No fault of eTrailer, they are great to work with. This is supposed to fit a 2017 Ford Fusion Platinum Hybrid and it mostly does. I had to drill a number of holes because they didn't line up and some of the installation steps were essentially impossible to perform. I had to cut away portions of the plastic shield under the engine not listed in the instructions and one of my fog lights now sticks out because the frame intrudes on the space where the fog light normally is. I am surprised that the manufacturer would sell a product with such a poor fit and I do not recommend this product at all. I installed my first baseplate in about four hours. This one took three days. One star for the product, one additional star because I purchased it from eTrailer. 529006

The service from etrailer is excellent as always. This product itself leaves a lot to be desired and is the reason for the 3 star review. This is the 3rd Blue Ox hitch I have installed. I have been lucky because the previous two had etrailer videos to follow along with. The directions provided by Blue Ox are barely adequate. First of all, there are black and grey arrows in the pictures on included instructions. That would be fine if the instructions were in color but they aren't. You will need to use the online version because online is in color and the arrows are easier to see.

Second, there is a fair amount of trimming required for this installation. The installation instructions do NOT adequately show what needs to be trimmed. There is a thick plastic skid plate under the engine that connects to front bumper. You will need to trim this in places that are not shown in the instructions. Otherwise, you will not be able to get the bumper cover back on. The hitch will push this plastic piece closer to the ground. If you don't trim it, the bumper cover will not fit.

This installation took me all of 3 days to finish. It took a few hours to get the hitch installed. The rest of the time was spend trying to figure out why I couldn't get the bumper cover back on. My guess is that these instructions were adequate for the first model year and they haven't updated them for subsequent model years. I installed this on a 2019 hybrid model.

Allow plenty of time and be prepared to do some plastic trimming. 764189

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! 3530927

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. 3581288

I looked into every brand/model available and this was the beefiest. There is cutting and trimming required on all brands, so why not get the strongest? If you're slightly handy with a toolbox, you can easily do the install yourself and save thousands. 3622220

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. 3471324

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. 3240343

I installed this myself on a 2012 CR-V EXL AWD. The directions are straightforward. The system works very well and is easy to use.
Fair warning .. because the car is older, just about every clip that holds the grill and bumper in place broke when taking them off. Replacing all those clips with OEM parts is expensive!
BUT, that doesn't retract from the quality of the baseplate or it's use ability.
This is the third different Blue Ox baseplate system I have bought and installed and all of them were excellent! 3425157

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 3462195

I got a used set for a great price and it worked out well. my only caution is that some of the holes in my 2008 2500 suburban had to be drilled to 9/16 due to misalignment with the tapped holes in the brackets. This minor adjustment made it all go togehter easily though. Be aware, you won't have tow hooks anymore if that is something you use a lot. 3417210

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. 3458488

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. 3462319

2025 Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland. Good fit. Requires some cutting. Baseplate is heavy, so I paid an installer to do the job. 3455103

It's a great system, it's on a 1998 Holiday Rambler Imperial, pulling a 2012 Ford F150 4x4. Last summer I pulled the truck for over 3000 miles without any problems, didn't feel like the truck was behind me. etrailer did me right on this set up. 3486270

Well the blue ox base plate actually fits my turbo engine. The Curt didn't fit as advertised. 3614251

Not for the impatient, but everything is provided. I had the front end of my Jetta all over the lawn. It’s definitely a 2 day job, but the instructions are thorough. 3520092

Very nice trailer. 3564041

Review is more about e-Trailer than a the Blue ox tow system! (Which was fine) I contacted trailer in a panic after an amazon seller cancelled my order for this same product after 6 weeks of waiting! Etrailer, had the product to me in Canada in 4 days of the call! Awesome! 3627349

Strong and quality product. Installation was not hard, but follow the steps and look at the video as the written instructions are not all clear and miss a few templates for the air duct cut/trim out. I found the trimming needed for the bottom grill was minimal, only required for the round pieces that the adapter inserts into. Overall, an excellent product, good quality. 3646345

Items arrived in 2 days, free shipping. All appeared in new undamaged condition. 3217914

Well built and relatively easy to put on. I have a 2020 Jeep Mojave, and there was an issue with leaving my skim plate on the bottom. There were some existing bolts that wouldn't allow the base plate to sit if the remained. After watching the video and reading paper instructions, the bolts weren't addressed. It was a non - issue since zi dont need the skim guard. 3639564

So here is an honest review of the Blue Ox base plate. I ordered this base plate because I already have a Blue Ox tow bar. After watching the video of the Ford Fiesta install it didn't look too bad. In the video of the guy suggest ordering a different brand and after the install I understand why. Taking apart the front end of the car is easy the problem lies in the way Blue Ox decided to use welded nuts on bendable rods it is very difficult to get these aligned after drilling the holes. My advice for anyone who's going to do this is be prepared and have patience. After removing the headlights in front fascia cut out the edges of the plastic as noted in the video and then Mount the bar measure the half inch gap on one side and put a clamp on it. Here's where it gets annoying instead of just putting holes in it using a drill bit that would be in any 10 to 15 piece drill index they decided to use a 13/32 bit which you will only find in large quantity indexes. Here's what I found makes this job easier after drilling the first two holes in the base plate install the top bolt only and then tighten it down if you do both you're going to have two wires hindering your movement when you go to do the rear plates. Same thing when drilling the hole in the rear plate put the top bolt in first and this leaves you more room to work with. Prepare to be frustrated the system they use was not thought out very well there was plenty of room to drill all the way through to the other side of the frame and use a through bolt to simplify this whole process. It probably would have cost him a few more dollars to get larger bolts whatever the reason was this system of nuts welded the wires is nothing but a headache. Once you get past this point and it's time to install the safety cables in the video it shows him just wrapping around the rear side of the backing frame the cables in this kit are far too long to be of any use if the front bumper disconnects the way the cables are routed they can slip around the Mainframe there's enough slack that you can actually wrap it around the inside of the base plate mounting attachments to take up the slack. Other than the method of installing this the bar itself is well built. Getting the bumper put back on and cut out for the attachment points is tricky to say the least I ended up cutting out a little bit too much of the grill but I may just order another Grill now that I know exactly where it ends up when it's fully mounted. I would imagine it cost quite a bit to have one of these installed as what could be a straightforward install takes several extra hours of fighting alignment of the nuts on a wire system. Want thank e-trailer as they have the best price and it was shipped in a timely manner. 3420119

I have to say, there may be less expensive options for a Jeep base plate, but trusting the name Blue Ox, is what you pay for. Excellent quality and easy to understand directions PLUS the awesome videos from eTrailer makes this product worth the extra. Fit a 2 door, 2016 Jeep Wrangler Sport S, perfectly. 3630437

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. 3326382

Perfect fit! The only issue I encountered was drilling the upper anchor hole on the driver's side. It's not in the instructions, but I decided to remove the windshield washer fluid reservoir and headlight to drill without damaging it.
This was very easy to do, and I am very pleased with your product!! I would definitely recommend Blue Ox to anyone looking to tow behind your motorhome! 3422260