/
Roadmaster/
Removable Drawbars/
Twist Lock AttachmentItem # 523173-4
Retail:$449.00
Our Price: $415.00
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Roadmaster's crossbar-style brackets are virtually invisible, easy to mount and simple to remove. Brackets install on your vehicle's frame to provide attachment points for your tow bar.
Features:
The drawbars, or front arms, on the crossbar-style series base plate kit are supremely easy to mount and remove. Just insert them into the brackets and twist to lock them in place. To remove, simply twist the arms back and pull them out. Once the drawbars have been removed, the remaining brackets are virtually invisible. On most automobiles, the brackets are mounted within the grille, where they remain not only unseen, but protected from scrapes and scuffs, as well.
Installation Details 
2012 - 2016 Chevrolet Sonic
Video of Roadmaster Crossbar-Style Base Plate Kit - Removable Arms
Videos are provided as a guide only. Refer to manufacturer installation instructions and specs for complete information.
Today I have a 2014 Chevrolet Sonic. We are going to show you the Roadmaster EZ4 Base Plate Kit, Part No. 523173-4. This is what the Roadmaster EZ4 Base Plate looks like once it is installed on our Sonic. Not much really sticking out from the grill located right here. Here is one of the openings for one of the arms that goes into place. You also has a point here for your safety chains, as well.
On this side, it appears identical. However, you have 2 points right here to add on any type of wire harness you'd like, whether it be a 4 pole, 6 pole, or 7 pole. It does come with a bracket for that; however, that is going to be left off for a future upgrade. It also comes with the hardware, self-taping screws to put it in place. This is one of the arms that installs into the base plate. Then your tow bar will connect to here eventually.
It has a keyed interior so if you push it up like this, and push it in, and then rotate it, the whole assembly locks into position. This way it can not bounce out or anything, and is secure. Pretty simple to install, and when you want to remove them, you pull on this simple pin right here. You pull it out, rotate it, and it comes right out. It does require that you remove the front fascia to install it, and it does require some trimming on the grill, as well.
Now we will go ahead and show you how it is installed. To install our base plate, we need to go ahead and remove the front fascia. To do that, let's go ahead and open up the hood. We need to remove 1, 2, 3, 4 bolts using a 10mm socket. The next set of fasteners is going to be 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 plastic fasteners. Take the plastic rivets apart.
There is usually a slot where you can put a screw driver in there and twist it and pop it open. You can go ahead and remove all the rivets. Next we need to turn our attention to the wheel wells and remove some fasteners there. It is probably a good idea to go ahead and turn the front wheel toward the inside. As you work, it gives you easier access to the fasteners. Then turn the wheel to the other side when you go to the other side of the car. Right now we are looking at the driver side. Let's go ahead and remove the 4 torque head screws. 1, 2, 3, and 4 right here. We will use a T-20 torque bit to remove them. Driver side is done for now. Let's go ahead and do the same thing on the passenger side. We will go ahead and remove some fasteners from underneath the vehicle on the bottom of the bumper. On this side, we will remove 1, 2, 3 fasteners, and we will do the same thing on the passenger side. We will use the same T-20 torque bit for these screws. Still underneath here, we will remove this bolt, this plastic fastener, and this bolt. For these bolts, we will use a 13mm socket. The fascia is loose from underneath. The last screw to remove it is located right here. This is directly in the center of the vehicle at the bottom of the bumper. Now we need to remove 2 screws here and here. We will use a Number 2 Phillips head screw driver. Our vehicle has fog lights so we will go ahead and disconnect the electrical to those now. Still underneath the vehicle, we will pull away on this panel right here. Just pull down, look for an electrical plug here, find 2 tabs to push in on each side and you can pull it down. That was the driver side and one more time on the passenger side. There is a secondary connection right here that we are going to remove, as well. To