Blue Ox Base Plate Kit - Removable Arms
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2001 Ford Excursion
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2001 Ford Excursion
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This setup keeps your bumper looking clean when you’re not towing. The hidden design means the brackets won’t protrude past the front of your vehicle, and the arms twist off easily for a seamless look. When the arms are removed, plug in the included receiver covers to keep dirt and debris out and maintain a finished appearance. It’s also nice not having any metal sticking out where you might bump your legs walking by.
Each arm slides into the receiver, rotates to lock, and secures with a simple pull pin. When you’re done towing, just pull the pin, rotate again, and remove the arms. The straightforward twist-lock attachment makes connecting or disconnecting quick and reliable—with no tools or extra steps.
The base plate bolts directly to your chassis with no welding required. Its durable steel construction is powder coated to resist rust and corrosion. The sturdy design spreads towing force evenly to help prevent stress on your suspension. Brackets pair with Blue Ox tow bars for a secure and dependable connection trip after trip.
If you already have a tow bar setup, this base plate works with Blue Ox tow bars right out of the box. 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). That flexibility makes it easy to tie this base plate into your existing towing system without starting from scratch.
This kit was designed for easy installation—no welding required. It bolts securely to the frame using the included mounting hardware. Integrated mounting points let you attach an electrical connector plug bracket (sold separately), so everything stays organized up front. With bracket spacing at 24" and bracket height at 25", you can plan your setup precisely around those specs for a solid, dependable fit.
Ratings & Reviews
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).
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.
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.
Customer service was excellent, products were as advertised and seem to be of excellent quality.
Fast and efficient! Everything as advertised
Have used etrailer before and will definitely again in future!
Very efficient and timely on shipping their orders. The company that is going to install a tow package for me couldn't locate the appropriate base plate and etrailer shipped it to me within three days. Very impressive!
Amazing help setting up with the correct parts for my equipment... The how 2 videos are going to be a very helpful tool.. They were very helpful to understanding how to get the correct parts... Very fast getting my getting my order out and ship I will continue to use e trailer for sure..
I really like the way the baseplate hides in the grill. The car tows great I have to say that it took three shipments from blue Ox to get the right part but then it went on very easily on my 2017 Corolla Directions are mostly correct There is one other bolted on part that needs to be removed prior to fitment but not mentioned in the directions . At all times everyone was very nice to me. I was a little frustrated and checked with roadmaster because their site said their baseplate would not fit my car because of the adaptive cruise etc. I called them with my new found knowledge about location of the electronics and they checked and confirmed their base plate fits my car so this is another option if you feel like shifting a Toyota
Once installed, this baseplate works great. But...getting it installed on my 2017 Toyota Corolla was really difficult. This is the 3rd Blue Ox base plate I've installed (I also installed on 2008 Subaru Impreza and 2019 Honda Civic). This one was by far the most difficult. The biggest challenge was drilling holes in the front of my frame - very difficult, and needs a really large drill bit and very strong drill). Again, once installed, it's great.
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