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california hdt registration


RKMoezee

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Nick, the states don't have to all agree. They already have and the laws is already there. All the Feds need to do is remove the RV exemption from the FMCSR's, tweak the definition of CMV and BINGO..there ya have it.

Texas law says a commercial vehicle is: "Commercial motor vehicle" means a self-propelled or towed vehicle that is used on a public highway to transport passengers or cargo if:

(A) the vehicle, including a school activity bus as defined in Section 541.201, or combination of vehicles has a gross weight, registered weight, or gross weight rating of more than 26,000 pounds;

Doesn't that definition describe all of us?? They then exempt RV's used exclusively for personal and recreational usage. One day the legislature will get wise to the fact they we are driving the same trucks as the commercial drivers with none of the restrictions. The RV lobby doesn't care about us, just look at the decreasing number of heavy RV makers...everyone wants lighter and lighter. Do you really think Escapees cares about the miniscule number of (in the overall scheme of things) HDT'ers that exist? Enough to fight to keep us exempt from the regs that every one of the 10 million commercial trucks in this country has to follow? 10 million truck do follow the regs, couple of hundred HDT RV'ers don't....and a few Prevost drivers too. The deck is already stacked against us, they just haven't gotten to using this deck yet. We aren't visible enough...and that is changing.

 

Hey, if you and your horse are not in commerce, then good for you. I never said you were. But there are many, many that are. Go look at the other thread I am currently in... the guy who says he races for money and doesn't know that will make his HDT motorhome into a commercial vehicle. The number of HDT's used as RV's IS increasing. Ask anyone that has been around this forum for 10 years. Ask Mark, Dennis or Jack, It wasn't that long ago that the few HDT'ers here had to struggle to survive in the MDT forum cuz there were only a half dozen members. One day it WILL catch up to us.

MY PEOPLE SKILLS ARE JUST FINE.
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I have no doubt that in the name of revenue they are after us, I just dont understand how a sane person can say, pickup trucks are basically exempt from commercial enforcement unless they meet a very specific criteria. Mainly because the resources to enforce the regulations on pickup trucks exceeds the revenue it would bring in. But if you tow with a bigger, safer truck, you have to abide by the same laws as a person who drives 40 hours + a week when i drive 40 + per year. Statistically I am going to be safer, safer than a pickup, and safer than a professional driver.

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LOL I love people that think they are so rich the state is just trying to survive by writing them a speeding ticket. One more speeder and we can afford to paint the city name on both sides of the patrol car. That way we can make left turns too. We's just been making right turns so no one will see the other side of the car. And heck, If we get two more we might can buy a sireeen too. Won't have to scream "pull over" out the winder no more. Or, if you simply obey the rules, then you could put the government out of business using your logic, right? And I've got bad news for you, I am limited on how many citations I can issue a violator by the state. Hard to generate revenue off the working man that way, what the hell are they thinking up there at the capital? Shoot, I could get a raise if they would let me write more tickets, eh? Explain to me what is "my" motivation? I get paid...period. I get paid the same...period. 1 ticket, 5 tickets, all pays the same. Hell, I could be lazy and it makes no difference on payday, so what is my motivation? After all I'm getting old. I'd like to slow down some before I retire...or maybe I should pick up the pace so they would put a few more dollars in my pension account?

 

Guess you will just have to come up with some new conspiracy theory. Have you heard the one about aliens in New Mexico? Maybe they were bringing you the latest lotto numbers until the government imprisoned them in that there Area 51? You should try that one for a while, cuz the old trying to make the quota and you paying my salary BS is kind of old, not to mention it is just plain silly.

 

But then again I guess you could be right, everyone could be after YOU cuz they certainly aren't after me. I ain't had any revenue action (as you call it) taken against me since I was about 20 years old. And that dumb old judge gave me deferred...Obviously he wasn't let in on that revenue thing either. Tell me again how this revenue thing works? That way I can 'splain it to the judge, cuz he and I seem to have been left outta the loop. And let me know the next time you get revenued...I sure do need a raise, and the capital building needs a coat of new paint too :)

MY PEOPLE SKILLS ARE JUST FINE.
~It's my tolerance to idiots that needs work.~

2005 Volvo 780 VED12 465hp / Freedomline transmission
singled mid position / Bed by Larry Herrin
2018 customed Mobile Suites 40KSSB3 

2014 smart Fortwo

 

 
 
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I get paid...period. I get paid the same...period. 1 ticket, 5 tickets, all pays the same.

 

And that's the way it should be!

 

Unfortunately not always the case though, especially when it comes to smaller departments. Quotas are still legal in quite a few states, but TX both makes them illegal and limits the share of revenue a town/county can derive from traffic fines which is far better than most. They could do even better by adopting a uniform fine schedule across the state.

