To see if this custom-fit item will work for you please tell us what vehicle you'll use it with.
When you’re not towing, this setup keeps the front end neat. The direct-connect brackets sit far back on the frame so the remaining hardware is virtually invisible. There’s no bulky quick-disconnect crossbar to spoil the look—just a clean, streamlined setup that blends in and stays protected from scrapes and scuffs.
The removable drawbars are designed for simple, repeatable hookups. Slide each arm into the bracket, twist it to lock, and you’re ready to connect to your tow bar. Built-in pull rings make unlocking just as easy—tug, twist, and pull out to remove the arms when you’re done. The process is fast and solid enough that you can handle it solo without any fuss.
This base plate kit bolts directly to the frame with no welding required. Each component is computer-cut from all-steel for a precision fit and exceptional strength. The black powder coat finish adds durability and corrosion resistance so it stands up to road grime and weather mile after mile.
These brackets work exclusively with Roadmaster motor-home-mounted tow bars that slide into a trailer hitch—models such as the Sterling, Blackhawk, Blackhawk 2, Falcon, or Falcon 2. You don’t need a separate quick-disconnect crossbar or any hitch ball–type tow bars. Everything lines up for a clean, direct connection that’s solid on the road and simple in your driveway.
The kit includes clear instructions and mounting hardware for a straightforward bolt-on installation. Once mounted to the vehicle’s frame, the result is a tough, low-profile towing setup that looks tidy when unhitched and performs reliably when it’s time to roll.
Roadmaster direct-connect base plates will only work with Roadmaster tow bars that slide into a trailer hitch, such as the Sterling, Blackhawk, Blackhawk 2, Falcon, or Falcon 2. These base plates will not work with tow bars that require a hitch ball.
Videos are provided as a guide only. Refer to manufacturer installation instructions and specs for complete information.
Speaker 1: Today on our 2016 Mini Countrymen, you're going to take a look at and I'm going to show you how to install the Roadmaster EZ5 base plate kit with removable arms, part number RM-521883-5.This is what our EZ5 base plate looks like when it's installed. As you can see, it fits nice and flush with the fascia. It's not going to stick out, protrude. It's not an eyesore. It looks really nice on there. It's going to have a nice black powder coat finish, so it's going to resist and rust or corrosion.
You're going to have removable arms. Simply slide them in, twist, and they lock into place. You'll have one of these for both sides. To remove it, simply pull the ring, twist, and it slides out.It's going to be one of five main components in a flat tow set up. The other four are going to be your braking system, your lighting, your safety cables, and your tow bar.Now what this base plates going to do for you, it's going to allow you to safely flat tow your vehicle behind your RV when you're traveling.
As far as the installation goes, it is a pretty straightforward installation, you're not going to have to do any welding. You will have to remove your fascia. Again you'll have to do a little bit of trimming here. Other than that, it's pretty straightforward. It's going to come with all the necessary hardware.
Now that we've gone over some of the features, let me show you how easy it is to get installed.To begin our install, we're going to have to take off our grill. To do that, we're going to have four bolts that run across the top here. Now our instructions say they're supposed to be 10 millimeter head bolts. In our case, they are going to be T25 Torx head bolts.Next we're going to pull our grill off. You just want to grab like right around this corner, just kind of wiggle it out should just pop right out of there, just like that.
