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This heavy-duty setup bolts straight to the frame and removes the need for a crossbar, giving you fewer parts to handle and a cleaner look up front. The computer-cut, all-steel construction delivers the strength needed for long, confident hauls. It’s built for the kind of towing that demands durability mile after mile.
When the trip’s over, pull two pins and slide out the drawbars. What’s left behind sits tucked inside the grille, practically invisible and protected from scrapes. The partially hidden design keeps the front end neat and avoids the bulky look of a permanent bracket system.
The removable arms attach quickly with hitch pins—no tools or crossbar needed. This direct-connect style makes it easy to line up and lock in your tow bar each time you hit the road. Once connected, it’s secure, rigid, and ready for travel without extra hardware getting in the way.
Each bracket is finished in a black powder coat that holds up against rust and road debris. The combination of precision-cut steel and a tough finish means this base plate stays solid over years of towing in all kinds of weather.
Everything needed for mounting comes in the kit—brackets, hardware, and clear instructions—so installation is straightforward without welding. You get a snug, custom fit that lines up with your tow bar every time.
Videos are provided as a guide only. Refer to manufacturer installation instructions and specs for complete information.
Today on this 1999 Dodge Durango we are going to install Roadmaster Base Plate part number 246-6. First thing we are going to do is open up the hood. We are going to have to start removing the bumper. Two bolts on top here and here that we have to remove. Next we are going to remove these two bolts that are underneath the bumper brace. If the vehicle has fog lights, go ahead and disconnect those as well.
Theres this little tab that you pull right here just comes right apart. Now we have to remove this bolt here that hooks up to the under liner. Alright now we will take this and just king of push it away from the bumper. Alright we will remove these plastic rib bits for a shroud right here, at this point we are going to go ahead and remove the bumper if you want to get an extra set of hands to help do that. These two fasteners we have to remove, just pull back on it and slide forward.
Were done on the drivers side, do the same thing on the passengers side. Now this is a plastic grove that we have to remove as well, its a little easier to do when the bumper is off. Alright our next step is going to be to remove these three nuts here, here, and here. This hardware will be reused. Loose up the bolts before you take them off.
Go ahead and make some marks with this bracket here and with the frame so that will help you line it up when you put it back together, because this whole thing is going to become loose. Alright now we will take our frame bracket, and we will take it to the side here and slide it over the bolts. That is a really super tight fit. We found that if you take out the body mount bolt here, you have a little bit more room to work with. Now we can put our body bolt back into place.
Okay we have all of our bolts snugged down. We dont have them torked down yet in case we have to make some adjustments. Alright now you will notice the bottom tab of the frame bracket is about right in here. So you want to get an idea of where the hole is on your frame bracket because you usually have to drill through right here. First we make a pot hole to make sure were in the center of the hole on our bracket, then we will go ahead and drill out to our final hole size which will be inch. Before we install our hardware we are going to take one of our washers and put this between the frame bracket and the frame. Then well take our large flat plate and a 1-3/4 inch long bolt, then a lock washer, and then a nut. Alright now our frame bracket is fully installed. Now we can go ahead and tork down the bolts as specified in the instructions. Alright now we will take the main receiver brace and install it onto the brackets. When you install this, make sure your receiver tubes are on top of the cross tube. With that in place we will go ahead and snug down the bolts. Now go ahead and tork these down as well. Okay and now we can go ahead and reinstall the nuts that clip back in place. Alright now you loosen up these bumper brackets here. We will take a bracket and push them all the way back out, and snug them back up. This will give us some clearance to reinstall the bumper around the brackets. Alright at this point we can go ahead and reinstall the bumper, and you definitely want to have an extra set of hands to help do that. Alright at this point we will go ahead and reinstall the bumper with the bumper brackets on the inside, and the four bolts are on top of the frame. Make sure you have the front brackets installed, they slide into place; install the hitch pin, and then the clip. We will install a clip link for our safety chains right here. With the drivers side done, lets repeat for the passengers side, and with that that will finish our install of part number 346-6 from Roadmaster. .
Ratings & Reviews
I am extremely satisfied with the installation and performance of this baseplate on my 2025 Ford Maverick hybrid. I was a little apprehensive as Ford changed the design of the front end on the 2025 model years and the older baseplates would not fit the new version. I hired a local shop to perform the installation and while there were some minor issues they managed to get everything in place exactly as designed. After one year of use I am very happy with the setup.
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.
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!
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!!
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!
Awesome instructions! Install was fairly easy. Product is very high quality and solid construction. Thank you E Trailer!
Very fast shipping, and the install was easy. Great product
Easy to install needed to replace some fasteners as they broke removing front grill was able to get them from Amazon cheap
Easy installation! Etrailer videos are very informative and helpful! Always great to have a helper too!
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!
It was shipped promply. I installed it myself using the included step by step instructions and videos from etrailer. It all went well (though I had to come back and reconnect the sensor plug- my bad).
I tow a Jeep Grand Cherokee Trailhawk and this base plate is nearly invisible when not towing. Works well.
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.
Pathetic and just talking to Noah he states he will get to my issue later when he has time!! My car is on jacks all torn apart and I think Roadmaster gas misled advertising. This 523228-5 baseplate is NOT MADE FOR 2026 CHEVY TRAX!!!
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.
Works great
Installed on 1998 Durango. Followed the online video. Took about 3 hours working casually by myself. Did not run into issues. Amazing how the arms fit through the existing bumper without any cutting. Well designed.
The base plate is very strong. Shipping was fast. And the YouTube videos were very detailed and easy to follow. Much better than looking at a photo copied picture that has been copied time and time again which is what most companies furnish with their instructions. We are very happy with our purchase.
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