Front license plate bracket 3rd gen

Hello all,

Finally got the plates for my 3rd gen. My dealership went ahead and added that hideous black bracket.. I have gone ahead and screwed the plates onto the bracket for now.. has anyone taken the bracket off and just screwed their plates to the bumper? How's it look? Pictures please!

 

This is the bracket I am talking about

 

License plate frame is painted in body color

 

Love the color of the grille.... Did you paint it or platidip? I can't tell if its gray or black..

 

Satin black paint. No chips after 35K miles

 

I hate holes from the front plates

 

I took the license plate/bracket off and went to Lowes to bought some tabs to plug up the holes. Look at pic below

 

That actually looks decent

 

I got pulled over by a trooper for not having front plates while driving my wife's GLA 250. #texas

 

I was involved in an accident in 2009, in my 2007 Access Cab. Got a new grill and bumper. Haven't had a front plate displayed since. in 100,000 miles, it's a miracle I've never been pulled over for it, or ticketed for it when pulled over for other reasons.

 

Did you drill new holes? Because if your dealer added the the bracket you have to drill new holes for the license plate

 

I drilled new holes. Holes in a bumper for a front plate are not a big deal to me. I do not want to deal with the ongoing law enforcement stops in Houston and small Texas towns for not having a front plate (been there, done that).

An an alternative, you may want to consider having the black OEM license plate mounting block painted the same color as your truck.

 

Have you considered making your own bracket? Fairly easy using angle aluminum from a place like home depot. Just pick up the same screw holes used for the air dam (1 center and 2 outer holes). If you remove the air dam you can pick up the 2 holes behind the air dam to mount the bracket. If you need to remove the plate for off road use its just a few screws, and to me at least it is a better looking option than drilling holes in my bumper.

These color matched plugs seem pretty decent if your dealer already drilled the bumper but I've never actually seen these plugs in person:

https://www.bumperplugs.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=98

 

I attached my plate directly to the bumper. Rather than drill more holes in the bumper, I drilled new holes in the plate to match the existing bracket holes. Here in California we have no numbers, graphics or images in that area of the plate. Looks much better than the jutting mouthguard.

 

Any other info on your bracket design?

I did something similar once but the wind at highway speed would bend the plate over, and sometimes buffeting would bend it forward at the corners.

 

Post # 43 & 45

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/front-license-plate-bracket.404027/page-3



Once I took the air dam off I had to pick up two new bolt holes as you can kinda see above. I have had zero issues with this bracket, the reinforcement make it pretty sturdy. Its also very easy to remove if you want to head offroad, however if I were to do it again I'd use a hinge with a couple of torsion clips.

 

I threw my front plate in the trash, and the bracket is in the closet.