We're going to have four fasteners right here inside of our fender well that we need to take out. One's going to be a push pin fastener down here. You're going to have eight millimeter head bolt right here. You're going to have two fasteners right here that we're going to have to remove.We'll start with the eight millimeter bolt. There's not really a particular order that these need to come out, flathead screwdriver, like that. Make sure you pull the base out with it. Then for our top two, top two are going to be a little bit different. There's like a little bitty pin right in the center. But if you pry out just enough, like that, you can actually grab it and pull it out. And we're going to repeat that same thing on the other side.This trim piece right here. We need to pull this off our front fascia. So what you're going to do is you're going to take your liner, you're going to pull it back. And you're going to have three little plastic clips right in here. If you reach up and then pull down on them, you'll be able to pull them out it. I'll show you what it looks like here.So this is going to be your clip. What you want to do is reach up there and just pull down on it, just like that. So what I like to do, since we're going to be moving the fascia around to get it off, I'm going to take some tape and I'm going to cover this edge right here, so it doesn't scratch it. You can use electrical tape, black tape, whatever you have. It doesn't have to be a masterpiece, you just want to protect the paint job on the car. Just something like that. I'd say go ahead and do that on the other side also. We're going to have a couple of lights right here on the sides. We need to unplug those. We're just going to push in and pull out. You're going to have one of those on both sides of the vehicle.Now we need to come underneath our vehicle. Now our instructions tell us we're going to have two push pin fasteners and a T25 Torx bit. We don't have T25 Torx bit down here. It's going to be a 10 millimeter head bolt. Now our instructions tell us we need to take out the two push pin fasteners. You can see here we have four that are attaching this to our fascia. However, if we just remove this 10 millimeter bolt, we don't need to take this off. You can see it's loose.Next, once you have that removed on both side of the vehicle, you're going to have three push pin fasteners right across the center. So flathead screwdriver and right in the center, trim panel tool. You want to make sure the base comes out with it. If it doesn't come out, pull the base out. You can always slide this back into it.Next on the front, we're going to have two T25 Torx bits head bolts, have one here and one on the other side. Go ahead and remove those. Now our instructions don't tell this, but right here there's actually a 10 millimeter head bolt that we have to remove. It's holding the top part of the fascia on. Then we're going to repeat that on the other side.Now we can start pulling our fascia off. One thing to keep in mind, if you have fog lights, those will need to be unplugged. So we'll just start right here underneath of this fender trim piece where it's going to start pulling out. I'm actually going to get a second person. I'd recommend doing the same. You can see we have a couple of plugs here we're going to need to remove, one there. So here's a plug on the back of our lights. What you want to do, you just want to push in on the bottom to release it. You're going to have one of those on each side. This one you're just going to have one, push down like that.Next thing we need to do is we need to remove our ambient temperature sensor. All we're going to do, is we don't want to break this. I'm just going to slide it out like that. Then we're going to have a clip here on the side of this we need to remove. I'll just let that hang for now and then we need to remove this. This one actually happens to be loose, but if you look right here these little tabs actually fit right inside of here. You take a flathead screwdriver and you just push down. You can see how that flexes, that'll release them. Go ahead and pull that off. We're going to do that on both sides.Next thing we need to do is, we need to remove our bumper core from the frame. In order to do that, we're going to have two bolts down here on the bottom. We're going to have two on the top. Then we're going to have a couple Torx head screws. Our instructions tell us that these are going to be 16 millimeter head bolts except they're not. They're 13 millimeter head bolts. The two top ones are going to be 16.On the driver's side, they're going to be back behind here, but you're not going to be able to access them like this. You're going to have to go underneath the car. Go ahead and remove the two bottom ones on both sides. This bottom one here we can get to with just a wrench and a socket. So next on the inside here, there's actually a 16 millimeter head nut that we need to take off.So what I have found the instructions don't tell you this. But right inside your fender well, you're going to have four 8 millimeter head bolts. Then you can take this off, it gives you a lot more room to work, eight millimeter socket. We'll go ahead and remove this nut just like that. And you'll have one of these on the passenger side also.Next take a T20 Torx bit, we're going to have three screws we going to need remove. Our directions tell us two, they tell us this one here and that one up there. Except on this one, we have one right here. We don't take this off, it's attached to this whole bottom piece. You're not going to be able to get your bumper core off. Then you're going to have the same three on the other side.Now we're going to have two 16 millimeter head nuts on this side and on the other side. Before we take those all the way off, right down here at the bottom, you see this hose. This hose runs all the way across and it attaches to the bottom. So we're just going to unclip it like that. We'll do the same thing here on the passenger side. Now we'll take our 16 millimeter socket. Go ahead and pull off the two remaining nuts.I would suggest sliding this out slowly. Make sure you don't hook any of your wires, your hoses or anything like that, just like that. You want to make sure that your bumper core is upside down on a flat surface table, work bench, the floor if you want. You're going to need some black spray paint or some clear coat. If you have a die grinder, you need a die grinder with a bit like this or a half inch drill bit. If you have