Do you have to drill the front bumper to install a front license plate bracket? My car came from a state that doesn't require a front license plate. But Virginia does, so I have to get a bracket. Dealer didn't know whether the factory bracket, of which there are two different ones, requires drilling. Parts guy couldn't tell from the pictures he had.

Anybody have a spare bracket?

Thomas

 

I'm in Maryland and just rolled the dice on whether I'd get pulled over or not. I didn't want to drill my bumper. I was lucky I wasn't pulled over but the state also recently passed a law that said if your car didn't come with a factory location for it, you don't have to have one (whew).

With that said, if you use a factory bracket (yes, they did come with them) then you will have to drill. If you had one you could use it as a template to see where to drill the holes. There are also aftermarket options, that can be attached without drilling. They even have hide-aways. I don't know where to get them but I'm sure someone on her might chime in. You could also do a search on here. You might come up with a few threads on that issue.

Good luck.

 

- Hide The Plate.com
This is what I have and choose the manual instead of the motorized, mounts in the factory undercarriage bolts on the side.

 

Did you have to drill at all?

 

One small screw under the fascia unseen and 3M double sided tape. Holding well. Have pics somewhere here.

 

Hmm. After exploring the front end of my car again, I've discovered 3 useful screws/bolts down below the bottom air intake, and the two (or 4) bolts that hold the horns behind the grill.

On my car, the center screw below is missing, along with one of the side screws. So I suppose I need to take off the bottom air shield to see what's going on there and figure out whether any of them can be used.

It puzzles me though that I've only found one other person talking about using the horn bolts to secure a license plate bracket through the grill. Maybe that's not optimal if you're trying to preserve the looks of your car, but here in VA we're accustomed to bulky license plates messing up the lines of our cars. But those horn bolts look like they could easily hold a bracket that suspended the plate in front of the thickest part of the bumper. At any rate, I think that's what I'm going to explore doing: fabricating a bracket that attaches to the horn bolts and pokes out between the grill pieces. Perhaps I'll secure the back of the plate to the bumper with a little 3M tape too for extra stability.

Thomas

 

I always thought this was a good set up:

CrossfireForum.org - Colorado Cruizer's Album: Member Galleries - Picture

Check out his Albums.

 

Sorry for being blunt on this but it will look pretty bad. Brackets stilling out of brille? Why? Why not just buy the license plate attachment and mount it. Or, buy one of the optional hide aways? If you goal is not to drill, there are a lot of other ways, that aren't expensive, to do this. You could even buy some brackets and mount them under the front lip that extend out and bend them and mount the license plate low, below the bumper. I've seen some do this on the Crossfire and it looks OK and avoids holes in the bumper.
Edit: Look at the link in the previous post for something along the lines I was talking about.

 

Since I apparently caused a little bit of a stir with my proposal to mount my license plate through the grill, I went back to the drawing board and Lowe's and Advance Auto and came up with a different way. I got a piece of C-channel aluminum and fabricated a bracket out of 3 pieces of it that attaches to the 2 screws below that hold up the wind shield below the engine. Apparently it's seems sturdy enough, and all you can see of the bracket are the two pieces of aluminum running back below the bumper. If it holds up, I'll take it off and powder coat it sometime. My car is white, so I don't know if black or white will be more unobtrusive.

If I ever figure out how to post pics here, I'll post one.

Thomas

 

as good as the double sided tape is these days, why not just tape the plate onto the front bumper? If someone wants to steal your plate, they will get it bolted or not

 

I bought some two-sided heavy duty 3M tape and considered that solution, but ultimately didn't try it. The car has a pointed front, so the plate would require bending to conform, or I'd just wind up with a very small contact patch. I thought that might look a little cheap. And I figured if the tape was really that good, it might pull off the paint. What about snow and ice accumulation? And how would I change plates? Too many issues down that route.

Thomas

 

For the last 6 or 7 years, every summer I see an older gold Lamborghini (at the local car shows) that has a very flat front bumper.
The guy made a color photo copy of his plate on glossy print paper and just stuck in on the bumper with adhesive. He may have laminated it with clear plastic, but it's held up pretty well until this year, it's finally starting to show some wear.
I'm not sure, (since I never actually measured it) but he may have "slightly" down sized it a smidge when he copied it as well.
Personally, I hate front license plates in general, and especially on the Crossfire. Unfortunately I live in a State that requires them. I've been very lucky for the last 10 summers running just one plate, but I know it's only a matter of time before I get nailed. (Even though I know of 2 Corvettes and one SUV that are "LEO" owned vehicles with no front plates).

 

I have an Altec hide-a-way mount available. I used it on my SRT6 when I had it. It's used but in great condition. I think it sold for about $60 when new. Let me know if interested.
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It mounts under the front bumper and flips down and slides underneath when desired. Pretty slick....

 

That hide a way is the way to go. Mike, I don't think any Leo's I have talked to in Ohio....pay much attn. to sporty cars not having the plate. At least in the county where we are building our new building. That is SW of Columbus. You may have different opinions in your corner of the state.

 

Doc, it varies from city to city, and of course it dependes on what kind of day each and every individual "LEO" is having.
I was only pulled over once for no plate, but that was by our infamous OHP, and that was in my Viper. I got a warning.
It's only going to get worse with every Sherriff's car eventually being equipped with license plate reader's on all 4 corners.
Pretty soon Big Bro is going to know EXACTLY where every one of us are any time they want to. What with stop light cameras, speed cameras, speed control aircraft, security cameras, satelites, drones, toll booth activators, cell phones..... you get my drift.
Just so ya know Doc, I'm really not that paranoid......my Mom had me tested.

 

Well, the good thing Mike is that technology isn't cheap...$50k not cheap, so they all won't have it for awhile yet.....lol