nitis

I can afford it but why would I want to knowingly?

nitis

Bro in law got his at DS also but did not have to weigh it.

nitis

thanks for the info to all my dad has a few trucks and hauls out of a few quarries so I can get one of them to work with me I will try and go on an empty tanka nd take off the Tailgate first and see where we are

The guy I talked to at DMV said I could possibly get some retroactive compensation.

mnmlod

So, if you register your truck in California and sign the " non-commercial / passenger " waiver, can you put anything in your bed ie groceries? motorcycle? a dog? if it is for private use? how about the mother in law? she likes to ride in the back!

nitis

You can get away with that waiver until the commercial cop sees you happened to a buddy who bought a f250 like that and did not realize it until the commercial cop started harrasing him

The trick is sign the waiver then get personalized plates cause commercial plateds and passenger plates are different

commercial 1 letter passenger 3 letters

1a11111
1aaa111

Danderson

Personalized plates are an added cost also. Why not just go with the commercial plates. You can haul anything and park in the yellow zones.(What a deal)

nitis

personalized plates are 30 as opposed to 257 thats why

CD in NM

Personally, I think stripping down to bare bones weight to save $50 a year is not worth the hastle. When you get pulled into a DOT roadside check and they put you on the portable scale, and you are overweight for your plate, the fine alone will cost you about what the next 10 years or more of the additional $50 for the right plate.

Then there is the part about getting in an accident that is not your fault, the other guy having a real smart insurance guru who sees/knows your plate is wrong, presses for a weight measurement on your truck, and all of a sudden the accident becomes your fault because of your under-weight registration. I know that one because it happened to a good friend of mine and believe me it was not pretty when all was said and done. He found his insurance cancelled when the next renewal came up, then fell into a higher category of insurance costs, the whole deal cost him a lot more than jut paying for the next higher weight class.

Also, the fed DOT when you travel interstate is governed by Homeland Security. It might not be a bad idea for you to become familiar with all that stuff. A roadside weight scale can and will get you a red tag, which means that your vehicle will have to be flatbedded from wherever you are back to the boundary of your home state port of entry, and your home state will be waiting anxiously to see that your registration meets the new fed dot. All that stuff is scheduled to come into play in 2008, some Jan 1 and some July 1.

Of course, you coul choose not to drive on roads that have fed monies invested in them, because the fed does have some dictatorial input about registrations, of which they get a kickback just like fuel taxes. With the lower weight class you will be registration legal for all the dirt roads and cowpaths that do not have fed financial support in their construction, I'm sure that CA has a lot of them to offer you as a means of getting around.

AND, don't forget to put ALL your tools, etc in the cab or in what you tow, because anything in the bed other than a family picnic basket and your ice chest is pretty much not on the list of what you can put in your bed. If you have a 4-wheeler, get a trailer, you will be over your weight class. Just your truck sitting on its tires without you behind the wheel will be your weight class.

While all of what I have suggested could or could not happen to you, you could drive for an eternity without so much as a LEO or Fed DOT looking your way once on any of these issues, we all look around and wonder how it is that some of the stuff we see goes down the road with little to no problems, but then it will only take one of them to pucker your shorts up your posterior and make you wish you had just paid for the higher weight class/plate.

CD

nitis

Sounds like you are really reaching but there is some reality there. have youread the whole post?

Bro inlaw has exactly the same truck pays less for registrationhow is that right?

I am not going to get non commercial plates too much hassel and to many commercial cops where I am at I just want to pay what I feel is right.

there are on ly 2 different plates for commercial and passenger

And I hihghly doubt that a fed dot is going to red tag me unles I am over my gvw not what I paid in reg fees

sounds like you ssweat the small stuff to much

The state of California gets enough of my money

CD in NM

Not reaching, lots of posts on truck sites that discuss all of what I brought up . . and more. I don't sweat the small stuff, I just go about being out of the cross hairs or straddling the line, easier that way, less worry. I grew up in CA, very familiar with CA laws, tarvel there often. I agree that the state of CA gets enough money, so do all the states for that matter. I just try not to give them any more than I have to, especially in fines that could be avoided.

on edit - I forgot to mention that I have 3 trucks, 2 whose registration is due in January, and 1 due in February. With all 3 renewals this year I experienced an increase in registration fees - the little notice that came with them said that due to the new fed dot regs beginning Jan 1, my trucks now will fall into the next higher rate, due to their net vehicle weight. So, it may be that your bro-in-law will get the same from CA with his renewal. I know of a couple others here in NM with the same exact trucks as mine, they were registered in the next, more expensive category as well when they went out of dealerships as new vehicles.

Good luck with your mission to get your registration the way you want it.

CD

Timmer

this is turning into a comunest country. i say we fight back.

CD in NM

Timmer - Unfortunately, you have probably hit the nail on the head, things ARE certainly getting more and more out of the citizens control. We have all these elected people who should be representing the people, but most all are for themselves and taking orders and apeasing everyone other than who elected them. They cannot manage and live within their financial means, which translates to passing all their mis-management to yours and my wallet. They give themselves raises, benefits, you name it, and we the people are forced to flit the bill without so much as a thank you, just an ongoing screw you.

CD

steelblitzkrieg

Was he over his GVW? I ask because as soon as I climb into my truck I am over my unladen registration by 230lbs. Am I in danger of being found at fault if something were to happen?

mnmlod

I just talked to CA DMV and was told the only way to skip the commercial charge was to have a " sleeping " compartment permanently attached to the bed.

CD in NM

steelblitzkrieg.

It was his unladen registration weight that nailed him. Some technicality in the law about when you violate the unladen registration weight it's like not having registration at all, being illegally on the highway, etc. He was not towing anything, had nothing in the bed other than his tool box. He has quite a bit of junk in his tool box, add the weight of all the stuff he installed - hitch, heavier bumpers front and rear, bigger tires, etc. Truthfully he was VERY suprised about how much weight it all added up to, and it was never his intention to cheat the system or get a better deal out of the license bureau/state. He just never thought anything about all the additions and how it would affect his registration weight class, somewhere in the back of his mind he thought it was all about GVWR.

I took a look at the unladen weight class increase for my registration renewal and will be getting my truck weighed since I also have added stuff that the weight could have crept up fast with.

CD