Towing harness with MY23 + 7spd manual

[351W-Bronco]

So the short story is that when I went to a dealer to have the tow harness and brake controller installed, they couldn't complete it since the tech said my Bronco did not have one of the connectors that they were expecting and needed to install the harness.

I didn't realize the differences between MY23 and MY21-22 at the time, or I would have asked a lot more questions, and taken a closer look. In retrospect, I'm thinking the Lumen harness they had may have either included the older instructions, or the installer didn't notice the differences between the MY23 and the prior model year Bronco harnesses in the instructiuons. I 'think' the installer was looking for the two large connectors instead of the one large one and the slightly smaller one. I did just yesterday download the current harness install instructions, so that gives me some hope.

This has escalated to Lumen North America and they said that "There is active discussion on this between our Ford Accessory Engineers and the Ford program team", but also that "Unfortunately the Ford Accessory team we work with does not have a MY23, MANUAL Trans in their development Fleet." so they cannot just outright confirm it will work.

I have a MY23 2.3L 7spd manual, 4dr, Badlands, Sasquatch, High pacakage.

I'm hoping that someone else with a MY23, 7spd that has the factory tow package (Ford installed or self-installed) can confirm that this configuration works. At this time, I'm not interested in non-Ford solutions, since I want to take advantage of the sway control and integration with the blind spot monitoring (switching it off is my understanding).

I can't get to it for a few days, but I will pull the wheel well liner and have a close look at the connectors.

thanks,
Herb

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[RagnarKon]

Very confused where they ran into the issue cause I've installed that harness on a manual 2023MY Bronco and didn't run into any problems.

I suppose there could have been changes throughout the model year, or maybe the High packages has a different harness... maybe?

 

[351W-Bronco]

Very confused where they ran into the issue cause I've installed that harness on a manual 2023MY Bronco and didn't run into any problems.

I suppose there could have been changes throughout the model year, or maybe the High packages has a different harness... maybe?

Thanks for the input! FWIW, I think my Bronco was built Dec '22.

I'm leaning more and more to thinking the installer either didn't have the current directions, or that he was looking at the MY21-22. I'll know a lot more once I get that wheel well liner off.


Herb

 

[RagnarKon]

Thanks for the input! FWIW, I think my Bronco was built Dec '22.

I'm leaning more and more to thinking the installer either didn't have the current directions, or that he was looking at the MY21-22. I'll know a lot more once I get that wheel well liner off.


Herb

Not sure when his was built, I'll ask if I see him. Also am going to verify it was a 2023MY. He definitely bought it in 2023, but doesn't mean much obviously.

 

[351W-Bronco]

Took the attached pic yesterday afternoon. Leads me to believe the installer didn't have the right version of the instructions, or that he fixated on the MY21-22 instructions. I also attached a snip of the instructions that show the MY23 instructions. Still not 100% proof of compatibility, but it sure looks like the right connectors are there if nothing else.

BTW, I hate those little plastic pins with the screw in them holding the wheel well liner in place. In my opinion, they're single-use and there's no point to the plastic screw.

Herb

 

[Lcubed]

So the short story is that when I went to a dealer to have the tow harness and brake controller installed, they couldn't complete it since the tech said my Bronco did not have one of the connectors that they were expecting and needed to install the harness.

I didn't realize the differences between MY23 and MY21-22 at the time, or I would have asked a lot more questions, and taken a closer look. In retrospect, I'm thinking the Lumen harness they had may have either included the older instructions, or the installer didn't notice the differences between the MY23 and the prior model year Bronco harnesses in the instructiuons. I 'think' the installer was looking for the two large connectors instead of the one large one and the slightly smaller one. I did just yesterday download the current harness install instructions, so that gives me some hope.

This has escalated to Lumen North America and they said that "There is active discussion on this between our Ford Accessory Engineers and the Ford program team", but also that "Unfortunately the Ford Accessory team we work with does not have a MY23, MANUAL Trans in their development Fleet." so they cannot just outright confirm it will work.

I have a MY23 2.3L 7spd manual, 4dr, Badlands, Sasquatch, High pacakage.

I'm hoping that someone else with a MY23, 7spd that has the factory tow package (Ford installed or self-installed) can confirm that this configuration works. At this time, I'm not interested in non-Ford solutions, since I want to take advantage of the sway control and integration with the blind spot monitoring (switching it off is my understanding).

I can't get to it for a few days, but I will pull the wheel well liner and have a close look at the connectors.

thanks,
Herb

seems to work on my MY23 BadManSquatch (April 23 build) with the ford/redarc controller available at that time.

 

[RagnarKon]

Took the attached pic yesterday afternoon. Leads me to believe the installer didn't have the right version of the instructions, or that he fixated on the MY21-22 instructions. I also attached a snip of the instructions that show the MY23 instructions. Still not 100% proof of compatibility, but it sure looks like the right connectors are there if nothing else.

BTW, I hate those little plastic pins with the screw in them holding the wheel well liner in place. In my opinion, they're single-use and there's no point to the plastic screw.

Herb

Ohhhhh I just figured it out.

I just downloaded a fresh copy of the instructions from Ford's website, and they indeed have old version of the instructions on there—so you're right... the dealer probably was looking at the official Ford instructions they downloaded and got confused.

I'd just email/print this for them and have them go at it again. Probably faster than waiting for Ford to figure it out.

 

[351W-Bronco]

Working on it.

I do wonder though, if there was a connector change in the harness itself, so are there MY21-22 harnesses, and MY23 harnesess now, or is the latest harness compatible with both scenarios?

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