a long one like this, you can use it just in a drill. If you don't, grinding bit and die grinder.What we're going to do is we're going to take our base plate like this and you're going to have two holes. You're going to have one here and have one on the other side. You're going to have two holes here on the bumper core. We're going to line those two up. You can see on this side this hole's not exactly straight. We can't go forward anymore because we're caught there. And we can't go side to side because this plate here is up against our bumper core. So what we need to do is we're going to open these holes up to a half inch, which is the holes that are already in the bumper core. Just like that, we're going to do that on both sides.Now you want to take some spray paint and we're going to spray that bare metal. Going to help keep it from rusting and corroding later on down the road. You can give it a good coat, do that on both sides. Now we're going to take half inch bolt, you're going to get a nut plate like this. Take a lock washer, slide it on to your bolt. Some red Loctite, now this does not come in your kit but you can find it on our website. You want to make sure that this goes on all of your hardware.What we're going to do, is we're going to take a bolt, we're going to go down through our hole like this. Nut plate, we're going to go inside this back hole right back here. Thread them together, we don't want them completely tight just yet. You just want to hand tighten it on there. Then we'll do the same thing to the other side. I'm going to take a 19 millimeter socket and I'm going to tighten this so that it's sitting flat and it's holding our bracket against out bumper core correctly. Go ahead and do that same thing on the other side.Next thing we want to do is we're going to turn our bumper beam up like this. We want to make sure that our base plate is square with our bumper core. We're going to have two holes here on both sides. We're going to drill these out to a half inch. So what I'm going to do, I'm going to use my half inch drill bit. I'm going to make me a mark in there, that way when I go to my smaller one it doesn't move around on me. We're going to use the same combination of hardware. Again make sure your Loctite is on. I'm going to go through the hole like this our nut plate. Come in this back hole on the bumper beam. Get those all together, we're going to do the same thing on the other side. Don't forget your second one on that side.Next we're going to tighten and the torque all of our hardware to the specifications in the instructions. Next we're going to cut off the end of our wires. You can use some tin snips here. Go ahead and repeat that on the other side. Now we can get our bumper beam back into place. Again, watch your rubber hoses there. We don't want to damage them. Same thing over here on the passenger's side. So if you notice this piece here, with our base plate installed, we cannot get it past this section. We're going to have to cut a little section out of this. I'm going to use base plate Dremel tool with a cutting blade. You can use a utility knife if you have one. Basically just like that, we're going to do the same thing on the other side.So you can see on this piece that I already cut, I need to come up just a little bit higher because it's still pushing against it. And then right here in this corner, you can see where it's hitting it. It's actually pushing this against the radiator. I don't really like that so I'm going to cut a notch out of there so this will sit inside of it.Now we've got our bumper core up here, looks good. We got the necessary adjustments needed cut out in places we needed to cut out. It fits well. Now we can go ahead and reinstall all of our hardware in reverse order from the way we took it out. Next thing we need to do, we've got our fascia just sitting up here. What I need to do is I need to mark and cut out my fascia right here for my base plate. So I'm just going to take a black marker or any color marker you want really. That's going to have to come off. I think I'm going to have to cut off this right here. We'll do that on both sides. Now we're going to do the same thing on the other side.Doesn't look like I'm going to have to cut this out. What I'm going to do is I'm going to wait, get my other side cut out for this section. And then we'll see how the fascia falls in place. I may not need to do this here. Now that we have our fascia cut out, we're going to go ahead and remove it and reinstall our air tubes on both sides and anything else we need to put on while our fascia is off. Ambient temperature sensor we actually zip tied it to the back side here. Now we can put our fascia back in place. However, keep in mind if there's any other wiring accessories, anything like that you're going to be putting them on now would be the time to put them on while you have the fascia off. That'll do it for a look at and installation on the Roadmaster EZ5 base plate kit with removable arms part number RM-521883-5 on our 2016 Mini Countryman.
Customer Satisfaction Score:
95% were satisfied with this product
5% of customers were not satisfied
Ratings & Reviews
2017 f150
Customer service was very helpful. Easy to install. No bumper or grill cutting however, you do loose your front hooks. Nice low profile.
I watched YouTube videos on how to install. I have used this a year now. It is well made and not some cheap junk. Heavy steel and I am pleased with it. As with all etrailer products I have purchased, I highly recommend. Their customer service is outstanding.
Bolted right up to my 2021 Ford Expedition Max Platinum. No issues and is a snap to hook up and unhook the tow bars. The units poke right out the factory openings and are hardly noticeable when the draw bars are removed. About the only complaint I have is that the draw bars fit sloppy in the base plate adapters. They wobble a LOT but are made of very thick steel. After about 3000 miles towing so far, the draw bars are pretty heavily worn where they contact the base plate adapters.
Quality product for my new 2024 Ford Escape Hybrid AWD ST Line. Came with decent instructions that got me through installation without issue. Installation required drilling only two holes through the plastic lower grille opening for the insertion of the tow arms. Everything else was completely "bolt-on". The breakaway switch, safety cable tabs, and the wiring receptacle all fit through existing openings in the lower grille providing a "clean" finished look.
