The Bronco I bought has a 6-pin trailer connector on the back. Normally, a
6-pin connector means there is a brake controller somewhere. The wires leading to the connector have Ford factory stickers on them, but the hitch itself is from a local supplier in the city where the truck was first sold.
Does my Bronco have a factory brake controller hiding somewhere? I was looking for an underdash-thingie, but there is none. Alternatively, is there a wire under the dash that I simply plug the controller into, and then have brake controls at the hitch?
On my '95 it was a taped cluster of wires, unstripped. It was secured to the under dash support frame,taped to one of those "push in" type plastic rivets. Just above the heater outlet on the drivers side. Yours may or may not be the same, but I bought an adapter pigtail from Northern Tool that fit my brake controller, and wired direct into the Ford harness.
My '99 F350 came exactly the same way too. Just FYI.
When you buy the controller, you should also buy the pigtail adapter that you splice into the Ford Wiring. Most controllers suggest you buy the complete and total harness, then tap it into the various underdash wires, but just buy the pigtail instead.
There is no plug on the end of the Ford wiring, at least not on any of the ones I've wired.
Check this out:
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Here's the pigtail:
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I'm not suggesting these, just showing you what I use in my trucks, and installation was about 30 minutes tops.
When my truck was ordered from the factory, it was ordered with the tow package. When it's factory installed, they included the changed gear ratio in the rear, a class 3 receiver and the standard round electrical hookup plug for trailers with electric brakes. (I forget how many pins, but it's not the flat 4 common on light duty (no brakes) trailers). The round plug was already wired for lights, (if you plug one of those "round to flat" adapters in when towing a light duty trailer the lights will already work) but it was up to the owner to get the controller set up, however, they included the pigtail you needed in the glovebox. At least that's the way my '99 F150 Lariat came in when I ordered it. More than likely, your truck came from the factory without the tow package, and was set-up by the dealer. You ought to double check your rear ratio too, just so you know what you have before towing something too heavy.
We may be comparing apples to oranges, but my 2003 E-150 w/Towing Package came with the towing package also. The pigtail to connect a brake controller was not installed, but was included in a box with a wiring diagram.
On my old 1989 E-150 van w/Towing Package, the brake controller wiring was just taped up under the dash. It was labeled very well, so if you look for and find a similar one in your truck, you should know what it is right away.
To make a long story short, I'm pretty sure you have a wiring harness supplied in the chassis wiring, but you'll have to buy a pigtail and brake controller if you want to use electric brakes.
There are bigger issue than that because any trailer big enough to need brakes I would not want to tow with that bronco anyway as it is not a good TV with its short wheel base.
I don't necessarily agree 100% on that....Would I tow a 30' long camping trailer with a full size Bronco? No, but there are shorter, heavy trailers such as some of the larger pop-up campers that are equipped with electric brakes that his Bronco would tow very well with....It all depends on what he's planning to tow....
If it is a full sized one, It will not do too badly up to 5 or 6x if the engine and gearing is correct and the length is not much over 20 feet or so as you do not want the tail waggibg the dog here. If it is a Bronco !!, towing is not really a viable option for any seriuos amount of weight.
I was assuming it was the full size....I believe they stopped making the Bronco II in the late 80's(?) to replace it with the Explorer, although I'm not sure on the exact years. I'm also not sure what the last year for the full size bronco was, but a '95 sounds like it's got to be real close to the end. I believe they replaced it with the Expedition. I always loved those full size trucks though. Being able to take the top off was cool. I had a '84 GMC Jimmy (full size), but got rid of it during the first Gulf war as it got 11 mpg and gas went up to a whopping $1.40 a gallon - Who can afford to pay those prices!?!? ;)
I just checked and 1990 was the last year for Bronco II and 96 for fullsize Bronco. I have a 89 4x4 V1500 Burb that I have had since new and it has 176K miles on it now and still looks pretty much like new. We only use it for trips these days but is does very godd for its size on trips. 18MPG on highway is pretty much the norm and 19 MPG is doable if you limit speed to 65 or less. It has smoth stock tires and no lift with a custom 3 inch single exhaust using a quiet flowmaster. I have also used 93 octane in in regularly for most of its life and still do today with timing set 8 BTDC and it runs great with superb throttle responce and never pings. WHen it was newer with timg set to stock at O / TDC and 87, it want to knock when it was hot out and it struggled to do 15 MPG and times and was very sluggish at times too.
Your statement is correct. I towed a 29' 7500 lb trailer with our '92 Bronco w/ the 5.8L for 3 years. It did OK. But, it was essential that the tires have 50# pressure and that the Anti-Sway not be over tightened. I spent alot of time in 2nd gear. Our Bronco had the tow package and the 31.5 tires. It was marginal, but passable if the driver pays close attention and the brake controller is setup perfectly.
: >Of course, I could simply drag a trailer that has no brakes ... : >
: : There are bigger issue than that because any trailer big enough to : need brakes I would not want to tow with that bronco anyway as it is : not a good TV with its short wheel base. : : >
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: >> My '99 F350 came exactly the same way too. Just FYI. : >>
: >> Spdloader : >>
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: >>> Does my Bronco have a factory brake controller hiding somewhere? I was : >>> looking for an underdash-thingie, but there is none. Alternatively, is : >>> there a wire under the dash that I simply plug the controller into, and : >>> then have brake controls at the hitch? : >>>
My mistake, I mistook "Does my Bronco have a factory brake controller hiding somewhere?" as meaning the original poster was looking for a "factory brake controller" in his 95 Bronco.
As for the built in factory trailer brake controller, it is outstanding! It really makes the brake part of trailer towing a piece of cake...
I have an '05 F-350 with the factory brake controller. Overall, it is an excellent system, primarily because unlike aftermarket inertia controllers, the Ford system measures speed and brake pedal pressure to determine the proper amount of trailer braking.
The only thing screwy with it is that after you have stopped, you can feel the trailer brakes release after a second or two, and then there is no breaking voltage applied until you are traveling over about 15-20 miles per hour again. We first discovered this when going through the indoctrination for a new fifth wheel trailer. One of the tests you are supposed to do after hooking up is a "tug test" whereby you manually slide the brake controller lever over to full trailer braking and then try to pull forward with the truck. This is to insure the fifth wheel hitch is engaged and locked. You can't do it with the Ford system, because there is no speed, therefore no braking voltage applied.
I've heard rumors that this system was changed in late '05 models, but there is no retro fix for the original systems. I've gotten used to how it works and simply chock the trailer wheels to test for hitch hookup.
The only other issue is the system works differently with different trailers. I have a horse trailer and bobcat trailer that the controller will lock the trailer wheels at full output and too much gain. Yet, I also have a new car trailer that barely applies any braking at all, even with full gain and output. I had the car trailer brakes checked and they lock up fine with a battery charger hooked up to them. I've been told that the Ford system uses a lower voltage signal and, if the trailer's brake wiring is too small, gauge-wise, not enough current will be delivered to lock up the brakes, due to excessive voltage drop across the small gauge trailer brake wires.
Good point. My goal is to put my Jeep CJ5 on a trailer. The gross weight of the trailer and vehicle should be well within the limits of the Bronco. But, any trailer towing experience would be improved if the trailer had its own brake system.
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