help me choose new towbar

I would check with Tweety's. They have very good prices and some with no shipping fees.

I installed a BlueOx base plate on our 07 Malibu. It obviously is a unibody but required no reinforcing, did have to drill a couple of holes. The attachment points are under bumper through the small lower grill. Not noticeable with the inserts removed. We have a BlueOx Aladdin tow bar rated for 7,500 lbs. BlueOx prices have gone up considerably since we bought ours, dealers can no longer sell below a minimum price set by BlueOx so other brands can be had for less.

I currently have a RoadMaster Sterling tow bar wg=hich I've had for about 12 years but I'm changing "toad's" so I'm thinking of upgrading to a Sterling all terrain bar and new base plate. Since I'm here at Quartzsite, I've been checking prices and PPL RV Parts has the Demco tow bar, Excalib II, a 10,500 bar for 529.00 and base plate for the HHR I'll be towing for 269.00 with 10.00 shipping. I'll see if they can beat that price at the show????? THe best Roadmaster would do for new Sterling and new Base plate was 1100.00

You must buy adapters to convert one make of base plates to another make.
Roadmaster brackets come in different styles which make them look differently. Some are virtually non-visible. Look at each companies on line in the installation instructions for comparison.

thanks. I do like the idea of a MH mounted towbar. another question,

are different brands of towbars and base plates interchangeable or is it a******shoot that the bar would mate with another brand of baseplate//tow pins?

if there IS interchangeability what brands work with what other brands? or are they all universal and all of them interchange?

Our ReadyBrute Elite combined all-terrain tow bar and brake system from NSA RV has served us quite well for the past six years or so. We use a Blue Ox base plate on our RAV4. With the tow eyes removed (a simple pull and twist) when we're not towing, the attachment points are almost invisible. There is also a ReadyBrute model without the brake system at a lower cost. The tow bar is all aluminum and rated at 8,000 lbs.

I would recommend a MH mounted towbar for your Element. Most of the weight is on the MH rather than the front of the toad. It isn't that much weight, but it could effect the alignment and play havoc with the alignment.
I like my Road master tow bar. It is a Stowmaster which is on the toad. You may want to look at their Falcon.
Each of the towbar companies have the installation instructions online. They tell you whether you need to modify anything.

PDF HERE

My guess would be that a unibody would take modification. My Wrangler basically bolted on with Demco, I did have to drill two holes. Demco provided a PDF installation guide which I studied before buying. My Equinox, a unibody, required a little modification. No big deal and the base plates and towbars are inexpensive @ Amazon.