[ummon75]

I just bought a new Mazda 3 and am wondering if there's a way to make my front license plate stick out a little farther, maybe by about 3 inches, give or take.

I live in the SF Bay Area, so lots of parallel parking, and it's somewhat common for cars to bump each other while squeezing into tight spaces.

So I'd like the front plate to be what other cars bump up against rather than the front of the actual car.

Any ideas? Thanks in advance!

 

[curvyroads28]

Spacers. You can definitely find them on mcmaster.com. just do a search for unthreaded spacers. Get longer screws to compensate for the added space between the bumper and the license plate. You may be able to find nylon spacers at your local hardware store like an Ace hardware or maybe even Lowes or Home Depot.

Spacing out your license plate may give you a greater distance from the bumper, but keep in mind that whatever force is enacted on your license plate will be transferred to a much smaller surface area and may cause more damage, i.e. punching through the license plate mounting points as opposed to the force being spread across the front face of the bumper. Also consider the fact that if somebody does bumper check you, they may not notice until they actually bump hard enough to hit the bumper itself. Just something to keep in mind.

 

[arathol]

If the plate is mounted on the grille that might actually cause more damage. This may be creating an impact point that would cave it in even more.:dunno:

 

[ummon75]

Very good points, I hadn't thought about the grill aspect. I'll have to do some figuring. Thanks to you both for your input!