My license plate front bracket fell off when I inched too close to a snow pile
I have tried every single rivet and none work since there is not enough room for the rivet to fasten. There is a solid metal plate behind the plast bumper. As per ford you are supposed to use plastic rivets so if the plate gets caught on something or like what happened to me with snow the rivets break and the plate bracket comes off rather than ripping your entire number off
So the rivets did their job but it is impossible to get another rivet in there since the metal fram or number is snug up against it
Pleas help can't drive with out a front plate

 

Nut, bolt and washer until you can solve the problem permanently. Maybe try a junkyard for a new bumper cover?

 

Are the holes in the bumper square?
There are replacement inserts usually at your local parts store. You push them in the holes, then attach the license plate with screws. I had to do this when I got a clear bra on the front end.

 

I went through this while trying to add a bumper plate to our 2010. I seem to remember the bumper had some dimples where the holes were supposed to be. Maybe that was another car. Anyway, I went to the trouble of buying the plastic rivets and a new larger rivet gun for said rivet and could not get them to work. There just wasn't enough room behind the bumper - because of the steel plate you mentioned - for the rivets to work. As I recall it would have taken major surgery to get things off to the point where I could have gotten that to work. OR there is some trick to it to make it simpler but I couldn't find anything on it.

So what I ended up doing is using some stainless steel driller screws that I had from a construction job site where I was working. I just drilled into the metal plate. It sounds hoopty but it went on really well. I didn't draw it down to the point where it would deform the bumper. And I check the tightness of the bracket often, and it hasn't loosened.

However, as they say, YMMV.

big

 

I put mine back on with self tapping screws. Can't see it once the plates back on it.