dodge guy
Bartlett IL
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Yes the shifting is like a new kid learning to drive both the car in general as well as learning to drive stick at the same time, only it never gets better! LOL
Wife Kim
Son Brandon 17yrs
Daughter Marissa 16yrs
Dog Bailey
12 Forest River Georgetown 350TS Hellwig sway bars, BlueOx TrueCenter stabilizer
13 Ford Explorer Roadmaster Stowmaster 5000, VIP Tow>
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better than a good day at work!
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j wackerly
29575
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file:///var/folders/tj/js23wsr126l1p6d1m3q75qg00000gn/T/com.apple.Safari/WebKitDropDestination-Vwj0VfT8/Image%209-30-21%20at%204.45%20PM.jpg
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j wackerly
29575
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![[image]](https://i.imgur.com/lPTNtxUl.jpg )
![[image]](https://i.imgur.com/m3zZPvb.png) Click For Full-Size Image. This is a photo of my 2015 Ford Focus Roadmaster base plate that failed .
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j wackerly
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If you look at my photo on page 1 you can see where the unibody came loose from the weld . The above photo shows a roadmaster instructions where the base plate is installed to the unibody. I did some research on base plates and roadmaster or blue ox install the same . You decide did roadmaster or Ford did not anticipate the fatigue on the on the unibody ? I am no engineer but who can you believe to trust on a car that can be tow with all wheels down ?
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hohenwald48
Nashville, TN
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Like I said, Ford designed the chassis and specified the welds to hold the body panels, doors, bumpers and other components, in place under normal use. The owner, in conjunction with the baseplate installer and manufacturer endeavored to modify the vehicle to serve a function not considered by the Ford design engineers. Any failure of a vehicle caused by an unauthorized modification is the responsibility of the person making the modification. Ford has no control over how you decided to mount the tow bar. ![[emoticon]](http://www.rv.net/sharedcontent/cfb/images/rolleyes.gif "rolleyes")
According to your logic, if I decided to mount a 5th wheel hitch on the roof of a Camry and pull a 40' 5th wheel around, Toyota should be responsible if the roof couldn't handle the stress
As to the transmission, based on post #1 I thought this was a thread about a tow bar failure.
When seconds count, the police are only minutes away.
2019 Newmar Canyon Star 3627
2017 Jeep Wrangler JKU
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j wackerly
29575
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hohenwald48 wrote:Like I said, Ford designed the chassis and specified the welds to hold the body panels, doors, bumpers and other components, in place under normal use. The owner, in conjunction with the baseplate installer and manufacturer endeavored to modify the vehicle to serve a function not considered by the Ford design engineers. Any failure of a vehicle caused by an unauthorized modification is the responsibility of the person making the modification. Ford has no control over how you decided to mount the tow bar.
According to your logic, if I decided to mount a 5th wheel hitch on the roof of a Camry and pull a 40' 5th wheel around, Toyota should be responsible if the roof couldn't handle the stress
As to the transmission, based on post #1 I thought this was a thread about a tow bar failure. The reason i posted this post was to make aware this could happen to anybody that tow a Ford Focus . I purchased this car because Ford said it can be flat towed as stated on page 185 of owners manual. And roarmaster base plate will work on this car per instructions . As a consumer who can you believe ? The only way this could be avoided is to have a full frame car .
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hohenwald48
Nashville, TN
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j wackerly wrote:hohenwald48 wrote:Like I said, Ford designed the chassis and specified the welds to hold the body panels, doors, bumpers and other components, in place under normal use. The owner, in conjunction with the baseplate installer and manufacturer endeavored to modify the vehicle to serve a function not considered by the Ford design engineers. Any failure of a vehicle caused by an unauthorized modification is the responsibility of the person making the modification. Ford has no control over how you decided to mount the tow bar.
According to your logic, if I decided to mount a 5th wheel hitch on the roof of a Camry and pull a 40' 5th wheel around, Toyota should be responsible if the roof couldn't handle the stress
As to the transmission, based on post #1 I thought this was a thread about a tow bar failure. The reason i posted this post was to make aware this could happen to anybody that tow a Ford Focus . I purchased this car because Ford said it can be flat towed as stated on page 185 of owners manual. And roarmaster base plate will work on this car per instructions . As a consumer who can you believe ? The only way this could be avoided is to have a full frame car .
Or a better engineered tow bar baseplate. When they provide the little short safety cable to go from the baseplate to some other location on the vehicle that should raise a red flag.
Thanks for making everyone aware that Roadmaster makes a sub standard baseplate for the Focus. Maybe other Focus owners should consider other baseplate manufacturers.
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dodge guy
Bartlett IL
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Blue ox gives you the same safety cables to go around the frame rails. Must be something with the Focus, because I haven’t seen those on other vehicles including my Explorer.
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j wackerly
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dodge guy wrote:Blue ox gives you the same safety cables to go around the frame rails. Must be something with the Focus, because I haven’t seen those on other vehicles including my Explorer. I looked at blue ox and the base plate all bolt on the same Before i towed the Ford Focus i towed a Honda for years . I sold my Honda and the guy i sold it to is still towing it with no problem . I was going to buy a new Honda CRV in 2015 . I found out you can no longer tow them because of the new tranmission. So i had to settle for a Ford Focus . Big mistake after 4 transmission 2 modules and unibody problems . It looks like the base plate manufacture and car manufacture need to get together to engineer the right product especially for unibody cars.
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carringb
Corvallis, OR
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Joined: 07/28/2003
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1) How would a 2015 Focus be "under warranty" when the factory bumper-to-bumper warranty is only 3-years?
2) The baseplate was attached to the bumper assembly, not the chassis aka "unibody". The section affected is part of the crumple-zone.
3) Rust indicates the welds were cracked a long time. Could be from towing stress. Could also be from a low-speed collision that maybe didn't even cause visible external damage. I'd put my money on a tow-bar that wasn't level however. This causes tremendous stresses under braking and accelerating.
2000 Ford E450 V10 VAN! 450,000+ miles
2014 ORV really big trailer
2015 Ford Focus ST
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![[image]](https://i.imgur.com/lPTNtxU.jpg )
