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If you want your setup to stay sleek and unobtrusive when you’re not towing, this base plate nails it. The hidden design keeps the front clean, and the bracket arms come off with a simple twist. When removed, nothing sticks out past the front, so you don’t have to worry about bumping into protruding hardware. Snap-in receiver covers keep dirt and debris out of the sockets for a finished look that stays tidy between trips.
The removable arms attach easily—just insert them into the receivers, twist until they lock, and secure them with the pull pin. When you’re done towing, pull the pin, twist again, and slip them out. It’s a quick, solid connection that makes solo hookups simple whether you’re in the driveway or at a campsite. The distance between brackets is 20" and the bracket height is 13", so you can line up your tow bar with confidence.
This base plate bolts directly to your chassis—no welding needed. The sturdy design spreads towing force evenly, helping protect your suspension and frame over thousands of miles. The durable steel construction is powder coated to resist rust and corrosion, so it holds up through all kinds of weather and road conditions trip after trip.
You don’t have to start from scratch if you already have gear you like. The sturdy lugs pair directly with Blue Ox tow bars for a reliable hookup. It’s also adaptable for use with Roadmaster tow bars using adapter RM-031 or RM-031-5 (sold separately) and with Demco tow bars using adapter DM9523041 (sold separately). Integrated mounting points let you attach an electrical connector plug bracket (sold separately) to keep your wiring organized and easy to reach.
This kit is made for simple installation at home. It bolts securely to the chassis using the included mounting hardware—no welding required. Once it’s on, you’ve got a durable, low-profile setup ready to tow whenever you need it, without changing how your vehicle looks day to day.
Videos are provided as a guide only. Refer to manufacturer installation instructions and specs for complete information.
Alright, today on this 2010 Ford Focus, were going to install part number BX2199 from Blue Ox. To start our install, we got to remove the front bumper cover, starting with these four pushpins right here. Alright, now we can remove the grill assembly. Okay, to remove the grill, you have to pull it straight out. We start from the end and work our way towards the center. Next, remove the headlights, one, two, three fasteners.
After removing our fasteners, this tab we have to pull up a little bit and also theres a tab in the back too. And then at the very bottom underneath, theres another fastener which you have to pop it up and then pull it out. And then well go ahead and remove our electrical. Push down this tab right here and it comes apart. Alright, our next step is to remove two pushpins here and here.
Were looking at the drivers side. Well repeat the same thing on the passengers side. Now, were getting down to the wheel well here. Well remove this screw here and its two pushpins. Were done on the drivers side, move on to the passengers side and do the same thing.
Alright, now looking underneath the vehicle, we got six fasteners we need to remove. Well remove these fasteners here, here, and here. This is the drivers side. Well repeat the same process on the passengers side. Were going to bolt the hardware here and here, and those two fasteners allow us to remove our bumper cover.
Were done on the drivers side. Lets do the same thing over on the passengers side. Alright, at this point, we can go ahead and remove our bumper cover. Next, well remove the air dams. This is the one on the drivers side and the same one on the passengers side too. Well go ahead and remove the plastic rivets. Next step is to remove the windshield washer tank. This is actually stocked on top of the base plate when were done. Were going to disconnect this line. Well actually attach a small rubber line to it and this will run it up to the top so it matches the water line. That way, we wont lose it all. Well disconnect the electrical. Well take a tap and look up just a little bit, then you can pop it off. Okay, now we have four fasteners removed. Well go ahead and loosen up the jug fort and it freezes well. Actually, what we got to do is remove this panel right here. Theres a fastener were about to remove in the wheel well and there are three pushpins in the center that we have to remove as well. And also, one more screw on the passengers side. At this point, we can go ahead and lock the tow bar in position. What were going to do is slide up from underneath and then clamp it in place using some vice grips. Alright, thus, when we tight it fit, we got to pop it up and over deep bulges in the frame. So were going to line up this hole here. From the edge of the bumper bracket to the edge of a frame will be 1-1/2 inches. Now, it will be the same on both sides. In this edge here, Ill match the edge on top of the frame. And thats just same angle and it should be good to go. Well double check the passengers side here. That looks good. Make sure its even with the top of the frame and there are wires really close to. So when you pull it up, you want to make sure its not pinched or anything like that. Once the tow bar is in place, well go ahead and use the 3/8 bit to mark our centers with the holes. Then well drill a pilot hole and go back at it with 13/32 bit. Before we drill our remaining holes, I'm going to use some included hardware to use it to help keep it steady because even though its clamped in place, it may pivot a little. The drill a bit wonders inside the hole. Okay, now we can go ahead and continue drilling up the rest of the holes. When we drill up to your holes, especially on the passengers side, there are some wire and other components there. Make sure you dont run into that when you drill bit. Alright, now the hole is drilled out on the drivers side, lets go ahead and repeat everything we did here on the passengers side. Now, well go ahead and remove our hardware and put our fasteners into place. Alright, well pull a little bit real lock tight on our bolt, and well run it through and put a lock washer and nut on the other side. Well do the same thing with its holes in the bottom. For our hardware installed, well go ahead and snug them down then torque