remove the secondary connector, pull down on this grey section right here just a little bit. At this point, we can go ahead and remove the fascia. Pull back on the fender liner a little bit, and we will go ahead and pull on the fascia here. Roll it around a little to unsnap it. There is a little catch right here, too, and should come loose. You definitely want an extra set of hands to take this completely off. On this side, I have a screw driver holding this side up until I am ready to take it off. This shroud right here all has to come off because it will be in the way of the base plate. We are going to remove 2 plastic fasteners here and here on each side. The driver side is done and do the same on the passenger side. With this piece loose, it is still being trapped by this crossbar here. This is the lower bumper support, and this gets removed, as well. We will go ahead and remove that one next. It will be 1, 2, 3 bolts that get removed using a 13mm socket. It definitely helps to have a long extension for this one, as well. This is our passenger side, and we do the same thing on the driver side. Now we go ahead and remove our shroud. It actually goes up to the top side of the bumper here, so it is going to the end toward the center and underneath just flex it out. Then we can easily pull out the other side. At this point, we are finally ready to start putting parts back on to the car. We now install the stiffener bracket right here. This will be installed in this location. It has a weird shape to it. Let's go ahead and put in place just like that. Let's let it sit for now. We will install 2 bolts that are 4 1/2" each with a flat washer. We will also use some thread locker. The thread locker we are using is Loctite, Part No. LT37420, Loctite ThreadLocker 262. This part will go from the bottom, and then through the top with another flat washer, a lock washer, and a nut. We are going to run these together finger tight but still can move around. Just enough to take up the slack. Do the same for the next bolt. Use some more Loctite. This will go from the top down. Same fasteners consisting of a flat washer, lock washer, and nut. Let's go ahead and repeat the same process back over on the passenger side. Now we can go ahead and put our base plate on. We will go ahead and push it in. It is going to wrap around this line right here. You definitely want to have an extra set of hands to help hold it up. We are going to install the same amount of hardware except shorter bolts this time. These are the shortest bolts in the kit. We will bolt with the flat washer, another flat washer on top, and then a lock washer, and a nut. Make sure when you put this bolt in going toward the back of the vehicle, this one right here, make sure you put a flat washer in between. You may want to put the bolt up there without the washer first to help steady everything, and then once you have it set, you can go ahead and put the washer back in. Push into place with a screw driver, and then we will install our hardware. The same flat washer on top, lock washer, and nut. We have the driver side done and will now repeat the same process on the passenger side. We now have all our hardware loosely in stalled. We will go ahead and put our lower bumper support back into place. We will reinstall the existing hardware. We have 1 side loosely installed, and do the same thing on the other side. Once they are all installed, we will tighten them down for good. Get your extra set of hands once again, and we are going to pull up on the base plate and then pull away from the vehicle to take up all the slack. Then we will get all our bolts hand tightened. One side is done; let's do the other side. Then we will torque them down as specified in the instructions. For our next hardware, we have to drill out some holes. We are going to use our base plate here as a template to go ahead and drill our first hole here. There is an existing hole on the other side that we can use as a pilot hole to enlarge up to a 1/2" diameter. The same thing on this side, as well. Be careful, as you do not want to rub on to this component right here. We have our passenger side done, and we will go ahead and do the same thing on the driver side. Let's go ahead and install our bolt. Once again, with some loctite and a flat washer, and we will run it through. This is a 3 1/2" bolt that we just installed. We will install just a lock washer on the other side. Driver side is done. One more time on the passenger side. Now