Who Installed your baseplate

[Rheevs]

I Just bought a Subaru Crosstrek to tow behind the MH.
I am wondering what is the best place to have the Baseplate installed.
RV Dealer, CW, Car Dealer :h

[Rheevs]

BASE PLATE JOB COMPLETE 3.5 HOURS.:B
Would have been faster but forgot the Loctite.:S
I also had to grind some of the holes larger to make the bolts fit.:R
There were some large washers I had to grind to get them to fit also.:R
The body cowling was a snap literally:Wsnaps together and uses snap fasteners to hold it in place.
Now the bad news Roadmaster sent two passenger side brackets for the adapter:M 5-7 days for the replacement:M.
Next job installing the ready brake cable.:h

[Rheevs]

Thanks everyone
I have decided on the Ready Brute Elite tow bar with a Roadmaster Baseplate.
I will also be attempting the installation myself.
Everything is on order and I need to pickup some extra body fasteners just in case.
I feel confident after looking at the instructions ;), wife not so much :R. I will update when job is complete.

[SRT]

Rheevs wrote:
I Just bought a Subaru Crosstrek to tow behind the MH.
I am wondering what is the best place to have the Baseplate installed.
RV Dealer, CW, Car Dealer :h

I would say the dealer as they would know how to remove and replace the front facia correctly. When I did my Subaru Outback a number of years ago the entire front "bumper", grill and headlights had to be removed. Had to go to the dealer and get some of those plastic pins to replace the ones that got ruined. Used the blue Lock-Tite to make sure all bolts stayed put. No problems for the past 11 years.

[gotsmart]

Rheevs wrote:
I Just bought a Subaru Crosstrek to tow behind the MH.
I am wondering what is the best place to have the Baseplate installed.
RV Dealer, CW, Car Dealer :h

I had the CampingWorld Super Center in Wilsonville, OR install mine. As you can see, they did a very good job:

robatthelake wrote:
If You are the First Person with this Vehicle to have it rigged for towing ,You may qualify for a Free Install!
Contact Roadmaster or whoever makes the Tow Bar that You want to buy to see if They are currently looking for a New model Installation " Test case " or whatever it is called!

http://www.roadmasterinc.com/products/brackets/vehicles-wanted.html

The 2013 XV Crosstrek is listed: http://www.roadmasterinc.com/vehicle_guide/tow_bar_brackets.php

[willald]

robatthelake wrote:
If You are the First Person with this Vehicle to have it rigged for towing ,You may qualify for a Free Install!
Contact Roadmaster or whoever makes the Tow Bar that You want to buy to see if They are currently looking for a New model Installation " Test case " or whatever it is called!

I looked into that, but I seem to recall the big 'catch' to that is that you have to bring your car to them. Depending on where you live, that could be more hassle than its worth (not to mention the fact that you're basically serving as their 'guinea pig' in that case. Not sure I'd like that).

Will

[robatthelake]

If You are the First Person with this Vehicle to have it rigged for towing ,You may qualify for a Free Install!
Contact Roadmaster or whoever makes the Tow Bar that You want to buy to see if They are currently looking for a New model Installation " Test case " or whatever it is called!

[willald]

..Our first toad, we had RV dealer install the base plates. They did a good job, but it was NOT cheap, at $105 per hour labor rate and 4 hours labor!

Our next toad we recently purchased (Ford Fusion), RV dealer could not do the installation before we wanted to have it ready for a trip. Sooo, I took it to the Ford dealer where we bought it, had them do the base plate install. They did a great job as well.

'Twas much less expensive, too, since Ford dealer's labor rate was considerably less, and they only charged for the labor it actualy took them to do the work (3 hrs), instead of the estimated 4 hours like RV dealer did!

[super_camper]

rockhillmanor wrote:
I went with an RV dealership. Based on the shear numbers of how many they have installed. And the understanding of what it is for.

I called 'one' car dealership and got a lot of head scratching with sure we can figure it out and put it on.:R

Glad I went with the "RV" dealership too. My toad had many model changes mid year. So you could NOT just order it from book based on make and model. They KNEW this and done it before and were able to order the correct one sans what the book said to order. Bonus was buying the tow bar and brake buddy there also.

I got a 'full' walk thru on hooking up and operating all my new toys.
IMHO if you are new to towing this is the way to go.

X2. I also chose our local RV dealer for both of our base plate installations.

[MaverickBBD]

Went to the local rv repair center in town. That is where I purchased the base plate and aux. braking and had the wiring done. Due to the brush guard and winch on the jeep they contracted the base plate out to a local weld shop. He did such a good job I have been back several time since with various welding and machine projects.

[The_Texan]

Have installed all but the last of ours our self. Some were easy, some a little more difficult, but if you are the slightest bit mechanically inclined, it is a DIY job. The last one we had the dealer install and they reversed the base plates and I had to remove the whole system and reinstall it myself. If I was going to pay to have it done, I would look to a hitch company, that understands frames on vehicles. NO way would I pay a dealer top dollar for a $10 wheel changer to work on anything as critical as a base plate setup, after my last experience.

[gotsmart]

Rheevs wrote:
I Just bought a Subaru Crosstrek to tow behind the MH.
I am wondering what is the best place to have the Baseplate installed.
RV Dealer, CW, Car Dealer :h

If you already have the towbar then go to the manufacturer's website for their dealer locator. Using Roadmaster as an example, on the Roadmaster locator page:
http://www.roadmasterinc.com/locator/

you can narrow the search results to those Roadmaster dealers who perform installations.

[tropical36]

Rheevs wrote:

tropical36 wrote:

Rheevs wrote:
I Just bought a Subaru Crosstrek to tow behind the MH.
I am wondering what is the best place to have the Baseplate installed.
RV Dealer, CW, Car Dealer :h

What year is the Subaru, so that we might help in finding a base plate for it. So far, I don't see any in recent years by Demco or Blue Ox, but do think that 2013 was the first year for this car.
The car is equipped with a manual transmission, right?

2013 is the first year and yes it is a manual transmission.
I even contacted Subaru to be sure it was 4 down towable.

OK, good and you have read my previous post with the link for the base plate? If I were you, I'd just order it and then find someone willing to help you with the install or just take it to a hitch shop, still in the box along with the instructions.

[Alfred622]

I have my RV serviced at a truck repair shop (they do a lot of RVs also). They did the Blue Ox baseplate install on the CRV and then also installed the ReadyBrute braking cable and the stop light diodes and wiring harness. They did a great job - it was about $200 for their labor which, for me, was well worth it as I just didn't have the time to devote to doing it.

[Rheevs]

tropical36 wrote:

Rheevs wrote:
I Just bought a Subaru Crosstrek to tow behind the MH.
I am wondering what is the best place to have the Baseplate installed.
RV Dealer, CW, Car Dealer :h

What year is the Subaru, so that we might help in finding a base plate for it. So far, I don't see any in recent years by Demco or Blue Ox, but do think that 2013 was the first year for this car.
The car is equipped with a manual transmission, right?

2013 is the first year and yes it is a manual transmission.
I even contacted Subaru to be sure it was 4 down towable.