DEMCO Towbar Baseplates are coming for Flat-Towing the Maverick Hybrid!

[gwrace14651]

Got the new Demco baseplate on Saturday. Tweety's did great with prompt shipping and delivery.

If you want to see the best video I've seen for removing the front fascia on the Maverick check out this one from TDTV garage. Just skip to the 5:09 mark to get past the raptor grill commentary.

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[deputylynch]

There was zero question for me. You can search the pile of posts I have made on the subject, complete with the Roadmaster instructions to cut out the shutter system.
1. Roadmaster requires complete and irreversable destruction of the lower Active-Shutter system. Serious risk of denial of warranty claim if anything happens that Ford could relate to that system.
2. Blue Ox is so wide that members here have reported that it can easily bind up...not to mention that it makes an ugly installation in the middle of the bumper squares. Alternatives are to replace the lower fascia with the FX4 fascia (~$400), but then you have some work to do on the underside schrouding to make the shorter, new fascia meet it.
EDIT 11/29/23: See posts elsewhere of Blue Ox baseplate FAILURES by @realshelby and others.
3. Demco, at least in my installation, required me to pull out two of the lower active shutter vanes on each side that go behind the baseplate. They could not close if left in place. Just like Ford removed the vanes just below these, they are replacable. The DEMCO baseplate is completely removable if desired with only two small cutouts on the plastic shroud.

It was completely not about the price for me. And I bought the Roadmaster RM-034 adaptors to put on the end of my Roadmaster Falcon 2 towbar...to mate it to the Demco baseplate.

So what about the bottom shutter removal that some say has to be done and what about the part they show cutting on the insulation manual?

 

[BradnChristine]

So what about the bottom shutter removal that some say has to be done and what about the part they show cutting on the insulation manual?
...

Here's the issues:
Shutter Vanes:
There are 5 shutter vanes on each side of the lower Active-shutter system. Ford takes out the 2nd from the bottom as part of their fire safety fix from early on. The 3rd from the bottom is behind the baseplate, and the 4th from the bottom rests on top of the baseplate. The top vane, 5th from the bottom, stays in place.
I took out the 3rd and 4th vanes as I did not trust that they wouldn't push against the baseplate. These 4 vanes are pulled out and not damaged in any way. They could be returned if you took off the baseplate. I don't seem to have saved the instruction sheet for vane removal, but it is here in the group somewhere. The 2 page document is shown in the picture.

THE CUTTING
There is a shroud that fits between the lower shutter system and the fascia. It is plastic with a rubber outer edge that needs cutting. In the picture above, the shroud is removed. It clips into those 8 slots that you see (4 on top and 4 on bottom) . That piece (easily replaceable) is what you cut to allow the bar to pass through it. In the picture you show from Demco, that inner part is the hard plastic, and the lighter outside part is the rubber. I simple cut a slit in the ribber, then used a dermel to cut out the plastic. Sorry I did not take good pictures. In this picture below, you can see the shroud laying on the floor between the truck and the baseplate. Take it off, cut it out, put it back into place, then test fit the baseplate.

The main difference between Roadmaster and Demco is the "notch" in the baseplate that allows the shutter control to remain in place instead of having to be irrevocably cut out. Here is a better top view of the Demco baseplate.:

So instead of using two WIDELY-Spaced connector pieces (Blue Ox) or using a nice narrow single bar that sits too close to the shutters to allow them to remain in place (Roadmaster), Demco took the best engineered course, keeping it a 1-piece plate that allows for that assembly..

While I praise their engineering for the baseplate, their instructions were not very good. They may have added to them by now, as I sent Demco a lot of info and pictures in September.

You also do NOT have to drill a new hole in the PAD. As a matter of fact, the instructions I saw had you re-mount the PAD within the upper brace bolt/nut that is torqued to 50 ft-lbs. That made no sense to me, as the supplied bolt wasn't long enough and when I thought about crushing a piece of plastic within that assembly, I rejected the concept.

When you get it all apart, get yourself a small bolt and nut (I used Nyloc) and re-mount the PAD here. I think I used the outer hole, but nothing normally goes in those holes:

Any more questions, I'm happy to respond.