we will tighten these down and torque them down as specified in the instructions. We can now go ahead and start working with the bumper cover and get it ready to install. We will have to cut out some openings in the grill area right here. We will also have to look for an ambient temperature sensor right here. We need to go ahead and poke it out and push it out of the way for now. It is connected to a cable underneath so what we want to do is squeeze the little tabs in and work it back and forth until it pops through. It may help to push one of the tabs in from the side, as well, because there are 4 tabs you have to get loosened up. Our instructions tell us to go ahead and trim out from below this line on down. I'm using a paint marker. We will leave this line here and this line here. We will take out the rest of the material. We will do that on both sides. Then we will give it a test in case we have to remove some more material. I'm going to use a rotary tool to make the cuts. Now that we have made our cuts, let's go ahead and do a quick test to make sure that everything sits okay. At this point, it would also be a good time to find location and make any modifications necessary for your breakaway switch for a supplementary baking system. For a breakaway switch, what we are going to do is put it on the passenger side of the vehicle right next to the chain loop right here. It is kind of hard to see, but if we can line up the back edge of the bracket with the back side of the bumper, that will put it in about this position right here. Then we will take the bumper cover back off and mark and drill our hole. Again, this is a personal preference, but we did not have much room to work with and this site seemed to give us the most room. We can go ahead and remove the fascia and we will mark our hole. Next we want to drill it out using a 1/4" drill bit. We are going to drill through this layer and up through the second layer. That way we will have easy access to tighten the hardware down. We are using a 1/4" bolt and nut for this. This hardware does not come with the kit. We had to outsource from a hardware store. We had to use an extra long bit for this purpose, plus this is a hardened material so we needed to go slow as we drilled through this. Obviously we had a hard time getting a straight shot on this, but we can use this hole to our advantage and drill a hole up through here for our second hole through the top. Let's go ahead and put our switch in place, and go ahead and put the wires in there for now. Run our bolt through. It is kind of hard to see, but we are looking down the side of the bumper and we will carefully thread on our lock nut on to our bolt, which we are using in this application. Typically, with a 1/4" hardware, we will need a 7/16" wrench and socket. Before we get it too tight, let's go ahead and put it in position. Then we will tighten it down for good. One last detail and we will be finished with our breakaway switch. We will go ahead and bundle up the wires using some Wire Loom, Part No. 459075-1. We will go ahead and route those up toward the top of the engine compartment, and we won't have to worry about that anymore. We will now go ahead and put our fascia on, hopefully for the last time. We might have to make one more adjustment for the switch, but this one came out pretty good. We will go ahead and reinstall all of our fasteners for our bumper covers starting from the bottom and working our way up. Before we put our final fasteners in on each side, we will go ahead and make sure our fog lights are plugged back in on both sides. We will also reach up and secure our ambient temperature sensor, as well. We really don't have much room to route this back up by the tow bar which is roughly it's original position, so we are going to safely take our temperature sensor and zip tie it to the preexisting wire harness right here. Once we cut off the tail to this zip tie, we can continue putting the rest of the vehicle back together. Let's go ahead and install our remaining fasteners back at the top. With all our fasteners back in place, we will close the hood, and we are good to go. That will finish it for the Roadmaster EZ4 Base Plate Kit, Part No. 523173-4 on our 2014 Chevrolet Sonic. .
Average Customer Rating: 4.7 out of 5 stars (66 Customer Reviews)
Roadmaster's crossbar-style brackets are virtually invisible, easy to mount and simple to remove. Brackets install on your vehicle's frame to provide attachment points for your tow bar.
