Maximus3 Tow Loops

[WSPJeep]

I'll get to the Maximus3 Tow loops, but first need to explain a little background. TL;DR at bottom.

I have a 2024 Wrangler 392 with steel bumper and winch. It currently has the Blue Ox tow bar installed on it. That tow bar uses three bolts on each side to attach it to the frame and frame horns. Recently, I happened to notice that one of the bolts on one side was completely missing! Looking closer I noticed that every bolt was loose. Fortunately, I happened to find this shortly before leaving on a trip and was able to fix it.

The way I see it, the installer made several mistakes. They didn't use any lock washers, didn't use nylock lock nuts, and didn't use any kind of thread locker. Also, it appears that the way they installed the nuts on the inside of the frame was to weld a piece of wire to the side of the nut in order to fish them into the frame rail. The problem is, with a piece of wire welded to the nut I don't see any good way of getting a wrench on the nut to tighten it properly. They simply relied on the serrated flange on the nut to grab the inside of the frame rail. My guess is they never got them that tight, and were spinning, and they thought it was good enough.

My solution was to order all Grade 8 hardware, bolts, washers, lock washers, and nylock lock nuts and replace all hardware. As far as getting a washer and nut on the inside of the frame I see no reason to use stupid tricks, like welding a rod to the nut, to fish it in there. Having the right tools is a must. A simple magnetic rod can fish the washer in onto the end of the bolt, and a long closed end wrench with a piece of masking tape over the one open end will hold the nut until you get it threaded on to the end of the bolt. Not to mention being able to use the wrench to properly torque things down so nothing comes loose.

That brings me to the Maximus3 tow loops. The one thing I don't like about the Blue Ox is how low it hangs, so I found another thread here with a lot of good information about what systems are safe and what aren't. It sounded like the Maximus is good, but I'm not so sure. I found this video on YouTube, about how it's installed, and honestly was quite surprised. It seems to me that there are some design flaws, unless I'm mistaken and this is not the latest generation?



Issues I see are:

1. Drilling two holes in the frame. What? That just seems like a bad idea. The frame is not engineered to have those holes there. And in fact there is another hole in the frame that they could have designed the bracket to use, but they don't use that one at all. (The Blue Ox does use that hole). Also, if I did drill the frame I would want to prime and paint the holes, as that's a good way to keep your frame from rusting in that spot and further weakening things.
2. No lock washers. Why? Seems like simple insurance to make sure your bolts don't get loose.
3. No nylock lock nuts. Why? Again, simple insurance to make sure nothing comes loose.
4. I guess you just rely on the tabs on the nuts to be able to tighten them fully, rather than actually putting a wrench on the nut. That doesn't seem like a good idea considering what happened to me. Granted, the plates on the end of his frame rails just had two holes, so it might not be possible to actually get a wrench on them. Mine has a slot, so it's much easier to get a wrench in there. Is that a 2024 change?
5. I noticed he had to cut his plastic bumper. Would I have to cut the steel bumper on my 2024 as well?

TL;DR Am I just being paranoid here? I'd like to go with the Maximus3 tow loops for the extra clearance, but not sure I trust the system. The hardware issues could be easily solved, but drilling into the frame makes me leery.

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[LukeDagny]

I installed a Maximus winch plate and tow loops on my '21 JLUR and don't recall drilling any holes. My instructions didn't quite match the parts I received, but installation was pretty straight forward. Based on my experience, there's been an update.

I flat towed my TJ for thousands of miles with a Blue Ox tow bar and universal brackets bolted to my front bumper. I did have to drill holes for this installation. These brackets used small backing plates for reinforcement.

These are the plates

https://www.towuniverse.com/blue-ox...=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Performance Max Catch all (New Customers Only)&utm_term=2335843734185205&utm_content=$100 - $250

The Maximus tow loops are much more heavy duty than the Blue Ox plates. My JL weighs less than 500# more than my LJ.

EDIT: If I did drill holes, I wasn't concerned about weakening my frame. You're basically bolting on a 1/2" thick metal plate to the side and additional plates to the front frame horns.

 

[WSPJeep]

Go to 12:15 in the video, you can see where he has to drill two holes in the frame.

This is the base plate I currently have: https://www.blueox.com/product/bx1139-baseplate/

Honestly, those Blue Ox tabs in your link look sketchy to me and I would definitely trust the Maximus tow loops over those, but not sure if they are better than the Blue Ox base plate I'm currently using.

