Everyone,

My dealership/or Ford installed the front license plate bracket. I am used to Dodges not having them. I personally dont have much of a use for it.

I took the Dealership plate off it, but it appears to use sometype of plastic push through clip to hold it on.

Anyone ever remove thiers? Even if there are couple small holes, that is more acceptable then the dumb license plate holder.

Plus it reduces my air flow!

 

I removed my dealer license plate bracket when my plates came. I bought a plain universal bracket at Walmart for a few bucks.

 

When I purchased ours in NJ it had the front bracket installed. We don't have front plates in PA and I had no desire to have little holes in the front bumper. I had the dealer swap out the trim panel for one without the holes. At least on the 2006 it was an easy swap of the metallic looking trim panel....though they gave me a hard time about it!

 

Took mine off, blocked way to much chrome But it did leave 2 little screw holes Stupid 2 plate state I bought it in all ready had it on before I even arrived to pick it up

Luckily the holes are pretty small, and not noticable from a few feet away.

 

Since I had to place an order to get the options I wanted I made sure the dealer didn't drill those holes for the bracket when it came in. I'll just have to be careful and obey the traffic laws so I don't get cited for it since this is also a 2-plate state. They gave me the pop rivets and bracket however- so from the looks of it you should be able to remove them without too much trouble, albeit with 2 holes. You could always fill those with some painted plugs...

 

Does those pop rivets look like I can just give them a tug to get them out? I was thinking to just put some white caulking in the holes, then a little touch up pain and whamo!

I just didnt want to start pulling those holders without knowing for sure what they are.

 

You need to drill the the pop rivet at the head. Use a drill the is just a little larger than the hole in the head.

 

I put one of these on my '05. If you look closely at a FEH without the front bracket you will notice 3 very small indents where you have to drill holes for the pop rivets to go. The plastic pop rivets have about a 1 1/2 in. long shaft, 1/4 dia. You need a rivit gun that can handle a large pin to put them in.(I had to borrow one). If your going to take them out I would see if it was possible to hold the back while drilling them out so they don't spin in place and melt.

 

Ok, everyone, I drilled out the plastic pop-rivets. If you do this, make sure to use a very small drill bit about the size of the center indent. I am glad I started small and moved my way up.

Anyways, since that portion of the bumper is plastic with a brushed aluminum coating, the metal was somewhat jagged around the hole. I put some caulking in the holes and made sure that the metal had no jagged edges that wernt protected.

I would like to find some brushed aluminum plugs to put in the holes to protect the metal around them, otherwise, water could get in there and definately cause damamge later on.

My other option is a 2nd coating of silicon followed by some silver or chrome model paint.

Suggestions on where to find plugs, seems like stainless steel would be a good alternative to brushed al.

 

If you live in a state that requires front plates, do consider your options before going without it. Your state may not really enforce the rule, or it may be one of the few that has relatively hefty ($100+) fines for driving without a front plate. Also, parking patrols in some areas issue citations for no plate, even if you are not in violation for parking. In some areas that have photo radar enforcement, you'll get a no-plate ticket even if you're not speeding.

If you live in a state considering doing away with front plates, you may find a lobbyist for 3-M Corporation trying to knock the bill down. They sell the reflective coatings and don't like it when those bills pass.