Blue Ox Base Plate Failure! Public Service Announcement

[dhershey3772]

I have a similar situation with the Blue Ox Base Plates (BX2690) on my Maverick. I have towed with the Blue OX Base Plates for approximately 3000 miles. On our last trip, I had to aggressively brake the motorhome for a car entering an onramp. After stopping for lunch, I noticed the passenger side base plate attachment point had been pushed roughly 1.5 inches to the outside. We stopped towing at that point. We are now home and I have removed the fascia to observe what damage has been done.

My tow bar is also a NSA Ready Brute Elite 2. I have removed the surge brake and installed the NSA solid bar where the surge brake mechanism was located. I use an RVI Brake 3 in the Maverick.

After removing the Maverick Fascia, I was relieved to find that the damage was limited to the base plate and not the Maverick. The base plate is still attached securely but has twisted, bent, cracked and has failed weld joints.

I agree with realshelby in that the Blue Ox attachment points are to far apart and when a force is applied, the force is directed laterally instead of straight back as would be the case with closer attachment points.

I will be contacting Blue Ox tomorrow to inform them of my situation. I will update this post with their response.

UPDATE: After contacting Blue Ox, they requested that I send the broken base plate back to them for inspection. After they received the baseplate, I was informed that my warranty claim was denied. The reason given was that I used the incorrect towbar. I explained to them that nowhere on the Blue Ox website, the website of the retailer I bought the baseplate from or in the BX2690 installation manual was ever any mention of any towbars that could not be used or an specific towbars that was required to be used. If they had, I wouldn't have bought the Blue Ox baseplate.

After 2 known baseplate failures, Blue Ox has updated the BX2690 instruction manual (405-0775 REV C) with a note stating "Please insure tow bar being used is compatible with the baseplate tab width".

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[realshelby]

Well, now I know for sure this is going to be a problem for Blue Ox base plate owners. Not an isolated incident! This is EXACTLY how my parts looked after the failure. There was no frame/Maverick damage that I could be certain of, but I had "pulled" the parts back into alignment before I took the fascia off.
Did you install this yourself, or was it Dealer installed?
I ask because once again this is going to come down Blue Ox claiming the towbar is too short.
We may need to band together on this......

 

[BradnChristine]

I continue to say that the DEMCO Baseplate is the only way to safely tow. Solid bar, in front of the shutter system, with no permanent damage to the Active shutter system like Roadmaster.

 

[realshelby]

I don't know that the Roadmaster is LESS SAFE than the Demco. Both are for sure MORE SAFE than a Blue Ox!
Did you see the post about the new Roadmaster design? Looks like they took a Demco approach.

 

[BradnChristine]

I don't know that the Roadmaster is LESS SAFE than the Demco. Both are for sure MORE SAFE than a Blue Ox!
Did you see the post about the new Roadmaster design? Looks like they took a Demco approach.

I see two versions on Roadmaster's website: #524470-4 and #524470-5. Both require full removal of the lower shutter system. Is there another that I missed? I did not see a post about it.

 

[BradnChristine]

I don't know that the Roadmaster is LESS SAFE than the Demco. Both are for sure MORE SAFE than a Blue Ox!
Did you see the post about the new Roadmaster design? Looks like they took a Demco approach.

I found it and do not believe that is a Roadmaster baseplate. It is EXACTLY the same as my DEMCO baseplate, down to the holes in the round tubes that hold the included plastic DEMCO covers. I believe that person mis-stated what they have.

 

[realshelby]

I read your post on the other thread. Seems that may be a Demco instead of a Roadmaster. You would be a good judge of that of course!

There was ( and probably still are ) only two Roadmaster versions. BOTH of those versions come with the exact same base plate. The difference is in the provided tabs. One is a direct hookup tab, the other is a tab made to connect to the Roadmaster style crossbar. I used the crossbar style as it allowed the towbar hookup pin height to be a little higher. That allowed me to go back to a 4" drop hitch from a 6".

 

[BradnChristine]

I read your post on the other thread. Seems that may be a Demco instead of a Roadmaster. You would be a good judge of that of course!

There was ( and probably still are ) only two Roadmaster versions. BOTH of those versions come with the exact same base plate. The difference is in the provided tabs. One is a direct hookup tab, the other is a tab made to connect to the Roadmaster style crossbar. I used the crossbar style as it allowed the towbar hookup pin height to be a little higher. That allowed me to go back to a 4" drop hitch from a 6".

