Welcome to Part 2 of our "Can My Car Be Towed?" series! We launched this series because one of the most common questions we get as a company is some variation of "Can my vehicle be towed?" or "What do I need to make a braking system work in my car?" - and it makes a lot of sense why! It can be hard to find vehicle-specific, accurate information out there.
Before we get started, we need to include a quick disclaimer: This article series isn't designed to dive into the nitty gritty of every single towable model. While we may reference specific cars as examples, this series is more designed to give you general guidelines and words of wisdom when it comes to entire product lineups from car manufacturers. The things we cover here will be generally true across all flat towable models of a particular make - or, at least, true in the majority of cases. However, as with any guidance we give in this area, it's very important you review the Recreational Towing section of your specific vehicle's Owner's Manual. That's the only way to verify that the things we discuss here are applicable to your car.
The Complexity Scale
In our initial article on Chevy/GMC vehicles, we introduced something called 'The Complexity Scale' as a way to reference how complex or difficult a manufacturer's lineup of vehicles is to tow.
As with before, 1 is something like an older Jeep Wrangler that's completely plug-and-play (very, very easy), with 10 being the Ford CMax (which is literally impossible to tow correctly, even though it's technically "towable").
Here's where Ford vehicles - on average - fall on that scale:
Not bad, Ford! While definitely more complex than something like a Jeep, Ford is a great middle ground between high-powered amenities and simplicity. Another huge plus with Ford is their responsiveness to the RVing community.
Take their most complex vehicle: The new 2.7-liter engine Ford Bronco (the 2.3 is much simpler, which is why we're segmenting things out like this). Upon its initial release, the 2.7L Bronco was nearly impossible to tow because it utilizes both vacuum and active braking systems. The car will switch back and forth between them at random times - which isn't a problem if you're using it as a daily driver, but it becomes a huge problem when towing because your supplemental braking system can't account for this change. So, during those first couple years of the Bronco's production, there was a solid chance you'd destroy a set of tires when towing because of lockup resulting from this vacuum/active setup. If you recall our previous article, we mentioned the Ford CMax (now discontinued). The CMax was marketed as towable, but actually wasn't because of this same fatal flaw.
For a minute there, it looked like the Bronco was also going to be rendered untowable. However, Ford recognized the issue and developed a software update for the car that disables the active braking system while towing. As long as your 2.7L Bronco has that update, you're golden (though you still can't use an installed braking system like RVibrake Shadow - if you go with the Bronco, you'll need a portable unit like RVibrake3). Ford handled this masterfully.
This added intangible of being responsive to the RVing community isn't something that'll ever show up in tech specs or on a price sheet - but it should matter greatly.
What Additional Equipment Do I Need To Tow?
Almost every Ford currently on the market is going to need some kind of third-party, dedicated 12v outlet in order to use a portable braking system (something like our 12v Battery Direct Kit). This is because, almost universally, the outlets in your Ford will shut off after about 45-60 minutes of towing. Using a dedicated outlet gets around that. You'll also need some kind of towed battery charger (such as our Towed Battery Charger +) for most models.
Per usual, if you're using an installed system (like RVibrake Shadow), then you can forego the 12v Kit and charger.
Recommended Model
There's a distinction we'll make here: The Bronco is the most popular Ford towed vehicle right now. However, it is the most complex due to the fact that you have to have that software update performed (unless it was made in late 2023 or newer) and the fact that you can't use an installed braking system with it even with that update. So, while popular, this probably isn't the vehicle we'd recommend first.
When it comes to Ford, the models we'd recommend would be the F-series of trucks and the Ranger. These make for really solid toweds that are also very easy to set up. If you want something that's not a truck, older-year-model Explorers (pre-2017) are a solid option. The Ford Escape, while one of the more complex models Ford makes, is also fairly solid and one we'd feel pretty comfortable recommending.
Conclusion
All in all, Ford manages to strike a great middle ground - you get a lot of comfort and amenities without tons of added complexity when it comes to flat towing.
There are a couple of models where you want to be aware there's extra work involved (like the Bronco and Escape) in getting things set up to tow, but Ford's responsiveness to the RVing community can't be overstated. It's a huge plus in their column.
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