Product works very well for towing our car. 673710
As usual, another excellent product from etrailer.com . I wanted to try to install it myself, but my wife didn't trust me(!). So I had a local body shop do it. They had never installed that part before, but with the great instructions I that came with the product, they did it. 609242
Great product and installation went very smoothly. Installed myself in about 2 hours. Fit perfectly and mounted easily to the car. My Stowmaster tow bar mounted right up to it. I deliver motor homes for a living and can already see how this setup is going to save me lots of time and aggravation over old fixed tow bar set-up I had previously. 498530
Easy-to-use. Insrutions were thorough and easy to follow. 471548
Installation instructions supplied, and website videos made installation very easy.........thnks.. order delivery very fast....thnks. 315617
Tough for an old man (83) and his old man brother-in-law (77) to get it mounted, but we got it done so I am completely satisfied with the product!! 262915
Product was as advertised, installation was as well with the additional help of the You Tube video. Video was helpful for a first timer. 248061
First off, i'd like to say it went together great. Some of the pics took some studying, and I haven't figured out where I'm going to mount the break a way switch. Delivery was fast, I got it two days earlier than predicted. 88880
Review from a similar Roadmaster EZ2 in Base Plates
Amazing fit and instructions couldn’t of been clearer. Less then two hours from start to finish installing, can’t wait to take it out on the first tow. 630971
Review from a similar Roadmaster EZ2 in Base Plates
I bought and installed base plate and wiring on a 2018 Ford C-Max hybrid car. The wiring was a little complicated due to the hybrid setup on the car, however, everything worked out well. I have done this on several other cars I have towed behind my motorhomes. All products and help from etrailer.com was excellent. The video presentation was very helpful. 679941
Review from a similar Roadmaster EZ2 in Base Plates
I installed this plate with the help of my friend very easy to install.. .very good installation diagram ....easy to follow......... excellent product Luc 432763
Review from a similar Roadmaster EZ2 in Base Plates
After comparing Demco, RoadMaster, and Blue Ox base plate costs, mounting procedures, etc for my 2012 Fiat Sport, I decided to go with RoadMaster (Kit #522013-1A) for two main reasons: 1) I had the tow bar and mount adapters from another product that were the same specs as the RoadMaster tow bar and adapters to attach to the base plate, and 2) no drilling or other modifications required to mount the base plates. Blue Ox (Kit #BX2800) required I buy their tow bar and other unique configuration adapters PLUS drill two half-inch holes on either side where the base plate mounted AND hammering flat the tips on the corners of the bumper bracket the frame where the base plate mounted. Blue Ox did provide better details on the removal of the facia and bolt removal and torquing actions required for the Fiat. My biggest challenge was the removal of the facia without damaging the clips or other damage to it. Once it was off, the action of removing the bumper core from the end of the frame rails and bolting on the base plate was slick! I took a little over 4 hours to do this, but it was because I wanted to do it right, without damage, and have the confidence I could tow without issues. (Not sure how sequence will show, but labeled the pictures as "Before," "Removal," "Installation," "Finished," and "Ready to Tow.") 230093
Hate that every 3,000 miles towing have to re-torque bolts of base plate. Good product otherwise.
Bill F - 10/15/2016Thanks for the feedback Bill. You bring up a very good point, I am sure it is pain, but it is specified in the instructions.
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Rachael H - 10/18/2016Review from a similar Roadmaster EZ2 in Base Plates
This is the second base plate I have ordered and installed. etrailer has knowledgeable folks to answer questions and get the parts needed to complete the project. I had removed a BlueOx baseplate due to loosening bolts and no way to re-torque them. I watched an etrailer video about installing the Roadmaster on my CMax. It all went very smoothly and the install was completed in about four hours. They are my go to place for all things towing. Prices are always very competitive and they ship quickly. A winner. 729225
Review from a similar Roadmaster EZ2 in Base Plates
Fairly easy to install however it requires removing the front (nose) of the car. I was amazed at how much plastic goes into making these cars. It took about 3-4 hours to take off the front remove the factory 'bumper' that the RoadMaster Base Plate replaces and reinstall everything. I had problems because someone had removed the front of the car previously and had not put it back together properly. It all worked out and I'm loving how easy it is to hookup and unhook. I had a dolly previously and this is so much better. When I sell the Mini I'll restore the front end (replacing the grille) unless the new buyer wants to tow it. The etrailer and Roadmaster teams are great to work with. 725311
Review from a similar Roadmaster EZ2 in Base Plates
Wow, this thing was super easy to install. Just watch the 8 1/2 min video and your good to go. Worked on it an hr a day for 3 days before going to work. 3 hrs total. Be sure to get an alignment tool to help line up the holes. 695177
