Towing

My bronco is a Badlands with towing package, trailer sway control and has a front sway bar, I am told to install a rear sway bar. I also have the Blue Ox sway bars with balance settings I used on my Chevy Silverado.

Hammer77

Looking for solutions for my 22 Bronco 2.7l to pull my new 19ft Airsteam (dry weight 3800 then total 5000 lbs).

This is not a snarky comment, just facts.! Trade your Bronco for higher tow rated F150 or trade your Airstream to get under the 3500lbs Bronco tow rating. It’s the hitch mounted to the rear crossmember without longitudinal frame loading. A very savvy, structural engineer could figure out a fix I’m sure, but I digress.!

Bronco with 3500 lb towing capacity was designed to tow a garden tractor on a light utility trailer. My wife keeps saying we should trade in my ‘16 F150 when our Bronco shows up, I keep telling her “No way. If we did and ever needed to tow anything we’d be screwed“. F150 has a 11,500 lb towing capacity and is paid off, not costing us anything so why get rid of it.

jd-ford-hd

This is not a snarky comment, just facts.! Trade your Bronco for higher tow rated F150 or trade your Airstream to get under the 3500lbs Bronco tow rating. It’s the hitch mounted to the rear crossmember without longitudinal frame loading. A very savvy, structural engineer could figure out a fix I’m sure, but I digress.!

I agree with you completely, electric brakes sway bars or not, the towing ability is not designed for such applications. You get into a emergency situation or encounter bad weather the outcome might not be good. Much safer with a vehicle that meets or exceeds the towing capacity.

All good points and truely appreciate the feedback. I am not that knowledgeable on towing...etc. so now I understand. Thanks again everyone!

I would honestly be nervous about controlling that trailer with the Bronco. There is plenty of power and braking capability, especially with an electronic brake control, but that large of a trailer will push you all over the road. So far the only thing I have towed with my sasquatch Badlands is a 6x10 with a large air compressor on it. Total weight probably under 1k. It did fine, but I definitely knew it was back there, and not sure how safe I'd feel with 5k+ back there. Acceleration and braking were negligible impact, but handling sucked. Don't get me wrong, I would love to hear real world experience how the Bronco does pulling a trailer like that. I routinely pull a 31 ft camper with my 1/2 ton GMC and it does great, even dragged it on our 3,000 mile road trip to Off-Roadeo. If I could find a 19 footer my Bronco could safely/comfortably pull, I'd probably trade in my 31' and my GMC.

Full disclosure, I have on many occasions overloaded the towing capacity of my vehicles. Most of the time it has been ok, only a little sketchy. But a couple times it has turned real ugly, near-death experience kind of thing. Those are scarier than words can describe.

I was taught to never exceed 80% of your vehicles max towing rating.

Hudman316

I was taught to never exceed 80% of your vehicles max towing rating.

Not sure if that's a thing, but sounds like good advice unless you are feeling adventurous and or brave/stupid. As in, you better know what you're doing if you're gonna overload (or just max out) your vehicle

Hammer77

Looking for solutions for my 22 Bronco 2.7l to pull my new 19ft Airsteam (dry weight 3800 then total 5000 lbs).

You will need modifications to do it safely, but it can be done. Drive train can handle it. Raptor hitch to start? no clue, have not seen one, but the hitch needs to attach to the attach to the frame, not a just a cross piece. Springs need to be reinforced, air lift? Replacement with stiffer springs? Lotta questions that will have answers once folks start doing it....

PSUTE

...the hitch needs to attach to the attach to the frame, not a just a cross piece.

If it's welded, the cross piece becomes part of the frame, doesn't it?

So this is a bit off topic and I apologize to OP for hijacking his post. If the trailer hitch is limited to 3.5K lbs, is it safe to use, say a kinetic rope, to try and snatch a 5K lbs. vehicle that is mired in the mud??

Sirdude

So this is a bit off topic and I apologize to OP for hijacking his post. If the trailer hitch is limited to 3.5K lbs, is it safe to use, say a kinetic rope, to try and snatch a 5K lbs. vehicle that is mired in the mud??

The stresses required for towing are different than that for recovery. A lot of folks use a receiver recover point and have no problems. I wouldn't use it to sling load a bronco, but I think in a pinch that could help pull your truck out of the mud.
However, the bronco has recovery points on the front and rear. I would be more inclined to use those than the receiver. I would probably want to do that on the front mounts (they bolt right to the frame on the front and are pretty stout.) The rear ones look pretty dinky to me (You can see them on the pic two posts up. I don't know what the load rating is on these, but I probably wouldn't trust it that much.

Hammer77

Looking for solutions for my 22 Bronco 2.7l to pull my new 19ft Airsteam (dry weight 3800 then total 5000 lbs).

Big Bend Sasquatch 2.7 auto with factory trailer.
I have a 3400lb deck boat with a single axle trailer. I haven't gone on any long trips, but I've been pulling my boat to local lakes and river (about 15 miles). Its been handling it no problem. Highway speeds are no problem. It doesn't appear to be laboring to pull it. The transmission temp is stable and normal. You know the boat is there, for sure, but it works. Walked it right out of the water, even on a steep grade.

Mal

The stresses required for towing are different than that for recovery. A lot of folks use a receiver recover point and have no problems. I wouldn't use it to sling load a bronco, but I think in a pinch that could help pull your truck out of the mud.
However, the bronco has recovery points on the front and rear. I would be more inclined to use those than the receiver. I would probably want to do that on the front mounts (they bolt right to the frame on the front and are pretty stout.) The rear ones look pretty dinky to me (You can see them on the pic two posts up. I don't know what the load rating is on these, but I probably wouldn't trust it that much.

Thanks for the info, I thought the rear ones seem kind of questionable as well, which is why I was asking about the receiver.

I'm a structural engineer. The way I see it, its very irresponsible for someone to get on a public road exceeding the towing capacity of a vehicle (kind of like drinking and driving). You hurt someone or even worse you deserve the consequences of your actions. The engineers established safe operating limits to protect everyone. You exceed those limits on public roads you are accountable for your choice