti-sway stability control intervention in a one-hour freeway drive behind the wheel of the Gladiator than I have in the entirety of my 12-year vehicle testing career. Every judge who trailered with a Gladiator experienced at least one near miss with an 18-wheeler when the trailer nearly jumped out of its lane and the Gladiator did nothing to stop it.”
 

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Lakelife36

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Supposedly the Gladiator is a horrible, scary rig to tow with.

https://www.motortrend.com/cars/jeep/gladiator/2021/2021-jeep-gladiator-pros-and-cons-review/

Direct quote “Worse, the towing experience with either version can only be described as scary and, frankly, bordering on dangerous.”

Another “I experienced more trailer anti-sway stability control intervention in a one-hour freeway drive behind the wheel of the Gladiator than I have in the entirety of my 12-year vehicle testing career. Every judge who trailered with a Gladiator experienced at least one near miss with an 18-wheeler when the trailer nearly jumped out of its lane and the Gladiator did nothing to stop it.”
Remember they were inexplicably towing a 5200lb trailer without a WDH! Of course it was terrifying! They said at the bottom of the article that they had no issues towing lighter trailers (3100 and 4000lb) last year when they first tested the truck, and I assume that they weren't using a WDH then either. I cant imagine towing anything heavier than a utility trailer in a quarter-ton without a WDH.
 

Jwall

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My 2 door Jeep is rated at 2,000lb towing capacity, my Tahoe is like 6,000, and my RAM is rated at over 24,000lbs. I’m replacing the Jeep with a Bronco, so I’m excited about the 3,500 since my camping trailer was going to max out my Jeep!
 

Lakelife36

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I'm not too concerned about tow cap (yet). Flat in coastal NC, and the boat ramp is just around the corner. I have an 18' boat and trailer that is likely in the 2500-3000lb total range. I plan to tow with a Bronco base 2D and 2.7L...replacing my 4.0L Ranger. No idea what the tongue weight is on my setup. How the *** do you measure that anyway?
If you have a landfill or commercial vehicle scale nearby you should be able to take it there. There are web articles talking about the best ways to make sure the weighing process is representative, so it's pretty easy if you're concerned about it. Which you shouldn't need to be in a Bronco, but unfortunately may have to be.
 

Cookieck

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My point is that the Bronco is a purpose built vehicle meant for fun.
Few that buy a Mustang care about trunk capacity, as an analogy.

Gladiator is "tween-er" vehicle... it isn't going to to over the same rocks that a Bronco can go over. It's wheelbase is pretty long.
If it was truly purpose built it likely wouldn’t be road legal. Yes it sways to the off-road capability, but it’s still built as a road legal, pavement driven vehicle. Similar to how a mustang still has air conditioning, a radio, passenger seats, and no roll cage with harnesses, it’s “purpose built” for speed and performance but it’s not a track car, it’s a road legal pavement driven vehicle(and you can actually fit a decent amount in the trunk when ya need to). So purpose built doesn’t mean much. And if def doesn’t mean there couldn’t be an actual tow package, so those that want a “purpose built” vehicle don’t give up a single thing. Nor does it explain why the tow rating is exactly the same across the board, regardless of more than a foot wheelbase change, up to 5in tire diameter changes, as well as gearing, suspension, and engine changes depending on configuration. Each of those changes can easily impact towing capability on its own, much less all of them. Gearing alone can change other vehicles towing numbers by thousands of pounds. They have the sasquatch package to change gearing and suspension and tires, why not an actual towing package to do the same(plus a better hitch setup) and give it an actual tow rating for both wheelbases(just the wheelbase change from 2dr to 4dr should add a good amount of towing stability, even the wrangler gives an additional 1500lbs towing just for that alone).

The purpose built argument is tiresome especially when everybody knows 80-90% of broncos, like wranglers, will barely even see a dirt road much less actually go off road. Meanwhile there’s people that actually would take it offroad if it could pull a little more, like me. I’ll still get a bronco at some point, but without an increase to tow cap it won’t see much if any off-road use. It’ll be my daily to work, and sit at home when I take my camper on trips. If the tow cap for a 4dr increased to 5500lbs or so, then I could take the bronco and actually make use of the off-road capabilities.
 

bhubert

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Well... I was going to make the jump to 2.7l for the additional towing power but it sounds like the ceiling with still be the suspension regardless. My other concern was that I believe Jeeps prior to 2012 were dogs and most people try to avoid them. Anyone upgrading to 2.7l just for the additional nuts underneath you?
 

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Lakelife36

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Well... I was going to make the jump to 2.7l for the additional towing power but it sounds like the ceiling with still be the suspension regardless. My other concern was that I believe Jeeps prior to 2012 were dogs and most people try to avoid them. Anyone upgrading to 2.7l just for the additional nuts underneath you?
Don't forget the Ranger is rated for 7500lbs towing with the 2.3L & 10A. The 2.7L may feel better but isn't neccessary, and its added weight may actaully lower how much you can carry while towing. We'll have to wait for the final numbers to know that for sure though.
 

2Jeeps&PatriotX1

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Well... I was going to make the jump to 2.7l for the additional towing power but it sounds like the ceiling with still be the suspension regardless. My other concern was that I believe Jeeps prior to 2012 were dogs and most people try to avoid them. Anyone upgrading to 2.7l just for the additional nuts underneath you?
Since the wife rides in my 3.5 F150 a lot, 2.3 wasn't even a discussion, she is going 2.7 in the 4dr BL because it'll be a significant improvement over her current 3.6 in the jeep. The 3.6 is an absolute dog out here at higher elevation.
 

Lakelife36

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Happy New Year everyone! Hopefully 2021 is actually the year of the Bronco for many of us.

As a thought exercise, can you give me a really good argument against a separate max tow package that provides higher tow cap for those of us who would like to option it but doesn't affect those of us who would like to keep the Bronco as-is?
@Pancho Kornwallace have you had a chance to think about what I asked above? Ford keeps saying that they're listening to their customer base and have even changed some offerings like the Mansquatch, so I'd like to present something that many of us can agree on. Perhaps it's time for yet another poll?
 

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Happy New Year everyone! Hopefully 2021 is actually the year of the Bronco for many of us.



@Pancho Kornwallace have you had a chance to think about what I asked above? Ford keeps saying that they're listening to their customer base and have even changed some offerings like the Mansquatch, so I'd like to present something that many of us can agree on. Perhaps it's time for yet another poll?
I've been fiddling around with the Gladiator Build and Price and found that by only adding the Max Tow Package you get better 4.10 axles, a LSD, better tires and an upgraded auto trans, all for a few grand. I'd love it if Bronco offered something similar, even if you don't tow it gets me everything I need at a bargain price.
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