New to Class A, need help with faceplate

[garlic]

Sold our 5th after getting tired of riding in a 3/4 4X4 for 4 months of the year. Getting an '05 37' HR. Bought a toad: '09 Sonata standard. Question: Are all face plates the same or are they matched with particular brands of tow bars?

Thanks in advance

[lanerd]

Roadmaster attaches towing brackets permanently to the car, then attaches a removable baseplate (which comes with the tow bar) to those brackets.

This is not necessarily true. Roadmaster does not call their brackets "baseplates".

In my case, the Roadmaster 'EZ2 Twistlock' Series 'Hidden' mounting "brackets" (2 ea) are my "baseplates" and are permanently mounted behind the front fascia. The visible portion of the brackets (the "front arms") can be easily removed when not towing - I simply twist the front arms 90° to convert from towed car to road car in seconds! The "baseplate" brackets are 95% hidden and can only be seen by getting down and looking directly into the small slot in the fascia. The front arms are stored in a plastic bin in one of the motor home's storage compartments when not in actual use and the cross bar (that connects the two arms) is stored on the motor home's hitch when not in use

The base plate (2) and the front arms (2) were part of the "bracket" (baseplate) purchase and none of it came with the tow bar.

The cross bar that connects the two arms,does come with the Roadmaster tow bar.



Ron

[DSDP_Don]

"tatest" gave some great info.....I've watched people try to mix match brands and end up with a tow bar that can be longer than necessary and require more work than a matched brand.

I like the Roadmaster brand because they make a couple different styles of plates. If your front end is strong enough, you can get some really small hidden base plates. If your car is an all sheet metal front end, their plates are a little more complicated and aren't as easily hidden.

[tatest]

Mostly they are matched to two classes of tow bars.

Roadmaster attaches towing brackets permanently to the car, then attaches a removable baseplate (which comes with the tow bar) to those brackets.

BlueOx, Demco, some older manufacturers no longer prominent in the retail towbar business, permanently attach a baseplate to the car, providing "tabs" to which the towbar is attached. There are differences in tab configurations, but there are also adapters. Other towbar makers like NightShift Auto (ReadyBrute brand) will attach to a Blue Ox or Demco baseplate.

Things are starting the change, as some modern cars don't have the front end strength to handle two independent towing brackets, so the Roadmaster towing brackets for this will include hidden baseplate. These models often replace the cars hidden bumper. The external baseplate or cross-bar is still attached before hooking up the towbar.

You can do adaptations. You can buy an external baseplate to attach certain BlueOx towbars to Roadmaster brackets. You can buy fittings to install the external crossbar/baseplate from Roadmaster to the tabs coming out from a BlueOx permanent baseplate. But you can't necessarily adapt anything to anything.

The cleanest looking (if you are looking for "invisible") installation is made by using brackets or baseplate from the manufacturer of the towbar, or at least of the same type of towbar connection.

I chose my type of towbar based on the instructions for fitting of brackets or baseplate. For my Ford Ranger, I chose the Demco baseplate for how it attached to the frame horns and where the tabs came out, the others were much lower for that installation. For my Honda Fit, I chose the BlueOx baseplate, because of how it attached and because when all put together, I still had my original bumper. The Roadmaster bracket/baseplate solution for that car and model year meant discarding Honda's impact-absorbing bumper.

So with any given car, not only will the fittings be different for different towbar brands, but the installation might be quite different for various baseplate/bracket brands.

[othertonka]

o

garlic wrote:
Sold our 5th after getting tired of riding in a 3/4 4X4 for 4 months of the year. Getting an '05 37' HR. Bought a toad: '09 Sonata standard. Question: Are all face plates the same or are they matched with particular brands of tow bars?

Thanks in advance

If you already own a tow bar then buy the same brand name base plate as your tow bar, that way they should match. for example I had a roadmaster tow bar so I called roadmaster and ordered the base plate from them. You can do the same with blue ox or any other brand.

[J-Rooster]

I would touch base with your local welding shop to get there advice also. Good Question

[lanerd]

"Base" plates are unique to the car and the tow bar. However, most tow bar mfg'ers make adapters to mix brands.

Ron

[MountainAir05]

What I have seen just in our block is they all are not match. Of the six on our block , I can hook up only to 3. You have to take into account most of our rigs are the late 90's and early 2000.

[Trackrig]

They're built specific to the toad and to the tow bar - they have to match.

Bill