[JRCO83]

Great idea man! I followed it and it looks great. I’m also lucky we can buy black plates here in AUS.

 

[sjmst]

The tow hook brackets - is it the one from Alfa9?

What did the car wash do to it?

Did it remove / bend the plate?

Thanks

Yes, Alfa 9.
Yes, happened in the car wash
Yes, it bent the plate
The allen screw which fastens the plate to the bracket doesn't seem to be strong enough to keep the plate from swiveling when subjected to washing and drying.

Now, Alfa Westbury had a tow hook bracket on their loaner car that looked very strong. It's also $100.00 but the double edged tape works so well that I'm not inclined to spent the $$.

 

[sjmst]

Sam, do you have a pic ? D

Here you go. Car is filthy, of course. Everyone's is now here in NY/NJ.

I cleaned the area where the plate would go with alcohol. I taped it in place temporarily with blue painter's tape, and used a level to make sure it was even. Used the blue tape to outline where the plate goes.

Once I peeled away the double edged red 3m tape, I carefully taped it to bumper using the edges of the blue tape as a guide. I then heated the plate lightly with heat gun to conform it to the slight curvatures of the bumper and ensure a tight seal.

Finally, I added one zip tie as a safety measure in the unlikely event the tape gives out.
At removal time a heat gun and adhesive remover should do the trick with no damage to the paint.

Already ran it through a car wash. No problem and still tight.

 

[lgbalfa]

Here you go. Car is filthy, of course. Everyone's is now here in NY/NJ.

I cleaned the area where the plate would go with alcohol. I taped it in place temporarily with blue painter's tape, and used a level to make sure it was even. Used the blue tape to outline where the plate goes.

Once I peeled away the double edged red 3m tape, I carefully taped it to bumper using the edges of the blue tape as a guide. I then heated the plate lightly with heat gun to conform it to the slight curvatures of the bumper and ensure a tight seal.

Finally, I added one zip tie as a safety measure in the unlikely event the tape gives out.
At removal time a heat gun and adhesive remover should do the trick with no damage to the paint.

Already ran it through a car wash. No problem and still tight.

If you ever have to remove the license plate for whatever reason, wouldn't you be worried that the double sided tape will take some of the paint off the bumper or damage it?

 

[sjmst]

If you ever have to remove the license plate for whatever reason, wouldn't you be worried that the double sided tape will take some of the paint off the bumper or damage it?

I had done this on another car and got it off with no problem.

 

[Max]

The double sided tape sounds like a good idea. Thank you sjmst!!!

Max, that’s also true, not too expensive.

I’m afraid I didn’t get what you meant with respect to a supermodel, but the word put a smile on my face all the same.... [emoji2]

"It's like having a supermodel but not ... having fun ... to keep her ... ready ... for the next guy"

I try to keep it clean and not so vulgar :laugh:

I hope I don't regret this post

 

[jzchen]

"It's like having a supermodel but not ... having fun ... to keep her ... ready ... for the next guy"



I try to keep it clean and not so vulgar :laugh:



I hope I don't regret this post

You must not have seen where I said I’m SLOWWWW? Don’t waste anymore of your time. (Thank you though. I do appreciate the effort). Sounds like by the time I get it you may be banned. I really am hopeless sometimes...

(I must stay out of the oil and gas threads, I must!)

I didn’t sort the front plate mount so my wife drove her car without the front one today. Looks much better, topless. [emoji106]. Wife just got home, no bad mood, so I assume she didn’t get a ticket....

 

[lockem]

I had done this on another car and got it off with no problem.

I would be more concerned about what you are going to do if the vehicle is disabled on the road and the tow hook is needed to winch the car onto the tow truck or drag the vehicle out of a ditch.

I still like putting the plate over the lower left grill and still plan to make a bracket to get a clean install with this arrangement. It will partially block the far left vent, but that should not have horrible consequences unless it is a QV. Because this location is recessed there should not be any problem with the car wash.

Several people have posted ways to implement this mounting without a bracket, even one from Australia with the wide-short plate; not quite as clean as I would like, but still a nice looking installation.

 

[jzchen]

I had a techauthority subscription, and I had a glance at the instructions on how to mount the OE plate holder. There is another tow hook hole on the other (driver) side. I didn’t catch which side it mounts. I should have printed to .pdf. Is there no threaded tow hook mount over there? I prefer it over there for better visibility to law enforcement. (Don’t want to make them grumpy for any reason).

I was also thinking of trying to find a huge bolt to just bolt the OE one to the tow hook mount, until lockem’s point about an emergency situation has me rethinking...

 

[jzchen]

If possible in a non-Q.V. block the right side vent. I’m still getting higher PSI on the left side (just 1 PSI). Recent Lowes trip I touched the front left and right wheels to confirm the left side felt warmer. (I should update the tire pressure thread...)

