I just got my '09 a few weeks ago after trading in my lease on my '08 when I saw some amazing deals for '09s to clear them out before the 2010s arrive.

I live in Ontario, Canada, where front plates are mandatory. My '08 had a front plate bracket that was screwed onto the front bumper and the mounting side was molded to the bumpers shape so it looked like it was supposed to be there. My '09 has nothing but screws in the front bumper and the plate just hangs down off of it. It has already been struck by a bird on the highway and because of the way the plate hangs down it has no support behind it and is now bent inward at the bottom.

Is there a bracket you can order (Third Party or Dodge) that will give the plate a little more support behind it like my '08 had?

 

I looked around some and didn't find anything that would work. Putting a ridged plate frame around it helped a lot, cost about $12 at the local parts store

 

Your local auto supply store should be able to help you. You don't need to order a frame, as they should have something in stock.

 

Thanks for the suggestions. My dealership finally got back to me. $60 CDN for a dodge front licence plate bracket (designed specifically countoured to the '09 Ram front bumper nonetheless!).

Why they wouldn't include this with the vehicle in a province/country where having a front plate is the law is beyond me....especially on a vehicle with a sticker of more than $45K you think they could throw in a $60 chunk of plastic. As far as I know all previous years came with it included. I have friends with 08s, 07s, 05s, and 04 Rams and all have these brackets that came standard on the vehicle.

 

i bought a clear, "unbreakable" plate cover.
the plate snaps into it and it works well.
cheaper than $60, and no big, black, block on the front.

 

I had the same "unbreakable" plate cover, only mine was smoke instead of clear. Snapped the bottom half clear off when the bird hit it. I am sure it probably still would have cracked but probably wouldn't be near as much damage to the cover and plate if it had some kind of support behind it.

 

my 09 came with 2 =1/2 inch foam spacers to stick to the back of the plate and just touchs the bumper I dont know if that would help any?

 

Plate mounted straight to the bumper. No bracket needed. no troubles with it.

 

When u are negotiating price that is when you get them to throw those things in for free, they usually have one sitting in a salesmans drawer or something like that.

 

Mine came with one on it, no charge it is basically a Dealer plater protector that is beefed up works fine.