Any ideas on front plate placement???

[zforce77]

Just read in the paper again today about starting to crack down on no front plates in Texas. :bs Heard it may be a $250 fine. :eek2: I had an idea to cut the plate as far as I can legally and put it in the middle of the lower grill somehow. I am not going to drill my bumper by no means. :nono: I had another idea to somehow attach it to the bottom of the bumper on a hindge, hook up some kind of solenoid to plate so it would release if I ever got pulled over. Told that to my kid who has the same bumper on his 03 STX and he said, what are you Batman. I told him you better figure out where you are going to put yours.

[mustgofaster]

Would something like this work for you?
http://www.blueovalindustries.com/xt3200e.html?___store=default
I knew a guy who made one DIY a little cheaper, using an electric retractable antenna for the actuator.

[dboat]

I dont run a front plate on any of our cars.. what ever happened to the idea of taking your plate, scanning it and getting a plastic one that sticks to the bumper?

Dana

[99WhiteBeast]

I dont run a front plate on any of our cars.. what ever happened to the idea of taking your plate, scanning it and getting a plastic one that sticks to the bumper?

Dana

I would think a good quality sign shop could do that and make into a Vinyl wrap.

I just stick mine under my floor mat and when I get pulled over I tell them I hit a animal and haven't had time to put it back on. Its worked twice so far.

[Silver_2000]

and its an easy way to get a warning

Even if you get a ticket its less than speeding ... Not saying that it would be a way for the cop to give you a ticket on the non moving violation and warning on the moving violation... :evil

Doug

[L8 APEX]

I never ran a front plate on anything fast or nice. I owned 2 vettes and 3 Lightnings over the last ten years. I was only stopped once at the street races for a warning.

102k miles in the F250 with no front plate no problems.

That being said I now run front plates on both of our cars now. I just don't care about the appearance and don't want the hassle either. It is kind of nice having a factory stock vehicle all legal etc...:tu:

[Shiner1]

Don't like a front plate either but it's an excuse to pull you over.

[98Cobra]

If you make any modification to the plate to put it on, you might as well run without. Anything that interferes with any design element of the plate is a reason to pull you over, INCLUDING something as simple as a license plate border.

[dboat]

I still say mylar with the static cling if you have to do it.. I will go sans front plate for now.. we moved back to Big D from Pa where no front plate is required.. that is my excuse and I am sticking with it.

Dana

[Sixpipes]

The thing that chaps me is all surrounding states have no front plate requirement and their drivers can run all over the great state of Texas. But in-state residents are the only ones that can potentially get tickets. :(

[dboat]

The thing that chaps me is all surrounding states have no front plate requirement and their drivers can run all over the great state of Texas. But in-state residents are the only ones that can potentially get tickets. :(

they all pay state income tax too... ;)

Dana

[Sixpipes]

Not sure I get the connection between not have a state income tax and a front plate requirement. :cool:

[dboat]

Not sure I get the connection between not have a state income tax and a front plate requirement. :cool:

Oh, I am not sure they are connected either but I will take having to have a front plate over state income tax any day.. :D

[Mark #2]

Are license plates still made by convicts?
If so, maybe we just have a larger labor force that needs the work?

[dboat]

Are license plates still made by convicts?
If so, maybe we just have a larger labor force that needs the work?

Not only is the plate design new, but we are now using a digital system to manufacture the Lone Star Texas general-issue license plate. Switching to digital general-issue plates required the prison factory at the Wynne Correctional Unit in Huntsville to retool its processes and install new equipment. TxDMV contracts with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice to manufacture license plate

[dboat]

:0fftopic

but those of you with vanity plates, did you go here to get them?

http://www.myplates.com/

Dana

[Mark #2]

Not only is the plate design new, but we are now using a digital system to manufacture the Lone Star Texas general-issue license plate. Switching to digital general-issue plates required the prison factory at the Wynne Correctional Unit in Huntsville to retool its processes and install new equipment. TxDMV contracts with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice to manufacture license plate
Okay so I was kind of correct, have to pay back the equipment too.:D

[Silver_2000]

:0fftopic

but those of you with vanity plates, did you go here to get them?

http://www.myplates.com/

Dana
for the prices they charge they should fly up and do the install as well

[99WhiteBeast]

Interesting read from another forum posted two days ago:

Well, I know all of ya'll have had a question about the front plate law in Texas, at some point in time. Well, this article should easily clear it all up. For those that don't know, I am a State Trooper and we have also been confused about this law and had varying degrees of enforcement throughtout the State, until we received this update.

