Morning y'all. It's coffee time!...
Front Porch Chit Chat
- Thread starter Double R
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Howdy ho good neighbor.....been watching Home Improvement too much I guess 
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Just got a copy of "48 Hours", by Forstchen. Anyone read this yet?
Someone stole the permanent plates off our flatbed trailer. Any ideas on how to prevent the new plates from disappearing?
Use grade 8 bolts and damage the threads. Nothing is perfect but this should slow them down a bit.
I haven't read it, but really like his writing. Would you mind a review after you read it?
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Sure. So far it's about a CME that they had and finding out another one is coming in 48 hrs that is life ending. Won't tell you any more.
Well I have to get that one then. Thank you.
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At the DMV's in Colorado, there are vending machines which dispense hardware for this. At least there used to be. I only go once a year and haven't noticed since many of them have relocated.
We don't even have a snack machine in ours. The clerks suggestion, make the bolts tighter.
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We had red loctite on the bolts. They didn't remove them, they bent the plate up and down and broke it at the bolt holes. I guess more bolts?? Rivits... Could I get a ticket for bedazzeling it with rivits? Toss them in the truck when we are parked?
A guy I work with had his plates stolen yesterday at Home Depot, the same store my husband went to when our plate disappeared.
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It would be interesting for a couple people to drive to the Home Depot, one gets out and goes in, while the other one stays down low in the vehicle to observe what is happening. Around here, when license plates go missing, they are often used on vehicles used in criminal activity. I suppose they could be used by someone instead of purchasing their own plate, or renewing them.
On one block, there were two vehicles parked with expired plates. One vehicle had been parked because the owner was using a company vehicle.It is illegal to park cars on the streets with expired plates. I have no idea why the other one had expired plates. One day both owners come out to their cars having the plates cut where the year decal was. It was done so that the owners had to get new plates, a message from someone. I knew the guy who was driving a company car, and he was struggling. He didn't need that.
Somebody is probably using them on their trailer. They are permanent plates so unless the plates are run by the police they can haul that trailer forever and not pay for new tags.
I wonder if you can buy dye packs to put behind the plate. Pull it off and POOF!!
Bolt all four corners?
A coworker had his plates stolen from a park and ride lot. They stole both plates and replaced them with other stolen plates that did bot match.
Cops told him it was a common problem. He had to buy replacement plates.
You could try some security screws.
https://www.amazon.com/license-plate-anti-theft-screws/s?k=license+plate+anti-theft+screws
Cops told him it was a common problem. He had to buy replacement plates.
You could try some security screws.
https://www.amazon.com/license-plate-anti-theft-screws/s?k=license+plate+anti-theft+screws
Most vehicles don't come with plate holders like that. I wonder if there is a $$ market for plate security devices. The Next Big Thing?
"Someone stole the permanent plates off our flatbed trailer."
Flatbed trailers have real estate options that would allow four-corner bolting.
They also allow access to both sides of the bolts so the locking bolts/screws don't work. We had bolts with lock nuts on the top holes and regular plate screws with the plastic backs on the bottom. They broke the plastic clips off the inside of the fender and busted the bolt holes off the top of the plate.
So, that arrangement is not "The Next Big Thing". A solution for a passenger car/SUV is fairly obvious, though not all that easy to do. The plate in a rugged frame, the frame bolted through the trunk lid - hatch. The thief would have to break into the vehicle or do some heavy banging of vehicle sheet-metal to do the dirty deed. Trucks and trailers have the plate mount out there in thin air, so they need another approach to The next Big Thing.
I think we are going to get some square tubing and cut it in half to make a solid frame around the plate and weld it to the trailer. Between the outside frame, a solid back and a couple of thin bars above and below the number I don't think it will disappear. If it does then I give up.
Until we get that done the plate is in the center console of my truck.
Until we get that done the plate is in the center console of my truck.
Its actually pretty easy. Just pop the clips holding the liner off the inside of the trunk liner and you have access to the back of the bolts. Just put a lock nut on them. No matter how long they turn the bolt it won't unscrew. We did that to my daughters car after her roommate switched plates with her for a trip and didn't want to buy her tags until she got back, leaving my daughter with a car she couldn't use.
Aha. It was the popping off and putting back I was dubious about. I am "famous in my own mind" for taking things apart that won't go back together*. You still have to protect the plate from getting torn off though.
* It all began with alarm clocks that had stopped running, when I was 9 or 10. Way easier to get them apart than it was to reassemble them.
I asked my boss how he finally secured his trailer plates. He said he didn't, they just quit buying permanent plates. People don't want plates that will expire.
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I have a small trailer that doesn't get used very often. I was just wondering how often your trailer gets used and where it is kept? Mine is in my yard and I was thinking, maybe remove your plates when you are not using the trailer. A bit of a pain, but not as much as having to replace them.
If they are permanent plates, and you have a flat spot, how about gluing them along with bolts.
The trailer is secure in our yard. We have a 6ft wall around 2 acres with 2 mastiffs and an excitable lab puppy. The plate disappeared while it was in use off property.
That might work. Liquid nails?
Two mastiffs, eh? Remind me to call ahead.