 

[KCSgtMaj]

I installed the RockJock base plate.

https://www.rockjock4x4.com/CE-9033JLS

 

[WSPJeep]

I installed the RockJock base plate.

https://www.rockjock4x4.com/CE-9033JLS

Does that actually connect to the frame? It's hard to tell from the pictures. It looks like maybe one hole connects through the frame and one to the frame horn. The rest to the skid plate mount locations.

It's kind of cool how it replaces the skid plate, but I would hope at least one of those holes goes through the frame.

 

[KCSgtMaj]

Does that actually connect to the frame? It's hard to tell from the pictures. It looks like maybe one hole connects through the frame and one to the frame horn. The rest to the skid plate mount locations.

It's kind of cool how it replaces the skid plate, but I would hope at least one of those holes goes through the frame.

4 bolts through the frame and 9 to your steel bumper. I’ve got the plastic bumper so mine mounts through the frame where the bumper mounts.

https://1244669.secure.netsuite.com/c.1244669/Documents/JL/CE-9033JLS.pdf

 

[WSPJeep]

4 bolts through the frame and 9 to your steel bumper. I’ve got the plastic bumper so mine mounts through the frame where the bumper mounts.

https://1244669.secure.netsuite.com/c.1244669/Documents/JL/CE-9033JLS.pdf

Those instructions appear to show them bolting through the frame horns, not the frame. Too bad, it would be much stronger with a direct frame mount.

It looks like either the Blue Ox or Maximus 3 are going to be the strongest/safest. I talked with a friend of mine today, who I trust, regarding drilling holes into the frame for the Maximus 3 and he seemed to think it wasn’t an issue.

 

[TJDave]

I used Maximus-3 mounts on my previous Gladiator. I wasn't a fan of the recommended tie rod for the towbar to keep the mounts from bending. The tie rod made hooking up harder, and I couldn't fold the towbar up and cover it when stopped without removing the tie rod. PITA. I now have Roadmaster direct connect mounts on the JLUR and made them work with my steel bumper and winch. They sandwich the frame, and don't hang down any further than the Maximus-3. A little shave on the winch plate sides was all that was needed. I bought Roadmaster adapters for my Blue Ox towbar.

Maximus-3 and tie rod

 

[LukeDagny]

FYI, for those who own a Blue Ox BX7380 (Alpha 2) tow bar. It's not recommended to work with Jeeps and Maximus 3 tow loops. This tow bar has a max. width of 32" between the base plate tabs. If you use Maximus 3 tow loops, they're 35" between mounts.

You need Blue Ox Ascent (BX4370) or Avail (BX7420) series work with mounting points as wide as 42".

 

[Odyssey USA]

I did a video on the rear Maximus-3 tow loops. Channel in sig.

 

[dstrahm]

If anyone is still watching this thread, here are some tips and advice for flat towing in general as well as some thoughts and observations on baseplates.

What nearly everyone that flat tows neglects is the significant amount of sideways force that occurs at the clevis to baseplate connection. This force is inward when pulling and outward when stopping. Those forces are typically hundreds of pounds and can exceeed 1,000 pounds during a hard stop. These forces are what eventually breaks most baseplates and connectors. @TJDave, this is why Maximus developed the crossbar and why they say that flat towing without it is dangerous and voids the warranty.

i recently experienced a critical failure of my BlueOx baseplate on my 2021 JLUR as I accelerated up an interstate on ramp and nearly lost the jeep completely. The baseplate broke just behind the crossbar weld on the driver side and separated from the jeep. The passenger side also broke in the same place but stayed partially connected until I could get the rig stopped in the breakdown lane. on the BlueOx baseplate the safety cables to the coach connect on the leading edge of the baseplate, but the safely cables on the jeep side connect at the rear edge. The breaks occurred at the crossbar so nothing but a small section of metal on the passenger side of the baseplate kept the jeep from completely separating from the motorhome and taking off on its own. Since the BlueOx baseplate has a built in crossbar the lateral forces described above are not likely the cause of the breaks, but more likely from general side to side movement of the baseplate over almost 60,000 miles of non-interstate driving. No, the jeep does not have wobble issues. As a result of this failure I chose to convert the jeep connection to Maximus recovery loops.

i had seen frame cracking issues with earlier versions of the Maximus loops but read about their changes to the frame attachment method as well as the added crossbar. The addition of the crossbar is significant in the design of a flat tow setup primarily due to it being able to isolate the in/out (lateral) forces before they get to the actual frame attachments. The crossbar creates a nearly solid triangle between the two attachment points and where the two towbar arms come together on the towbar. The crossbar nearly eliminates the in/out forces when pulling or stopping. There are still some lateral forces due to wandering of the jeep as it’s towed, but they are minuscule compared to the out/in forces as the towbar arms try to separate or close together When pulling or stopping. Frankly, even if I had stayed with the BlueOx baseplate and more so if choosing another baseplate, I would have added a crossbar like the Maximus crossbar since it vastly reduces those in/out forces applied to the connections.