I originally purchased a Blue Ox baseplate to install since I already had a tow bar. Upon removing the front grill, I was surprised to find the used Element I had purchased already had the front bumper caps removed and 2 braces installed. Thanks to the photos on etrailer reviews and product info, I was able to determine that the vehicle had previously had a roadmaster baseplate installed! I purchased this unit and it fit perfectly onto the already installed braces. Seems very solid and high-quality so far.
A clean look on my 2025 Ford Maverick Hybrid after following e-trailer's detailed installation instructions.
Installation was fairly straightforward, kudos to e-trailer for the videos, looks great, everyone says it looks factory installed, love the low profile base plate without the bar, also love that the hook ups are detachable and can be removed when not towing, gives it an overall cleaner look. Installed it right at the campground without issues, took about 3 hours to install, with our rubicon only had to widen the top holes as the second set of holes were already the size of the bolts needed. This is the 3rd base blare we have installed and they get easier each time.
Put this on a 2014 Honda CR-V. This is a very well made base plate setup! The overall design, welds and powder coating are outstanding! Shipping was super fast too! The install video by etrailer was close to perfect and really helped to take the "scary" out of doing the job. The only change I would like to see in the video is during the grill removal. He says to just yank it forward to get the clips to release. Unfortunately, most of the specialized clips broke doing it this way. Had I known, I would have slipped a thin tool just below the grill to get the clips to unlock/release. Also, on the wrap around, bumper cover, some of the tabs on the bumper cover ripped out and I had to do some creative plastic welding or fiberglass resin/cloth to repair. These clips have a release tab also. I suggest finding specific videos on youtube to remove the plastic body parts and grill. I got it all done and it works perfectly! I really love the almost invisible tow receivers on the car (when the arms are removed). Our last toad was a 1997 Nissan Hardbody pickup that has permanent knee busting/shin smashing protrusions. I am super happy with everything we have bought from etrailer over the past 18 years!
The folks at etrailer are fantastic. I didn't know everything I needed to tow my car behind our RV... but they did! Everything I needed was in the boxes and the videos made it all come together. Thank you to everyone at etrailer!
It mounted up just as the instructions said it would. From previous research I was not surprised when some of the mounting did not align perfectly. Had to use a dremel tool to make it work. The product looks very sturdy from its design. I’m happy with it and look forward to RV traveling.
Good product. If you are reasonably handy and have some tools, you can install this yourself in a few hours. I'm a mechanic, it took me a little over 2 hours to install on my own toad. The fit is good, there are 4 holes you have to drill, otherwise it is plug and play. When you insert and twist lock the tow bar mounts into their sockets they feel a little sloppy but they are secure, and i never noticed any rattle when towing. Overall i give it a 4 out of 5 for easy install and clean look after install. Pic included of installed base plate.
This was a bit of a challenge to install on a 2026 Chevrolet Colorado Z71. One item to be aware of, as you take off the front Facia of the truck for the install, there are two Facia "brakets" that attach to the front fenders that seem like they are use once plastic snaps. Three of the 4 snaps broke off on both sides when I removed the facia. These are about $35 a piece from Chevy and prevent you from making this a 1 day job. Additionally, there are 2 7mm screws/bolts that connect one of the coolers to the back of the bumper support and these are a real problem to get back in - over an hour of time and every 1/4" tool in my arsenal was needed to find a way to get these started. Finally, one of the Connecting Plates (Passenger side) needed to holes to be elongated to enable all the bolts to be started. Finally - you need to put the Brakaway bracket on the driver side, to have enough cable to reach you brake system. Probably have 4 hours in the disassembly and installation of the Direct-Connect Plate. Now waiting a couple days for the plastic brackets from Chevy to complete the install. Good Luck!!
Excellent base plate, just as my wife requested, she didn’t want too much metal visible in front of the bumper. Installation instructions were a bit confusing for me, but I’ll clarify, for me.
2002 Honda CR-V. Easy to install. Two and a half hours, and stopped to eat a sandwich. To install the spacers inside the roll frame on the car I used an extension magnet to reach in there and position them. As you can see NO cutting was needed on the bumper cover!
Now I have to figure out the easiest way to run the wiring for the lights.
Thanks Lauren A for your help!
Awesome instructions! Install was fairly easy. Product is very high quality and solid construction. Thank you E Trailer!