them down as specified in the instructions, then repeat the same process over on the passengers side. Okay, when we drill out our holes, the two holes in the top will be the same as the drivers side. However, on the passengers side, were going to use these two holes here and here. Our base plate is installed. Now, move ahead to the bumper and do a trimming we need so we can put it back onto the car. Right here if this bump thats on the housing for the fog lights if this vehicle is equipped. We need to trim that down, just the bump itself, and we will go about 1-1/2 inches. And then the bottom one, well do the same thing, but well go down 2 inches. Well do that on both sides and well do a test fit, and were going to trim it more. Well do that before we put everything together for good. Now, we can use a utility knife or a rotary tool like were using to cut it out. Okay, get an extra set of hands to help you hold the bumper cover in place and will help mark out the sections that were going to cut out to go around our tow bar. Were making a cutout for our base plate. Okay, once were able to reinstall the bumper cover, well go ahead and sand off the edges and make them as smooth as possible. With our cutouts on our base plates, now we need to make one more cutout here. Were going to make a hole for our wiring bracket. Now, the next thing we need to deal with is the air dam mounted right here originally with the base plates in the way. So basically, were going to measure from the top edge down 2-3/4 inches and across, and cut it in half. That way, well have room to put it back into place. With all our trimming done, well take our safety cables and well run them around the edge of our frame and over this bracket right here, and well use a link to connect it to the convenience link here. Okay, were done with our drivers side. Lets do it one more time on the passengers side. Alright, now we can go ahead and reinstall the windshield wiper fluid, we have a jug for it. Now, the kit comes with a longer bolt to reinstall the jug at this side. Alright, well go ahead and reinstall our wiring and our line. Now, well get one more fitting on top to reinstall. We can replace the plastic panel underneath the bumper cover, the head lights, and the grill. Well show you how to tab assembly works. Inaudible straight and then push it so the pin comes out and then rotate it, and its locked in place. To unlock it, pull out the pin and rotate it up. It comes out. Okay, and with our bumper reinstalled, were finish with our installation of part number BX2199 from Blue Ox.
Ratings & Reviews
It was a straight forward installation for me. I am a 75yr old mechanic so I have a lot of experience with this sort of thing. There were no videos but the instructions were good. what I did find very helpful was a video of different brand base plate installed on a 2024 year model that told me where all the fasteners were for the front clip. My truck is a 2025 XL which is slightly easier than XLT or Lariat because it doesn't have adaptive cruise control.
2025 Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland. Good fit. Requires some cutting. Baseplate is heavy, so I paid an installer to do the job.
solid and simple kit for the 2021 GMC Sierra 1500. It really appears that the only reason the entire front trim has to come off is to drill two additional 1/2" holes in the truck frame to allow solid attachment of the base plate. If GM provided these, this kit would be sooo fast to install. :)
I had to slightly modify mounting holes as they did not line up with the vehicle. This is the 7th base plate I have installed on various cars and trucks and by far the most challenging.
Great products from etrailer. The videos were very helpful as I was determined to do the install myself. I’m 72 years old and thought I could do it and I did with the help of my lovely assistant, my wife. The tip on running the taillight wiring through the frame rail was great. The one problem I had was that I was never able to unplug the taillights no matter how hard I tugged on them so I had my wife hold each light while I spliced in the diodes. Very happy with the Blue Ox products and the finished look on my Jeep. Thanks again etrailer.
This Blue Ox Baseplate was easy to install and fit great. etralier sent me a video of my same make and year car showing the baseplate installation. Armed with the knowledge the video provided really made my installation job easy. Quality parts and quality service by etrailer.
An added bonus was that the baseplate and tow bar I ordered arrived in 2 days.
Instructions could have been better but was straight forward and easy to figure out. Had to widen two holes on vehicle a tiny bit to align up with plate. Was shorted two connectors to attach the safety cables to the vehicle and base plate. None mentioned on inventory but two were included. Picture showed using four.
Installation was fairly straightforward. Only thing I would add the video doesn’t mention. The hole that needs to be drilled on passenger side. I put a piece of 1x4 wood between the radiator hose and the frame when I was drilling as the hose is pretty close to the frame and could be damaged if you drill too deep. I also put the bolt heads inside engine bay with the threads sticking to roadside as I felt again to close to radiator hose. I removed washer bottle completely to give easier access.
I wasn’t real happy about how much bumper I had to trim . The activ model has a different bumper c er than the RS. The studs for mounting wiring connector wound up really gut under the tag bracket so that was a win.
The bracket seems heavy duty and well made . Follow directions in the etrailer video. Very simple install. Drilling the hole was the hardest part.
Well designed and solidly built base plate. Very good product support from Etrailer and Blue Ox.
The four 1/2 inch by 1 3/4 inch bolts are category 5 bolts. I had a bag full of identically sized bolts which were category 8. But I did not have any whizz nuts that were category 8 nuts so I stayed with the standard Blue Ox Hardware. We used POR 15 rust preventing paint at every location where we cut the steel or drilled holes. The distance from the center of the attachment tab assembly holes to the ground is 20 inches on our 2025 Wrangler Rubicon JLU with "Xtreme" 35 inch tire package. Easy five stars for Blue Ox and etrailer.