 

[deputylynch]

Here's the issues:
Shutter Vanes:
There are 5 shutter vanes on each side of the lower Active-shutter system. Ford takes out the 2nd from the bottom as part of their fire safety fix from early on. The 3rd from the bottom is behind the baseplate, and the 4th from the bottom rests on top of the baseplate. The top vane, 5th from the bottom, stays in place.
I took out the 3rd and 4th vanes as I did not trust that they wouldn't push against the baseplate. These 4 vanes are pulled out and not damaged in any way. They could be returned if you took off the baseplate. I don't seem to have saved the instruction sheet for vane removal, but it is here in the group somewhere. The 2 page document is shown in the picture.

THE CUTTING
There is a shroud that fits between the lower shutter system and the fascia. It is plastic with a rubber outer edge that needs cutting. In the picture above, the shroud is removed. It clips into those 8 slots that you see (4 on top and 4 on bottom) . That piece (easily replaceable) is what you cut to allow the bar to pass through it. In the picture you show from Demco, that inner part is the hard plastic, and the lighter outside part is the rubber. I simple cut a slit in the ribber, then used a dermel to cut out the plastic. Sorry I did not take good pictures. In this picture below, you can see the shroud laying on the floor between the truck and the baseplate. Take it off, cut it out, put it back into place, then test fit the baseplate.

The main difference between Roadmaster and Demco is the "notch" in the baseplate that allows the shutter control to remain in place instead of having to be irrevocably cut out. Here is a better top view of the Demco baseplate.:

So instead of using two WIDELY-Spaced connector pieces (Blue Ox) or using a nice narrow single bar that sits too close to the shutters to allow them to remain in place (Roadmaster), Demco took the best engineered course, keeping it a 1-piece plate that allows for that assembly..

While I praise their engineering for the baseplate, their instructions were not very good. They may have added to them by now, as I sent Demco a lot of info and pictures in September.

You also do NOT have to drill a new hole in the PAD. As a matter of fact, the instructions I saw had you re-mount the PAD within the upper brace bolt/nut that is torqued to 50 ft-lbs. That made no sense to me, as the supplied bolt wasn't long enough and when I thought about crushing a piece of plastic within that assembly, I rejected the concept.

When you get it all apart, get yourself a small bolt and nut (I used Nyloc) and re-mount the PAD here. I think I used the outer hole, but nothing normally goes in those holes:

Any more questions, I'm happy to respond.

I'm hoping to install it on a 24 that I'm picking up early this week so I'd rather not remove those shutters if I don't have to.

With whatever you had to cut, if the baseplate is removed, will anything need to be replaced to show that it was never there?

 

[BradnChristine]

I'm hoping to install it on a 24 that I'm picking up early this week so I'd rather not remove those shutters if I don't have to.

With whatever you had to cut, if the baseplate is removed, will anything need to be replaced to show that it was never there?

Yes. You'll need to replace the plastic shroud piece. Can't be terribly expensive...I've been meaning to look it up.

Here is the Ford instruction as to how to remove the vanes. Same instructions for any of the vanes. When I put the bar in place, the 4th from the bottom vane was laying on top of the bar...about 1/8-1/4" of it. I didn't want to bind anything...and I knew that the 3rd from the bottom was hidden and even tighter. Pages 7-9 are what you need.

 

[deputylynch]

Yes. You'll need to replace the plastic shroud piece. Can't be terribly expensive...I've been meaning to look it up.

Here is the Ford instruction as to how to remove the vanes. Same instructions for any of the vanes. When I put the bar in place, the 4th from the bottom vane was laying on top of the bar...about 1/8-1/4" of it. I didn't want to bind anything...and I knew that the 3rd from the bottom was hidden and even tighter. Pages 7-9 are what you need.

What year is your since some people are saying on the 24 they didn't have to remove the veins so I'm curious if there was a change on the truck itself since they had a problem on the 22 model?

 

[Hot Runr Guy]

Maybe contact Diode Dynamics and see if they'll sell you the bracket they created to hold the PAD, the video linked should be at about the right time,,,



HRG

 

[BradnChristine]

What year is your since some people are saying on the 24 they didn't have to remove the veins so I'm curious if there was a change on the truck itself since they had a problem on the 22 model?

The first 2022 Demco used was different than my 2023 Lariat. But I doubt there is any difference except in Ford's manufacturing tolerances in a 2022-2023-2024. We just got our 2024 but I am not planning on setting it up unless something happens to the 2023. Too hard to check without taking the fascia off.