I installed this base plate on a 2018 Miata RF. I think I recall something about it taking 3.5 hours and my initial estimate was 3.5 days. It actually took a bit longer than that, but I was not pushing myself and did not have the luxury of having the vehicle on a lift but had it up on two ramps for the front wheels.
The order came pretty quickly, probably about 4 or 5 days between the time I placed it and UPS delivered it. The parts were well packaged and it came with a printed set of instructions. I had watched the video install on another Miata and if it weren't for that I'm not sure I would have tried it. I'm not a pro mechanic by any means but have worked on my own vehicles now for over 40 years. And I'm not a spring chicken either, so all the up and down working on the car can tire me fairly quickly. But if you are not in a rush and go carefully it can be done.
It took a day to do most of the disassembly. I removed both headlights and the intake tube on the passenger side. That tube came out much easier then it went back in.
The next day I got the baseplate mounted which helped to start visualizing how it all would work. All of the holes for the 6mm bolts did not quite line up with the holes in the frame. I had to file one sides worth for a bit of extra clearance. From my experience on this install you really want to leave all the bolt on the loose side till you get everything situated.
A couple of days off for rain and the then I got to work on the bracing. Initially I though I didnt need to cut the top lip of the frame but I decided to go ahead and do it anyway since that part didnt seem to sit flat when bolted from the back end. I'm still not sure its really necessary as the hump clears the metal lip without cutting it.
I also ordered a 14" long 1/2" drill bit to cut the holes in the frame. It was a Bosch bit, wasnt very expensive and it went through the metal like the proverbial hot knife. I managed to get all the big bolts installed in a day with a great sense of satisfaction.
The next day I torqued down all the bolts and the mount felt very solid. They stress that you need to install all the bolts, but honestly I can't see the 6mm bolts doing much compared to the half inch bolts that do most or all of the work. But I put them in and tightened them all the same.
A couple of days spent to install the tail light wiring and then I got back on to putting the front clip back on. My car must have had an aftermarket grill since it did not match the pictures or the video. I tried to position it carefully to see where the parts that were going to stick out would be so I didnt cut out more than I needed to. So there was a good amount of back and forth, cut and fit. In the end I had to make some extra cuts for clearance for the safety cable tabs as well as the mount for the 6 wire connector. Until I made the extra cuts the lower part of the front clip would not seat correctly. Getting the clip in the right position so it fits under the lights also takes some finagling.
Figuring out where all the bolts go back in can be interesting. Take pictures where you can. Dont be too aggressive when working with plastic parts. Overall I'm satisfied with the install, but I have yet to try and hook it up to tow.
Easy to install needed to replace some fasteners as they broke removing front grill was able to get them from Amazon cheap
This Road Master Direct connect base plate works perfectly for a 2020 ford transit cargo 250! Awesome service from etrailer as usual! The finished product can barely be seen through the front fascia!
I bought and installed this tow plate one year ago on my 2013 Jeep Wrangler. I bought this particular plate due to the jeep having a Barricade off-road bumper. This plate attaches a bit lower than other plates and prevented having to modify the bumper. Installation was easy involving only hand tools. The plate comes with all needed bolts and attachments. I have towed this Jeep several thousand miles behind my RV with absolutely no issues. As an aside, I use a Roadmaster Night Hawk tow bar which is also an excellent product. Both are expensive, but I believe cheaping-out on safety is no a good idea. I highly recommend this product.
This works perfect with my Roadmaster tow bar. It was a little difficult to install since I had to remove the front end of the Trailblazer, but with the good directions that came with it and some you tube videos made the installation easier.
Had these installed at Lester’s Automotive in Boerne,Texas…First class service all the way. Paul and his crew worked through lunch for over 4 hours to install these on our 2026 Ford Ranger. Also ran the wire and hooked up my auxiliary tow lights. The price for this was very reasonable and would highly recommend them for all r.v. needs even if not real close to the Boerne area. R.V park within reasonable distance if needed.
Etrailer comes through again! This was a great savings as a used kit, but it was even better than the description online. I have installed (4) baseplates on and etrailer.com has given me great videos to watch and good instructions to follow. Couldn't be more pleased with the quality, service and delivery times.
Excellent quality, heavy duty, install video was spot on and gave us confidence to do it ourselves
Study product. Installation is an involved process so really study instructions before beginning. Fits like a glove.
Regarding Etrailer, excellent support by customer service representative, and fast shipping.
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