Review from a similar Roadmaster EZ2 in Base Plates
Works perfect, super easy to hook and unhook tow vehicle. Also makes one heck of a front end guard when not towing. 682146
Review from a similar Roadmaster EZ2 in Base Plates
This note is before I have even installed any of the products . It is solely in reference to the Fantastic service, knowledge and continual follow up I received f rom Lori B. I would consider etrailer to be extremely fortunate to have her working for your company. In all respects her assistance was exemplary!! Thanks to her again and I will continue to purchase from and recommend etrailer 681690
Review from a similar Roadmaster EZ2 in Base Plates
I installed this on my 2016 Subaru Crosstrek. We have been towing for 15 months now and it works great! 680042
Review from a similar Roadmaster EZ2 in Base Plates
Well designed and constructed. Easy to install on my 2017 Fiat 500 and I pull the car with my Winnebago van. Hidden behind the plastic grill when not in use. Highly recommended. 647687
Review from a similar Roadmaster EZ2 in Base Plates
Just what the doctor ordered! This thing fit like a glove. Hardest part was removing the gril. 636882
Review from a similar Roadmaster EZ2 in Base Plates
I am so happy to find this company. After many problems with another online service you were recommended by my mechanic. The item arrived on time was correct and solved the issues I was having setting my car up to be towed. Thanks for your friendly, efficient and timely help, Tammie! 635152
Review from a similar Roadmaster EZ2 in Base Plates
I was amazed that the items I ordered on Saturday afternoon arrived so quickly. Great service. Now waiting for a nice weekend to install all my items. 613398
Review from a similar Roadmaster EZ2 in Base Plates
This was the second base plate kit from etrailer that I have installed, the first being on our ‘03 Outback and this one on our new to us 2015 Subaru CrossTrek. As usual the response, shipping and delivery from etrailer was prompt and curious. They are my go to place for anything towing related. Installation of this kit went well with only a few issues, most of which were related to our vehicle not the kit. I knew the car had been hit lightly on the LF corner, but could find nothing of concern body or frame wise when I looked the car over before buying it. Turns out the front bumper reinforcement had been tweaked a tad which made lining the bolt holes up with the holes in the base plates a tad challenging. This made the small angle brackets that go inside the frame heads tough to line up, but in the end it all fit. I did find that it was unnecessary to pull the washer reservoir or the left headlight to access the nut and washer for the long 1/2” bolt. You can easily reach and see the place from underneath after pulling the plastic encapsulation panel. When drilling that 1/2” hole be sure to angle the drill bit UP a tad otherwise you may end up having to grind a flat on the side of the large, thick washer as you can see in my picture from underneath. I used shrink wrap over the nut and bolt since there’s a wiring harness right against it. The picture of the baseplate differs a bit from the pictures so I guess they made some changes. All in all a great kit! 612040
Review from a similar Roadmaster EZ2 in Base Plates
Received the base plate within 3 days of ordering. Very fast and efficient service! Within 15 minutes of receiving the base plate and wiring kit I received an email from Carol at etrailer saying she got notification that it was received and to make sure everything was O.K. Excellent customer service!! The installation was pretty straight forward. The installation tutorial video posted by etrailer was very good and helpful. Will order from etrailer again when the need arises. Highly recommend them. 591376
Review from a similar Roadmaster EZ2 in Base Plates
It only took about 30 to 45 minutes to mount it on the car. By my self I have pulled the car a lot of miles so far and have not had a problem. I like the way it works better than pulling it on a tow doll a lot easier to handle. 583821
Review from a similar Roadmaster EZ2 in Base Plates
Worked as described. Well made. Video made installation very simple. Have used it all summer. 580639
Review from a similar Roadmaster EZ2 in Base Plates
Performs as advertised and great installation instructions available. 577206
Review from a similar Roadmaster EZ2 in Base Plates
Always receive great customer service, fast turn around time to receive the product and can always count on the products being of excellent quality. 577145
Review from a similar Roadmaster EZ2 in Base Plates
Super fast delivery. Product quality looks excellent. I have not installed the base plate yet but it looks pretty straight forward. Interestingly, there was a price reduction on the part between the time I ordered it and the time it was delivered. I brought this to their attention and they immediately processed a refund for the difference. I’ve since ordered another part and Greg couldn’t have been more helpful. 572210
Review from a similar Roadmaster EZ2 in Base Plates
Dealing with George from etrailer was excellent experience! Product arrived ahead of schedule which was awesome. No problems recommending them and will buy from them again in the future!! 518310
Still works Great! IMHO the best setup out there!
