Back at the turn of the new millennium I jumped on the new 2 1/4" no bolts showing mounting plates & thought it to be a great idea, but as many of you know, there were countless problems with them. After a little goading at first, Happ did start to ship them with the bolt kits, but after hearing things like my bolts stripped... the threads in my post are nonexistent, or stripped ... my post broke off... one of my post is bent... and etc, I have given up on them altogether & quickly dropped them. I had my own plates made up in the old style that have been solid as a rock since their inception & built to last forever. At worst, they might require a new coat of paint & perhaps some new mounting bolts down the road.
Lately, many of you have been asking me to give them a second chance. I've heard that the 3" is better constructed, that they've ironed out the bugs, that much of the original problems were caused by overtightening & inexperience with a new product & other pro statements. Well... I have no intentions of giving the 2 1/4" another try, but I have kowtowed to the 3" NBS Happ mounting plate... at least temporarily. I have 1 case of them & we'll see how they work out.