You lose a lot more clearance with the Blue Ox tow bar since the bar (the part across the front of the Jeep) is always there. With one like the Mopar one, the bar part is easily removed and only the two "tabs" remain.

What really bugs me is that with a little more work the brackets that have to stay attached to the Jeep could have been made to be completely behind the plastic air dam. Two holes through the plastic and then you could insert the arms only when towing. You would not lose any ground clearance. If I only knew how to weld...

I am planning on having a slight modification done to the Mopar tow bar. I just need to get new tabs added to the cross bar to allow me to attach my Roadmaster tow bar to Mopar cross bar. Then I will have adjustable arms to make hook up easy. Here are a couple pictures of what I'm trying to describe:

 

I already had a blue ox, so I have ordered the base plate. I trust them, that is one thing. They do make it to fit all models, meaning it hangs down that far to get aroung the rubicons disconnect. I am going to look at modifying mine. After I get it on I will look at the clearance issue. It is going to be more of an approach angle thing than a ground clearance thing. I would be interested in seeing an after market roller that would attach right where the tow pins are.

 

I had talked with Blue Ox many times during their development of the bracket. I even had one of their brackets on order until I saw the PDF showing the actual bracket. It does not hang down that far "because of the Rubicon disconnect". The entire assembly is in front of the disconnect. It is that low since it mounts below the bumper.

Yes, it is more of an approach angle issue. But approach angle is way more important than ground clearance. If you cannot get a tire on to the obstacle then you cannot go over it... I just cannot accept losing that much off roading ability.

Let us know how it works in the wild!

 

Still looks like the tabs and the bar that the tabs are attached to on the Mopar plate hang lower than the one made by Blue Ox. Even with the tow bar removed. It looks like the Blue Ox base plate is right up next to the bumper. It looks like the Mopar unit is hanging down lower. Then the tow bar brings it down even more. Maybe I'm looking at it wrong.

 

With the Mopar one the only thing left on the Jeep when not actually towing it is the two tabs shown here:



These tabs are in exactly the same place as the Blue OX brackets shown here in their installation instructions:



The big difference is with the Blue OX brackets, that bar between the brackets is not removable.

And when I save up enough lunch money to get this bumper:



I can still use the Mopar tow bar since they placed those shackle mounts in the right place to allow the tow bar to be used.

 

That is an awesome bumper. Still seems like the ease of using the Blue Ox will push me to that side though (when that bar between the tabs is the only disadvantage as far as ground clearance),....but like everything else with the Jeep, I will change my mind a thousand times before making a decision.



In addition, doesn't those tabs on the Mopar unit look flimsy for off-roading? At least the Blue Ox base plate looks structurally sound. I just think those tabs on the Mopar unit will get thrashed pretty easy on just about anything. Just my observation. They may be made out of titanium for all I know.

 

In terms of use the Blue Ox will be easier to use (until if and when I get the bar modified to use my Roadmaster tow bar).

I don't think the tabs from the Mopar one are flimsy. They look small but are fairly thick. At least twice as thick as the brackets shown in the Blue Ox picture. And they are a pretty small target to get hung up when wheeling.

Here is another shot of what they look like with the AEV bumper and front skid plate:

 

Like I said, I am hoping to modify slightly. I know that they make generic type brackets that are not as tight up as they should be. I have a 97 with the baseplate on it and it is pretty tight. My father in law has a 06 rubicon and it hangs down about 3-4 inches more. There is no difference, I could mount the same plate from my 97 on his 06, but they changed the part number beginning in 03 to encompass the double tube bumper. The pictureshow it with some clearance from the bumper, not really tight, that had to be for a reason.

Any towbar is going to create an issue unless it is integrated into the bumper like the AEV. On my 77 all I had was a 8" channel for a bumper and tabs bolted to that for the cheap A frame bar. Worked great. Too bad Blue Ox or Roadmaster can't cooperate with one of the off road bumper manufactures and make something that we can use.

 

I had the Roadmaster brackets on my 04 Rubicon that sound like the ones on your father's 06. But they were always getting hit. I replaced them with some brackets I had locally manufactured that simply went over the stock bumper right on the end of the frame rails. Worked great and NO clearance issues! In fact I later found brackets on Ebay made by a guy in Texas that were exactly like the ones I had made. They are about $75 bucks. (Except I cannot find them on Ebay today...). Too bad these will not work on the new JK.

I went with the Mopar one since it is the one that AEV supports with their bumper. They only provide the tabs (shown with D shackles in them). These tabs are just like the ones that come with the Mopar tow bar.

 

Anybody see a reason why a Blue Ox tow bar wouldn't work with the AEV bumper? This is all so frustrating to me. I want to stick with Blue Ox, and want the AEV bumper, but I want the new Warn 12,000 winch with the compressor more, so the AEV bumper is "out the window". I'll probably buy the Blue Ox baseplate for now, and include in my criteria for a new front bumper that it be able to utilize a Blue Ox tow bar.

So much for having my cake and eating it too...

Tom
Bryson City, NC
(sitting at D1 since Nov 30th and hoping for my JK by spring at this point, but getting pretty darn frustrated. If this Jeep weren't so hot, I would have cancelled my order long ago. This is getting ridiculous)