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Create your own Blue Ox base plates by bolting these sturdy brackets to your bumper. Most bumpers will need to be reinforced or modified. Brackets must mount to a flat, metal surface. Rated for 5,000 lbs.
Features:
Specs:
Videos are provided as a guide only. Refer to manufacturer installation instructions and specs for complete information.
Ellen: Hey everybody, I'm Ellen here at etrailer.com and we're taking a quick look at the Blue Ox bolt on baseplate. This makes a pretty universal kit for a lot of different vehicles. Really the main thing that you want to have on that vehicle to make this work is a sturdy metal bumper that's relatively flat. These are going to need to attach to a flat surface, and you want to make sure that that bumper is strong enough to take the weight of your vehicle. There's a good chance you'll probably have to do some modification regardless.It does come with everything right out here on the table, so I'll go over those parts with you in just a minute in more detail to make sure that this fits for you, but really it's just going to give you that really basic baseplate. A lot of people will use these on Jeeps, trucks, FJ Cruisers, anything that has that nice flat bumper.
It might be an aftermarket bumper or something, so you do want to make sure that you check it out, make sure all the components are in good working order so you can get these guys installed.The thing that's kind of nice about this kit is that it's pretty low profile. It's just these two brackets, so really this is what you're going to be seeing on the outside of your vehicle with that hardware mounted through it, so if you're using a long bolt have these pushed through, so it's really a pretty discreet or pretty non-obtrusive addition to the front of your vehicle and it can be pretty simple, especially if you have one of those vehicles that I mentioned or a vehicle that it's going to work with. It can be a bit more of an economical choice as well, so that's always a nice component for this piece, or for this kit.So let's jump in and look a little bit closer at each of those components and talk a little bit more about how this is going to be installed. You do need to make some modifications. You need four holes drilled out in that bumper to attach the hardware here.
We have our main bracket. This is compatible with any kind of Blue Ox tow bar. It has that double lug design, so it slides right in and fits up.On the back side you do have a plate to give you a little bit more structure and stability, so you can put that through. You'll get long bolts and short bolts, so whichever one works better for you. You have a tube right behind that bumper.
Usually those longer bolts will be good. Those measure about 6-1/2" long if we go from underneath the head to the very end of it. It's really if we go from overall length about 6-3/4" long. Our short bolts are about 2" long. It does come with split washers, fender washers, and lock nuts to get that hardware installed.
The holes on these brackets are about 1/2" in diameter.As far as the brackets themselves for size, you're looking at about 4-1/2" wide and then about 1-1/2" tall. Kind of hard to see that there. These stick out about 3-3/4". The distance between the mounting holes center to center is about 3-1/4". There is a little bit of an offset as far as where those plates are welded to the bracket, so you do want to pay attention to that and to the instructions on where to place that to make sure that it's right, because it kind of depends on which side as far as which direction you want to put it just puts different stress on those brackets, so you want to make sure you do it right the first time.Of course you always want to check the hardware after a certain number of miles. About every 5,000 miles you want to go back through, torque everything down, make sure it's looking good, the holes aren't elongating or anything. It does have a capacity of 5,000 pounds, so you want to make sure that your vehicle is no more than 5,000 pounds, and also everything else loaded up on it as well is below that number.That's pretty much all there is to it for our quick look at the Blue Ox bolt on baseplate kit. I hope this has been helpful in deciding if this the right kit for you. Again, this is only one component of your complete flat tow setup. Those are all the other parts you will need. Again, you can find those all here at etrailer.com. You want to have your baseplate, which is this kit. You also want to have your tow bar, your wiring and your safety chains if they don't come with your tow bar, as well as a braking system.If you want to see more information, again we have a lot of resources available here at etrailer.com, so check them out. Thanks for watching.
Customer Satisfaction Score:
91% were satisfied with this product
9% of customers were not satisfied
Ratings & Reviews
David T.
2/24/2026
Very pleased. The purchase was perfect for towing my TJ.
Jim
10/4/2017
Still working Great
Richard
9/10/2019
just as good as new. i use it a lot to tow my Jeep unlimited
Robert
1/26/2018
They work perfect. Thanks for the follow up
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Pat F.
3/4/2016
Thanks for the follow up. I still love the tow bar and can’t believe I wrestled with a fixed bar system for so many years. There did turn out to be a dark side though. With my old tow bar I always had to ensure that I was on flat ground with the tow vehicle perfectly in line with the other vehicle if I had any hope of disconnecting the two. With the Blue OX that was no longer a concern. With that in mind I once disconnected the tow vehicle while on a slight slope but never thought to put it in gear or apply the parking break. I never had to before. You guessed it, I got pinched between the two vehicles trying to stop one from crashing into the other. Dummy. Still, I love the Blue Ox. Pat