As far as the factory ratings I am unsure as to your specific model but I do have some advice.
I would limit the amount you tow to under 5k pounds and try not to tow anything much longer than 20'. With the short wheel base of the Bronco things can get pretty nasty quick with long trailers (tail waggin' the dog effect). I often tow a 14' utility trailer (probably 18' with tongue included) loaded with a total weight of approx. 2500-3000 pounds with no problems. The most I have ever tried was about 4k pounds and in my opinion I would have liked to have a lot more power with this weight.
If you just talking around town, you could go slightly heavier...but at highway speeds and around curvy roads I dont think you would like the experience if you started pushing up the weights.
Also, if your trailer is much over 2.5k pounds be sure you have aux. brakes on trailer. I have never considered the stopping power of most Broncos to be record breaking!
It's not so much the total weight, but how much tongue weight is on the truck. I pull a 21' Aerolite trailer 65 mph with no problem. Typically, not more than 1/3 the total weight of the load should be on the hitch. Might try load levelers to help.
There should be a dataplate somewhere on your truck that tells what the recommended towing capacities are.
I also think it depends on what you are towing, I towed 3tons(6,000)lbs of gravel and hardly noticed I was towing it. I towed a friends dodge dakota(less that 3 tons) and it was terrible, every bump you hit the Bronco bounced but then the truck bounced and came back and bounced you again, I limited my speed to 45mph. Just watch that tongue weight, center the load on the trailer and becareful, oh and make sure to give yourself some extra stopping distance
How much are you looking to tow? or are you just curious of what your rating is...
actually a rule of thumb for tongue weight is 10% of trailer weight. 2000 pound trailer 200 pound tongue weight. a tongue that is to light will create the wagging tail and to much tongue weight will lift the front of the truck off the ground and make steering very light and not very responsive.
12-14% of total trailer weight should be on the tongue. Weight Distributing hitches should be used if tongue weight settles your Bronco more in the rear than the front. Trailer brakes are required on all trailers over 1500 pounds.
The RV community regularly uses 10% as a bare minimum when towing travel trailers. Most shoot for 12-15 for better handling. Too light of a trailer tongue causes serious handling problems, and dangerous sway. Many a truck has been flipped on our highways from improperly setup truck and trailer combinations.
__________________
-Jimmy
1990 Ford Bronco XL
Many other vehicles in the stable
Alot of good information listed above. Wolfman is right on the mark with how a trailer is loaded affecting actual trailering performance. I tow a 5300lb boat and trailer and it is an exercise in concentration and restraint. Power is there, the short wheelbase seems poised and ready to send you out of control. I have had trailer up to 70mph but only to see how it would handle. 60mph with a heavy load seems max. Too much weight on the trailer tongue will cause your steering to be very touchy and too little will put the trailer in control.
In this case the Bronco is only as good as the driver and the trailer preparation. If you have never towed before take some short trips at slow speeds to get the feel of it and increase your speed over time. I have trailered with the best equipment and the worst, the Bronco is somewhere in middle leaning toward the low end. But this can be improved with a proper load, hitch, and tongue weight.
Alot of good information listed above. Wolfman is right on the mark with how a trailer is loaded affecting actual trailering performance. I tow a 5300lb boat and trailer and it is an exercise in concentration and restraint. Power is there, the short wheelbase seems poised and ready to send you out of control. I have had trailer up to 70mph but only to see how it would handle. 60mph with a heavy load seems max. Too much weight on the trailer tongue will cause your steering to be very touchy and too little will put the trailer in control.
In this case the Bronco is only as good as the driver and the trailer preparation. If you have never towed before take some short trips at slow speeds to get the feel of it and increase your speed over time. I have trailered with the best equipment and the worst, the Bronco is somewhere in middle leaning toward the low end. But this can be improved with a proper load, hitch, and tongue weight.
Sorry for the slow response guys... Basically I was looking for the posted specs from FoMoCo. We have several full size Bronco's and the 81 is about the strongest of them all. It's got F-250 suspension under it and does very good all considered. I did manage to move 16,000 pounds of boulders a few years ago but man did that ever kill the truck. I don't think we ever got over 20 mph and most of that was driving on the shoulder. We didn't go very far but it took forever and stopping was the hard part. The trailer had full brakes but it didn't help enough. Then the trailer sunk to the frame as soon as it was moved off the paved streets onto the lawn we were landscaping. At any rate, I've been using it lately to move a travel trailer around the yard. It's a 34 footer with a dry weight of 7000 pounds and a hitch weight of about 850 pounds. It's doing pretty good but we have a new truck coming shortly to take over the duties.
I have no clue what the stock specs are, but consider that your Bronco is 23 YEARS OLD. Does it really matter what the factory specs were? Unless you have had the engine, Tranny, and the rest of the drivetrain rebuilt there is no way your Bronco would live up to factory specs.
Trailer towing capacity is based not only upon the engine size but the rear axle and the transmission type. For instance my 300 I-6 with a 3.55 conventional rear end and a manual transmission is rated 6,450 with an automatic it is between 9,000 - 10,000 max GROSS Combined (read weight of truck + trailer + passengers + gear) weight rating. The difference between the 9K and 10K is based upon trailer frontal area, obviously the bigger the front of the trailer the more drag. For a newer fuel injected 302 with an automatic and a 3.55 rear, it is between 8.4K to 11.5K GCWR and with 4.10 it is 9.5K to 12.5K.
I agree with Pezley however Ford recommends that anything over 1,500 pounds have trailer brakes.
I tow a Correct Craft Sport Nautique which by the time I add skis, wakeboards, coolers, fuel, etc. weighs in at probably 3,500 pounds. The trailer has surge brakes. Last summer the brakes went out and it was a LOAD on the Bronco without them. Like many have indicated here, she will pull the load but stopping is an entirely different story!
Towing capacity is based on a lot of things, tork.hp,gears, suspension, components, and tires. The age has nothing to do with it if everythings up to par. And yes the Bronco because of it SHORT wheel base will get squily very quickly, But that has nothing to do with trailer weight and control, haveing a trailer get squirly and jerking from side to side, is because of it being improperly loaded, and the weight being improperly ballanced. Just do your home work you can safley tow anything with in reason if it is set up right. DW
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Bronco Towing Capacity?
