As we are new to rv'ng and will be fulltiming, we are trying to find way to have a tow bar or baseplate put onto the front of our jeep wrangler to tow.We already have the roadmaster sterling, hitch, the lighting system, but can't find a decent rate to connect the base plate to the jeep and have the electrical done. Some places say we don't need to bring in Rv with the jeep to get work done, other places say we need both, to have it done properly ( wiring the jeep and attaching the plate to front of jeep.
Camping World too expensive, and we are heading from Palm Springs to Oregon, with a stop in Redding ( I know a place there, but we have to be in by 8:30 a.m. to have 2 guys do the work, thus cutting time. There is a place out here in Bermuda Dunes, but seems pricey. Would hate to have to drive seperately till we get to redding as we are pressed for time, money and I start my travel nurse job in 2 weeks.
Any suggestions would be really helpful, esp. if you know places near Palm Springs that would do this at a reasonable price ( not a dealer). Our Rv is a 35 ft. Class A, SeaBreeze, 2005. We really need some good advice on this one. PLEASE, WE NEED HELP FAST!!! Thanks, Suzanne and Ric
You might get more responses if you ask the moderator to move your question to either the "dinghy towing" or "Class A Motorhome" forums. This one is actually Towing Vehicles. Your Jeep is a towed vehicle (toad).
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If you think Camping World is too expensive, you probably won't find anyone else much cheaper. Hitch and towing work is really not something you want to go cheap on, if you think about it. You have a large investment in both your MH and toad. Do you want to jeopardize that to save a couple of hundred bucks? If you want it done right and you can't do it yourself, you have to pay up.
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you have to tie into the frame where the bolts that go through the tow hooks are used...you will need longer bolts, make sure you use grade 8 min. if your base plate does not fit there than you do not have a wrangler base.
who left the light on? is it me or are we leaning downhill. where did the dog run off to
The dealer who installed ours charged $600 - about the going rate - it takes most of a day to do, I was told. Any RV dealer with a shop can do the work - some car dealers (ours was where we bought the toad) are experienced at this, too.
I bought the Blue Ox base plate for my Wrangler and did it myself. The instructions are pretty clear. Took about two hours. The light wiring took roughly another hour.
Unless your baseplate install requires welding, it shouldn't require a professional to install if it comes with the hardware and instructions. If you can operate a drill, a wrench and a measuring tape, you can probly do it yourself for free. Installing the tow bar on my Bronco just required drilling 4 holes and bolting on the mounts to the bumper (Bronco was made back when bumpers were real). I am a welder, but didn't need to do any welding to install it and was very easy and straightforward.
The light and brake wiring, well if you're not familiar with auto electric, you might want to have someone do that for you.
I installed the base plate, and wired up my (previous) 2004 Jeep Wrangler myself.
Having installed one now, installing another complete setup, would only take "me" about an hour. Most of it is all bolt on. Did have to drill one hole, but a piece of cake. During my install, I spent more time trying to decide the best place to route the wires, and place a connector. The RoadMaster kit came with everything I needed, except for a Torx bit needed to remove bumper bolts on the Jeep. I bought a kit from Sears, the rest of the job needed only common hand tools and a drill (one hole through frame).
I posted details about my install, along with pics, at this link.
I can see a shop charging $600, only because there are so few of us hands-on types left. $200 would probably be close to the actual worth, IMHO. A lazy tech shouldn't take more than 2 hours.
No, they don't need your MH to put the base plates & wire up your Jeep. I modified my Jeep BEFORE buying my previous 36' Class A. Plug and play after I bought the MH.
The one extra thing I had to buy was a 6" drawbar drop. The towbar should be fairly close to level. Mine was too high on the MH end. Went to the Camping World store at Lazydays (whom I purchased the MH), and had to ask at the parts counter. Was not a product out on display. This item slips into the MH hitch receiver, and has another receiver box below. There are various levels of drop available: Link.Link2
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is it me or are we leaning downhill.
where did the dog run off to
