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Designed for use with motor-home-mounted tow bars, the direct-connect brackets are virtually invisible, easy to mount and remove, and they eliminate the need for a quick-disconnect crossbar on your tow bar. Installs on your vehicle's frame.
Features:
Note: Roadmaster direct-connect base plates will only work with Roadmaster tow bars that slide into a trailer hitch, such as the Nighthawk, Sterling, Blackhawk, Blackhawk 2, Falcon, or Falcon 2. These base plates will not work with tow bars that require a hitch ball.
The drawbars, or front arms, on this base plate kit are supremely easy to mount and remove. Just insert them into the brackets and twist to lock them in place. To remove each arm, simply tug the built-in pull pin to disengage the lock, twist the arm back and pull it out of the bracket. Once the drawbars have been removed, the remaining brackets are virtually invisible. On most automobiles, the brackets are mounted within the grille, where they remain not only unseen, but protected from scrapes and scuffs as well.
Videos are provided as a guide only. Refer to manufacturer installation instructions and specs for complete information.
Today on our 2017 Toyota Corolla IM, we will be having a look at and installing the Roadmaster EZ5 base plate kit with removable arms, part number RM-521195-5. Heres what our base plate looks like installed. As you can see it's a very nice clean look, with our receiver tubes of the arms recessed behind our grill opening. The only thing that's going to stick out is our actual safety chain attachment points here for hooking up our safety cables between our RV and the Corolla when we're flat towing it. We have our nice two prong bracket here for attaching any electrical connection that we may be using. Then we have our break away switch bracket.
As you can see we already mounted our break away switch on there when we had the fascia off. The way these removable arms work, you're going to make sure this tab here is horizontal, you insert it, and you'll twist it. When you do this, you'll want to make sure the pin is on the inside as well as this tab here. This tab is where you can insert your padlock to lock your tow bar onto your base plate. For other side is the exact same way. Now what's great about this base plate compared to other ones on the market, when we've arrived at our destination with our RV and we unhooked from it, we can simply pull this pin, twist our arms on out and we have a nice clean look on the front of our vehicle.
It doesn't even look like it's been set up to be flat towed. Now what I really like about this base plate compared to others on the market, not only does it give us a great clean look on our vehicle, but there is no drilling required on the vehicle at all in order to install it. It utilizes existing weld nut location on the vehicle and replaces the factory bumper support. Now that we've gone over some features, we'll show you how to get it installed. To begin our installation, we have our hood open. We look at the front of our fascia here at the top, we'll find three fasteners we need to remove. Here's one at our drivers side corner, a plastic fastener and our passengers side corner.
In the very middle right behind your Toyota emblem, you can find a 10 millimeter bolt. The way our plastic fasteners work is you can use a flathead screw driver or a trim panel tool, pop up the center section, grab it, pull it out. Now we have two fasteners we need to remove on each side in our wheel wells. From whatever we do at the point forward, we're going to repeat the exact same process on the other side. Right here at the very top where our fascia meets our fender, we have a very, very small push pin fastener.
This one's so small you can just grab it with your finger nails, pull out the center section, pull it on out. Our one here's a little bit different. We use a flathead screwdriver, rotate it 90 degrees and then pull it off our fascia. Each side underneath our vehicle will have six 10 millimeter screws that we need to remove, there's three, four, five, and six. Now with an extra set of hands we'll grab the corners of our fascia by our fender, pull it out. If our vehicle has fog lights, we'll need to disconnect them while I pull the fascia off. We'll set this aside where it won't get damaged. We need to remove our headlights. We have two 10 millimeter bolts on the top and then a third one here at the side. I'll remove these bolts. Now we need to pry up here on the corner to release this. We'll grad the headlight assembly and pull it away from the vehicle. Now we'll unplug the wiring harness from the headlight with two plugs. Just push in on this gray tab here on the gray connector, pull back, and this black tab on the black connector. Then we'll separate the wiring harness from the assembly by using our trim panel tool of flathead screwdriver and we'll set these aside. Here's the two tabs I was talking about, the tabs you need to press on to release those connectors. Now we need to unclip the wiring harness from our bumper beam for our horn. We have four plastic clips that hold it in place. One by the horn, one in the middle, one here towards the end on the drivers side and the fourth ones on the backside. Just use our trim panel tool to pop these loose. Now on each side of our bumper beam, we have four 14 millimeter bolts that hold it in place. We have two at the top and two at the bottom. We'll remove these, make sure we save the bolts because we will reuse them. With the bolts out, we can lift up on it, set it aside. We will not be reinstalling