Blue Ox Base Plate Kit - Removable Arms
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2000 Ford Excursion
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2000 Ford Excursion
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When you’re not towing, you still get a clean, factory look with this setup. The hidden design keeps the brackets tucked away so nothing sticks out past the front of your vehicle. The removable arms twist out easily, leaving behind only smooth receiver openings that plug up with the included covers to keep out dirt and debris.
Hooking up is fast thanks to the Blue Ox twist-lock attachment. Each arm slides into its receiver, rotates to lock in place, and secures with a simple pin pull. When it’s time to unhook, you reverse the action—pull the pin, twist, and remove. It’s quick work even when you’re setting up solo.
This heavy-duty base plate bolts directly to the chassis with no welding required. The sturdy steel build spreads towing force evenly across mounting points to help prevent stress on your suspension during long-distance hauls. Powder-coated steel resists rust and corrosion so it stays solid trip after trip.
Whether you already own a tow bar or plan to add one later, this base plate fits right in. It pairs directly with Blue Ox tow bars for a secure connection and can adapt to Roadmaster tow bars (adapter RM-031 or RM-031-5 sold separately) or Demco tow bars (adapter DM9523041 sold separately). Integrated mounting points make it simple to attach an electrical connector plug bracket (sold separately) for a tidy front-end wiring setup.
This kit is built for convenient installation without welding. Everything bolts securely to your chassis using the included hardware, giving you a direct, dependable mount point for your tow bar. Specs: distance between brackets is 30-1/2" and bracket height is 11-1/2". Once bolted up, you’re ready for reliable flat towing with a clean look when unhitched.
Customer Satisfaction Score:
91% were satisfied with this product
9% of customers were not satisfied
Ratings & Reviews
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.
Good people!! Keep up the good work
Fast delivery once ordered!
Very professional and knowledgeable staff. Went above and beyond my expectations. Pleasure to do business with. Definitely recommend!
The service was extremely. The product looks heavy duty.. Haven’t installed it yet.
Thanks for the fast delivery!
Received the Tow Base package. Box was a little damaged because the packing inside the box was just wadded up heavy paper. Tow bar broke thru the box but was not damaged. Recommend using some sort of package foam to better support the heavy metal tow bar.
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Bill C.
6/6/2025
Honest One year review: Base Plate works excellent. Very solid and rugged. Installation is not as easy as the directions specify. My 2015 Tacoma 4X4 did require some extra drilling on the frame for the main crossthru frame fasteners. It also took a lot longer to install the base plate than I would have thought it would. All in all, its a very rugged and HD tow bar that has had ZERO issues. Just provide some extra time to install it properly. I did take my time as a one person install, properly finish all the metal and paint the areas of bare metal for rust prevention. While the truck was in the air jack stands, I also installed my RV trailertowed vehicle wiring harness and diode kit. The Base Plate, Wiring kit and brake cable kit was done in a professional manner and looks factory if there was a factory base plate and wiring kit. 4.8 STARS. Bill C