Ford Motor Company has filed a patent for an automatic trail turn assist feature that may be used in future Ford vehicles, Ford Authority has learned.
The patent was filed on August 4th, 2023, published on February 6th, 2025, and assigned serial number 0042373.
The all-new Trail Turn Assist feature debuted in the 2021 Ford Bronco and later expanded to include the Ford F-150 Raptor and recently-redesigned Ford Ranger. Trail Turn Assist reduces the turning radius of a vehicle by applying the brake to the inside rear wheel while completing low-speed, high steering-angle maneuvers, which is quite helpful in tight turns when driving off the beaten path. The automaker continues to explore other, similar ideas via patent filings for a reverse drive and dig mode and methods to predict and apply regenerative braking, and now, this one, outlining an idea for an automatic Trail Turn Assist feature.
Currently, those driving a vehicle equipped with Trail Turn Assist must first activate that feature before they can actually use it, but here, Ford envisions a future in which it may engage automatically to help reduce the turning radius of a vehicle. The system would be able to detect what sort of surface the vehicle is driving on, as well as information pertaining to a vehicle’s speed and the positioning of the steering wheel, and if conditions are appropriate, it would automatically engage Trail Turn Assist. Such an idea could prove useful, if it does indeed come to fruition.
“Submitting patent applications is a normal part of any strong business as the process protects new ideas and helps us build a robust portfolio of intellectual property,” Ford said in a statement. “The ideas described within a patent application should not be viewed as an indication of our business or product plans. No matter what the patent application outlines, we will always put the customer first in the decision-making behind the development and marketing of new products and services.”
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The tech ran a red light during a test drive.
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Theyre called the brake and gas pedals. You can use them to do this without Ford putting in something else expensive we can't work on ourselves.