What is Needed to Flat Tow a 2014 Ford F-150 STX  

Question:

Expert Reply:

Every flat-towed vehicle requires the same 5 components: base plates, a tow bar, safety cables, wiring, and a braking system.

For your 2014 F-150 STX I suggest the Roadmaster Crossbar-Style Base Plate Kit with removable arems, # 495-1A. These crossbar-style hidden brackets attach to your Ford F-150's frame to provide attachment points for your tow bar. The visible portions of the brackets can be removed when you are not towing. The square drawbars, or front arms, on the crossbar-style base plate kit are simple to mount and remove, easily securing with hitch pins. Once the drawbars have been removed, the remaining brackets are virtually invisible.

For your tow bar option, I suggest the Roadmaster Falcon All Terrain, # RM-522. The hassle-free latches on this hitch-mounted tow bar let you easily release your car, even at a hard angle or on unlevel ground. The stainless steel, telescoping arms and large hookup radius make connecting rather easy and it folds up to store on your RV.

The RoadMaster Falcon Combo Towing Kit, # RM-9243-1 Includes wiring kit, power cord, mounting bracket, safety cables, padlocks, tow bar cover, and a vinyl bag to store it all. This provides the needed wiring kit for towed vehicle indicator lights, power cords, mounting brackets, safety cable and more. The only other wiring item needed for your F-150, is the Roadmaster Brake-Lite Relay Kit for Towed Vehicles, # RM-88400. This relay works with your tow bar wiring system to ensure that your towed vehicle's turn signal lights flash in tandem with your RV.


For your supplemental braking system that is required by law for flat towed vehicles, I suggest the Roadmaster InvisiBrake Supplemental Braking System, # RM-8700. This provides automatic, real-time braking the actuator box installs permanently so that you never have to remove, adjust or reactivate.

As you have already identified, you may or may not need a high/low adapter. I have attached a help article to walk through the steps of measuring for determining how to select the best option for your set-up. But basically you measure the hitch height, measure the tab/base plate height and find the difference. A link to the high/low adapters is attached.

The last optional items to list out are the Roadmaster Tow Defender Protective Screening, # RM-4700 and the Roadmaster Guardian Rock Guard, # RM-4000. Because your towed vehicle is basicly tailgating the motorhome it can receive significate damage from rocks and debris thrown on it at interstate speeds. While many choose to not use this type of item for their towed vehicle I have attached links to the available options for you to consider.

expert reply by: Michael R

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