I realize it is a struggle to produce the ridiculous amount of diverse content you’ve set as a goal…. But, again, you’ve succeeded with the banter of Nathan and Andre, hooking up a trailer and towing a bicycle, a mile down a bumpy dirt road… it’s entertaining. High five.
I’ve driven tractor trailers for over 40 years. Short bronco with trailer actually looks proper to myself. First time I hooked a trailer to a ball hitch with a backup camera was definitely life changing. Absolute bliss. Great videos guys
I think the major reason the Bronco can't tow as much as the Ranger is because of the rear suspension. I have a 2019 Ranger with the tow package (which you need in order to get the full 7,500-pound rating), and I tell you, those leaf springs in the rear of the Ranger are *VERY* stiff. It rides *so* much better when there's a load on the hitch, or payload in the bed. But it absolutely *will* tow 7,500 pounds, no problem. I've done it. Put the sucker in tow/haul mode, install a trailer-brake controller (it comes pre-wired, it just doesn't come with the actual controller), and you can tow all day long. The Bronco has coil springs in the rear. It rides much better (from what I understand -- I haven't yet been able to drive one yet) because the springs are much softer than the Ranger. But that means it can't tow as much. The frame and the drivetrain are all *exactly* the same as the Ranger -- the only major difference is those rear springs. (And maybe a transmission cooler -- I don't know what kind of cooling the Bronco has, honestly.)
Exactly, a lot of people forget the Bronco is based on the Ranger. The 3500lbs tow rating is disappointing but I bet everything that it's because the soft suspension and short wheel base.
I love it when Nathan announces that he won't go there after Andre's comment. GO THERE! Lol. Back in the 80s, I owned a '78 FJ40. My buddy had a catamaran sailboat. We traveled all over NM over 3 summers with that catamaran. Pretty sure "tow haul mode" was second gear. lol.
I have learned 1 thing here. You bought the 24 foot trailer specifically for the Ike. Questions still posed, are you getting rid of the 18 foot steel trailer? And was the 18 foot steel trailer not capable of doing the Ike for some reason? Are you getting into weights that it just is too heavy for?
Haha 😆! That’s definitely something that usually gets towed around and doesn’t do the towing. 3,500 lbs is still pretty decent for it. You could pull a side by side, an ATV or two, or a couple jet skis around. Maybe even a small pop-up trailer. It’s still good for a U-Haul Trailer for moving or moving some appliances or yard materials. You can still tow plenty of different things with a 3,500 lb rating. It’s plenty capable for this kind of vehicle. It’s not a HD diesel truck, but was never meant to be.
With a much shorter trailer, the short wheelbase Bronco is PERFECT for towing four off-road e-Bikes (i.e. 350 lbs each electric motocross or long range overland explorer e-bikes) and still have some room for some camp gear! I know the Jeep Wrangler Rubicon and Sahara editions can do the same but this Ford Short Wheelbase does seem to make it very EASY to attach and pull a trailer! 3500 lbs doesn't sound like much but it's actually quite a lot of capacity if you have a light trailer! Some trailers are as light at 900 lbs so that would leave you 2600 lbs of gear towing capacity on this Bronco! That's not too shabby at all! V
Cool video, this would probably be totally adequate for towing a couple jet skis or a low profile overlanding trailer, but I wouldnt really push it much past that. I saw a 2 door JK Rubicon towing a small overland trailer on the freeway once and it was swaying like crazy. The Bronco has more mass than the Wrangler for added stability, but still cant beat the physics of a short wheelbase…
tow overlanding trailers please. nobody is going to use this as a work truck but people are going to be trying to drag overlanding teardrops off road. Please test this
Always enjoy TFL content, thank you for producing another entertaining, albeit completely unnecessary, tow test. Any former K5/Scout/Bronco owner can tell you the SWB trucks have great maneuverability and can pull a trailer fine, sway control has and always be an issue though. BTW, the 6g Bronco’s turbo 4 has to work so hard to pull a relatively light 2500 lb trailer such as my son’s boat, mileage drops into the single digits. Whereas even my gas 2019 F250 will manage 13 mpg towing his little 16’ center console.