The 2025 Trax license plate frame sits lower than shown in the instructions provided with this kit, to the point where it obstructs access to the 7-way electrical connector. An alternate scheme for mounting the plate will be required if your state requires the front plate to be displayed.
The Blue Ox base plate kit was installed without a hitch on our 2024 Maverick Hybrid. It was a perfect fit! It was installed by Fantasy Truck, a referred installer of etrailer, in Odessa, MO. Brett was very easy to work with and did an excellent job! I highly recommend the Blue Ox baseplate and Brett @ Fantasy Truck!
Fits my 2013 mini cooper non turbo. Does take a few hours to install this Fit was good. The hardest part is removing the front bumper and reinstalling it. You do have to cut the lower bumper grill in three places take your time locating the exact spots for cuts. I have pulled Mini Cooper about seven thousand miles now with this Blue Ox and has worked great
The safety Cable installation left a little to be desired. I'm not sure if I installed it as designed. The cables we're really long enough to go aroiund the frame rails on our Jeep, under the Radiator mount, Aluminum Frame, I was only able to go around the Raditor mount on both sides. Didn't really seam like it was the right way, but I suspect it's only for if something comes loose that there isn't a catastrophic breakaway.
I was given a Blue Ox Tow Bar and needed Base Plates for my Ford F150. In my online search, E-Trailer had the best price, so I ordered them. Delivery was a few days earlier than expected. I read the installation instructions and it sounded fairly simple to install, so I decided to tackle it myself. I began it about six pm and had the job completed and cleaned up in just over two hours. The job required removal of the bumper and tow hooks and drilling of two holes. Also William at E-trailer was of great help in the correct parts and keeping me informed of the delivery.
After installing over 500 baseplates on various vehicles, this one was probably the toughest one . It had the off road package on it . But it fit great after I had to remove a lot that had been bolted up for 27yrs.
Tried to install this baseplate. It was a challenge to say the least. It did not fit the frame of my Jeep YJ without making modifications to the mounting plates on the driver side. I had to use a cut off wheel and remove 3/16 of an inch from the driver side spacer (which is too long. See pictures) in order to get it to clear the frame. Also, instructions say to drill an additional 1/2 inch hole in the frame for a third mounting bolt. BUT....the internal frame construction doesn't allow the nut on a stick to pass under the existing reinforcements for the bolts that mount the steering gear to the frame. Nut is way too thick to pass under the internal tubing in the frame from manufacturer (AMC).
This was instilled on a 2024 Chevrolet Colorado Z71 truck. I watched your video online with this exact model truck and the words I remember most was “and we did not have to do any trimming”. Well my truck was certainly different than what was on video. Guess it’s because it’s a late build 2024 (end of September 2024) and the grill system was maybe what would appear on the 2025 models? There was lots of trimming involved. I also will tell you the mounting holes both for the frame and the bumper back plate did not line up and required some modifications to fit. I would like to say this job is not for the faint of heart. I luckily have a mechanical/machinist background so was able to get the job done. Have not tested it yet but will be soon. Good luck to those of you who are planning on installing it yourself. Just remember it can be done. Just take your time.
Items arrived in 2 days, free shipping. All appeared in new undamaged condition.
The Blue Ox base plate for my 2015 Kia Soul is well manufactured and, with a little bit of mechanical skill, easy to install. It fit perfectly without issues. Brad from etrailer provides a step-by-step installation video that is outstanding and nicely guides through the process from beginning to end. I highly recommend this Blue Ox base plate from etrailer.
Well the blue ox base plate actually fits my turbo engine. The Curt didn't fit as advertised.
Super high quality baseplate for towing by Blue Ox. Instructions, videos, shipping (one day!) and overall experience was awesome. A bit pricey but their quality and the additional support by E Trailer cannot be beat! BTW (E Trailer) the baseplate fits three different Jeep configurations but did not call out the Recon package. After looking at other brands which showed there's to fit the 3 variations AND the Recon, I figured it would fit and it DID. You should definitely upgrade to include the Recon Edition.
lways great to shop at etrailer, especially the tech experts. Royce did an awesome job with our order. Everything fit perfectly and the help video provided the guidance I needed.
We installed the baseplate on our 2023 Encore GX AWD as well as the light harness and breakaway switch. A couple of items were incorrect but Royce corrected the issues with no problems.
Thanks again etrailer!
2019 Ford Ranger baseplate worked and fitted fine for me. 73 yrs old took me a couple hours but took many breaks. Younger could do it less than hour I'm sure.
Also works fine with my Blue Ox tow bar.
Came in a timely manner, haven't yet had it installed
I ordered a Blue Ox Base Plate for my Ford Focus. Blue Ox said they were out of stock, and would have to make one, six or more weeks? I Order the Blue Ox Base Plate from etrailer, and it was delivered to my house in three days. Getting ready to install it, directions look very well detailed. Look forward to towing our Ford Focus this summer, with our Motorhome, on our camping trips
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Louis
2/7/2022
It is working fine, have not had any issues. I installed it, fit as described.