[Archived]

Darrell,

We towed a much older Grand Cherokee for years so this may not be applicable, but our attach points for our Roadmaster tow bar was the attach points for the tow hooks that were an option.

I suspect if your GC has tow hooks or provisions for them that is where the base plates are going to be mounted. I’d order the base plates with the provision you can return them for full credit including shipping in both directions if the oil cooler does interfere.

[Greg]

Darrell call the company and talk to them. I tow an Excursion and the attach brackets are located where the front tow hooks where. The brackets bolt into the holes of the tow hooks. I then put some Clevis D rings in the tow brackets to act the same as the old hooks. I use the “D” rings to attach the safety chains. The brackets are two pieces. one for each side so it doesn’t matter what is inbetween them.

Question for the forum are these safety chains the same as “drag chains” that you see post on highway signs?

[Ace]

Hey Greg, never heard of Drag Chains, must be a left coast deal….

[Archived]

I tow a 2006 Jeep liberty with a Diesel engine. There were
only a few of them made. I used a Blue Ox base plate with minor modifications.
In my opinion almost any vehicle can be towed using a base plate with a few modifications
using machined spacers, longer bolts and other assorted hardware. A modified
base plate mounting canl be stronger than the standard off the
shelf version offered for most applications. You will need a strong
understanding of mechanical principals and preferably the ability to calculate
the strength of your modifications. If you don’t have that skill set you will
need to hire someone able to do the modification for you. If you want too, you
can tow anything.

[Roger]

Over the years we towed a Dodge Raider (a rebadged Mitsubishi Montero), a Jeep Grand Cherokee, a Dodge Ram 1500 pickup, and our current H2 Hummer.

I designed and made the base plates for all of our toads except the H2 and have never had a problem. As John suggests, if needed, base plates can be easily fabricated and if designed properly will be of greater strength than those available from a manufacturer. In every case I used attach points on the frame of the toad never relying on sheet metal, reinforcing the attach points as required so loads were not going to damage the toad. When we sold the Raider and Grand Cherokee I was able to remove my base plates and restore the vehicles to the exact condition they were in when manufactured. What I did not like about my store bought base plates for the H2 is I had to drill the frame. My gut tells me if I remove the base plates those drilled holes are going to show signs of the forces imposed on them.