I need help. I bought a universal license plate mounting kit for the front but i feel like I shouldnt just drill into the bumper. What should I do? Let me know how yo did your front license plate. Thanks I appeeciate it
I need help. I bought a universal license plate mounting kit for the front but i feel like I shouldnt just drill into the bumper. What should I do? Let me know how yo did your front license plate. Thanks I appeeciate it
I am assuming that you have the Aero nose based on your screen name. One way to mount the plate if you don't have the actual OEM plate mount (you can post in The Mall and probably come up with one), it to take the universal plate mount and zip-tie it to the front of your car. I did this for while (until I was able to come up with an OEM plate bracket) and it looked pretty good and didn't require screws. The trick is just get the big zip ties and hook them thru the front opening of the aero nose to to the metal brace behind the nose.
I'm surprised so many people have issues with this.
Go to Home Depot, Lowes, or similar, pick up some "L" bracket stock. Cut it to fit just inside the license plate, drill two holes to mount on one part of "L". On other part of "L", line up license plate and drill holes to mount. Get two screws and two locknuts to install plate. Two self-tap screws to install bracket assembly. Install bracket underneath the bumper. You can off-set it so it's mounted to the side, and even with the license plate it won't cover up the front turn signals.
It'd cost $5 to do the above and maybe ten - fifteen minutes worth of time. Plus no holes in the front of bumper (of course they're under the bumper, but out of sight). Super easy, cheap, it works, and it won't cover up the opening in the air-dam like a standard center mount would.
I always just stuck mine in the crack between the dash and windshield. I never had a problem in 2 years of owning it, and we have a police station in the front of our neighborhood.
If you need a bracket, post a wanted ad in "The Mall" section of this forum. They aren't too hard to get ahold of. Don't drill holes in your OEM bumper please!
I make my own brackets, since I hate drilling into the front facia of any car. If you bend your own bracket, it can be mounted to the metal reinforcement that runs along the bottom of the aero nose. Yes, you may have to drill 1/4" holes there, but they cannot be seen if the bracket is ever removed. Pretty easy job using a piece of 1/8x1" flat bar available at your local hardware store.
Originally posted by BlackEmrald: I always just stuck mine in the crack between the dash and windshield. I never had a problem in 2 years of owning it, and we have a police station in the front of our neighborhood.
My car came the same way, and I just kept doing it. The local cops apparently didn't care, they saw me almost every day and they've parked next to me a few times. It's a rural area so they just sit there watching 1 car at a time, hoping to see a speeder. Never cared about my plate. Cops in other areas never stopped me either. So I got complacent. But after 2.5 years, a random cop from another area pulled me over for it on the interstate.
The solution I went with was the zip ties. Kind of cheesy but it works. I'm not good with hardware stores. I looked around and found some long L shaped pieces intended for use on a roof, but I wasn't driving a vehicle that could carry that, and didn't see anybody around to cut it for me. I used long zip ties and painted them black before install so they wouldn't be visible. Used those to make a loop that holds the top of the plate, and another loop that holds the bottom. Then put small zip ties on the plate to loop around the large ties. Good thing about the zip ties is that the plate can move if it hits something, without ripping the bumper. There are some spots around here where my plate has hit things. Bad thing is it's hard to get the plate to sit vertically. I couldn't find a way to constrain it that way with zip ties, so mine's tilted upward some.
I used long zip ties and painted them black before install so they wouldn't be visible. Used those to make a loop that holds the top of the plate, and another loop that holds the bottom. Then put small zip ties on the plate to loop around the large ties. Good thing about the zip ties is that the plate can move if it hits something, without ripping the bumper. There are some spots around here where my plate has hit things. Bad thing is it's hard to get the plate to sit vertically. I couldn't find a way to constrain it that way with zip ties, so mine's tilted upward some.
This is almost exactly how I did it with the exception that instead of mounting the license plate directly with the zip ties....I mounted a cheap plastic universal plate mounting bracket (but didn't tighten the zip ties all the way)and then once that was secured....I mounted the plate to it. I then carefully positioned the plate and bracket where I wanted it (vertically) snugged the zip ties very tight. That made sure the that the plate wasn't tilted upward or would flop around when driving.
