The answers are in this thread already, but I wouldn't do it. The wheelbase makes a huge difference. I felt a lot more comfortable towing my 20' TT with my longbed than I did with my shortbed. Both were regular cabs.

 

I'm curious how stable my Bronc will tow with the extra diesel weight and seven rear leafs in it. I guess I'd be more concerned with braking limitations than anything. Definitely, the longer wheelbase trucks(crew cab longbeds in particular) are better suited for towing..

 

Wheelbase is key here. If you know you have the power to pull the weight, your next key ingredient is making certain you have enough mass and stability in that mass to maintain control of the vehicle in tow. The rule of thumb is that the vehicle towing should be no less than two-thirds the length of the vehicle being towed. It stands to reason that something considerably longer than the tow vehicle could simply overcome that vehicle on the road by its sheer mass.

 

Too much for the short wheelbase Bronco. I saw a wrecked suburban that was towing an Airstream, it was going too fast down the hill and the wind caught it, blew the rig over the guardrail and it hung up on the hitch. Suburban on the road side, trailer on the hillside, had to call in a crane to lift it off, closed one lane of the freeway between Las Vegas and Mesquite. Had to be plenty scary, like towing with a Bronco would be.

 

How big was the Airstream? Too fast on a windy day is a recipe for disaster for any setup...

I guess I'll plan on keeping the Ram and then take a short trip with the Bronco and see how it does and make a decision then.... I'm just trying to reduce vehicles... It seems easier for me to get them then get rid of them...

 

I like Greystreak's rule of thumb of the vehicle being no less than two thirds the length of the trailer, that sounds good to me. Broncos are about 15 feet, so don't hook it to anything more than 20 feet long unless it's an empty trailer.
Conversely, when you tow with a really long vehicle and the trailer is a lot shorter, it can be a royal p.i.t.a. to back that thing up, so Broncos would be ideal for pulling the smaller trailers, they'd do it a lot better than the bigger trucks would. The tight steering is amazing when you're backing up a short trailer in a small area.

 

Plus, it was a GM product, that's like pulling the trailer with a baby carriage..

 

2/3's of 23' is a little over 15'. My trailer is 23' + the tongue which is a little over 3'. So does my trailer count as 23' or 26'?

I've also got my eye on a smaller TT. I got what I got because it fit within the truck parameters and the price was great. I like camping in the woods (at campgrounds) and I've been some places where the shorter wheelbase would have come in handy. Shorter WB and shorter TT would have been excellent. And with less room there's a less chance that friends will invite themselves... Yes it says it'll sleep 8, but that doesn't mean I want to have 8 in the trailer...

 

Do you know what the loaded weight of that trailer is?

 

5,048 as towed... Give or take a few pounds depending on how much beer I take...

 

Hmmm... I spoke to my older brother who knows quite a bit about most things and he agrees with me on this; 26 feet + 5000 lbs = no no for Bronco. Sorry dude. I mean, you *could* probably pull it, but if that thing gets lurching back and forth at any kind of highway speed, you're screwed. At 26 feet long, I wouldn't pull it with the Bronc unless the weight was 3000 or less.

 

I know this will be hard for a lot of people to swallow, but it's true and I have the experience to back it up.

I too tried using a Bronco as a "tow vehicle". Mine was a '90 XL with a 302 and 5-speed transmission.

Even though the truck was in excellent condition, our first attempt at towing my extremely large popup was poor at best. Power was not (ever) the issue. It was always stability. I felt like I was sawing at the steering wheel all the time to keep going straight. (And before anybody says it, it wasn't the trailer. I'll get to that later.)

So I did what any ex-mechanic/engineer/Ford Truck Enthusiat would do, I picked up the phone and started ordering parts. I assumed the reason for the poor handling was because my front end had 130k miles on it, and probably wasn't as tight as it could be. Over the course of a summer, I replaced Ball Joints, Tie Rods, Steering Linkages, Steering Stabilizers, Steering Box, Wheel Bearings, Shocks, Springs and installed Load Range C Tires. Every one of these repairs was with high-quality Ford or performance aftermarket parts.

In the end, I spent several thousand dollars on the Bronco trying to make it handle a trailer with authority. Without a trailer, the truck was probably one of the best-handling Broncos on the road after all this effort. It was straight as an arrow on the freeway, cornered firm and flat like a sports car, and had ZERO play in the steering. However, with a trailer behind things were only marginally better than when I started. The truck still wandered with the trailer behind, and still required too much driver correction to hold a straight line.

So I wrote an email to a well-known towing specialist and asked for advice. His answer, ditch the Bronco. You've taken it as far as you can and the results are obvious. The very same characteristics that make it awesome off-road are killing you towing. (High center of gravity, off-road tires, ground clearance, short wheelbase...etc.) He asked me what other vehicles I owned, and I told him only my wife's Freestar minivan. He told me that was the answer. Even though the tow rating on the minivan is 3500 pounds, it has every advantage over the Bronco for towing. It's wide, long and low to the ground. The tires are low-profile and the suspension is tuned for handling and highway rather than off-road fun. The wheelbase is longer, and the rear overhang is less.

So I slapped a class III hitch on the minivan and gave it a try. He was 110% right, no fooling. The van was tight and stable with the trailer behind. It handled the trailer, not the other way around. Surprisingly, power was not an issue as the 3.9 liter V6 was running thru a more efficient drivetrain, and the smaller diameter tires help it put as much torque to the pavement as the 302 in the Bronco was able. I installed Air-lift bags in the rear coils, wired the van for a 7-pin RV connector and added my electric brake control and a stacked-plate transmission cooler. Later I upgraded the tires to Michelin Hydro-Edge and installed Monroe Sensa-Track shocks and struts to further improve ride and handling.

We now have over 130k miles on our '04 Freestar, and it has been towing at or slightly over it's tow rating on/off for over 6 years. I've pulled as much as 5000 pound worth of travel trailer with it, but the most challenging was running from Wisconsin to Connecticut to pick up my Dad's Dakota and bring it and him home. We have had (knock on wood) NO repairs as a result of towing (few at all in fact) and we have towed all over the country, thru hills mountain and winding back-roads during which time the minivan has been an absolute work-horse with the trailer behind.

So the point of this long-winded post is just to say that while a Bronco can tow a trailer, it isn't necessarily the best choice. In reality, much lower-rated tow vehicles are often capable of better towing performance. After all this, I use the hitch on the back of my Bronco for pulling our stumps and getting towed out of an occasional mud-hole. When I need to pull a trailer, I get the van, pump up the Air-Lifts and tow with 2 fingers on the steering wheel instead of white knuckles.

 

Sorry Guys,
I have to disagree. The Bronco makes an excellent tow vehical. I have towed a 6000 lbs. tractor on a 2000 lb. trailer four hundred miles at 60 mph and had no issues except brakes. (no trailer brakes) Thats with my current Bronco (38" tires and all) The length of the trailer is no concern. The weight and tounge weight is. The short wheelbase is good for backing a trailer. Thats why big rigs have a short wheel base.

 

I have an 84 bronco 351 aod . I run 3/4 ton leafs on the back and 10ply 265 75 16 tires. This truck was made for towing. 8 or 10 ply tires are the game changer for handling. I just pulled a f250 4x4 on a trailer at 60 mph down thehighway but I do insist on trailer brakes.