74 Bronco as a Toad?

[BeardedBlues]

Anyone do this safely? I’ve got 5.5” of total lift and 37” tires planned.

 

[Skiddy]

I have thought about but would either have a driveshaft disconnect, remove driveshaft or have an atlas. Mark on here does behind his M/H

 

[BeardedBlues]

A shaft disconnect would be fine with me. The front tires would still be usable as Front Wheel Drive right?

 

[Scoop]

A shaft disconnect would be fine with me. The front tires would still be usable as Front Wheel Drive right?

Only if you remove the DS completely OR if you have twinsticks you can disconnect at the axle, tie the shaft off to the frame and only engage your front diff.

 

[Yeller]

a driveshaft disconnect is operated via a lever in the floor so no need to use front wheel drive. now if driveshaft out yes would have to use front wheel drive just remember to unlock the hubs.

Me personally choose to wear out trailer tires vs bronco tires. I have a purpose built single axle that I use.

 

[methcat]

I do it with 35's behind an e450 RV. I don't know that anyone does it "safely". pulling is no big deal. stopping and slowing on downhill hairpins is something else. I did wind up running a vacuum pump and little actuator for toad brakes. they do a little, but I don' think any brake system is like stomping on the brakes in emergency.

I got some quick u joint straps that save me a little time when I drop the rear of the shaft. someday i'll pull my t case to fix my twin sticks proper.

 

[Bukin 67]

I flat towed over 2000 miles this summer to the NWBR. I have a twin stick to make it easier being able to use front wheel drive as mentioned above.
Approx 5" lift with 35s

 

[half cab]

And I was lookin for a bronco dressed up like a Frog ��

 

[Nothing Special]

I flat tow mine (~3" suspension lift, 1" body lift on 33s). I had some trouble at first with the steering wheel turning to full opposite lock in turns (that's exciting!), but after I got the caster straightened out that went away and now it steers well.

As methcat said, brakes are the place where safety comes in the most. There are off-the-shelf braking systems that push on the toad's brake pedal to make the trailer brakes work. I considered that but ended up building my own.

I have an on-board compressor to provide air to actuate the brakes (a power feed from the tow vehicle keeps the Bronco's battery alive). An "I to P converter" was the oddest part of the setup. It's a proportional solenoid that takes a constant pressure at the inlet port and a variable voltage signal (which comes from the truck's electric trailer brake controller) to provide a variable pressure at the outlet port. I attach an air cylinder between the brake pedal and a bracket under the driver's seat and the harder I apply the trailer brakes from the truck (meaning the harder I try to stop the truck) the harder it presses on the brake pedal. I can lock up the Bronco tires if it's set high enough.

I also have a breakaway switch that would get pulled if the Bronco parted company with the truck which would apply full brakes on the Bronco. Something like that is generally required to be legal with a heavy trailer, but I hope I never get to use it!

This is a pretty complicated system to source and set up, but no worse than a lot of things that get fabbed on our toys.

And for what it's worth, I pull the rear driveshaft out for towing. Sometimes I'll just use FWD after I get there, but usually I'm there to fourwheel so the driveshaft goes back in.

Here are pictures showing my toad brake setip.

 

[Nothing Special]

I should also note that I have enough money in my toad brake system that I could have bought a used trailer that had trailer brakes and gone that route. The reason I didn't was that I was towing with an F-150 with a slide-in camper and I really couldn't afford any tongue weight. Now with an F-250 or a class C motorhome to choose from I'm thinking about getting a trailer. But trailers need to be parked somewhere (both at home and at the campground) so they have a downside too.

 

[sprdv1]

a driveshaft disconnect is operated via a lever in the floor so no need to use front wheel drive. now if driveshaft out yes would have to use front wheel drive just remember to unlock the hubs.

Me personally choose to wear out trailer tires vs bronco tires. I have a purpose built single axle that I use.

Amen to that sir...

 

[sprdv1]

a driveshaft disconnect is operated via a lever in the floor so no need to use front wheel drive. now if driveshaft out yes would have to use front wheel drive just remember to unlock the hubs.

Me personally choose to wear out trailer tires vs bronco tires. I have a purpose built single axle that I use.

Aaaaaaaaaaaand... I want to talk to Gordon at some point on cost of his little special trailer. That has GOT to be a gas saver low and out of the wind

 

[garberz]

I tow mine with 37’s. Runs the same as when I had 35’s. If it drives good, it’ll tow good. I have an AtlasII, but I still pull the rear shaft on hauls more than 250mi.

Mark

 

[ransil]

NSA Ready brake makes a simple braking system for a Toad, I use it on my car.

https://www.readybrake.com/

 

[71broncman]

NSA Ready brake makes a simple braking system for a Toad, I use it on my car.

https://www.readybrake.com/

I use this setup as well. I have used it on a JKUR that I sold, my wife's Grand Cherokee, and when I get around to ordering the brake pedal cable I'll use it on the Bronco. I like the simplicity and the fact that, once the cable is installed, it can be used on multiple vehicles. I tow with an E450 Motorhome and a magnetic tail light string that moves from each vehicle with the tow bar.
Mark.

 

[arizona 71]

Braking your Toad

How or what type of aux braking system would work if you have a hydro boost?:-[

 

[garberz]

How or what type of aux braking system would work if you have a hydro boost?:-[

The Brake Buddy is a simple unit that’s very popular in the RV world. It doesn’t matter that you have hydro boost, the unit is very strong. It can easily push the pedal without any assistance.

Mark.

 

[Nothing Special]

What he said. Any toad braking system is going to have to work without the boost you get while driving. Vacuum boost or hydroboost, neither one works when the engine is shut off. Toad brakes need to work with that.

The bigger thing to be concerned about is tire size. If you've gone to significantly bigger tires and haven't upgraded the brakes the toad setup will struggle (much like you'll struggle in normal driving).

 

[sprdv1]

The Brake Buddy is a simple unit that’s very popular in the RV world. It doesn’t matter that you have hydro boost, the unit is very strong. It can easily push the pedal without any assistance.

Mark.

Thanks Mark, RV coming my way at some point this year I hope...