Well I bought a 1989 Cherokee XJ and want some input from anyone who tows theirs four down behind their rv. Mine has factory tow hooks (up country package) and I would like to trade them out for some kind of D-ring brackets. Not sure if that is possible or not. Blue Ox makes a baseplate as I’m sure there are others. Was gonna use aftermarket bumper but don’t want to cut fenders to do so. Please let me know what your set up is. Thanks.

 

A little over a year ago I did a lot of research for towing a ZJ Grand Cherokee 4 wheels down. In my opinion RoadMaster makes the best base plate brackets. They make them specifically for the different models and years of almost all of the Jeeps.

RoadMaster has a towbar and base plate matching set that is a really nice combination. It is super easy to get it hooked up. It only takes one person for hooking it up. All you need to do is to get the tow vehicle close, and then the telescoping arms make quick work of the rest of it for you. It has real nice suspension-like pivot points and some nice key features compared to the BlueOx version. A little pricey though for the set.

BlueOx and RoadMaster are basically the only games in town for towbar base plate brackets. I think they are both nice.

A towbar is a towbar though. Even the Harbor Frieght towbar does a good job from all of the reviews. There are several different choices in towbar, so a lot of options with that there. I forget which brand towbar I went with in the end. I know I got it from Summit Motorsports. It might be a Reese?

I did not go with the super high-end RoadMaster. I did get the other offering from RoadMaster for the base plate, and they work great. I have to back up my WJ in perfect alignment to the towbar with it already hooked up to my ZJ whenever I tow it since I did not get the really nice matching set they offer. If I was wanting the best out there.. I would get the RoadMaster towbar and base plate bracket set.


This is what they look like. They attach very solidly connected securely to the frame-rails. It was an easy job getting them on there too. With the help of a friend I attached both, a hitch on my WJ and these brackets on my ZJ in a little over two hours time. Mine are basically permanent. That's okay though.. Some day I plan on using them for holding on a nice bull bar. The nicer upper-level RoadMaster base plate brackets have removable ends to them, and it makes the base plate brackets totally dissapear like they were never on there whenever you are done with the towing.

 

One other thing to mention. Since I did not get the matching set RoadMaster offers. For whatever towbar I ended up with I had to drill out another hole on both brackets of the base plate to match my towbar to the brackets. Drilling holes in this type of metal is one heck of a task with a handheld Dewalt power drill.. I'll tell you that much!

If you do not want to go through something like this, be sure and make sure the holes are spaced to match up to your towbar.