 

[lockem]

I had a techauthority subscription, and I had a glance at the instructions on how to mount the OE plate holder. There is another tow hook hole on the other (driver) side. I didn’t catch which side it mounts. I should have printed to .pdf. Is there no threaded tow hook mount over there? I prefer it over there for better visibility to law enforcement. (Don’t want to make them grumpy for any reason).

I was also thinking of trying to find a huge bolt to just bolt the OE one to the tow hook mount, until lockem’s point about an emergency situation has me rethinking...

The OEM front license plate mounts above the left side grill. There is a removable plug in the fascia on that side, but it appears to be only cosmetic. There is no threaded hole in the bumper behind the fascia on that side and I strongly recommend against any modification to said bumper. As-of May 2016 this car had the best European crash test rating of any car (full size SUVs included, Volvo XC90 was dethroned) and that bumper is a critical component in achieving said result.

Anyway, there is nothing sturdy enough on the left side of the car above the grill to attach a license plate using only a bolt through said hole to. With Alfa's design you drill into the fascia and use some sheet metal screws to get enough strength and stability.

On the right side above the grill there is a threaded hole behind the fascia plug intended for attaching the OEM tow hook. Alfa9 and similar license plate mounts use this hole for their mount. The only issues I see with this approach are that the plate can rotate if pushed hard (brush type car wash), some extra time and tools are needed to install the tow hook, and I don't like the look. Of course that last item is my opinion and your opinion may be different. The big plus side to this approach is that the part is readily available and easily installed. Few Giulia owners want to use a brush type car wash, due to the damage to the finish on the car that these machines cause. One forum member had a custom bracket made that allows a quick swap between tow hook and license plate ; a pretty slick setup that resolves issue 2 but getting another one like it might be difficult.

The right side grill has sensors all over it. Many of these sensors are optional so if your car doesn't have them, go for it. I think only the most basic equipment Giulias will allow this though.

The left side grill has one sensor (parking?) towards the center in the vented area. It also has a vent towards the center and towards the outside. The center vent provides air to the radiator. For non-QV machines the outside vent provides air to the wheel reportedly to reduce aerodynamic drag. This outside vent is fairly large with sport equipped vehicles and I thought non-existent without sport but others have reported that there is still a vent there. A license plate mounted over the grill will partially block this outside vent. Anyway, partially blocking a vent for aerodynamics is likely no worse for aerodynamics that putting the plate directly in the primary air stream over the vehicle (Alfa9 and OEM mounts), although I do not know for certain.

The big down sides with the over-the-grill installation is that most plates will not fit, and no brackets are available. The former issue is often resolved by cutting down the plate and bending it slightly (the grill is not flat). At least one state issues plates that will fit. Apparently Australian plates will fit. The bracket issue so far has been resolved by using a mix of HW store fasteners. I think by making a bracket I can solve both of these issues, but I won't know until I have a car that I can measure.

jzchen: if your tires are at different temps left to right enough to cause tire noticeable tire pressure differences and you are not driving around an oval track you have a problem that you need your Alfa dealer to correct. Alignment and brakes would be the first things to verify. I do not think that the outside vents provide appreciable cooling to the tires, although I could be wrong...

 

[jzchen]

Forgot about the sensors on the right side! Oops!!!

1 PSI is not going to bother me much. (It is So Cal winter weather here though, so maybe that is keeping the tire from bumping up 2 PSI). I did notice some idiosyncrasies with the way it monitors pressures. At one point on the way to Lowes both left tires were 1 PSI higher than respective right tires. When I came out of Lowes and started driving home the left rear was two PSI higher than the right, only to have the right side bump up 2 PSI moments later. After a little more driving the left front tire went up 1 PSI again with respect to the right. The car runs too good to be an alignment/balance issue to me, but I could be mistaken. Even the prior BMW F07 had an alignment toe issue which pretty much destroyed the two front tires within 22k miles, didn't have unusual variation in pressures between sides. (I must confess I did miss the front tires wearing on the inside edges of the BMW because I check pressures in the dark at night and didn't look towards the inside edge. That car ran great to me as well. So you might be on to something.) Starting to get more miles on the car, so hopefully see some unusual tread wear problems show up if it is some sort of suspension/tire issue...

I suspect it is the turbo heating up the strut tower and transferring to the wheel. I'm too anal/lazy to check the tire pressure when it is hot. I just felt the wheel with my hand. Next I may try my hand on the strut tower....

 

[ChiAlfaRabbi]

I looked at the pressures and saw they were 47 on the run flats. Called the center to enquire and ultimately they brought them down to a few psi over the door plate since the cold weather is persisting and I just finished 300 miles today.

For the front plate, I expect my Alfa9 to arrive tomorrow and service said they will install it comp.

 

[Alfaholico]

So far...8 months into ownership...no front plate mounted...but in all fairness..the Quad never gets parked on the street....

