![[VIC] Free One-Way Screws for Your Registration Plates at Doncaster Park N Ride, 10am-2pm 17/11 @ Neighbourhood Watch Victoria](https://files.ozbargain.com.au/n/24/876924.jpg?h=42a7dde6)
NHW Manningham group will be holding a Safe Plate Day in partnership with VicPol on the 17th of November from 10 am to 2 pm. It will be held at Doncaster Park n Ride, Corner Doncaster Road and High Street.
[VIC] Free One-Way Screws for Your Registration Plates at Doncaster Park N Ride, 10am-2pm 17/11 @ Neighbourhood Watch Victoria
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Starl1ght on 14/11/2024 - 21:53 nhw.com.au (628 clicks)
Last edited 14/11/2024 - 22:15 by 1 other user
Last edited 14/11/2024 - 22:15 by 1 other user
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Woah, I didn't see this coming. Take my upvote XDD!
Use one of the other holes…
I just realised this is the screw I needed to remove from a latch on one of my windows. No wonder I couldn’t remove it.
Depending on who installed them, you can often remove them by getting a flatblade and slightly grinding the flat bottom to the edges are a nice sharp 90deg, it will dig into the curves on the screws, or you can use a pin punch to knock them around… (or if they are proud of the lock, a little lick with an angle grinder blade to make a flat for the screwdriver to go against)
Yep, I got stuck into some you tube vids last night, all those things were mentioned. Thanks mate!
I used to install a lot of window locks, generally only put one of those screws in for each lock, was enough to to stop someone bothering undoing it, but way less hassle if you legitimately needed to get it off.
@BlasterBoy: Yeah I need to remove it as the mech has either seized or the keys I have are not the right ones. Pain in the ass, it’s literally the only one in the house that has these one way screws. I’ve got about 20 window locks here, of course its that one thats seized!!
are people out there stealing license plates?? what has australia come to?
it's nothing new it's always been a thing
what do they do with the plate though? do crimes pretending to be you?
Hoons and shitty delivery drivers, both times mine got stolen.
Street racing and burnout comp, buy fuel at a servo without paying, drive on a toll road, park overnight in ticketed residence only areas, park in delivery zones.
Plus robberies. The guys robbing the servo or breaking into houses put stolen plates on the transit van they borrowed from a mate.
The worst is when they steal the rear plate (less likely to be noticed by the owner). Then for weeks they're racking up fines and tickets
Mine almost got stolen. One of the screws was half screwed off. Must of saw my dashcam and got scared.
are people out there stealing license plates??
no, just the screws on the license plates.
Repercussions of the soft on crime policy approach
why are these screws special? can't go to bunnings?
The sell them at bunnings if you prefer to pay for them
They can't be unscrewed with a regular screwdriver, as they only have 2 quarters of the screw-head, to allow driving the screw in clockwise direction, but not removing in counter-clockwise direction. Hope that makes sense.
What do you do if you actually need to remove your plate?
Look at the screw in the picture on the left. If you try to undo the screw there is nothing for a screwdriver to catch onto, it will slide off.
The rest of the screw is just a normal screw. You can use pliers to take it off if you can grip it, or you can drill through it to break it apart. There are drill bits designed for removing sized screws that will easily remove this.
It's just a deterrent for petty thieves, unfortunately a dedicated criminal will have no problem
Problem is the housing in which the screw goes into rusts over time, if you don't change your plate often(which is a whole other kettle of fish) then good chance youll have to drill through it - I have had to do this before and I promise you its not fun, most bumpers aren't rigid enough for the pressure needed to drill etc etc. Long story short I think these are a bit shite.
Aren't the housings on most cars plastic now?
@donga100: Obviously cannot speak for every single vehicle, but I work on a fair few and all of them have either those square nut inserts or the nuts are part of the boot itself.
I think you take it to a police station, where they'll have the tools to do so.
Does anyone know if we have something similar or know where to buy them? Just changed the plates for a mate and it was tough so want to get him a new set
Supercheap Auto or Autobarn sells those screws.
These look like they would be easier to remove than that wedding ring on that hand thats holding them 🤣
Are they compatible with New South Wales number plates?
No, in nsw they screw back to front
Like car alarms, they're much more likely to cause problems for the owner than actually prevent any theft.
If you move interstate, or run into a tow bar, or just have the reflective coating start to fail, you'll have to replace the plates.
This is where the protective plate cover comes in, protects your plate from rock chips and keeps the inside plate clean.
Would actually say protective plates is a much better theft prevention device, especially the fancy altrex ones - they take a good few minutes to remove so an opportunistic thief will likely move on to the next car that doesn't have them.
Just sharing my thoughts on the main thread - these kinda suck. If you don't change plates often then good chance the square nuts/receivers on the other side will rust to the screw. Meaning your only option for removal is to drill it out which is a whole other problem when a bumper is made to flex and move. You will deter thieves but it will be at the detriment to your own convenience too.
I just used some stainless dome head allen bolts. Probably less likely for a licence plate thief to have a set of allen keys on them? Still easy to remove
Who was the hand model? More change getting one of those screws out than that ring ever coming off.
I wish I could have a one way screw without there being consequences like pregnancy