Front license plate mounting question

[TrailHawk]

After reading through the threads about grill-mounting the front license plate, I've decided to mount the plate on the bumper. (I'm 0 for 2 with trying to cleanly bend some old Texas plates)

Before I go drilling through my bumper, I was wondering... does your plate have any type of mounting bracket, washers, etc or is it simply screwed flush onto the bumper?

 

[mikey's2010SR5]

mine was screwed straight into the bumper with no brackets or clips.

 

[Scuba6]

Same with mine...just straight into the bumper. I have a feeling I'm going to have to add brackets at some point.

 

[gwcpa]

Same here. Mine was drilled right through the bumper cover into the bumper. I didn't like my plate rubbing right on the paint, so I installed and Audi plate bracket I had laying around. It is silver, but looks better than the plate right on the bumper cover.

If my bumper was not drilled already, I'd stick the bracket on with 3M tape and not drill it.

 

[Froggy]

My front plate is now mounted to quarter-inch black plastic and the plastic is attached to the original mounting holes in the bumper. The purpose of the modification was to raise the position of the plate.

 

[JasonCz]

I bought a black plastic plate "bracket" from AutoZone. Its basically about 1/2" thick plastic and allows the plain frame I bought to cover the plate completely and not hit the paintwork.

Does anyone else see the horrid advertisements under this actually inside my post? If this is a new thing on the site I'm not impressed.

 

[SeattleMike]

(I'm 0 for 2 with trying to cleanly bend some old Texas plates)

I used a hacksaw to trim mine. A dremel with a cutting wheel would work, too. Tape it with blue painters tape, a sharpie and straight edge to mark the cutting lines, then trim it off.

 

[harper7]

I copied from the Jeep guys and bought the bracket that mounts to a roller fairlead. You could also just get some brackets and mount the plate backing to the grill with bolts and large flat washers. It sits back in 2 1/2 inches in the middle of the lower grill. I'm making some ss brackets tonight to mount it without the fairlead until I get my winch put in.

 

[KevinG]

I copied from the Jeep guys and bought the bracket that mounts to a roller fairlead. You could also just get some brackets and mount the plate backing to the grill with bolts and large flat washers. It sits back in 2 1/2 inches in the middle of the lower grill. I'm making some ss brackets tonight to mount it without the fairlead until I get my winch put in.

That is BAD A$$!!!!!!

 

[Dispense]

That is BAD A$$!!!!!!

I'm lucky that MS does not require a front plate, but I'll only be here a few more months.

If my next home state requires one, that roller fairlead mod is the answer! Thanks for sharing Harper!

 

[TrailHawk]

Thanks for the feedback and the options. I'm going to play with it more this weekend. The standoff type mount would be cool, I hadn't even thought about that :bigok:

 

[4Funnr]

I copied from the Jeep guys and bought the bracket that mounts to a roller fairlead. You could also just get some brackets and mount the plate backing to the grill with bolts and large flat washers. It sits back in 2 1/2 inches in the middle of the lower grill. I'm making some ss brackets tonight to mount it without the fairlead until I get my winch put in.

I'd be interested in seeing the brackets you make to mount the plate. If they don't require drilling, I might even buy them off you!

 

[4Funnr]

I'd be interested in seeing the brackets you make to mount the plate. If they don't require drilling, I might even buy them off you!

Any update on your fabbed brackets Harper?

 

[harper7]

Any update on your fabbed brackets Harper?

I made a couple out of Aluminum but won't be needing them. Getting a internal steel winch bumper shipped within the next week or so. Hopefully next week!

The winch bumpers will go into production shortly and I will post more info as I get it. Bud at Budbuilt has a 5th TE in his shop and designing some great stuff for the 5ths. Like front and rear bumbers,rear tire carriers ,internal front winch bumpers,storage boxes,aux battery trays and the list goes on.

This was the prototype...it will be raised up so it's centered in the production models

 

[Brad's4RTrail]

Question on PIAA light mounting

I copied from the Jeep guys and bought the bracket that mounts to a roller fairlead. You could also just get some brackets and mount the plate backing to the grill with bolts and large flat washers. It sits back in 2 1/2 inches in the middle of the lower grill. I'm making some ss brackets tonight to mount it without the fairlead until I get my winch put in.

Hey there, love your 4 Runner, did you mount your PIAA light bracket down into black bumper or does mount go straight back thru the black grill? Also, how much would the winch bracket/frame cost to obtain, does your guy sell out?

 

[K9trainer]

I hate front license plates, Always wondered why all license plates arnt the same size as the ones motorcycles use. Why do they have to be so damn big for a truck/ cars?
States that require the front plates are just wasting money with the additional plate.

 

[00Sebby]

I hate front license plates, Always wondered why all license plates arnt the same size as the ones motorcycles use. Why do they have to be so damn big for a truck/ cars?
States that require the front plates are just wasting money with the additional plate.

They are ugly and stupid and I hope to never live in a state that requires them, but they are not necessarily a waste of money.

"The financial impact of front license plates

Though aesthetics are almost always the key complaint for car owners, lawmakers have made other arguments against front plates. They say that the cost to make and distribute front plates is not worth the benefits.

But the costs of producing a license plate is minimal, according to a study done by the Texas A&M Transportation Institute. State production costs for a license plate range from 50 cents to $5.65, the study reports. These production costs are passed on to drivers via registration fees.

While front plates don't cost much to produce, they do bring in huge amounts of revenue through tolls and violations.

Denver is a big winner in the front plate game. The A&M study found that front license plate scans were responsible for one-third, a whopping $23 million a year, of toll revenue generated from E-470, a toll road that circles the Mile High City.

The A&M study also found that the lack of a front plate could cost cities. Toll violators often walk (or drive) away scot-free in one-plate states. In Virginia, 23 percent of toll violations were not pursued because the rear license plate was unreadable.

The lack of front plates cause big problems (and costs big money) at the Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport, which uses an Automated License Plate Recognition (ALPR) system to determine parking fees. The airport has to process roughly 15 percent of its transactions manually because glare on the rear plate makes it unreadable to the ALPR system."