it. I went ahead and marked off according to the instructions, on our air deflector here the area we need to trim off. It's the same on both sides. We'll just follow the guide and trim it off, using a pair of tin snips, you can use a sharp utility knife or rotary tool. We put some red Loctite on our factory bolts that we removed. We'll be putting red Loctite on all of our bolts that we're using from this point forward. We have Loctite available on our website if you need to purchase some. Now with an extra set of hands, we'll take our base plate and use our factory bolts that we removed to secure it in the four holes. Now that we got all four of our bolts started by hand on each side, we'll let them sit for right now. We'll get our other brackets in place. Now we'll remove our center section here of our fascia support. It's held in place with several of our 10 millimeter bolts, just remove these from both sides. Now with our fascia support panel out of the way, we have two 17 millimeter bolts on each side. We'll remove these one at a time. Do the drivers side first, then after you have the new ones back in place, you can do the passengers side. Now we'll take our new 12 millimeter bolts, drop on our lock washers. We'll ensure that we have our Loctite on them. Now we'll take our base plate support bracket, get it in position, we'll install our new bolts. Now we'll take our short half inch bolt with Loctite on it, take our base plate support bracket, go through our base plate, put a lock washer on followed by our nut. Now that we have all of our hardware in place, we can start to tighten everything down. Start with our 14 millimeter bolts first. Now we'll torque all of our bolts to the amount specified in the instructions. We went ahead and zip tied up the wiring harness for our horn to the base plate itself with the included zip tie. This way it doesn't dangle below our fascia. Now we'll make sure we put our headlights back in. Now's a good time while we have the fascia off, before I put it back on to run any wiring or break away switches we're going to be using if we're going to be using a towed vehicle lighting system. Now we can hold up our fascia, mark it accordingly and trim it out so it slides over our base plate. We marked out according to the instructions and from our test fit where we're going to need to trim. Just use a pair of cutters, side cutters, rotary tool, whatever you have. Now that we have our fascia all trimmed out, we'll go ahead and reinstall it on the vehicle. With our fascia back in place, we'll reinstall all the fasteners and all the under body panels we removed. That completes our look at and installation of the Roadmaster EZ5 base plate kit with removable arms, part number RM-521195-5 on our 2017 Toyota Corolla IM.
Average Customer Rating: 4.8 out of 5 stars (2041 Customer Reviews)
Designed for use with motor-home-mounted tow bars, the direct-connect brackets are virtually invisible, easy to mount and remove, and they eliminate the need for a quick-disconnect crossbar on your tow bar. Installs on your vehicle's frame.
I bought and self installed this on my 2021 GMC Sierra Duramax 1 year ago. Install took about 5 hours and wasn't difficult...I could problty install it in 2-3 hours after leaening the tricks. Weve towed the truck all over the USA since then (over 10,0000 miles) and it works great! I've used other brands and highly recommend Roadmaster tow systems over the competition.
The Roadmaster direct connect base was a perfect fit for my 2013 focus S to flat tow. We had it installed in about 3 hrs following the complete direction and pictures. I highly recommend using etrailer.
Good product. If you are reasonably handy and have some tools, you can install this yourself in a few hours. I'm a mechanic, it took me a little over 2 hours to install on my own toad. The fit is good, there are 4 holes you have to drill, otherwise it is plug and play. When you insert and twist lock the tow bar mounts into their sockets they feel a little sloppy but they are secure, and i never noticed any rattle when towing. Overall i give it a 4 out of 5 for easy install and clean look after install. Pic included of installed base plate.
Installed on my 2020 Jeep Cherokee for flat towing behind our motorhome . I wanted a tow bar connection that integrated with the front end of the Jeep and the removable arms did the trick . I had one issue with the driver side receiver bracket not lining up with the upper mount bolt hole on the Jeep, image 0547. Had to make a slight adjustment to the receiver bracket so the holes would line up, image 0551 and image 0559. The rest of the install went smoothly
I also installed the Demco braking Stay n Play Duo system , image 0565 which went in without any issues, image 6028. 7 thousand miles of towing later, couldn't be happier with the products
This is a rock solid baseplate. Installed on a 2023 Equinox LT (AWD). I followed etrailer's videos for installation and they are spot on. We connect with a Roadmaster Nighthawk tow bar, charge line kit, smart diode lighting kit, and a Demco Stay-in-Play supplimental braking system. It is fairly well hidden when not in-use. This setup is great!
Exactly what I needed. Written jbstructuons were spot on and video was very helpful.
I installed them on my new RAM 1500. Works great, very heavy duty. I also modified and attached a push bumper and used the Roadmaster base plates.
Easy install. Looks great. Apparently they have made some changes so that the video is not accurate. Install instructions though were spot on. A template for cutting the grill would be an added plus.
