I live in Austin Texas and see many cars and truck that do not have a front lincense plate mounted. Texas is a state that it is supposedly required but after talking with a Police Officer at a convenience store, no it was not related to a tickek, just caught the officer leaving the store. I asked him about the law for a front plate and if the Austin Police would ticket you for not having one mounted. He said that 99% of the Austin Police would not bother with it but the DPS would definately write you up. My dilemma is that I am thinking about a road trip to Iowa to visit family and that means many states to go thru, with Texas being the most road time and many DPS in between. I am not sure of the laws in Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri or Iowa but do not want to take any chances. Has anyone come up with a secure way to temporarily mount the front plate and handle the wind and road bumps without having to put holes in the bumper to secure it. I thought of velcro but not sure it would hold real well. Any suggestions would be nice. I also thought I would bite the bullit and mount the Texas plate and when I get back just find some decorative Mustang emblem plate to put on again instead of the Texas plate. but it sure looks nice without anything at all.
I live in Ohio and we're supposed to have a front plate. Once an officer looked at my car and told me I needed to put it on. I told him I didn't wanna make holes in my $45K car. He said he understand and sugested to just leave the plate in the front window on the dash when I park it since that's when an officer might take notice and leave a 'love note'. Especially parking in state where they assume you're local and should have the front plate...
Note that the police will stop you for no front plate only as PC (probable cause) to check out you and your car. If everything else is in order, worst case scenario you get a ticket for "improper equipment", or something similar. Probably won't even count as points against your license or your insurance. Keep the plate and bracket in your trunk; if you ever get stopped for it just tell the nice officer that you were going to mount it later that day. If you're properly licensed, are displaying a current tag on the rear, and aren't DUI or transporting drugs or AK-47s you probably won't even get a ticket - just a verbal warning.
There is nothing more abhorrent than the front license plate brackets that are made available to us from our beloved dealers! Yeah that's exactly what I want -- some 18-year-old mullet head running a self tapping screw through the bumper cover of my new Mustang! Thankfully, most dealer's (at least here in Texas) will leave the brackets off at your request!
My personal opinion would be for you to leave it off your vehicle and just keep the bracket and the plate together under your seat. That way, if a cop does pull you over, you can simply do a "mea culpa" by showing him that you have the bracket in hand and have every intention of mounting it on your car next weekend!
If the cop seemed cool, I might even go so far as to admit that you simply couldn't bear the thought of marring the physical beauty of such classic automobile design by installing this ugly plastic bracket on the front of your new Mustang. If he had any soul whatsoever, he'd understand!
Now if you're the type who is prone to be running around with substances that are frowned upon by our "Men In Blue" then I take all of the above statements back and recommend that you install your bracket immediately!
Believe it or not, cops work on quotas. They might call it something else or have all kinds of reasons, but unless they write a certain amount of citations they answer for it.
Many times they will pull you over for a simple reason, like no front plate, and IF they find another slight fault they will write a ticket for the lessor of the two. Fact of life.
Why give then a reason in the first place? You are asking for a ticket!
It is illegal for a supervisor in Texas to give quotas to patrol men. Most are funded by Tax dollars (DPS, Sherriff, Constables) hence no matter how many tickets they write they still have the same budget. The only exception is small towns that have a small non tax supported police department. I just got my first ticket for no front license plate. I'll just take some double sided 3m stick it on drive down to the constables office within 10 days and pay $10 and get it dismissed.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tominator
Believe it or not, cops work on quotas. They might call it something else or have all kinds of reasons, but unless they write a certain amount of citations they answer for it.
Many times they will pull you over for a simple reason, like no front plate, and IF they find another slight fault they will write a ticket for the lessor of the two. Fact of life.
Why give then a reason in the first place? You are asking for a ticket!
With the electric folding lincense kit, I am not sure you can mount it to well on the front of the 05's. There is not alot of clearance left by the time you mount it before the plate will rub the ground or get all scratched up if you should go over a speed bump. I understand that they will flex back if you should hit a bump but not before they scratch up the plate. I have seen advertisements about a tape that you use to hang pictures or coat hooks in your house that when you do not want it anymore you can simply pull the tape off and it will not damage the surface, but not sure how this would work for a license plate or the bracket, you have to have smooth surfaces for this to be effective.
That's actually not a bad idea. The product is called 3M Commander; I used it this past year to hang Christmas lights and it works very well...extremely strong, but pulls off rather easily when you follow the instructions. I didn't pull any paint off my house trim or walls when I used it this year. Betcha it would work pretty well for a temporary license plate mount.
Loudog
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Loudog
If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything.
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'05 GT Black w/ Drk. Charcoal, 5-speed Manual, IUP, Side Air Bags, Shaker 500, Bassani Xhaust (SS Cat-Backs w/ X-pipe), SCT XCalibrator, JLT Cold Air Intake w/DTP tune
I bought my 05 in IL where u have to have front and back plates.. I live in IN where it is not required.. If I removed the front the ugly screw holes will show tho ;-( is there a way to touch that up or would I have to get a new bumper?
my 97 gt never had a front plate on it and its required in mass and nh. i didnt want to put holes in the saleen bumper. here's how i passed inspection. just stick velcro on the back of the plate and peel off the backing and stick it onto your bumper. before you stick it, bend the plate to fit hte contours of your bumper so you get a good flat contact with the bumper and plate. it wont fall off. works very well. good luck.
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1998 SVT Cobra #4941 of 5174 built on June 19,1998
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Dilemma with Front Lincense plate install 
No F-ing Way! 
