etrailer | Mount: Roadmaster Direct-Connect Base Plate Kit on a 2022 Ford Maverick

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Hello, neighbors. It's Brad here at etrailer. And today, we're taking a look and installing the Roadmaster base plate on a 2022 Ford Maverick. And there's gonna be five main components that are gonna be required to flat tow your vehicle. And starting on the vehicle side is gonna be your base plate. And the base plate is generally attached to the chassis of the vehicle or the structural parts of it to create a nice, sturdy mounting point for your tow bar.
And so that brings us to the tow bar, which is our second component. That's gonna make the connection between the base plate and the hitch of the RV. Now, on our base plate here, we also have our safety chain loops, which these are just secondary protection just in case of an accidental disconnect. We also have our diode wiring, and that's gonna transfer the light signals from the RV. So that way, when you have your running lights, brake lights, or turn signals on, it's going to mimic those in the taillights of the vehicle, letting the people behind you know when you are turning or slowing down.
Now, you also have your breakaway cable, which is part of your supplemental braking system. And that's going to allow the vehicle to slow and stop as the RV slows and stops. Now, this is what the base plate is gonna look like when it's installed. And Roadmaster's done a really good job of keeping this nice and clean here. It integrates in the grill here, so there is no trimming on the fascia, yet you still have the accessibility to all your flat tow components.
I also really like the fact that they've mounted up some poles here to get your six-pole mounted as well as having a spot for your breakaway cable. So that's something nice. You don't have to worry about fabricating up a spot for each of these components. Now, when you are ready to flat tow your vehicle and you get it ready for flat tow mode, it's gonna be real simple to have your arms attached just with the quick twist. You'll see this design here.
It's gonna slide through the slot, and as you turn, it's gonna lock it in place. You're also gonna hear a nice, audible click. That pin's gonna lock in place and you have your arm attached. So now, you can lower your tow bar arms down. And then, attaching your tow bar is simple as well. You can just run the pin through. It's gonna line these holes, allowing you to put your pin, which is attached to a wire here in place, snap down, and you have your arm attached. Now, with tow bar in place, we'll just get the rest of our flat tow components installed. And what's really nice too is your safety chain loops are easily accessible. They protrude just enough to where it's a easy hookup, but also they're not really protruding. They're set up very well, making it nice and easy to hook up. Now, all that's left to do is put our vehicle in flat tow mode, and we're ready to hit the road. So we'll go ahead and get our hood raised up here. And that's gonna allow us to get to these 10-millimeter bolts here. You can see this is just kind of a shroud, but this is gonna start to pull off our front fascia to get our front base plate on. So these are gonna be a 10-millimeter. You're gonna see one, two, three, four. We'll go ahead and remove these. Now, throughout the entire process, I highly recommend having a way to organize some of your hardware because you're gonna need it for reinstallation, and it's gonna make it a lot easier if you have 'em all. So I just use a old muffin tin to put those in, but you can use a piece of cardboard and stick 'em in and label 'em, whatever works best for you. But again, it's gonna make it a lot easier. So now, on our driver side fender well, there's gonna be some plastic pushpins along here as well as some seven-millimeter screws. And we're gonna be just be removing these. Now, if you are doing this on the ground, you can turn your wheel to the inside. And that way, you're gonna get a little bit more access to it. I'm lucky enough to have a right angle drill here, or a right angle impact. So that's gonna make it a little bit easier. 'Cause it does get a little bit tight against the tires. But as far as the plastic pushpins, they're pretty simple. There's gonna be some grooves, and I'm using a trim panel tool. These are really helpful for the plastic pushpins. And that way, you can kinda separate them, and I'll show you how to do that right now. There's gonna be a total of six on each fender, and you're gonna see it starts here. You just kinda work your way down. And the way to get these popped out, there's gonna be a slight groove on one side. You're just gonna want to wedge in there. If you don