Mini Cooper Broke away!!!

[Rvmajormudd]

Just wanted to post a warning! We have been towing our 2006 Mini Cooper S Convertible for 10 years and 50,000 plus miles. We recently had a Blue Ox Baseplase break away from the frame and the car came free. By the Shear Grace of God we were turning and only moving 5mph and only damaged the Mini Cooper and did not kill anyone. ANYONE towing a Mini Cooper with the Blue Ox Baseplate BX1303 PLEASE inspect your Bumper Carrier Brackets. The Blue Ox Baseplate did not fail but the attaching point to the car failed. Newer Mini's use different baseplates and attach differently But please inspect yours if you are using the BX1303. The flat plate that the baseplate attaches to has only small welds on the back side and has broken away from the frame on our Mini Cooper.
We love towing our Mini Cooper and have towed it all over the United States and will continue after we replace and reinforce the Bumper Carrier Brackets and add secondary safety cables.

David Major
2011 Fleetwood Storm
2006 Mini Cooper S Convertible

[BFlinn181]

I'm curious, did you have a break-a-way braking system? Was the base plate secured with the cables Blue Ox usually includes with their base plates to secure it to the car? What do you mean by "add secondary safety cables." Did you have primary safety cables that failed?

[mrt_1111]

Welcome to irv2. Being that a pictures says a thousand words and being I also tow a car would you please post some pictures. Thanks

[JohnRR]

Thank you for the very important information

It's good to read it worked out as well as could be expected.

[Crabby Mike]

Originally Posted by BFlinn181

I'm curious, did you have a break-a-way braking system? Was the base plate secured with the cables Blue Ox usually includes with their base plates to secure it to the car? What do you mean by "add secondary safety cables." Did you have primary safety cables that failed?

Hopefully the OP will elaborate, but from past reports of similar incidents, the attachment point for the primary safety cables (that attach to the MH and the baseplate) is the same part of the baseplate that the towbar attaches to, so if that breaks off (or the entire baseplate comes off due to loose nuts, etc.), the cables don't help. That's why you need the secondary safety cables, which further attach the baseplate to the towed vehicle's chassis. If those are attached properly, it would be very unlikely for a towed vehicle to ever come completely unattached.

[BFlinn181]

When I installed my Blue Ox base plate on a '00 VW Beetle, it came with 2 cables. I used them to tie the base plate to a different part of the frame that the base plate attached to. If the base plate fastening failed, the cables keep the base plate tied to the car. I thought all installations would have such back up, if instructions are followed.

[Rvmajormudd]

Blue Ox now includes secondary safety cables, well actually we will see if the new version they are sending comes with them. The original baseplate did not back in 2006. We do not use an auxiliary brake system because it's only a Mini Cooper Convertible. I'll see if I can upload the pictures.

[MSHappyCampers]

Hi ! Welcome to IRV2! We're sure glad you joined the gang!

Thanks for the heads-up!

Good luck, happy trails, and God bless!

[BFlinn181]

Originally Posted by Rvmajormudd

Blue Ox now includes secondary safety cables, well actually we will see if the new version they are sending comes with them. The original baseplate did not back in 2006. We do not use an auxiliary brake system because it's only a Mini Cooper Convertible. I'll see if I can upload the pictures.

A convertible Mini Cooper weighs ~2,800-3,000 pounds. Take it out into a flat parking lot and push it, then run to the front and see if you can stop it. Inertia and momentum can get you every time. Perhaps the extra strain of the RV having to do all the braking contributed to the base plate breaking away. Just a thought.

My VW Beetle TDI weighs in at 2,800 pounds, I wouldn't think of towing without auxiliary brakes. Without them, there's no break-a-way braking. Also, it's illegal in many states to tow that much without brakes.

[DrDaveMA]

Originally Posted by Rvmajormudd

Just wanted to post a warning! We have been towing our 2006 Mini Cooper S Convertible for 10 years and 50,000 plus miles. We recently had a Blue Ox Baseplase break away from the frame and the car came free. By the Shear Grace of God we were turning and only moving 5mph and only damaged the Mini Cooper and did not kill anyone. ANYONE towing a Mini Cooper with the Blue Ox Baseplate BX1303 PLEASE inspect your Bumper Carrier Brackets. The Blue Ox Baseplate did not fail but the attaching point to the car failed. Newer Mini's use different baseplates and attach differently But please inspect yours if you are using the BX1303. The flat plate that the baseplate attaches to has only small welds on the back side and has broken away from the frame on our Mini Cooper.
We love towing our Mini Cooper and have towed it all over the United States and will continue after we replace and reinforce the Bumper Carrier Brackets and add secondary safety cables.

David Major
2011 Fleetwood Storm
2006 Mini Cooper S Convertible

David, sorry to hear of the issues with the older Blue Ox Mini baseplate. You bring up a good point, those of us that are towing should add to our annual checklist:

Inspect your toad, check for broken tow mounts, welds, loose bolts, re-torque all bolts.

On a trip 2 years ago while in Skagway, AK (if you have ever been there you know there is a long downgrade going in, and of course, an upgrade leaving town) I was checking our Saturn when I found 5 of the 6 frame attachment points had broken, not the welds or bolts, but the steel plates! I am sure they broke because the bolts had come loose causing the entire assembly to stress and flex in ways they are not designed to. We were lucky, Skagway is a cruise ship port and my wife was able to find a welder, (she was also the town librarian) that added gussets and welded the baseplate, making it stronger than new. We were delayed a day, but if I had not found the problem before we departed, I am sure on departure we would have lost the Saturn over the edge, maybe the coach, and us with it.

Lesson learned - check your toad attachment points at LEAST annually.

[dennis45]

Originally Posted by BFlinn181

A convertible Mini Cooper weighs ~2,800-3,000 pounds. Take it out into a flat parking lot and push it, then run to the front and see if you can stop it. Inertia and momentum can get you every time. Perhaps the extra strain of the RV having to do all the braking contributed to the base plate breaking away. Just a thought.

My VW Beetle TDI weighs in at 2,800 pounds, I wouldn't think of towing without auxiliary brakes. Without them, there's no break-a-way braking. Also, it's illegal in many states to tow that much without brakes.

Really, what kind of damage could a 3000 Lb vehicle on the loose at highway speed do anyway?

[JohnRR]

It could do a tremendous amount of damage even more if it hits someone head on doing 50mph coming from the other way then make the other one even a Fiat 500.

[dennis45]

Originally Posted by JohnRR

It could do a tremendous amount of damage even more if it hits someone head on doing 50mph coming from the other way then make the other one even a Fiat 500.

Absolutely, my point was regardless of what you tow, you are taking a huge risk not having any means of emergency braking. I would hope the OP gets the point.

[BPoland]

Unfortunately, If you are not someone that is part of a group like IRV2, you may not even know aux braking systems exist and in most cases are required. Their main source of information is the salesman, and we all know that they only tell the truth I think their should be some kind of note supplied with every base plate and tow bar sold.

Warning - Auxiliary Braking for the Towed Vehicle May Be Required BY Law. Please check your states requirements before towing your vehicle.

Some may see that and still ignore it, but at least they would have been told.