Blue Ox base plate vs Roadmaster Tor Bar Bracket

[MilesandSmiles]

I getting ready to equip my 2003 Jetta TDI Wagon to be flat towed, and it looks like I basically have two choices:

1) Roadmaster EZ2 Tow Bar Brackets $399
http://www.hitchsource.com/roadmaster-ez2-tow-bar-brackets-volkswagen-jetta-volkswagen-golf-volkswagen-gti-p-28647.html

or

2) Blue Ox Base Plate $395
http://www.hitchsource.com/00-05-volkswagen-jetta-tdi-gas-blue-ox-tow-bar-baseplates-p-30269.html

I'm interested in learning if one is preferable to the other, and why. Any opinions? Any opinions supported by facts/experience? 😉

[j-d]

Understood. EZ is a huge improvement over the square ones, but it seems that cross bar stays till you get to EZ5. So RM didn't reach Blue Ox in the Elegance Factor till recently.

[gotsmart]

j-d
The EZ2 brackets that the OP is referring to are round. They also employ the 1/4 turn twist lock. On my smart car I have Roadmaster EZ2 brackets with a Falcon 2 tow bar.

Other versions of Roadmaster's "EZ" brackets are square.

(click image for larger version)

[j-d]

You're welcome, and I did a little more research. It seems RoadMaster wants to use a cross brace unless the brackets are EZ5, so that'd take me toward BlueOx.

BlueOx was the more "elegant" design, and only lately did RoadMaster start putting out twist-to-lock brackets. It also seems they don't go back and offer updated versions of their legacy brackets like EZ once the vehicles they fit are no longer new/late model. That's probably why your Jetta is stuck at EZ2.

Looking around campgrounds for 15 years, BlueOx owners often would remove the tow hardware completely, drawbars and all. About couldn't tell they hadn't driven the car in separately. RoadMaster owners' cars usually kept crossbar and drawbars, sometimes safety cables. Looked like they had a snowplow frame.

FYI - Don't blame you for not wanting to self-install the base plate. That said, for the few that I've done, the instructions were at such painstaking detail, that I think they made installation look worse than it was. All but the DRILLING, that is... Turn a Bosch Bit with a HF Drill, NOT the opposite!

[MilesandSmiles]

j-d - Thanks for such a thoughtful and complete answer. You're describing exactly what I plan to do. We have a 5-speed manual transmission, and it's good for towing 4-down. My plan is to have a shop install the base plate -- that's beyond my mechanical ability. I'm looking at a Ready Brute Elite, and think that I can handle the install of the breaking system and breakaway system. That leaves the turn signals, and I have to figure out whether I can run that wiring and install extra tail lights, or go with a magnetic system.

I'd like to do as much on my own as possible - both due to cost, and for the experience.

Our little Jetta TDI is a great car. 150,000 miles and still looks almost new and gets 45 mpg on the highway. I can't even count the number of people who've offered to buy it from me!

Jeff

[j-d]

First, have you confirmed this Jetta is four-down towable? It seems that sometimes the baseplate is offered for a make/model/specific options that either isn't towable per manufacturer or requires modification (say with a lube pump like REMCO) that some of us don't want to do. The Owner's Manual is the authority on this, and sometimes has to be read and interpreted carefully. OK, trusting you're good on all that, here are my considerations:

Read through all the Installation Instructions very thoroughly:

1. Whose Tow Bar do you plan to use? There ARE adapters allowing you to tow a BlueOx or RoadMaster equipped car with the opposite brand's towbar and even one like Night Shift Auto's Ready Brute that includes braking built into the towbar.

2. Are you sure about 1. above? There seems to be "fine print" about spacing of the brackets, and which motorhome-mounted towbar can be used.

3. Both brands will connect to your towbar at the same height off the ground. Sometimes you can avoid using a hitch drop adapter by choosing one brand or another. These two (per the pix in the install instructions) go through the fascia at the same height.

4. But the Bracket Spacing of the two is a lot different! How do you like the look of the two? Does spacing limit your choice of towbar?

5. Both brands use twist-lock draw bars. This is huge! RoadMaster used to use square tubing draw bars and hitch pins. PITA PITA PITA!!! I know because we have these on two vehicles.

6. Looking at the two, if you read all the fine print and it turns out you do NOT need any kind of external cross bar with either brand, the choice is still open. If BOTH brands call for an external cross bar, choice is still open. RoadMaster almost always USED TO require an external cross bar, but of late that isn't always true. If this specific combination of Car, TowBar and BasePlate DOES require an external cross bar in one brand (probably RoadMaster) and NOT in the other (probably BlueOx). Then: BLUE OX, Going Away!!! RoadMaster Cross Bars are PITA PITA PITA!!! Again, we have it for two vehicles.

7. Now, pore through every detail of the "chosen" install instructions and be sure you can live with them. I don't like having to leave much of the car's OEM pieces off. Or cut much off either.

8. If you're doing your own installation, does one brand turn you on, the other off? If you're gonna drill 1/2" holes in that high strength automotive steel, be ready for adversity. You need a HIGH quality bit, oil, and hopefully a powerful LOW speed drill "motor." A 17/32" bit is nice but not needed. You can "work" a 1/2" bit or touch up he edges of the holes with a round file. I used 1/2" and no touch up was needed to get the bolts through. All I could find the day I installed a RoadMaster bracket on our Corolla was a Harbor Fright 1/2" bit. It was their "good" series and the Corolla unit body at it up! Sharpened about six times to drill two holes. If I hadn't had an old school LOW RPM 1/2" Black&Decker drill motor it would've been even worse.

9. With any base plate WAIT to cut the Fascia till the base plate is installed and you can actually SEE how much to remove!!! I did that with the Corolla and sacrificed much less of the fascia's good looks than the instructions told me to cut out.

My vote??? First, I'm a RoadMaster fan. They seem to over-build their stuff and that appeals to me. For this job (drum roll please) I vote...BlueOx. I like the one piece assembly that seems to ADD to the structure of your Jetta. I also like the closer spacing of the drawbars. And as a one piece base plate, should NOT need a cross bar.

My disclaimer??? Be sure none of the Fine Print points you in another direction.

These are BOTH great companies with great products. It's pretty much a Ford/Chevy kinda debate. I think BlueOx got the better grip on this specific application. BUT BUT BUT RoadMaster won't disappoint you. No Way No How.

Just figure out the total package. You're going to tow this one car with this one coach so you have a clean sheet to work with. Given that, I'd look hard at Ready Brute. Aluminum towbar with built in braking (check THOSE install instructions!!!) and specify the couplings for a BlueOx basepate.

[eheading]

The Roadmaster baseplate is easier to install as the lateral arm is external to the car. In my particular instance, the Blue Ox baseplate was harder to install, but adds less to the total weight of the car (part of the baseplate actually replaces part of the car frame. Because of that, while I have had Roadmaster baseplates for over 20 years and have had excellent service out of them, I slightly now prefer the Blue Ox because of the less weight on the car. If I were still installing them myself, then I'm not quite sure as on our MINI Cooper, the Roadmaster would have been definitely easier to install.

My situation was somewhat affected by the fact that I have/had a Roadmaster towbar. However at nominal cost, you can get BLue Ox "ends" that replace the Roadmaster "ends" on the towbar. I have been very pleased with the installation that I now have.

Ed Headington