Carhauler, where does the license plate go?
 

I bought a car hauler in MS and didn't need to have it registered there (at least that's what the dealer told me), and now that I'm in VA I got the trailer registered and got a plate for it today.

I just went to put the plate on but I don't see any holes for it anywhere. The left taillight assembly has a clear lens on the bottom which had assumed to be to light up the license plate, but I don't see how the license plate would mount there.

Any suggestions?

http://www.samsgarage.net/100_4090.JPG

http://www.samsgarage.net/100_4091.JPG

TIA,
Sam

The light kit I put on my trailer came with a plastic bracket that mounts to the studs that hold the left tail light on, and then has holes to mount the plate to.

I'd imagine you could pick one up from any trailer place, or probably eBay, but I'd probably just try to fabricate something from whatever scrap I could find laying around.

I can post a pic of mine, if that would help you.

It mounts below the left taillight, on a bracket that mounts to the taillight studs. On this type of trailer I would NOT recommend a plastic one, the chances of it hitting the ground are pretty good, because with the dovetail, they do hang somewhat low. The plastic one will break, and your tag will be lost on the road. The metal ones you can just bend back after you bend them, much less risk of losing the tag. Believe me, I know from experience, my tag is trashed fron hitting the ground when it was on my old landscape trailer, and it hangs just as low if not lower now on my new carhauler. The other option is to mount it to the fender and just wire up a seperate light for it, thats about the best way to keep it from getting beat up, but I don't mind bending mine straight every now and then. I can also get pics, if you want some, let me know.

Get two self-tapping screws of an appropriate size, fit the plate just above the left light on the fender, and run the screws in. You may also have to add a light for it.

If more support is needed, put a lisence plate surround on it, and put two screws and bolts through the top holes.

If needed ( say the fender isn't that wide for example) go with a plate trim piece to begin with, and run a screw through the plate and trim as far out on the fender as you can reasonably go. This makes the plate trim a tag holder.

~Wolf

(PSONEDIT) As far as I know, to be right in most states it must be the left fender.

Somebody out there is building strange trailers - but that's nothing new!
PS2: If the place you got the trailer from didn't make a provision for it right out of the lot - they suck hind titty...

I better re-state: MOUNT IT ON THE LEFT FENDER.
Mount it ABOVE a clear line of sight from the back so it clears the tail lights.

I always put them below the left rear light (there should be a clear spot on the bottom of the light for the license plate light). I mount them with a steel license plate holder. The plastic ones can bend and break. I lost a plate once. Not fun to try to replace them. You can also use something like this:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Light...QQcmdZViewItem

It's nice when you can do that, but this layout is a tail-dragger for sure if you go that route.

I see three or so feet of two conductor wire needed to make it work.

Thanks guys. Hmm, need to spend more money. At least those license brackets are cheap.

Swing by a construction sight if you see one.

They might GIVE YOU a length of ROMEX that will do the job for the plate light. Too short to use, so why not?

I you want the low buck route, just get the metal bracket for under the light and put it on. About 2-5 bucks for the bracket depending on where you go. No need to worry about lighting for it then as it's already there. You do need to have the plate illuminated for the location to be legal, there are lots of people that don't though. I didn't put mine on the fender because the plate is too wide for the fender and it looks silly. Not to mention, my trailer is 101" wide already, so I've only got 1" before it's legally considered oversized. Something else to keep in mind. Under the light it tucks under the deck to keep the width down. I haven't hit it yet on this trailer , but thats only a matter of time, and like I said before you can just bend it back.

If you decide to put it ABOVE the tail light, make sure your car door clears the plate if you load with the door open.

Yeah, you're right. I forgot that with my fist trailer (beaver tail) I put it on the fender and ran a light. I don't know why trailer builders can't come up with an easier option. My second car tailer (no beaver tail) worked well with the bracket, but still managed to drag in places.

You could do what a friend of mine did with his. He mounted the plate on the back center and hinged it so it could be retracted for loading/unloading. It is spring loaded to the normal position and we hook it down when loading/unloading. Nice looking trailer!

Put it on the fender. You won't have to worry about bending it back all of the time and it will be mounted to somthing sturdy. You sould be able to get away with not haveing a light but it's no big deal to get one for a few bucks at your local auto parts store and tap into your running light with it.

I have the exact same trailer. It had the metal plate bracket below the light. It bent back and forth too many times... Someone flagged me down to tell me it was dragging. Lucky for me as a temp fix I had a zip tie through the plate top bolt hole to hold wires outta the way. The Michigan trailer plates are permanant and cost $75. Don't want to pay that again. I plan to weld some kinda mount on the left fender or across the rear like was mentioned above.