 

[sjmst]

I would be more concerned about what you are going to do if the vehicle is disabled on the road and the tow hook is needed to winch the car onto the tow truck or drag the vehicle out of a ditch.

I still like putting the plate over the lower left grill and still plan to make a bracket to get a clean install with this arrangement. It will partially block the far left vent, but that should not have horrible consequences unless it is a QV. Because this location is recessed there should not be any problem with the car wash.

Several people have posted ways to implement this mounting without a bracket, even one from Australia with the wide-short plate; not quite as clean as I would like, but still a nice looking installation.

Well, that's a possibility, but if I go into a ditch getting the plate off quickly is probably not going to be my first concern. :surprise:

 

[lockem]

Well, that's a possibility, but if I go into a ditch getting the plate off quickly is probably not going to be my first concern. :surprise:

My reference point is from last year when a Nissan Rogue slid across the road and into the 6" deep ditch on the side of the road on the east bound descent on CA SR-88 to Silver Lake. I stopped with my pickup and offered help the ladies in the car, but there was nothing on the car for me to hook on to. I didn't realize at that time that they probably had a tow hook in the glove box; they certainly didn't know anything. I had to throw up my hands and tell them to wait for help to show up (would probably take hours).

FWIW: if the car had a way to lock the AWD engaged they would have been able to self recover.

 

[sjmst]

My reference point is from last year when a Nissan Rogue slid across the road and into the 6" deep ditch on the side of the road on the east bound descent on CA SR-88 to Silver Lake. I stopped with my pickup and offered help the ladies in the car, but there was nothing on the car for me to hook on to. I didn't realize at that time that they probably had a tow hook in the glove box; they certainly didn't know anything. I had to throw up my hands and tell them to wait for help to show up (would probably take hours).

FWIW: if the car had a way to lock the AWD engaged they would have been able to self recover.

As I think about it, I may try to move it to the lower left grill area. With zip ties. Only need to shave the edges bit.

 

[jzchen]

I had tried the tow hook brackets but they could not withstand car washes.
I now have 3M red double sided tape. The question is not whether the plate will fall off, but how I will ever get it off. >
It's flush mounted on bumper, in a lower right spot that looks as good as it can get, and will never set off the sensors.

Thank you for the warning! I have one Rho-Plate, (which I think is the manufacturer of the Alfa 9). It had detailed instructions on installation, being for a '12 E-Class wagon. It's been a few years since I installed it, and I probably long lost the instructions now. It did have torque specs for some of the bolts/screws, which I followed to a tee. I can't remember if I ever drove through a brush car wash with it on, but I don't think so. Did you follow those torque specs? Just curious, because I am now considering this mount.

As an update to this thread, I ended up installing the OE front bracket, following instructions I downloaded from Tech Authority. I followed the instructions carefully, which included taping the front bracket AND license plate (not mentioned), and turning on the car to check that the front parking sensor did not detect it. After which I did the unthinkable and drilled four holes and mounted the bracket, then drilled four holes to the bracket to mount the plate. I accidentally punched through the bracket to just nick the front bumper on one accidentally... (I am not posting pictures to save your eyes the pain)! After about a week, I noticed also during warmer weather, or when the car was idling in front of my son's school for a long period of time, the front parking sensor does detect it, indicated by the closest "bar" lighting up on the display with vehicle image. It gets quite annoying in frequency/duration, that disabling the sensors has been the solution. :crying:

 

[Max]

Thank you for the warning! I have one Rho-Plate, (which I think is the manufacturer of the Alfa 9). It had detailed instructions on installation, being for a '12 E-Class wagon. It's been a few years since I installed it, and I probably long lost the instructions now. It did have torque specs for some of the bolts/screws, which I followed to a tee. I can't remember if I ever drove through a brush car wash with it on, but I don't think so. Did you follow those torque specs? Just curious, because I am now considering this mount.

As an update to this thread, I ended up installing the OE front bracket, following instructions I downloaded from Tech Authority. I followed the instructions carefully, which included taping the front bracket AND license plate (not mentioned), and turning on the car to check that the front parking sensor did not detect it. After which I did the unthinkable and drilled four holes and mounted the bracket, then drilled four holes to the bracket to mount the plate. I accidentally punched through the bracket to just nick the front bumper on one accidentally... (I am not posting pictures to save your eyes the pain)! After about a week, I noticed also during warmer weather, or when the car was idling in front of my son's school for a long period of time, the front parking sensor does detect it, indicated by the closest "bar" lighting up on the display with vehicle image. It gets quite annoying in frequency/duration, that disabling the sensors has been the solution. :crying:

Why did you do this? Lmao

 

[jzchen]

I thought I finally got the supermodel comment?!.... [emoji26]

Well, gonna try to loosen the screws and rotate the bracket a smidgen in the clockwise direction...

To be continued..... (Supermodel, supermodel, supermodel... Feeling a little better.....)