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78 bronco towing capacity

31K views 20 replies 13 participants last post by  bronco ox 
#1 ·
Anybody know where I can find what the 78 Bronco is rated for towing. I have the super cooling radiator and extra electic fan along with the mechanical fan, tranny cooler, front and rear sway bar and 4.10 gears with 33" tires and 2" lift. Also have a custom rear D60. I'm thinking of buying a toyhauler for my toys when camping but I can't find anywhere that says what the bronco is rated for towing.:thumbup
 
#5 ·
I have the 400 in my bronco. Mild cam, bored 30 over, heads decked 20 thou, edelbrock performer intake and holley truck avenger carb. I'm pretty sure I have the power. I was thinking a toyhauler travel trailer in the 25 foot range. Something that can haul 2 quads but there is a big difference in trailer weights between models, so I was trying to find something that gave a tow rating for the bronco. It'll be short hauls on the highway just to get to the gravel roads/camping spots.:toothless
 
#8 ·
My 2cents

I tow various sizes and weights of earth moving equipment on trailers 16' to 20' with my F150...my experience is....if all else checks out ok ie: tire psi,etc.... the tongue weight on the towing vehicle has to be enough or trailers will sway and worse at higher speeds.;)
I load them so the truck just starts to squat knowing when i take off the load will shift backward so i just know how much and have never had and issue.
There was a fellow towing a trailer 16' with a 10,000lb load behind his F150 jacked up big tires and did not have the load positioned properly....going down hill on a major highway around 55MPH the trailer started to dance...he lost it into the center barrier flipping the trailer twisting the hitch almost off the truck and almost flipped the truck.
This was an ugly sight that could have cost lives, however no one was hurt.
I have used an equalizing bar and it worked well...again has to be adjusted properly, it will even lift the towing vehicle off the ground....
 
#10 ·
A guy named NED on here I think has a 79. I think 400, He pulls a 23- 25 ft trailer I am pretty sure. Says it tows great with the sway control ect.

EDIT: also night stalkers story there could have been fixed by locking up the trailer brakes manually, It will straighten the trailer out. If you load properly like he was saying, And drive knowing you have a short wheel base and is easy to sway, You will probably be fine
 
#13 ·
x2 with everyone else. You can pretty much haul what your comfortable with. Weight wise, should be fine, specially with trailer breaks.
I haul my 22' car trailer with mine with lots of random shit. With trailer breaks its no problem, with out, a little scarey. Drive carfull and you should be good IMO

-Vance
 
#14 ·
Thanks guys
I have a good solid frame mounted receiver and where I live anything over 1500lbs is supposed to have trailer brakes anyway. So I should be good if I don't go too big and heavy and drive being aware of the short wheel base. Now I just have to find a trailer!!!:thumbup
 
#15 ·
I actually found this out there before with all the towing capacities listed and the Bronco's factory ratings are NOT GOOD. I can't remember exactly, but the models without the rear sway bar are only rated to 2,000 - 2,500 pounds. With rear sway bar they jump up to the 4,000 pound range and thats it.

Say all you want about proper load balancing, etc, the short wheel base just sucks for towing not to mention the crappy stock brakes. Last weekend I used my bronco to move a popup trailer that's not perfectly balanced about 15 miles down the highway and it was swaying pretty good because of the short wheelbase and slightly loose steering because of the lift (I don't think the popup even weights 1,000 pounds). Put the exact same trailer onto my 1500 Silverado and the sway almost completely went away just from the wheelbase. I can also confirm the swaying based on the wheelbase because my Mom tows the popup all over the place with her little RAV 4 and the sway is about the same as on the Bronco (ohh yeah, the RAV 4 is rated to more than the no rear sway bar Bronco).

Personally, I'd avoid trying to tow something as big as a 25' trailer any sort of distance with it, just not built for it. Also, the brakes are just plain bad, if you do tow it, make sure you have a good trailer braking system setup. On the plus side, with that 400 power won't be an issue.
 
#20 ·
I just looked on my bronco and it has a GCWR of 6100 pounds on the sticker, where does that fit into this chart? I think thats why this has always been a confusing topic. I need to try and find that chart that had this stuff listed out on what constitued the tow package, etc.
 
#19 ·
when towing a trailer behind a bronco you don't drive it down the road you herd it down the road and hope the trailer doesn't have a different path in mind then you

I hauled my 4 place enclosed snowmobile trailer behind my bronco weight it 7000 range when loaded spread axles and tows great behind the bronco no sway or nothing but you sure can feel it wanting to push you around you have to be fully alert and on your toes as you don't have any room for error

long wheel base tows better plain and simple my four door bronco pull that same trailer like adream you can kick back and enjoy the drive without a death grip on the wheel
 
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