Stubby front bumpers. Let’s see ‘em!

[Fordified1]

You've been around for a few months, so you might've seen it, but make sure and check out the threads on flat towing Broncos. tl;dr You wanna get it right.

I think we’ve narrowed it down to only the Advanced 4wd transfer case broncos having flat tow transmission failures. So far none with the regular 4wd transfer case have had a failure….At least not on the forums I frequent. That’s another reason I chose a non sas bronco. I really prefer to flat tow. And may have decided to keep the jeep if we hadn’t figured out only the 4A equipped Broncs were experiencing the failures. Was a hige concern of ours. Still is actually. Because Ford is still denying theres an issue on their end.

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[zuke]

I think we’ve narrowed it down to only the Advanced 4wd transfer case broncos having flat tow transmission failures. So far none with the regular 4wd transfer case have had a failure….At least not on the forums I frequent. That’s another reason I chose a non sas bronco. I really prefer to flat tow. And may have decided to keep the jeep if we hadn’t figured out only the 4A equipped Broncs were experiencing the failures. Was a hige concern of ours. Still is actually. Because Ford is still denying theres an issue on their end.

It amazes me how little there is about it on IRV2.com, given the number of posts here on 6G about it, but perhaps people on the RV forums don't feel they'll really get help for so specialized a case as the Bronco is on the RV forums...

 

[orion]

I built my own and the whole reinforcement of the bumper mounts came up as I was building it so I built them too.

And no, I'm not a welder. This was my first project.

 

[zuke]

A quick disclaimer here also;

/Disclaimer

While I've talked about the frame horn reinforcement as an important thing to do for all cases of extra stress on the frame horns, I think it's important to note a couple things;

My reasoning is that's it's most important for a flat tow setup more because of the stakes involved, and the criticality of a safe tow setup. Flat towing with an RV puts many people at risk, and a failure in this situation is most likely to occur on a highway at speed with traffic around. There are many innocent folk's lives at risk that aren't aware of the possible dangers.

In the other cases, (recovery and winching) The chances of an outright failure are much lower, all the folks around are aware of the risks they are taking already, and the possible number of folks affected should be much lower. Also, anyone who does recovery, via winch or kinetic rope, should be inspecting their equipment after any trip where they perform recoveries, so should see signs of problems and take corrective actions before reaching the point of failure.

In all cases, be aware that the frame horn area we are talking about includes part of the Crash Crumple Zone designed into the Bronco, so taking steps to reinforce the area also changes the crash dynamics (And likely Air Bag deployment parameters) of the vehicle, so that is a risk we take when we do any modifications to that area of the Bronco.

/End_Disclaimer

Carry on all!

 

[Fordified1]

I personally bought the SFR Sledgehammer, which has an add on for winch. Not sure how you'd set it up for flat towing, but it is high clearance and I believe it works with the non-Mod engine skid plate.

https://www.stinkyfab.com/collections/bronco-parts/products/coming-soon-6g-bronco-front-bumper

(It looks like you've already bought one, but thought I'd add it anyway.)

That’s a pretty cool bumper. High and tight. Curious what it looks like with the winch mount.
Edit: and oh damn! I may buy their rear bumper! It’s towards the bottom of the priority list though.

 

[PEGB]

A quick disclaimer here also;

/Disclaimer

While I've talked about the frame horn reinforcement as an important thing to do for all cases of extra stress on the frame horns, I think it's important to note a couple things;

My reasoning is that's it's most important for a flat tow setup more because of the stakes involved, and the criticality of a safe tow setup. Flat towing with an RV puts many people at risk, and a failure in this situation is most likely to occur on a highway at speed with traffic around. There are many innocent folk's lives at risk that aren't aware of the possible dangers.

In the other cases, (recovery and winching) The chances of an outright failure are much lower, all the folks around are aware of the risks they are taking already, and the possible number of folks affected should be much lower. Also, anyone who does recovery, via winch or kinetic rope, should be inspecting their equipment after any trip where they perform recoveries, so should see signs of problems and take corrective actions before reaching the point of failure.

In all cases, be aware that the frame horn area we are talking about includes part of the Crash Crumple Zone designed into the Bronco, so taking steps to reinforce the area also changes the crash dynamics (And likely Air Bag deployment parameters) of the vehicle, so that is a risk we take when we do any modifications to that area of the Bronco.

/End_Disclaimer

Carry on all!

I keep saying it; how many of these manufacturers are stating compliance with the vehicles safety systems (airbags, crumple zones, etc)? I’ve only seen ARB and Ironman (both Australian so maybe it’s a requirement there) so far. It’s not as easy as just slapping a chunk of a steel on the front of these modern vehicles.

 

[userdude]

That’s a pretty cool bumper. High and tight. Curious what it looks like with the winch mount.
Edit: and oh damn! I may buy their rear bumper! It’s towards the bottom of the priority list though.

https://www.stinkyfab.com/collectio...on-6g-bronco-winch-mount-for-sfr-front-bumper

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