Also, the Maximus-3 version has two additional bolts attaching the loops to the frame instead of the previous two bolts in the frame and two on the frame horns. This significantly reduces the side to side flexing by spreading that force across a larger area along the side of the jeep frame.

One drawback to the Maximus-3 loops is that they attach to the outside of the jeep frame. This makes the distance between the connection points 35” which is significant.y wider than most baseplate setups and increases the angle of the towbar arms. This also increases the in/out forces so a crossbar is needed even more. It also moves the jeep closer to the motorhome which can create problems if you have a bike rack or other rack in between the coach and Jeep.

My current towbar Is a ReadyBrute Elite II model and the arms are only 27”. This means that the angle between the arms is 37.5° which is wider than I’d prefer. So, before we set out on next years travel I’ll likely look into a new towbar with longer arms.

In summary, the forces applied to the baseplate connections are significant (a 5,500# jeep sitting still on a 10° incline applies over 1,000# of pulling force on the hitch connection.) and the in/out forces, especially if you are not using a supplemental braking system, can easily exceed thousands of pounds trying to twist any connections off. Unfortunately, many manufacturers don’t have the engineering or metallurgy skills to properly design their products and hardly any Jeep owners have the skills to evaluate their setups for safe operating margins. Thank heavens for breakaway systems!

 

[WSPJeep]

I'm still watching the thread. Great info, thanks for sharing @dstrahm!

I am still using the BlueOx baseplate, but I may switch to the Maximus for this reason. I have probably around 25,000 miles towing on mine.

ETA: Great timing with this post as well. Maximus has 15% off and free shipping.

 

[dstrahm]

I'm still watching the thread. Great info, thanks for sharing @dstrahm!

I am still using the BlueOx baseplate, but I may switch to the Maximus for this reason. I have probably around 25,000 miles towing on mine.

Thanks! For jeep owners that don’t offroad much the BlueOx baseplate is a great choice since the towbar connections are both part of the crossbar. The removable pins are much more durable than most ppl give them credit for. My only concerns are that you MUST use permanent thread locker during install and regularly check that the bolts stay tight. Several times during its life I found bolts either loose or broken completely. The loose bolts had been stretched since marks I made between the nuts and the threads are still in the same places as when originally torqued! I can’t stress enough how much the forces are acting on these connections. I chose the Maximus because I needed more approach angle.

 

[WSPJeep]

I completely replaced the bolts on my BlueOx Baseplate after having them come loose on me (reference my original post at the top). I used all grade 8 hardware, nylock nuts, lock washers, red loctite and torqued them properly after that experience. I still check them every time I stop for fuel as I'm paranoid now. So far no problems.

In fact, every time I stop for fuel I literally put hands and touch every bolt, pin, cable, connection, etc. No reason not to do it while I'm waiting for the tank to fill up.

 

[LukeDagny]

My current towbar Is a ReadyBrute Elite II model and the arms are only 27”. This means that the angle between the arms is 37.5° which is wider than I’d prefer. So, before we set out on next years travel I’ll likely look into a new towbar with longer arms.

I didn't realize flat towing a JL was so complicated compared to a TJ/LJ, but I learned quickly. With my LJ, I used a Blue Ox Alpha tow bar and Blue Ox universal brackets that required me to drill holes in my bumper. The brackets looked like this, and were mounted 32" apart (maximum allowed).

With my JLUR, I initially assumed I could use the same tow bar, and just buy another set of universal brackets. After I discovered the mounting points exceeded 32", and planning to mount a winch, I went with Maximus 3.

After ~5000 miles flat towing, I have had no problems. Installing the crossbar only takes a few moments longer, but hasn't caused me any problems.

My biggest challenge flat towing my JL was getting brake lights and turn signals working. Fortunately, my Jeep came with steel bumper, and I used magnetic lights from Harbor Freight.

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