Damn you DMV!

[MakerOfBeast]

in cali you dont have to have a rear bumper on a truck and you dont have to have one on the front of a 4x4 truck.

 

[koda6966]

Hell, when I do it I'll just do it on a stretch of a couple days that I wont be needing to drive.

 

[razrwild]

just do the fender flare workaround for something temporary. That rubber gardening border crap, screws into a fender easy enough so it should look like a bumper from 10 feet lol

 

[UrbanRedneckKid]

ford trucks 94 and older, the rear bumper was an option. there for technically you don't have to have one anywhere in the states.

i had the po9 bustin mine over my missing rear bumper. i just simply explained that, then they pulled out the decibel and tint meters and then proceeded without any lube.

anyways, in the back as long as its mounted straight and lit your good. no bumper necessary .
in my state though zip-ties are a no-no, must be securely mounted(bolted/screwed) in the center.

 

[koda6966]

It was either zip ties, or keep it on the dash. I figured zip ties would be better until I can find a new frame.

 

[idriveafordranger94]

A little off topic but anyways....
When my mom got her '05 Ford Freestyle, it didnt have a front licence bracket and the lady at the DMV got mad at us because we only wanted to buy 1 plate, for the rear. Same story for my dad's '00 Dodge Dakota. Turns out it is illegal to drive with 1 license plate on the vehicle (or something like that). Neither of them have ever been stopped for that reason.

Here's another stupid law. I saw on the show "Speeders" that a guy got pulled over for having a hitch ball mounted on his bumper. The cop told him that the hitch ball obstructed view of the license plate. I can't remember what state it was in. I have been driving my truck for almost a year with my hitch ball in the same spot and have been followed by cops many times....never been pulled over.

Someone ever had the same problem?

 

[sean9721]

Here's another stupid law. I saw on the show "Speeders" that a guy got pulled over for having a hitch ball mounted on his bumper. The cop told him that the hitch ball obstructed view of the license plate. I can't remember what state it was in. I have been driving my truck for almost a year with my hitch ball in the same spot and have been followed by cops many times....never been pulled over.

It was in California. Here in Georgia front license plates are not required. Not sure about bumpers.

 

[Ronin]

The cop told him that the hitch ball obstructed view of the license plate.

Technical in NY state it is illegal to have anything covering any portion of your license plate. That includes license plate frames that every new or used car dealer uses as advertising. Not that any cop will give you a ticket for it.

 

[Mutant Pony]

A little off topic but anyways....
When my mom got her '05 Ford Freestyle, it didnt have a front licence bracket and the lady at the DMV got mad at us because we only wanted to buy 1 plate, for the rear. Same story for my dad's '00 Dodge Dakota. Turns out it is illegal to drive with 1 license plate on the vehicle (or something like that). Neither of them have ever been stopped for that reason.

Here's another stupid law. I saw on the show "Speeders" that a guy got pulled over for having a hitch ball mounted on his bumper. The cop told him that the hitch ball obstructed view of the license plate. I can't remember what state it was in. I have been driving my truck for almost a year with my hitch ball in the same spot and have been followed by cops many times....never been pulled over.

Someone ever had the same problem?

No front plate required here in Mich but, if you want to register a Historic plate they want you to have both. That way some one doesn't register the other.
A friend of mine was pulled over for the ball blocking the veiw of the plate. He has long hair so, the cops come up with all sorts of reasons to pull him over!

 

[racsan]

ive never heard of a hitch ball posing a problem, i do remember back in the day rear bumpers were optional, you'd see all sizes of pickups on the lot with no rear bumper. im surprized they dont make a issue of snow buildup on the step plate in the winter. theres been times ive gone 2 months with snow/ice build-up over top of the plate. maybe ive just gotton lucky, but ive seen other trucks have the same issue in winter. my front plate is actually obstucted some by the lower bar on the grill guard. i usually spray my plates down with clear coat every year to cut down on the amount of reflection, its made them last too, have had the same plates for 10 years now, i also dont have the county # sticker in the lower left corner like most do, i put a small confederate flag sticker there. dont know why they think its everyones bussiness what county youre from, let them radio it in if there that nosey. if i were to make a homemade bumper, it would either be out of channel iron or a big 6" pipe. if i wanted to to be cheap about it, id use a 2x6 and paint it black.

 

[jimbo74]

hre in CA you have to have a bumper, front and rear....

rear only if it was equipped though.... my old toyota did not have a rear bumper, jsut these little rubber pads on the rollpan

you can and will get a ticket for a hitch ball on the bumper, it is officially called license plate obstruction, i got pulled over for this recently, and now have to send in $10 and proof of correction to get it dismissed....

 

[racsan]

glad i dont run commercial plates, i got plates for my truck today and it was 54 bucks, 1 ton or commercial is 84. if i ever truely needed a 1 ton, id just beef up a 3/4 ton a little. got to wait another week for trailer tags. thats about another 30 something.

 

[holyford86]

license plate in the windshield or back window will get you a ticket in NY. Hasn't happened to me but a couple of friends have had it happen. Zip ties are OK though apparently, I have seen quite a few people with that around here. Figuring out a way to screw a 2x4 onto the front of the frame would be a good way to cover your ass just in case. If you get a ticket for it more than likely it will be a "fix it" ticket, fix it within a month and go to a police station and they will drop the ticket.

 

[98 ranger xlt]

here in california just has to have a front bumper, dont know over there

Off topic : where in cali are you

 

[98 ranger xlt]

My brother got pulled over for having a hitchball on his step bumper of course here in california CHP are b#@!h's so he wrote him up for not having commercial plates (even though he did).