Front license bracket

4Funnr

4Funnr

New member
I've always owned Hondas before buying my new 4runner and every Honda comes with a front license bracket that does not require drilling to be mounted.

From what I can tell, Toyota doesn't do this and requires you to drill holes into your $40k vehicle.

Am I missing something? Is there anyway around this for the new 2010s for those of us in states like CA, etc.?
 
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Check with your dealer. There should be a TSB that describes how to install a front license plate.

The 4th Gen wasn't designed for a bracket either. Some dealers use brackets, but it's really not necessary. Either way, you need to use self-tapping screws to hold the plate on the bumper in a pre-determined location. There are little dimples in the bumper in the right spot.

Without the bracket, it makes for a cleaner look in states that don't require a front plate.
 
4Funnr said:
I've always owned Hondas before buying my new 4runner and every Honda comes with a front license bracket that does not require drilling to be mounted.

From what I can tell, Toyota doesn't do this and requires you to drill holes into your $40k vehicle.
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Just curious...what's holding up the bracket if it's not screwed into the bumper on a Honda?

Many Toyotas don't even come with a bracket. The front license plate screws directly into the front bumper using self-tapping screws. Take a look at any current Toyota Camry.

My Venza has a bracket that sits between the plate and the bumper. However, the whole thing is just screwed into the front bumper (long screws straight through the license plate and bracket).
 
I noticed that my local dealer was mounting the front plate surround (housing a dealer ad tag) directly to the bumper with the self tapping screws as previously mentioned. I would hope that a bracket could be fabricated and mounted to existing hardware somewhere along the front facia.
 
qs933 said:
Just curious...what's holding up the bracket if it's not screwed into the bumper on a Honda?
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On my 99 Accord and my wife's 07 Civic they both had OEM no-drill hardware that mounted on the front bumpers. Both vehicles were purchased in no-front-plate states yet they included the brackets in the trunks.

The brackets were designed to fit onto hidden mounts on the front bumper and then the rear of the bracket followed the contour of the bumper. I suppose after years of use they may have rubbed some paint off the bumper where they followed the countours but after 2 years they hadn't caused any problems. The best part was you didn't have to put unsightly holes in your bumper!

Here's an image of a front bracket for the accord. You can see the bottom slots (big square identions) that sit into the open lower fascia of the front bumper and screw into hidden mounts.

3173Tl4tpxL._SL500_AA260_.jpg
 
Here is a link to what most of the guys used on BMW M3 front bumpers and I had. You still have to drill holes in your bumper but on the bottom side .The upside is the plate is adjustable up and down to where you want it.
Great quality but they are like $50 though.
Skene Design License Plate Mount
 
Me and my wife just got a 2010 SR5 4runner 4x4 Blizzard White last week and so far we love it. I'm wanting to put a license plate on the front but I don't like where they have the two pre drilled spots its way to high up almost in the grille. I want to mount a bracket down lower on the next plastic spoiler area under the air intake area. I went to several part dealers and haven't found any decent looking brackets has anybody does this yet or know what kind of plastic bracket has a flat flush back on it? I know I will have to screw or bolt into the plastic spoiler.
 
If there are accessible bolts on the underside/backside of the front bumper (like where the black cross-hatched portion may mount to the bumper?), one option would be to fabricate a bracket out of 1/2" aluminum flat stock that you should be able to find at an hardware store or home building center. I'll have to crawl under there tomorrow and see if there are any mounting points under there. It won't do me much good as my dealer had already mounted a frame to the front bumper when I picked up my car, but it might help some others out.
 
I want to find bracket like shown for the Accord that is thin and flat but I want of mount it right below where the Missouri license plate is, where the chrome strip and the next white section about 10" tall is.
 
I returned a new 2010 4runner after finding the holes

I returned a new 4runner after finding the holes behind the dealer’s advertisement plate the night I brought it home. Very disappointed that I do not have the 4runner but happy I don't have one that has two holes in the front bumper. I wish I read this thread first.
I have found three other 4runners since retuning the one i bought in my desired color & options with an initial qoute were I thought a deal could be closed only to find that holes had been drilled into the painted surface of the front bumper.
I will find a 4runner without holes/damage or find something else. The holes are a show stopper for me.
I hope Toyota monitors this forum and releases a proper mounting bracket soon. The current method of mounting places the plate is too high & leaves the lower part dangling in the breeze
 
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Finally got my new tags. Now I have to figure out what to do with the front license plate to mount it without drilling holes in it. We need a darned engineer on the board. There has got to be some way to fabricate a mount so that no drilling is required.

