Base Plate question on Jeep Wrangler

[Mike_W]

Looking at another Jeep for 4-down towing. Many of the wranglers I am looking at have enhanced front bumpers, some with winches. What's the general guidance for front bumpers if I was to tow using a Blue Ox...or something similar. after market ok, or OEM only? Hope this makes sense. TIA

[Mike_W]

Thank you all. Sorry again I wasn't crystal clear. But I think I'm getting the gist. To clarify...I don't have the jeep yet but while shopping I was trying to decide if I had to go straight OEM. That answer appears to be "depends on which after market it has." And yes, I would call the said manufacturers direct when I have a specific bumper to ask about. In the pic in my sig, the good ol days, I had a fixed structure type Smitty tow bar that attached to the jeep bumper. When we unhooked for short periods of time just tilt that thing up. But lining that ol fashion bad boy up, alone, in the dark, or the rain, was a challenge. But the simplicity was grand. Thanks again all

[Alan_Hepburn]

The answer will depend on the make and model of the bumper, and possibly the mounting of the winch. In our case, I have a Rugged Ridge Spartan bumper on my 2020 Gladiator, with no winch (yet). I bought Blue Ox adapters that replaced the D-ring mounts on the bumper, and I'm using an NSA Ready Brute Elite tow bar that connects to those adapters. It works quite well. On my wife's 2022 JLU we are using aBlue Ox baseplate with the OEM bumper - all I had to do was remove the plastic panel under the front end.

[Y-Guy]

Mike W are you looking at a JK/JKU model or the newer JL model?

[discovery4us]

I use a smittybilt XRC aftermarket bumper with towable D ring mounts. It was the only one that didn't have a disclaimer warning against flat or dinghy towing that I could find.
I have an excalibur tow bar with roadmaster 035-G2 adapters for the D rings.

[willald]

I have a 2018 JK Wrangler (see signature). We set it up ourselves for flat towing about a year ago using a Blue Ox base plate like you are talking about doing (ours has the stock bumper so it worked fine). I definitely understand what you're asking, and can relate to the dilemma. 🙂

Without knowing the specifics of the aftermarket bumper your Jeep has, it is very difficult to say with certainty if the Blue Ox plate would be compatible with it or not.

I've seen a couple aftermarket Jeep bumpers that are compatible with blue ox base plate, many (most) that are not, and a few that require some cutting or other modifications to the bumper in order to fit a blue ox base plate under it. Just which of those categories yours would fall under, is tough to say without seeing your front end, bumper up close.

If you can find out who makes the aftermarket bumper you have, you might try reaching out to them and see if they can tell you whether a blue ox base plate will fit under it or not. If thats not possible, I would just look real closely at your current bumper, how far down it goes, and compare that with instructions/illustrations from the blue ox base plate. You might be able to determine for yourself if this is doable or not.

There are some aftermarket bumpers for Jeeps, that you can attach tow hooks directly to it that will connect directly to your tow bar. I didn't go that route, but sometimes really wish I did. Every now and then I think about ditching the blue ox base plate and putting on a cool front bumper that you can attach tow bar directly to. You may want to consider going that route.

[way2roll]

I am sure what year wrangler makes a difference as well as what sort of aftermarket bumper. I don't think anyone can answer your question directly because of the thousands of aftermarket jeep bumpers and configurations. Call blue ox or etrailer and tell them what jeep you have and which aftermarket bumper. But aftermarket bumpers are attached to the frame. Just attach some base tabs directly to the bumper.

[wildtoad]

Not sure this helps, but the Roadmaster base plate does not interfere with the stock front bumper, but you do need to cut or remove the big plastic shield from under the engine.

[Romer1]

When I had my Wrangler (2000 TJ) I had an aftermarket bumper with tabs welded on for the tow bar connection. The bumper was actually a 2"x 4" steel tube with the tabs welded on and bolted to the Jeep frame.

[rk911]

ahhh, OK. can’t answer the question re: after market bumpers. sorry.

[Mike_W]

Sorry. Appreciate your effort. OEM is factory original equipment. I see that OEM front bumpers are fine with a base plate like Blue Ox. Do Blue Ox (or similar) work with after market bumpers? These are typically shaped differently (mostly bigger) then the factory bumper. So, does anyone flat towing a wrangler have an after market bumper and what base plate system did you use?

[rk911]

not sure what you're asking. if it were me I'd use a Blue Ox baseplate (assuming you have a Blue Ox towbar). I'm not sure what OEM refers to.

[Mike_W]

Yes, thanks. I am confident in the stock or OEM, wondering about after market...or is that a given, OEM ONLY?

[Mike_W]

Yes, thanks. I am confident in the stock or OEM, wondering about after market...or is that a given, OEM ONLY?

[rk911]

we have a 2-dr '03 TJ (automatic, no winch) with a Blue Ox baseplate. we're not towing that vehicle anymore but when we did there were no issues.