Modifying VPW's License Plate Bracket

[maineSS]

Awhile back, I decided to relocate my front license plate from the radiator grille to the driverside front bumper. I ordered a bracket from VPW, and received a surprise when I went to bolt it up- it would only mount with the plate bar in the "up" position on the passenger side (Pic #1). Flipping the bracket over resulted in a bolt hole mismatch (Pic#2). Note how the bracket extends about 1/2" beyond the winch mount- this is why it won't mount with the bar "up" on the driverside without surgery. On the passenger side, the bracket sits back 1/8" from the face of the bumper (pic #3), which caused the plate to angle out unless you bend it to conform, or add 1/8" spacers.

I asked VPW about this, and they said the bracket wasn't made specifically for the PW. It's interesting to see that the holes are made for 7/16" bolts, and are spaced on the bumper mounting bolt centerlines- coincidence? They also said they'd sold lots of them, and no one had ever complained- hmm. I decide to fix what I had to allow all-position mounting on both sides of the truck rather than start anew...

[maineSS]

We started by cutting the bracket tabs about 5/16" from the inside face of the bar, and Tig welding 1 5/8" extensions of 11 gauge steel (.116") onto the stubs (Pic #4). Next, a piece of 2" masking tape was laid across each bumper bolt hole, and a mini-combination square used to layout the hole centers (Pic #5). The edges of the bolt hole were found by gently rubbing the tape, and then marking the "ridge" with a pencil. Then, the bracket was laid into a piece of 1/8" thick angle, and clamped against the bumper to transfer the tape centerlines (pic #6). This assembly can only by clamped at one end, and tends to spring out at the other, so you have to push on the outboard end before transferring the marks. You line the bracket up by finding the front-to back center of one of the tabs, then align it with the front-to back mark on the tape. The other tab may or may not align- depending if the extension pulled during welding- so that set of marks has to fall where it may.

[maineSS]

After transferring the hole centers to the bracket tabs, it was off to the Mill for a quick 1/2" slot job (pic #7). 1/2" Holes should work if your layout is accurate.
Now the reason for spacing the bracket out from the bumper- I found that 1/4-20 stainless carriage bolts fit perfectly in the bar slot. There's enough slop in the 1/2" slots to move the bar out just far enough to allow free sliding for adjustment, yet still trap the square shoulder of the carriage bolt so it won't turn when you tighten up the nylock nuts (Pic #8). When the bolts are fully tight, they're far enough away from the bumper not to rub thru the paint. If you mount the bar in the "up" position, you'll have to hold the head of the bolt in the slot when you loosen/tighten the bolts. I cut 3/16" off a 3/4" long carriage bolt, since the hardware store didn't have any shorter ones.

At the bottom of the license plate, I mounted two rubber bumpers with a peel 'n stick base (Pic #9). These were 5/16" tall, and will keep the plate bottom from bending back and rubbing thru the many layers of hand-sprayed Rustoleum paint when aerodynamic pressure generated by extreme forward velocity due to my flathead mods comes into play....

[maineSS]

Pic #10 shows the previous tie-wrap job. Pic #11 shows the new location- way more Sano! You can mount the bracket with the bar "up" or "down" (like mine) on either side of the truck.