Honda Fit with Navion MH - Recommendation for best base plate?

[Tuckerman]

Hello all. I am in the process of buying a 2012 or 2013 Honda Fit (automatic) tow behind our 2011 Itasca Navion. I have looked fairly extensively on the site and appreciate all the excellent info provided.

I am looking for any recommendations on the best plate to purchase for the Fit. I will be purchasing the ReadyBrute Elite tow bar. My RV hitch receiver is 21.5 inches from the ground.

Essentially, I am asking those who tow a Fit which base plate works best and provides an optimal solution for safe towing with as level as possible a tow bar. I realize that any answers might relate strictly to the type of MH, but any thoughts or advice to someone new to towing would be greatly appreciated.

John and Margo and Tucker (Bearded Collie)
North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Itasca Navion, Honda Fit toad (to come)

[bdickson]

I had a Blue Ox baseplate on my Honda FIT and really liked it. The installation was very clean, not much showing at the front. At 21.5 on the hitch height, be prepared to have to use a drop hitch to level the tow bar. I don't remember the numbers, but I think the FIT receive rheight was only 14 or 15 inches.

[Easyrider]

I might be wrong but I think it won't matter which base plate manufacturer you go with because they all come out in the same area on your towed vehicle. It's a matter of preference as far as how clean the installation looks when towing or not towing. But the need for a drop receiver is determined by the type of vehicle towed and not the base plate used. I prefer the Blue Ox base plate because you hardly notice it when not using it to tow with. Whatever you decide to use will probable require a drop receiver, because of the height of your toad.

[view2a.thril]

As you make your toad decisions, don’t forget to take a look at Winnebago’s recommendations on page 12-3 of your owner’s manual. For example:
-Max 4” drop hitch
-Surge-style toad brakes are not recommended.

[luvlabs]

BlueOx was our choice for a baseplate. I wasn't too interested in surge brakes but I do use the RVi2 braking system which works quite well. The connection point on the Fit is 14" and 6" drop receiver would bring you level.

If your manufacturer says says no surge brakes and only a 4" drop it is based on the strength on the hitch they installed. If you decide to work within these limits then the RVi brake would be a good choice and a 4" drop receiver with a Demco tow bar (adjustable +/- 3" in height) would also work well.

[CountryFit]

i tow a 2010 fit so this is my setup:

base plate: roadmaster 521190-1 - very easy to install
tow bar: roadmaster all terrain (i just bought this to replace my stowmaster. falcon 2 is good too).
signal light harness: i don' t have the parts no. but it was a direct plug-in from back of cargo area.

good luck.

[Tuckerman]

Thanks for all for the helpful info.

I am thinking of the Blue Ox or the Demco base plate as its installation includes the Fit metal bumper whereas the RM plate requires completely replacing the Fit bumper with the RM base plate -- not sure how this would affect structural integrity of the front end of the car in a head-on crash.

As well, the Blue Ox and Demco base plate set up and attachment looks a whole lot simpler than the RM system. The Demco unit has the added benefit of dealing with the need for a large drop hitch.

As one of the posters indicated, Winnebago does not recommend use of surge brakes as is the case in the ReadyBrute Elite system. I'm no engineer, and I talked to the NSA people (but have not yet connected with Winnebago tech) but one would think that in ANY braking system the stopping of the toad is not instantaneous thus there would be a "surge" forward of the tow bar. The ReadyBrute takes advantage of this, presumably, inevitable slight forward movement. So .... if the forward movement is going to happen anyways what is the problem with using it to activate the toad brakes?

Any further thoughts or advice would be appreciated.

Thanks