Sorry, I am just now posting it, I have been extremely busy. We received this update a couple of weeks ago.

Cliff notes: Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (Highest Texas Court) has final ruling in split decision (7-2) that the front license plate in Texas must be mounted to the front bumper. This ruling will be enforced under the Texas Administration Rules until legislature can amend the Texas law next session. Yes, Texas Admin Laws are enforceable by ALL Texas Peace Officers and you can be issued a citation.



Court: Texas plates must be on front bumper

By MICHAEL GRACZYK

The Associated Press

Updated: 12:52 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 15, 2010

Published: 11:58 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 15, 2010

Texas drivers must display license plates on the front bumpers of their vehicles, the state's top criminal court ruled Wednesday while upholding the conviction of a man sent to prison for 60 years on a drug charge.

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals in a split decision Wednesday said it's not good enough to just have a plate displayed somewhere else toward the front of the car or truck, like inside the front windshield.

The case involves a man pulled over in Lubbock four years ago because his plate was wedged between the dashboard and the windshield. An officer subsequently found Tawin Spence had about a half-pound of cocaine stuffed in his pants.

Spence appealed, saying his plate clearly was visible, that he shouldn't have been stopped and that the drug evidence used to convict him of possession with intent to deliver cocaine was obtained improperly.

The ruling resolves conflicting opinions from lower state courts.

An appeals court in Austin held the Texas Transportation Code didn't require a plate on the front bumper.

An Amarillo appeals court looked at the code and said the plate must be displayed "where the car begins ... the foremost area of the car."

The Court of Criminal Appeals, agreeing with the Amarillo court, took that to most commonly mean the front bumper.

"'Front' means the foremost part or beginning of a vehicle, not in the front half, or in the front portion," Judge Cathy Cochran said in her majority opinion. "This meaning of 'front' as a location is not ambiguous and does not lead to an absurd result.

"While the Transportation Code does not explicitly define 'front,' common usage and definitions of the word provide ample support for this construction."

Two of the court's nine judges disagreed. Judge Lawrence Meyers, joined by Judge Barbara Hervey, said he'd "construe front and rear to mean any surface facing that direction."

"Using the majority's logic, the rear of the vehicle would be the back bumper," Meyers wrote. "But as we all know, 90 percent of all vehicles do not display the license plate on the back bumper, they are usually on the tailgate or trunk."

Referring to the Transportation Code, Meyers wrote: "The only thing about this statute that is clear is that it is not well written."

Spence, 29, had a previous drug conviction and was on parole less than four months when he was busted Sept. 23, 2006, outside what police said was a known drug house in Lubbock.

His car, a Chevrolet Impala, was described in court documents as having blue sparkle paint, white racing stripes and large wheels. The spot on the bumper where a license plate normally would go instead had a decorative silver chrome plate.

Spence testified at his trial the Texas license plate was "all the way up in the front of the front windshield" and visible from the street.

The officer who made the stop testified that even before he could explain the reason for the stop, Spence said he'd been given a ticket earlier for the same license plate violation.

Spence also had no driver's license, prompting the officer to frisk him and discover the drugs and about $1,400 in cash.

Prison records show Spence got 10 years in prison for cocaine possession in 2001 and was paroled five years later. Conviction on the cocaine charge stemming from the license plate stop in 2006 got him 60 years. He's at the Texas Department of Criminal Justice Hughes Unit in Gatesville and becomes eligible for parole consideration in 2013.

[98Cobra]

That is MEGA lame. I am not drilling holes for this.

[Beaudee]

TAKE EM:evil

[dboat]

ok, its enforceable.. question is, how much will it be enforced or do officers have better things to do than stop folks without a front plate on their front bumper.. I am still thinking mylar plate copy.

Dana

[Shiner1]

:0fftopic

but those of you with vanity plates, did you go here to get them?

http://www.myplates.com/

Dana


Got mine from the directly from the state.




ok, its enforceable.. question is, how much will it be enforced or do officers have better things to do than stop folks without a front plate on their front bumper.. I am still thinking mylar plate copy.

Dana


I think officers have better things to do. I didn't want to drill my bumber either and as it turned out I didn't have to. The holes are under the bumper. If I remove the plate you can't see the holes. As I have said before though it's a reason for a traffic stop. (I have been stopped for this very same thing as some of you probably have too) I just see it as an easy excuse for a traffic stop and now if you have had a drink or two, your ass could be in the sling. JMO

[TXLIGHTNING]

You know this really BLOWS! Im not drilling holes in my bumper, and that is that! :flaming:

[kirkmears]

i've only been stopped once for no front plate (state trooper) on hwy 78 n of lavon. he was sitting on the side of the road, clocking folks and was probably board. he let me go with a written warning. i just made a point not to drive my truck up there for several months. in dallas, these cops actually have better things to do - like protecting, serving & not getting shot at.