You guys need to fix your camera system , such as gimbal stabilizer with Light mounting , specially when you cover Auto Shows using iPhone etc , please use light hookup tripod when showing dark interior by using Iphone etc , thanks
I know very little about shooting a video but handheld cell phone footage looks kind of bad except in very short segments, even to the average viewer. A friend showed me an Osmo (?) gimbal that he was using on his phone and the result looked very smooth. It's a small device, not expensive. I'm sure these guys know about it but I don't know why they don't use it.
Love these videos! I am trying to figure out what RV trailer I can tow with my two door bronco, looking at the 16RB Bambi, and its cutting it really close, but it seems doable…
Yeah though crazy how LR rated their Defender 90 to tow 7k+. Very strange given the short wheelbase and I’m interested if anyone has ever towed such weight in theirs.
@@ALMX5DP i think the channel “out motorsports” has a video towing nearly max capacity with a Defender 90, but didnt go on the freeway for safety concerns.
@@jakes5530 yeah Jakes review is maybe the only one out there covering that aspect. Would be cool to hear if owners are actually doing that type of towing regularly.
Is that why semi trucks are short wheel base? i realize longer semi trucks are more highway but they have plenty shorter trucks like cab over that work much better around town or cities
Extensions do affect how the vehicle feels the weight (due to leverage) but with something this light I don’t think I’d have too much concern with just a 12” extension or so.
I have an aluma trailer like that but 16 ft and it is really nice to tow but in less than 10k all the wheel bearings are worn out..... I have lots of trailers and never had this happen on any other ones..........? Checked them periodically whole time.
This is why a 4Runner is still a better choice than Wrangler or Bronco. It will go MOST of the places the Ford and Jeep will go and can tow better than both. The 4Runner will do what the majority of buyers need whereas the Jeep and Ford are for a smaller segment of buyers.
Sasquatch pack probably makes it a bit more wallowy on the highway but I don’t think any 3500gvw trailer will really be an issue for such a vehicle as long as you’re aware of it and your limitations.
The Bronco featured in this video has the Sasquatch package on it. The max towing capacity of any Bronco is 3,500 pounds. Towing capacity won't be your issue, payload capacity will. You will need to refer to the door jam sticker or the Ford website to find out what your specific payload capacity is (they do vary wildly).
I've seen people tow 8,000Ibs light farm equipment with the Ranger. If you have the manual transmission and keep the gears high, run premium fuel, and change the oil every 5,000 miles or so, get a Blackstone test every once it while, buy a set of 32" road and terrain tires, and I'd be willing to tow a 22 foot boat or a camper. Do a shorter test and if it feels unstable maybe get some stiffer rear springs that is probably the biggest factor you'd need to account for.
Too bad you guys couldn't rent or borrow a teardrop camper of something similar as that is most likely what would be towed behind one. Maybe Jetskis too.
Towing a trailer isn’t the primary use case for such a vehicle. If towing is your primary requirement, you are looking at the wrong vehicle. Take it on a road course, sure it could do it, but it wouldn’t be great at it. Take a sports car off road.
@@balthezor The point of the video doesn’t make what I stated any more or less accurate. There’s emphasis on pointing out things it doesn’t have: a tow mode or trailer brake controller; if you want those things, you probably should look elsewhere. 🤷🏻♂️
@@Carl-vx9ws manual transmission is the tow mode and you can install a trailer brake aftermarket along with some stiffer rear springs for less than a thousand dollars yourself. If you're payload is less than 5000Ibs and less than 24 feet than it's probably a fine light duty work truck when you need it. Couple motorcycles, a small motorboat, a camper, job materials, a lightweight sports car to a racetrack. Just because it's a serious off roader doesn't mean you can't use the platform like a truck.
@@avery4528 If after market modification is within your budget and skill set then enjoy however, my trailer is 12’ and has no brakes so a controller is overkill, especially anything I’d consider light duty given the vehicle’s rated towing capacity.✌🏼
As stated in the video, the trailer was pushing the 2-Door Bronco around a bit. With a loaded 20+ foot trailer, I am sure there a bunch of tail-waggin-the-dog action
The Bronco is garbage for towing and you 100% know it. The biggest, baddest version can't tow as much as mommy's VW Atlas soccer van. That's why we call the Bronco a girl's truck, but that's insulting to women who need to tow more than a huge empty trailer. It's a shit vehicle
Please help a stupid person: Why can't a vehicle tow a greater load if it has a trailer that holds it's own weight (4 wheels on 2 axles, with the fornt pair able to turn)?