By all means, I think you should take the fascia off, then take the shroud off, then take the 4 bolts out that hold the baseplate, and temporarily install the baseplate and check YOUR fit. If you think there is room for the vanes to move, I'd certainly leave them in. But I could see that was NOT the case on mine, so I took them out.
BTW, the lower Ford bolts that are reused require a 30 ft-lb torque according to the Ford Shop Manual. Demco doesn't (didn't) do anything but provide a standard bolt torqu table that did not list those bolts...so I looked them up.

There has been mis-information out there about the vanes, as one person told Demco they did not have to remove vanes....but later it was discovered that the person did not even do the installing! I believe there are manufacturing tolerances at play. Another person tried to use extra washers to move the baseplate out...and then replaced the Ford bolts with longer bolts.

Bottom line, be prepared to have to pull them out, but if you believe they will be able to move unimpeded in your truck, then leave them in. The bar is right in front of them, so there really isn't much difference in the cooling/heating of the truck.

 

[BradnChristine]

Maybe contact Diode Dynamics and see if they'll sell you the bracket they created to hold the PAD, the video linked should be at about the right time,,,



HRG

There was plenty of room to use the standard PAD bracket in the hole.

 

[deputylynch]

The first 2022 Demco used was different than my 2023 Lariat. But I doubt there is any difference except in Ford's manufacturing tolerances in a 2022-2023-2024. We just got our 2024 but I am not planning on setting it up unless something happens to the 2023. Too hard to check without taking the fascia off.

By all means, I think you should take the fascia off, then take the shroud off, then take the 4 bolts out that hold the baseplate, and temporarily install the baseplate and check YOUR fit. If you think there is room for the vanes to move, I'd certainly leave them in. But I could see that was NOT the case on mine, so I took them out.
BTW, the lower Ford bolts that are reused require a 30 ft-lb torque according to the Ford Shop Manual. Demco doesn't (didn't) do anything but provide a standard bolt torqu table that did not list those bolts...so I looked them up.

There has been mis-information out there about the vanes, as one person told Demco they did not have to remove vanes....but later it was discovered that the person did not even do the installing! I believe there are manufacturing tolerances at play. Another person tried to use extra washers to move the baseplate out...and then replaced the Ford bolts with longer bolts.

Bottom line, be prepared to have to pull them out, but if you believe they will be able to move unimpeded in your truck, then leave them in. The bar is right in front of them, so there really isn't much difference in the cooling/heating of the truck.

Wonder how much of a difference it makes by blocking that off with the baseplate as opposed of it opening and closing as Ford intended it?

Also, do you think the plate use with the fog lamp kit that somebody mentioned would work to move that speaker so nothing needs to be cut on the truck?

 

[BradnChristine]

Wonder how much of a difference it makes by blocking that off with the baseplate as opposed of it opening and closing as Ford intended it?

Also, do you think the plate use with the fog lamp kit that somebody mentioned would work to move that speaker so nothing needs to be cut on the truck?

I wasn't worried about the baseplate blocking air. Clearly, the lower shutter has turned out to be not a perfect idea as they had to pull one out on each side. Frankly, more air is safer than less air.

The Ford PAD bracket is just fine as it is and needs no modification. Mine now has an extra hole in it because I followed the Demco instructions to drill a hole and then I realized it wasn't smart. Then I saw the 2 holes and used that area after I found a small bolt in my junk jars.

The little air shroud piece absolutely, positively needs to be cut on each side...OR left off entirely. I still don't know its part number or cost.

Once you get the fascia off...which is not nearly as imtimidating as it seems at first... all these details will become easily apparent to you.

 

[deputylynch]

I wasn't worried about the baseplate blocking air. Clearly, the lower shutter has turned out to be not a perfect idea as they had to pull one out on each side. Frankly, more air is safer than less air.

The Ford PAD bracket is just fine as it is and needs no modification. Mine now has an extra hole in it because I followed the Demco instructions to drill a hole and then I realized it wasn't smart. Then I saw the 2 holes and used that area after I found a small bolt in my junk jars.

The little air shroud piece absolutely, positively needs to be cut on each side...OR left off entirely. I still don't know its part number or cost.

Once you get the fascia off...which is not nearly as imtimidating as it seems at first... all these details will become easily apparent to you.

Well I'm probably picking the truck up Monday and waiting for the base plate to come so hopefully it will get installed in the next few weeks.

Thanks for your assistance and hopefully between us we can figure out easier installation for future people!

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