When choosing a car to flat tow behind a motorhome, the first question is, “which cars can be flat towed behind a motorhome?”, quickly followed by “how do I set up my new car for flat towing?” We recently purchased a 2017 Subaru Crosstrek (manual transmission) for flat towing and thought we would document the process.
There are a number of manufacturers that offer equipment for flat towing. The most popular, and the one we’ve been using for 5 years, is Blue Ox. The first step is to obtain and install a baseplate, which connects your tow vehicle to the motorhome. A quick check of their web site (Blue Ox baseplates) yielded no baseplate for a 2017 Crosstrek. So I called the company and found that due to minor changes from 2016 to 2017 they cannot guarantee the existing baseplate would work with our new car. But they did offer an intriguing option: if we drive our car to their factory (in Pender, Nebraska) they will use our car as a template to make baseplates for all 2017 Crosstreks and in return install our baseplate for free. In fact, their “fitment” program offers even more free stuff:
- Free baseplate (currently selling for $400 on Amazon)
- Free installation of the baseplate (estimated at $500)
- Free tow bar (currently selling for $650 on Amazon)
- Free installation of the wiring kit (estimated at $100)
- 25% off the wiring kit (currently selling for $53 on Amazon)
- 25% off any Blue Ox products
- Free stay at the onsite full hookup campground
- Free use of a company car with no mileage restrictions
Not bad! I should make clear this is only available to the first person with a car where no baseplate is available. If you think this is you, don’t hesitate, their fitment program is very popular. For instance, I called Blue Ox on a Monday afternoon and found out they needed a 2017 Crosstrek. We purchased the car Tuesday morning and signed up for the program by lunch.
The Blue Ox Factory in Pender, Nebraska
The instructions state you should arrive at their factory by 8 AM on the Monday of your fitment week (our arrival date was Monday, January 30, 2017) and not expect your car to be finished until Friday afternoon. Having talked with their tech advisors I got the feeling the fitment would be pretty quick for our car and that Wednesday completion was a reasonable guess, although Friday was still given as the official end time. Since the water in the campground was winterized this time of the year, we opted to stay in a hotel in nearby Sioux City.
Rolling pastures of eastern Nebraska
The Blue Ox factory is located in a pastoral setting amid the rolling farm land of eastern Nebraska. Google Maps had us exiting I-80 near Grand Island and driving on rural roads the remaining 150 miles, providing an enjoyable interlude to the monotonous conditions of high speed freeway travel. The town of Pender is so small we were recommended to stay Sunday night 20 miles south in the slightly larger town of West Point, NE.
Downtown Pender, Nebraska
After chipping ice off the windshield Monday morning (a semi-rare occurrence in arid Colorado) we arrived fresh at the factory at 8 am. While there are no signs indicating where a visitor should go, there is only one building that made sense, and indeed that was the proper building. We were greeted by Patricia (whom I made the reservation with a month prior) and shown into a conference room with history about the company and complimentary refreshments. Our tech advisor Connor soon arrived and we next went to the Blue Ox visitor center, where a variety of towing products are displayed. After signing a few papers and moving suitcases into their company car (a Chevy Sonic appropriately equipped for flat towing), we were off to big city! Connor would call when the car was complete, estimated for either late Wednesday or early Thursday.
Customers are welcome to stay in the onsite Blue Ox Campground
For those choosing to stay in Sioux City (a 45 minute drive from the factory), a good choice is the Hard Rock Casino and Hotel. For about $99/night we had a very nice, large room and the hotel was convenient for not just gambling, but for walking to anywhere in downtown. I enjoyed a number of long morning walks along the Perry Creek Trail (literally runs through the Hard Rock parking lot) and the Riverfront Trail. This website lists the walking trails in downtown Sioux City.
As for dining options, the buffet in the Hard Rock is exactly like buffets in casinos across the country: not very good but difficult to pass up with the discounts offered. For the $5/person we payed it’s fine. At the listed price of $15/person you’d be better off walking to IHOP. The other two dining options onsite are the Fuel Grill (my chicken Caesar salad was tasty) and Main+Abbey, a bustling gastropub that may be the best food option in town.
The completion call from Blue Ox arrived late Wednesday morning, just after we had booked an additional night at the hotel. No worries, we gambled some more and departed Thursday morning to retrieve our car. As you’d expect from the company that designs and manufactures the hardware, our baseplate was expertly installed. The promised towbar was already in the trunk, as were the instructions/warranty card and the wiring cord to connect the motorhome lights to the Crosstrek lights. We asked for a factory tour and Jeremy (another tech) was nice enough to show us around.
Subaru Crosstrek before installation
Same Subaru Crosstrek after Blue Ox installation
We found out the steel used to manufacture the baseplates and towbars is local, coming from nearby Sioux City. We watched a giant laser cutting machine that turns a huge, flat sheet of steel into various parts in just 15 minutes. Next, a 150 ton press makes quick work of any required bends before the parts are sent to welding. A combination of robots and humans makes the many welds required before a powder coating is applied. A nifty machine takes raw cardboard material and spits out custom sized boxes for the many parts that are shipped out. The factory seemed to be well organized and well run and gives customers a sense the employees genuinely care about the product.
If your car qualifies for the Blue Ox fitment program and you don’t mind driving to Nebraska and staying a week, I highly recommend signing up. You get a professional installation, all the parts necessary to flat tow for free, and the pioneering satisfaction that anybody else with your car can now purchase a baseplate off the shelf.
