Towing w/a Manual 2 Door

[Darforce]

Anyone experience towing with a manual? I imagine the crawler gear would help but I am having concerns with maneuvering/reversing a 1,700lb trailer (13ft Scamp) into camp sites or storage. I would prefer the manual but since this would be a primary duty for the Bronco, I am wondering if i should go with an automatic.

Scamp! Lucky! I would love one of those

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[Rustytuna]

Yes, we are finally making the jump from tenting and are excited for ours. Long wait though, theyre building out to probably March 2022 now.

 

[Eggsalad]

FWIW, what I was referring to was a trailer brake controller. Just because the trailer will have brakes doesn't mean that they will work unless you install a brake controller in the tow vehicle. Also, at that weight, the Scamp is probably legally required to have the brakes anyway whether you ordered them or not. That's beside the point. You'll need to buy and install (not always fun) the brake controller yourself. Its too bad that Ford doesn't offer an integrated unit in the Bronco like they do on F-series, because the OEM ones are the best in my experience. But short of that, I'd suggest going to etrailer.com and looking at what's offered. I've used Tekonsha brand controllers a couple of times, they seem to be decent.

Regarding towing with the tanks full, its easy to say you'll never do it. But, here's the thing, any time you use the plumbing onboard, you'll need water. Its a lot of little things. If you're taking a trip and want to pull into a rest stop, then pop back into the camper to make lunch, you'll probably want water to clean up or wash your hands, etc. Or, if you're driving a distance and you need to pull into a Walmart lot to overnight, you either 1) walk into the store when you want to pee and brush your teeth, or B) travel with a partial tank of water. Or maybe you decide to camp in a national forest where the views and hiking are great but there's no hook ups. You'll need to carry water with you when you get there. And, of course, if you've been camping and there's no place to dump tanks when you leave (like the national forest site), then you'll have to leave with both grey and black tanks partly full.

I went thru the same thing when I bought my Micro Minnie, but in short quickly learned that there's a lot of benefit to traveling with at least half a tank or so. So it becomes part of the weight you have to plan on.

Yeah you have to plan for at least partially full tanks. I'm not a fan of manual trans when towing, been there done that. Burned the clutch to the stinking point trying to maneuver even in 4LO.

Also when towing you'll be going through the gears downshifting on grades and even the quickest manual shift will lose about three precious MPH and momentum. And downshifting to use engine braking when towing downhill a manual shift is dicey. Auto trans for towing IMO.

 

[JesseS]

Yes, we are finally making the jump from tenting and are excited for ours. Long wait though, theyre building out to probably March 2022 now.

Congrats!, I started car camping across Europe, came home and got a pop-up Alpine Cruiser for a few years, then a travel trailer, then a small 5th wheel, now I am older and want stuff easy so have a Class A motor home, park, push a few buttons and done, slides out and level. I will be towing my BD to some awesome off roading, although I live next door to the Rubicon trail.

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