[Silver_2000]

so lesson learned

when Im carrying a pound of coke - Ill be sure to replace my chrome fake plate with a real one ... :hammer::hammer:

[kragle23]

:0fftopic

but those of you with vanity plates, did you go here to get them?

http://www.myplates.com/

Dana

Dana,

I got mine from there.

http://www.verb1design.com/lightning/plate.png

EXPENSIVE, but i like the look of it on the front, vs the hideous crap that they've gout out now.

I live in the country, and driving locally, the city cops didn't bother me without a front plate. However, every time I left town and ran into a trooper, red and blues...I was pulled over 5 times in less than two months, never given a ticket, but stopped none-the-less. I said screw it and put the front one on. I HATED having to mount it, but no po po's since...

[Sixpipes]

I paid $595 for my current plate from Myplates.com, but it is good for 10 years. $60/year is worth it IMO. My truck is not going anywhere anyways. I have been pulled over 4 times without a ticket, but this is actually the first plate I would consider putting on the front of my truck. :cool:

http://www.svtgalleries.net/gallery/data/500/medium/c1.JPG

[zforce77]

Glad to see everyone chiming in on this issue. Yes you are gambling and eventually someone is going to get popped by some cop who has a hard on that day. I myself will still run no plate until I get popped in the hood around my house. These young cops around here have no mercy for nothing as I was pulled over test driving a car I was selling, left the house with no wallet and he wouldn't let me coast and go home 1/4 mile from the house. Gave me a ticket for no insurance $402 and told me to take my insurance card and get dismissed at the courthouse. Now 2 things here, he waisted his & my time giving me the ticket, then waised my time again and the courthouses time. Took the paperwork there and was dismissed with no charges. Funny thing though, 2 weeks prior I stopped a drunk driver at 5am going to work, followed him, called 911 and he was apprehended 15 minutes later before he killed someone. Figured if I threw that at him as I was trying to bull shit my way out of the insurance ticket he would let me go but he still wrote me the ticket. Back in the day I foiled a crime and the cops put my name in the computer and was pulled over later for someting and let me go because my name pulled up as a someone who helped the PD.

[Mark #2]

I have posted this before, I got stopped before I got home from picking up my truck from the dealer. I drilled two holes about an hour after I had my truck.

It forces/speeds up the air into the lower intercooler and makes the supercharger more efficient, one of my speed secrets. Don't believe me, get a fan and some smoke and test it.

[04 RedApple]

Kinda same as posted earlier!
http://www.swiftmotorsports.com/product_info.php?products_id=3922&osCsid=0c1df22043b3b30ddbb6fdfc9548f1b8

[99WhiteBeast]

I went to a sign shop this week to get a vinyl graphic of my reproduced plate. The counter person was going to charge me $25 and said there would be no issues.

Owner of shop called yesterday and said it was unlawful to reproduce the image of the plate and couldn't do it.

[dboat]

Kinda same as posted earlier!
http://www.swiftmotorsports.com/product_info.php?products_id=3922&osCsid=0c1df22043b3b30ddbb6fdfc9548f1b8

there is a certain coolness factor to this solution, however, the vinyl solution is a bit cheaper.. I may go that way first.

Dana

[Shiner1]

I went to a sign shop this week to get a vinyl graphic of my reproduced plate. The counter person was going to charge me $25 and said there would be no issues.

Owner of shop called yesterday and said it was unlawful to reproduce the image of the plate and couldn't do it.


The father of one of my patients is a state trooper and he was in with her today so I brought the subject up to him just to get his views. He says the same thing about the reproduction plate being unlawful. Only approved agencies may make plates. And even if you do get a repo plate your not displaying an actual plate and that's a violation. He also says it has to attached and not lying in the windshield/dash. Just thought I'd pass this along.

[zforce77]

Ok all you no front plate runners, I was just pulled over here in Arlington for no plate on my sons truck. I talked my way out of it and was close to home & told him thanks for running radar on my street to keep the idiots at bay from speeding on my street. Now he said they are cracking down & was pretty serious about it so if you are in Arlington you better have your plate on or get a ticket. I believe its a $250 fine.

[Moonshine]

Now he said they are cracking down & was pretty serious about it

I wonder why? It's not like that's something that generates citizen complaints. :rolleyes:

[zforce77]

It generates money for Arlington :bs