Quote:
Originally Posted by j23
I've had similar frames before. There are several things I don't like about them:
1. They rust. If you live in a cold climate and experience salt, they will rust given that they're mostly made of cheap Chinese steel. I've even seen so-called "stainless steel" frames of this type develop rust over time because they're not truly stainless. Billet aluminum won't rust. Sure, it will corrode, but that actually protects it from corroding further.
2. They vibrate when you close the trunk.
3. The screw holes are too large, which forces you to use the hider caps, which in turn makes taking the frame/plate off a PITA. I do this quite frequently when I detail the car to get to the dirt behind the bracket.
4. It's not really that slim, despite being advertised as "slim". The frame discussed in this thread and several others I'm after are truly slimmer and IMO look better.
It sounds like a stupid thing to discuss, but if you're anal like me, you'd be surprised how difficult it is to find a well-fitting, reliable, and truly slim license plate frame. In the last decade, I must have gone through at least 10 license plate frames between my cars and was never truly satisfied with any one of them. If they didn't look like crap, then they either rusted or the paint peeled.
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It doesn't sound like you've used these at all. You must've gotten a different model or brand.
Had mine for 8 years and live in northereast pennsylvania and drive my cars every winter... no rust. They are stainless steel, including the mounting hardware.
No vibrations here. Must've installed yours wrong. And these have additional hardware to secure them (the plastic caps and retainers) that add additional security compared to a plain screw of the Future classics.
Screw holes aren't too large (as show in picture). Nor are the caps hard to pop off. I do it by hand. Just squeeze them and they come right off.
Frame is 1cm thin. Not sure how thin the future classic ones are, but these are the thinnest of the plates indent. Can't go much thinner without risking the plate popping out.
Also, to clarify, the picture I posted here aren't of the actual finish of the frame. It was originally a stainless frame that I painted black, then clearcoated, then sanded and flaked back the clear coat a few years later. I like my frames to have a worn and beat-up look to them. So don't take the finish in the pictures as the quality of the frame.