Blue Ox Base Plate

[TTT1953]

I put a new Blue Ox base plate on my 2020 Gladiator about 11 months ago and the powder coat/ paint is peeling completely off. I would understand road chips but this is peeling off on almost the entire baseplate. I contacted Blue Ox customer service and was told this is normal wear and tear and that peeling is not covered by the warranty. The metal underneath look like it’s been run through a salt water bath. It has never been on any road with salt. They said I should clean off the rust and paint it myself. In order to paint all the areas that need it I will need to unmount it as the peeling goes all the way to the rear of the baseplate.

[hohenwald48]

Rattle can and blue tape should do the trick.

[BMcD]

My 1 year old Blue ox baseplate on 2017 Jeep Wrangler did the same. Paint peels off in large pieces. Figured I'd get crap service so I just painted their crappy product. So disappointed and will never buy their brand again.

[scenic route]

Same thing on the Jeep...looks like the dickens but it's only surface rust. Those BO baseplates are pretty beefy so I'd just clean up the areas you can get to.

I'm still running the same baseplate on the same Jeep today...They're tough.

[Bigd9]

Well, I've been using Blue Ox products since year 2001 and that has to be the worse flaking paint job I have ever seen! In my opinion, since the baseplate is only a year old, Blue Ox should repair or replace that base plate. If that is normal for powder coat, then Blue Ox needs to go back to another type of painting system.

[pameridan04]

Originally Posted by TTT1953

I put a new Blue Ox base plate on my 2020 Gladiator about 11 months ago and the powder coat/ paint is peeling completely off. I would understand road chips but this is peeling off on almost the entire baseplate. I contacted Blue Ox customer service and was told this is normal wear and tear and that peeling is not covered by the warranty. The metal underneath look like it’s been run through a salt water bath. It has never been on any road with salt. They said I should clean off the rust and paint it myself. In order to paint all the areas that need it I will need to unmount it as the peeling goes all the way to the rear of the baseplate.

I would just leave it on and paint what you can with POR 15. Buy a kit or individual bottles. You need a cleaner, then a prep then paint. It STOPS RUST in its tracks. The black shiny finish is indestructible. Its like a ceramic finish. I used it on the bottom of Jeeps, put on my Blue Ox tow bar, and custom hookup in front of Jeep. Highly recomend.


Jim P.

[lass]

Had the same issue a few years ago and it looks as if Blue Ox has still not refined their process. The bare metal receives an acid bath which must be washed and dried prior to getting the powder coat. This didn’t happen and the metal is rusting under the black coating. If done properly, the coating would be difficult to remove even with sand blasting.

I’m lucky to have a good powder coat house near me and they did a great job of sand blasting / coating for $150 and it looks brand new after about 2 1/2 years.

Here’s my 2018 JLUR before doing the powder coat.

[153stars]

I would rather see these and hitches just painted with a Rustoleum direct over metal paint. Once it starts to peel stuff rusts twice as bad under as if was bare metal.

[Dav L]

Originally Posted by scenic route

Same thing on the Jeep...looks like the dickens but it's only surface rust. Those BO baseplates are pretty beefy so I'd just clean up the areas you can get to.

I'm still running the same baseplate on the same Jeep today...They're tough.





Attachment 339802

That's cute how both your RV and Jeep sleep on their sides together.