I think the guy from Missouri must have trimmed his plate. Mine does not fit in the gap at all.
 
4Funnr said:
Finally got my new tags. Now I have to figure out what to do with the front license plate to mount it without drilling holes in it. We need a darned engineer on the board. There has got to be some way to fabricate a mount so that no drilling is required.

I think the guy from Missouri must have trimmed his plate. Mine does not fit in the gap at all.
Click to expand...

Sorry it's taken so long to reply.

I took my car to a friend of my dad's who does auto detailing, accessories, etc.. I told him my dilemma with mounting the license plate and he gave me two solutions, 1) drill into the bumper or 2) mount it in the bottom part of the grille. He also mentioned that he would not drill into the bumper if it were his car. Anyways, the license plate is not cut, it's bent backward, so that the edge is rounded. He popped the hood and secured it in place with two screws with bolts in the back - but I'm sure you could use zip ties.

Never thought about bending a license plate to be illegal, but oh well, I'm just missing the bottom inch or inch and a half which has nothing on it anyways. From the way I see it, I accomplished what I wanted to which was to have a front license plate and not drill into the bumper.
 
ralphpolo88 said:
Sorry it's taken so long to reply.

I took my car to a friend of my dad's who does auto detailing, accessories, etc.. I told him my dilemma with mounting the license plate and he gave me two solutions, 1) drill into the bumper or 2) mount it in the bottom part of the grille. He also mentioned that he would not drill into the bumper if it were his car. Anyways, the license plate is not cut, it's bent backward, so that the edge is rounded. He popped the hood and secured it in place with two screws with bolts in the back - but I'm sure you could use zip ties.

Never thought about bending a license plate to be illegal, but oh well, I'm just missing the bottom inch or inch and a half which has nothing on it anyways. From the way I see it, I accomplished what I wanted to which was to have a front license plate and not drill into the bumper.
Click to expand...

Thanks for getting back to us. I was looking at my front plate and the bottom grille today and I think that the number and letter part of CA plates are taller than on MO. To make it fit, I would have to bend (or cut off) part of the letters on my plate.

I'm going to keep at it and maybe some ingenuity will strike me.
 
4Funnr said:
Thanks for getting back to us. I was looking at my front plate and the bottom grille today and I think that the number and letter part of CA plates are taller than on MO. To make it fit, I would have to bend (or cut off) part of the letters on my plate.

I'm going to keep at it and maybe some ingenuity will strike me.
Click to expand...

I saw some other ideas on other forums. There were all sorts of ideas, some legit ones too. If you can, hold off on mounting your front plate, or at least hold off on drilling. I'll see if I can't find some of those ideas in the next few days and post them up. You'd be surprised at how many ideas there are out there.
 
ralphpolo88 said:
I saw some other ideas on other forums. There were all sorts of ideas, some legit ones too. If you can, hold off on mounting your front plate, or at least hold off on drilling. I'll see if I can't find some of those ideas in the next few days and post them up. You'd be surprised at how many ideas there are out there.
Click to expand...

Thanks. I a google master but haven't found any good hits yet that solve this "problem".

I did check whether I can bend my plate to fit and the damn letters are too tall. Missouri must use smaller type font on the actual alphanumeric type.
 
My SR5 had two dimples on the front bumper where you can self tap a plate bracket onto. I used an awl to start the holes and then just screwed on the bracket, screwed the plate onto the bracket with a Toyota plate frame, took me all of 5 minutes. I must admit it didn't look as bad as I thought it would.
 
That may ultimately be what I end up doing. Although I'm also considering purchasing a Skene license plate bracket and then mounting it to the lower grill by using washers and a longer bolt through the grill openings. I imagine over time it may scratch up the honeycomb grill insert but at least I won't have any holes in my bumper.


FLPB-side-closeup.jpg
 
There are already two holes in your front bumper, they're just covered in a thin shield of plastic. You can actually use a bolt to put you bracket on as the hole comes out on the inside of the bumper.
 
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