[Bob.W]

Hi All,

We live rural - winter is coming and its dark earlier. I've considered placing a smallish LED bar on the front of our 2017 PD but alas mounting it is rather tricky.

The easiest solution is to get one of the brackets that screws into the licence plate holes: LED BRACKET

The first issue with this is that I have the frontal radar module fitted i30, the radar module is located directly behind the front grille badge (is screwed into the front intrusion beam). So having the LED bar above the number plate would block this.  I ASSUME I could turn the bracket UPSIDE DOWN and just mount the LED to the underside of it, I can't see an issue with that - sort of similar to how this member mounted theis:  LED Light Bar connection ?

The secondary issue with this is that the front number plate mount for the i30 PD is pathetically weak - to the point of being laughable.  There's a plastic piece that is attached by 3 screws to the plastic grille - the licence plate screws into this. But there's nothing solid here at all. Behind the very weak plastic grille is a large piece of extruded foam - thats around 10cm thick and then the high tensile steel intrusion bar.

The front number plate ALONE is all that this joke of a setup can handle - so adding a metal bracket and an LED bar would surely be disasterous bouncing around on the roads.

So my question would be HOW can I reinforce the front number plate arrangement so that it could cope with any extra weight on it and not bounce all over the place when driving?   Screwing into highly flexible plastic alone seems a terrible idea.

I've also considered taking off the front bumper and mounting by screwing into the intrusion beam BUT as mentioned doing on the top of it is a no-go as the radar module is in the middle.  You could go with one of the small paired LEDs either side of it - but thats not ideal.

This excellent post by a member shows the setup behind the grille and how you can mount to the intrusion beam IF you don't have a rador module etc. Lightbar / spot lights behind front grill

Mounting to the underside of the intrusion bar is again not ideal as there's a frontal impact sensor for the airbags on the left and something else on the far right but you have a central area that could be used - but again with all the stuff thats behind the grille you're also blocking a LOT of the light with solid plastic in front of it and maintenance is much harder to do due to accessing it - so much easier if you can mount it on the outside of the vehicle.

Can't believe Hyundai made the licence plate mount so flimsy - I swear I could yank it off with my bare hands if needed.

Any ideas welcomed.

[CraigB]

Some 3mm aluminium plate placed behind the plastic grill/cross beam would make a suitable mounting support, pop rivet the plate in place and then it should be fine for self tappers to secure the license plate and light bar to.

[The Gonz]

Same problem on all the models. I had my front licence plate screwed to a nudge bar screwed to the original plate location, then a very lightweight pair of LED bars attached to it. It looked good until you near a wall and see the engine vibration making the beam dance.

I agree bolting to the solid bar and forward through the grille is the way to go.

[Bob.W]

Some 3mm aluminium plate placed behind the plastic grill/cross beam would make a suitable mounting support, pop rivet the plate in place and then it should be fine for self tappers to secure the license plate and light bar to.

Hi @CraigB

I'm struggling to visualise your suggestion sorry...perhaps I need to upload some images, its just a tough area to get a good picture of.  There is the very flimsy plastic grille, then immediately behind it there's a large block of extruded foam of some type - this is around 80-100mm in thickness, then there is the high tensile steel intrusion beam that stretches horizontally across the entire engine bay width.

I can't envisage how the aluminium plate would be oriented to allow it to be riveted to the intrusion beam (I assume you meant this as nothign else is solid in this area) but then also be able to have the number plate holder/LED bracket bolted to it.  You would need an L shaped bracket to do this.

[CraigB]

I'm not suggesting to mount to the intrusion beam, I'm not sure if that would even be legal as the bar and impact foam is all part of the crash protection system

Placing a plate or larger brackets directly behind the license plate/rear of grill to make a larger support (more surface area) to attach to.

[The Gonz]

Some 3mm aluminium plate placed behind the plastic grill/cross beam would make a suitable mounting support, pop rivet the plate in place and then it should be fine for self tappers to secure the license plate and light bar to.

