Saturday I pick up my new (to me) 2004 XK8 with 33000 miles. Here in the Peoples Republic of Kalifornia we are required to display the front plate as well as the back. This car came from out of state & doesn't have the bracket. Should I order the factory setup, or are there better alternatives?

Ken

 

Don't park in public places or with your nose out. I don't think my XK8 has ever had a front plate. Parking in the city of SF on the street is a guaranteed fix it ticket. Be an outlaw - it's fun!

 

After driving for decades in Texas with various cars as a front-plate-missing scofflaw, I was finally ticketed. I attached mine with zip ties using the bumperettes as the anchors. Works even better if you have the wire grill.

It holds very well and I didn't have to drill any holes. A bonus is if I decide to skirt the law again, it is easy to remove.

 

The dealer bracket that came with my car used holes drilled into the over-riders. Also, I felt that it restricted air flow into the radiator, so I left it off. Living on the edge, ha-ha.

 

I have an XKR with the mesh grille. I put mine on 1" metal standoffs in the hope that a little air could get around the sides and through the grille.

 

Posting seems a little strange today for some reason. Somehow managed to delete my original post, but just ordered the Axle Company LLC front license plate mounting bracket, pictures when it arrives.

Marcgr, thought about doing something like that, but I"m trying to limit how much I restrict airflow through the grill. I see you're in Texas too, so you know how hot it's been lately.

Here's some of the info on the bracket.

The unit mounts to the towing eye fitting attachment point under the front bumper. The only concern is that the manual says not to drive with the towing eye fitted, but it appears it slopes down and I'm hoping the license bracket has been designed to compensate for this.




Mower Deck Axles,Carrera,Cayman,John Deere,Kubota

There were no pictures of this unit installed on an XK8/XKR, but here's a link to a different car forum with pictures of a Porsche 997.2 Carrera with one installed.
Tow hook License Plate Holder (w/ photos) - 6speedonline.com Forums


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Allen
I don't know about the angle but if I remember correctly the tow hook comes in two sizes, a 20mm and a 16 mm, make sue you measure the thread hole and they have the right size

 

I dont run a front plate on my XKR or my Jeep and have only had one issue in a year and a half. I got stopped for speeding in the Jag and the cop let me off with a ticket for no plate. The fix it tickets are about $30, I'll pay when I have to and continue running without the front plate. I temporarily mounted the plate for the sign off and removed it afterward, I did the same for my girlfriend's car. I do run a plate on the XJS because to me it looks a little funny without it. Go figure.

Around my area it seems they may add the missing plate to a ticket if they stop you for something else, but they don't really go hunting for us scofflaws. I believe the condition and appearance of your car has something to do with it.

 

I received the license plate bracket kit from Mower Deck Axle Co. yesterday and got setup to do the installation this morning while it was still cool out. First the good news. I was initially impressed with the care taken to just pack the kit and upon unpacking very impressed with the quality of the workmanship. The instructions were clear and concise. The kit included a 10 degree angle fitting to compensate for the downward angle of the towing eye fitting and two sets of license plate mounting screws, one for just the plate, and a second slightly longer set for the plate and a frame.











The installation instructions suggest fitting the towing eye before installing the license plate mounting stud to insure the threads are clean, but since I don't have one this step was skipped.



I did observe some lint like material in the fitting which was removed using a shop vac. Observation indicated the fitting was probably smaller than the threaded area on the bracket mounting stud. This was confirmed when I tried to install the fitting. The stud is also reverse threaded, but I was unable to verify wheather or not this was the case on the XKR's fitting due to the oversize stud.





The other issue, and the real deal killer, is the length of the stud. The stud is about 7 inches long, and as you can see from the following picture, substantially shorter than required. Larry at MDAC did ask me to verify the length of the stud was correct, so apparently I'm the first XK8/R owner to give the kit a try. The stud would need to be between 13 and 14 inches long to clear the front of the Jag. The problem then becomes ground clearance would be about 3 inches, which would be a real problem if not with suspension travel, which it would, but with any road irregularity or speed bump you might encounter, not to mention curbs.



I'm really disapointed that this unit didn't work, it is very well made and would have looked great on the XK. It would also mount the license plate out of the way of the radiator, which would have not impacted cooling as much as a center grill mount. One concern I did have is that the plate would be mounted more toward the center-line of the car. When conbined with the reverse threaded stud, this would produce a leverage effect that would tend to unscrew the stud. This is conjecture, of course, as I did not get to test it.

On the X150's which have the fitting behind the bumper, like the Porsche pictured in a previous post, this fitting would probably work just fine, but based on my experience, not on the X100. To bad, guess I'll have to go a more conventional route.

 

Unfortunate that it wasn't suitable for XK8/XKR. It looks a quality product and a whole lot better than the plastic monstrosity Jaguar supply.

To confirm the question about the Towing Eye. It is M20x2.5mm LH thread on the XK8/XKR (the smaller M16x3.0mm LH thread Eye fits the later XK and X400, X200 cars).

Graham

 

GGG, it was very nicely made and would have made a nice, quality, addition. If you've got the X150 I think this would be a much better solution than the plastic fitting from Jaguar. Unfortunately, it looks like I'm going to have to go with the Jag solution.

If you have a OEM front plate bracket, would you please post a picture of it? I've seen so many different front license plate brackets I'm not really sure which one is the OEM unit. Some block the radiator more than others, which I'd like to avoid, especially if I have to go drilling holes in my lower fascia.

The fitting was LH thread, but I could not get it to start threading because it appeared oversize. I'll try and mic it later and see what diameter it is.

 

I'm also debating what direction to take.

What if one were to find a perforated material, similar to that used on office building graphics? The outside displays a printed image but the perforations still allow light to be transmitted... in this case we want air to be transmitted. Print a photo of the plate on the front. I don't think any cop would look close enough or care. Am I crazy?