Hopefully, he will correct his post before more active shutters face destruction. I looked at his and thought, gee that is great, and that is exactly what I did to my rubber dam for the shroud...but when I saw the holes near the ends of the tubes, I knew it had to be a DEMCO. Roadmaster never gave me pretty plugs for any of the Roamaster baseplates that I've installed.

 

[BradnChristine]

Hopefully, he will correct his post before more active shutters face destruction. I looked at his and thought, gee that is great, and that is exactly what I did to my rubber dam for the shroud...but when I saw the holes near the ends of the tubes, I knew it had to be a DEMCO. Roadmaster never gave me pretty plugs for any of the Roamaster baseplates that I've installed.

And he did correct that post. It is a DEMCO.

 

[phoneman01]

From one who has a Maverick on order; THANK YOU Terry! I have used Blue Ox everything for over 20 years and am going to have a towplate installed when(and if) I get it. A Roadmaster or Demco will go on mine.

 

[BradnChristine]

From one who has a Maverick on order; THANK YOU Terry! I have used Blue Ox everything for over 20 years and am going to have a towplate installed when(and if) I get it. A Roadmaster or Demco will go on mine.

DEMCO all the way. Don't destroy your lower active shutter system!

 

[phoneman01]

Didn't you say that you installed yours? If it's simple bolt on, I should be able to do it as well. The wiring is my expertise. My age(77) is the only detriment. If (AND WHEN) I get it,...Demco it is!

 

[BradnChristine]

Didn't you say that you installed yours? If it's simple bolt on, I should be able to do it as well. The wiring is my expertise. My age(77) is the only detriment. If (AND WHEN) I get it,...Demco it is!

Yes, I installed my DEMCO. It was one of the simpler installs, compared to an Acura MDX and a C-Max. They were real PITAs. And I'm 75.

When you are ready, if you need any tips or advice, please feel free to contact me. Oh, and the lower four Ford bolts that hold the baseplate have torque specs of 30 ft-lbs, per the Ford Service manual. The Demco bolt table in the instructions doesn't have a listing for them.

There really aren't many parts that were hard. You will most likely need to pull out 2 vanes on each side in the lower active shutter because their movement will be obstructed by the baseplate, but they do not get damaged (unlike the roadmaster install where they are irreversably cut out with the framing).

 

[PapaRed]

I received my Maverick Lariat in May of '23 and had the Blue Ox base plate installed. I was aware of the on-line chatter concerning looks of the Blue Ox, but the dealer convinced me to use Blue Ox rather than Roadmaster that would require adapters for my Blue Ox towbar.

Towed the Maverick 4,500 miles, and became frustrated with the requirement to closely align the toad with the motorhome to connect. Other than that and the blasted "Deep Sleep" issue, I experienced no sudden stops or sharp turn situations.

Decided upon return home to hang up the keys, and after reading of OP's experience, am thankful we had no issues. Have decided to keep the Maverick, and will probably leave the baseplate installed but unused ( Will remove the M&G brake system and breakaway system if anyone is interested.)

 

[BradnChristine]

I received my Maverick Lariat in May of '23 and had the Blue Ox base plate installed. I was aware of the on-line chatter concerning looks of the Blue Ox, but the dealer convinced me to use Blue Ox rather than Roadmaster that would require adapters for my Blue Ox towbar.

Towed the Maverick 4,500 miles, and became frustrated with the requirement to closely align the toad with the motorhome to connect. Other than that and the blasted "Deep Sleep" issue, I experienced no sudden stops or sharp turn situations.

Decided upon return home to hang up the keys, and after reading of OP's experience, am thankful we had no issues. Have decided to keep the Maverick, and will probably leave the baseplate installed but unused ( Will remove the M&G brake system and breakaway system if anyone is interested.)

The Demco baseplate really is an easy install, and I use a Roadmaster Falcon 2 towbar and a Roadmaster RM-034 Adaptor to mate it to the Demco. Very easy to line up and connect. Using the Falcon2 with a Roadmaster baseplate on my 2017 C-Max was difficult to unhook. I had to use a mallot every time. Not so on the Maverick. The RM-034 was a $49.95 item from Amazon.

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