My Take on A No-Holes License Plate Bracket

*** I have started to make offer these for sale. Please check out the thread here:

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/low-mount-license-plate-bracket-35-shipped.429680/#post-12353840

Today I fabricated a no holes license plate bracket of my own design. At least I think it is as I have not seen this design any where else but it is difficult to check every old thread on this forum to see what everyone else has done.



Some will ask why not use the stock location for the front plate? For most people the location of the front plate is probably of little concern but for me I did not like the stock location and did not want my front bumper drilled since I did not think it looked all that great. Unfortunately, despite explicit instructions to leave the bumper alone there was a lack of communication and the dealer drilled the bumper anyways. I received a bed extender for free for their mistake but now I will have to come up with a solution to fix their mistake. Not sure what that will be quite yet. Also, I just like the looks of the plate lower and not blocking part of the air flow to the radiator.

Here is my solution. I have the OEM front skid plate and looking at the mounting point of the skid plate I noticed that at the location of the two top allen head bolts there was just enough room between the bumper and skid plate for a 1.5 inch wide by 1/8 inch thick flat piece of aluminum to fit.





So I took the piece of aluminum, slid it in place, and marked the piece for length and hole location, removed and drilled and trimmed the aluminum. Here is how it fit.



Next I took a metal coat hanger and cut a short piece off and bent the coat hanger until I had the right bend to make a pattern that could be transferred to another piece of flat aluminum. The the pattern was transferred to two pieces of flat stock and holes were drilled to attach the vertical supports to the cross brace.



Lastly the vertical brackets were drilled and tapped to accept a bolt to hold the license plate on. Here is what the final result looks like off the truck.










And here is what it looks like on the truck.



Looking straight down from the top you can see that the brackets do not touch the bumper at all.



Here is the view from the side.



And the view looking behind the bracket to where the vertical supports attach to the horizontal support.



And a few final thoughts. The bracket is remarkably sturdy for only using three pieces of flat stock aluminum. I had originally planned to use a few more supports or cross braces to make the bracket more rigid but in the process of test fitting the current design it was obvious that no additional support was needed. The final product tilted forward just slightly, causing the bottom of the license plate to rattle when it was tapped. I did not want to listen to that noise every time I went over a bump so I placed a few self-adhesive pads to the back of the plate between the plate and vertical support. These eliminated the noise and made the plate almost completely vertical.



I used another two pads on the back of the vertical support between the support and the plastic bumper piece, on the off chance that someone or something pushed the plate backwards I would avoid metal to plastic contact and damage to the plastic bumper. Unfortunately it was too dark to get good pictures of these pads tonight. I will take a few pictures and post them to show where they were placed and what they look like.

Overall I am very pleased with how the no holes plate bracket looks and works. I had considered painting it black or polishing it up but you cannot see the bracket unless you look for it so why bother. Incidentally, all the hardware is stainless as well so no worries about rust.

Thanks for checking the project out.

 

Very nice!

 

why didnt you do this 2 weeks ago? I wanted to do something but my lack of creativity forced me to drill and place on bumper. daeeemmmm

 

Nice job. Looks and works really good!!

 

Great job!

For the holes you could always get some panel retainer plugs, and paint them to match your color:

http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/61-2nd-generation-2005/209499-bumper-plugs.html

 

If only my dealer hadn't already drilled holes...

 

Thanks everyone. Another TW member bought a rectangular CNC aluminum block with a TRD logo on it that sits in place of the plate but does not go below the bumper. Here is the link:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Toyota-Tacoma-Front-License-Plate-Delete-2005-2014-/281403120536?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item4184eedb98

I am considering this option.

 

You can always remove and fill or mask. In my humble opinion it would look better than the stock location!

 

Not a bad solution. Thanks for the link.

 

What did you use to bend the aluminum?

 

Well.....a vice and a rubber mallet. And while I would love to own a metal brake the vice worked slick and it was only four bends.

 

That's actually pretty cool. Not enough to make me want to drill holes in my bumper but if I already had them I would certainly choose that option. That would look nice on your color truck too.

 

Nice job man!! We don't have front plates here in FL, but If we did I would want that!

 

Thats cool ! Thanks for sharing .

 

Excellent work OP.

 

this one has been available for quite some time and it works great

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/bu...rue-no-drill-front-license-plate-bracket.html

 

I agree. I may try smoothing the holes out and filling them knowing that if I don't get things perfect I can cover it up with one of these.

 

Many thanks!

 

The person who sells them had sent me a link to the product previously. It looks like a nice product. I decided I wanted to make my own for four reasons. I wanted the plate to sit a little lower. I wanted one that did not contact the bumper at all. It was cheaper to make my own. And lastly, it was fun and rewarding to conceptualize an idea and see it through to a sucessful conclusion.

 

I hear ya! I was PISSED when I picked up my new truck. What is the matter with these dealers?