I was very pleased with the way you handled my order. I called and was greeted pleasantly and knowledgeable about what I needed and in just a few minutes my order was placed. It arrived just as they said it would in a timely matter.
I would recommend e-trailer to anyone!
Installed on my 2020 jeep jl sport s with factory plastic bumper and plastic rock guard. Shane’s video was very helpful but I did not like how the metal plate behind the rock guard was cut away and how the rock guard had two big cut outs so I did some modifications. I cut two slots in the metal bracket and added angle brackets for extra support. As a result i did not use the supplied brackets for the rock guard. I created a template for the rock guard which resulted in two small cut outs. A lot of extra time but i am retired so time is relative. I think it looks great.
Installing on 2020 Jeep Trailhawk :
Pic #0557 : Roadmaster Base Plate Kit , Demco Supplemental Braking System , Diode Wiring Kit , Demco Battery Charge Wire Kit
Pic # 0548 ,0551 , 0559 Had to adjust the bracket plate to line up with the upper bolt holes
Pic #6028 finished install , mounted the operating unit to the top fuse box cover using automotive Velcro . Air cylinder , controller and LED light installed . Aside from the base plate bracket not lining up with the upper bolt holes I would give it 4 stars . My son in law is a master at solving mechanical issues .
The base plate arrived on time, with excellent instructions. I went slowly because my truck is only days old and still had it done in an evening.
I bought this base plate kit for my 2022 Jeep Rubicon Gladiator so I could flat tow behind my class a motor home with a Roadmaster Falcon all terrain non binding tow bar. The instructions were easy to follow and went smoothly except drilling the holes. That was my fault because I was using a dull drill bit. See attached photo
This kit worked out great for my 2022 Chevy Equinox. I like how it has separate side plates, which make it easier to attach the main bar. The points where it attaches to the frame seem plenty secure. It is important to watch the videos provided by etrailer as Ryan is very thorough and has good tips for installing. I would also recommend installing additional wiring while having the front end off. Overall, I was able to complete in my driveway. The hardest part was sorting out the wiring for whatever braking and tail lights you decide on. William S helped me pick all the necessary components needed for flat towing behind my Jayco RV. I am looking forward to a summer of camping and having more freedom to explore the area, now having a car.
The bracket kit fit my 2023 Subaru Crosstrek perfectly. The instructions are excellent and the video is really useful too. I’m really pleased with this RoadMaster bracket kit and the support from eTrailer.
Item works good. We pulled our ‘21 Canyon behind our RV on several trips and had no issues other than you need to put in a diode to the rear lights to keep them from back feeding.
Easiest I drive done. Works perfectly. I had some concerns if it would work on my Shelby F-150. etrailer put me in touch with Roadmaster directly who had never done one either. Said if it didn’t work I could return it. It fit with minor adjustments. Have towed a few thousand miles already. Couldn’t be happier
Everything went pretty good except for the reinstall of the PAD. Had to mount it on an angle because wire to short. Love it versus the crossbar I had on Santa Fe 5 speed. Also had to wire 12v outlet and emergency brake switch wiring into drivers side which was fairly easy. And 12v charging circuit for battery. My grandson Seth made it look easy.
Great Company Product arrived on time and the tracking information was above and beyond what I expected Product is exactly as described and of excellent quality
Would highly recommend etrailer and Roadmaster
Well made, easy to install (provided you use one of etrailer's videos to install it!), non obtrusive. Fits well on my Jeep Wrangler. Just an overall great product!
This is the fifth Roadmaster base plate that I have purchased. I will not use another brand as I feel it is the best for the money and Quality, installs easy as well. We just got them today and have not installed yet. so no photos sorry.
Just took the maiden voyage with the new Motorhome and the new Tow Car or ( Toad ). After getting everything set up and installed on the coach and the dingy towing was a breeze. Hardly even noticed that i was towing a car behind me. Bought all RoadMaster equipment and purchased everything from etrailer, baseplate and towbar with the invisibrake system and all the necessary cables. Etrailer was Awesome they made sure that I had everything needed and that everything fit my vehicle.
Have enjoyed the Roadmaster base plate on my Mercedes Benz Sprinter Van. The only complaint I had was what was required to install it. I have installed several in different vehicles and this one was the most difficult. Some are easier than others, but once installed, it performs as expected.
This particular base plate requires drilling 2 holes in the bumper and expanding 2 holes already there. Expanding the holes was not that much of a problem but the 2 new holes was a major pain. Had to go through 6 different drill bits. I would get the other base plate that only requires expanding 2 holes. But once I got those holes drilled out it went better. Plus one of the shims was a little long and had to grind it down to fit.
Great instructions and super easy to install. Installation only took me about an hour on my 2020 Ranger.
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