Hi @CraigB

I'm struggling to visualise your suggestion sorry...perhaps I need to upload some images, its just a tough area to get a good picture of.  There is the very flimsy plastic grille, then immediately behind it there's a large block of extruded foam of some type - this is around 80-100mm in thickness, then there is the high tensile steel intrusion beam that stretches horizontally across the entire engine bay width.

I can't envisage how the aluminium plate would be oriented to allow it to be riveted to the intrusion beam (I assume you meant this as nothign else is solid in this area) but then also be able to have the number plate holder/LED bracket bolted to it.  You would need an L shaped bracket to do this.

Ah, so there's a foam block between the bar and grille!
Yes, I agree that this would form part of the collision system. My FD just has space between these.
I've even seen examples of where the older models had driving lights fitted behind the grille.

[Bob.W]

I'm not suggesting to mount to the intrusion beam, I'm not sure if that would even be legal as the bar and impact foam is all part of the crash protection system

Placing a plate or larger brackets directly behind the license plate/rear of grill to make a larger support (more surface area) to attach to.

Ah, okay I understand what you're saying now.  yes you could just place a sheet piece of rigid material behind the grille - but it'd be tricky to get in as the foam take up all the room. I don't think it would make much of a difference as all of it would essentially be attached to the very weak plastic grille - so you're still going to have all the weight of whatever is mounted on the holes in this - which is pretty dubious for it's ability to hold up - and I suspect if you damaged or cracked this grille you'd be looking at pretty significant replacement costs.

Putting stuff behind the grille on the intrusion bar - even if you had to use some full on industrial strength glues for the mounts (so as not to compromise the intrusion bar by drilling into it) is the only way to really properly do - but you're stuck with a lot of the light being blocked by the grille before it gets out on the surroundings. You're also pretty limited by what LED sizes you can use - and also you're blocking off a fair % of the airflow onto the radiator.

Alas I think the i30 PD isn't a vehicle that well suited to any type of extra lighting on the outside of the car....I suspect you'd put a lot of effort in, risk a cobbled together solution and questionable results.  Oh well.

Some 3mm aluminium plate placed behind the plastic grill/cross beam would make a suitable mounting support, pop rivet the plate in place and then it should be fine for self tappers to secure the license plate and light bar to.

Hi @CraigB

I'm struggling to visualise your suggestion sorry...perhaps I need to upload some images, its just a tough area to get a good picture of.  There is the very flimsy plastic grille, then immediately behind it there's a large block of extruded foam of some type - this is around 80-100mm in thickness, then there is the high tensile steel intrusion beam that stretches horizontally across the entire engine bay width.

I can't envisage how the aluminium plate would be oriented to allow it to be riveted to the intrusion beam (I assume you meant this as nothign else is solid in this area) but then also be able to have the number plate holder/LED bracket bolted to it.  You would need an L shaped bracket to do this.

Ah, so there's a foam block between the bar and grille!
Yes, I agree that this would form part of the collision system. My FD just has space between these.
I've even seen examples of where the older models had driving lights fitted behind the grille.

Yes, I am sure it assists in minor car park bumps.  There's not many examples out there of driving lights having been fitted - particularly to the PD - so thats part that it's not a car that folks do this with but you still see quite a few out here in a rural location - so given that the average 4WD looks like something out of Star Trek with so many LED bars and spotties on them (how many do folks REALLY NEED????) you'd think you'd see a few more with something on IF it were viable - so I suspect it's just not. So I don't think I can find a way when others haven't, that tends to end badly more often than not.

[The Gonz]

There's not many examples out there of driving lights having been fitted - particularly to the PD - so thats part that it's not a car that folks do this with but you still see quite a few out here in a rural location - so given that the average 4WD looks like something out of Star Trek with so many LED bars and spotties on them (how many do folks REALLY NEED????) you'd think you'd see a few more with something on IF it were viable - so I suspect it's just not. So I don't think I can find a way when others haven't, that tends to end badly more often than not.

Alas, 'tis so. You could fit a tubular bull-bar or nudge bar from underneath the chassis, but that just makes a mockery of all that carefully designed collision zone.