Gary - 06/06/2019Review from a similar Roadmaster EZ2 in Base Plates
Base plate fit well and was a straightforward install. I like how it hardly shows when not being towed. 502768
Review from a similar Roadmaster EZ2 in Base Plates
Product was delivered as promised at very reasonable time and said product was as advertised a easy install. 497793
Review from a similar Roadmaster EZ2 in Base Plates
After the process of taking the front end off, very easy to install. 478833
Review from a similar Roadmaster EZ2 in Base Plates
I installed it on a 2012 mini Cooper S. The video was of a slightly different model than mine, but was very helpful. One thing to note is that the model S has a turbo charger so it has two plastic air intakes in the lower bumper area. That was not mentioned in the instructions or the video. The fit of the towbar bracket was perfect! Very little of it shows from the outside. 474488
Review from a similar Roadmaster EZ2 in Base Plates
Seems very well made, high quality, haven’t installed them yet but don’t see a problem. 460222
Review from a similar Roadmaster EZ2 in Base Plates
Fast delivery good prices 459540
Review from a similar Roadmaster EZ2 in Base Plates
Works Great Easy Hookup 421948
Review from a similar Roadmaster EZ2 in Base Plates
All components work as advertised. 420900
Review from a similar Roadmaster EZ2 in Base Plates
Installed on 2012 Fiat 500 POP, easy 3.5 hr job. Check tow bar to for match up of attachments before installing. 406018
Review from a similar Roadmaster EZ2 in Base Plates
Easy install. Well made. Needed a couple of trial fits to get thr gril plate holes cut right, but that is just part of the install. This is easy to hook up for towing. Glad we went with this option. 381079
Review from a similar Roadmaster EZ2 in Base Plates
Order was received quicker than I thought it would be. Haven't installed it yet but looks like a quality product. Thanks. 377028
Review from a similar Roadmaster EZ2 in Base Plates
A great product that has worked even better than expected! 370015
Review from a similar Roadmaster EZ2 in Base Plates
Product arrived quick, installs great. Only issue is with the abarth edition there is a lot of extra cutting to clear fog light housing. Wish instructions had a little better image or eTrailer to do a video of install. Overall about a 4 hour job start to finish. 339491
Review from a similar Roadmaster EZ2 in Base Plates
Install went well.Takes longer to get front grill off and back on than bolting up base plate. 274163
Super
Jon - 07/20/2017Review from a similar Roadmaster EZ2 in Base Plates
This product was excellent perfect fit thank you 263019
Review from a similar Roadmaster EZ2 in Base Plates
Relatively easy to install. Works flawl essly. 260944
Review from a similar Roadmaster EZ2 in Base Plates
Great customer service! Prefect fit with very clear instructions. 242117
Review from a similar Roadmaster EZ2 in Base Plates
Dealing with etrailer is always hassle free and the lowest price guaranteed. I've ordered several items from them, and they have always been top quality and at the best price. Wish more companies would take their customers as seriously as etrailer does. 232048
Review from a similar Roadmaster EZ2 in Base Plates
FITS GOOD & WORKS GOOD 224618
Review from a similar Roadmaster EZ2 in Base Plates
I received the Roadmaster base plate on Friday. On Saturday, my daughter and I had some nice bonding time to install it on the CMax together. We took our time following the video instructions step by step and got it done in about 4 hours including all the breaks, clean up and test drive. Really wasn't any problem at all. We were missing one lock washer but secured a replacement easily at the hardware store. Did have some difficulty getting the flat metal backing plate to square up with the hole on the driver's side. Some minor grinding on the side of the plate provided enough room for it to finally line it up with the bolt. I am very impressed with the engineering of the baseplate. Looking forward to receiving the other components so I can complete the job. 199081
Everything is working excellent after 1 year.
Peter W - 05/31/2016Ask the Experts about this Roadmaster Base Plates
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