45' 2004 Showhauler -- VNL300, ISX, FreedomLine -- RVnerds.com -- where I've started to write about what I'm up to

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That explains why in Los Angles its hard to get a parking ticket, because they are so busy catching the murders. Oh wait, they dont solve half the murders, and have been found guilty of giving innocent people parking tickets. on top of that, when they are faced with budget cuts they fire detectives and hire meter maids. I dont think it is a conspiracy theory, and I fully respect the job of law enforcement but i also dont kid myself. Government does not do anything out of benevolence.

 

Look at the scale in Cabezon, on Sunday night, which is backed up for miles most of the times I go through it and imagine making everyone pulling a toy hauler stop in there also? Do you really think that the State of California is going to add the staff and facilities to handle that? IF so how would they pay for it? You dont think the people that drive those toy haulers would mind spending and extra 45 minutes or more waiting in line to go home?

 

When I first started with horses 20 years ago when you crossed state lines and had to stop there was a Vet there, to protect public health. Now there is a just an enforcement officer trying to figure out how much i owe, and has no idea how to read health papers. Yet the state still makes me pay 100 dollars every 30 days, and 450 once a year if i want to take horses out of the state. To me that is very sad.

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This was actually an advertising company running promos and demos for Slacker (yes the online radio company). The whole truck was skinned in the Slacker attire. The company also had a military skinned one that they used for passing out US military recruiting literature at shows also. They knew exactly what they were...but as you said, they were abusing the RV exemption and I agree with you. It is these types (racers and some horsers too) that will eventually ruin it for all of us. IMHO, one day the powers that be will simply say "every vehicle over xxx pounds needs a cdl, a medical card and a log book. You will find a whole bunch of Prevosts hitting the market when it happens :)

Many farmers and horsers get lots of exemptions to the commercial regs. Hauling your own horses for personal use, or to a from auction is legal in many places...until you hit that magic mile point and lose the to and from market exemption. To and from the track and/or rodeo for competition is not exempt which is why you see so many LGT's at the rodeo.

 

Big5er said:

 

"they were abusing the RV exemption and I agree with you. It is these types (racers and some horsers too) that will eventually ruin it for all of us. IMHO, one day the powers that be will simply say "every vehicle over xxx pounds needs a cdl, a medical card and a log book."

 

Well it seems like that "one day" has already past in California.........seems that the "California HDT-RV" is likely a "endangered-animal" soon to be "extinct" .............

 

History has proven that California has often been able to "infect" many of the other states and even the feds with less-than-stellar policy, laws, and just moronic concepts.........of course unfunded mandates in California is just another form of "Advanced-Public-Funding".......let the grandkids deal with it..........

 

Drive on...........(Do I hear a clock.......ticking)

97 Freightshaker Century Cummins M11-370 / 1350 /10 spd / 3:08 /tandem/ 20ft Garage/ 30 ft Curtis Dune toybox with a removable horse-haul-module to transport Dolly-The-Painthorse to horse camps and trail heads all over the Western U S

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Look at the scale in Cabezon, on Sunday night, which is backed up for miles most of the times I go through it and imagine making everyone pulling a toy hauler stop in there also? Do you really think that the State of California is going to add the staff and facilities to handle that?

Are we supposed to assume from your post that "everyone pulling a toyhauler" is towing it with an HDT or that their combination of vehicles is in excess of 26,001 lbs?

MY PEOPLE SKILLS ARE JUST FINE.
~It's my tolerance to idiots that needs work.~

2005 Volvo 780 VED12 465hp / Freedomline transmission
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2018 customed Mobile Suites 40KSSB3 

2014 smart Fortwo

 

 
 
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no but if their trailer has 2 axles the trailer could be over 10K GVWR, if it is a bumper pull and over 15K GVWR if it is a 5th wheel, which would regardless of actual trailer weight and require a class A. The only way to know for sure is to check.

Sorry Nick, but that excuse doesn't fly. I don't know any HDT RV'ers that pass through the scales. That is because they aren't commercial. According to you the only way to know if they are or not is to check so are you now suggesting that we all need to enter the scales to be checked for being commercial or not?

MY PEOPLE SKILLS ARE JUST FINE.
~It's my tolerance to idiots that needs work.~

2005 Volvo 780 VED12 465hp / Freedomline transmission
singled mid position / Bed by Larry Herrin
2018 customed Mobile Suites 40KSSB3 

2014 smart Fortwo

 

 
 
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That was where you thought we were going, i just dont think the resources exist to enforce it. I just wish we could have simple to follow laws, that made sense from a safety standpoint not a revenue standpoint. I know several people who have been cited for driving out of class in Santa Barbra for pulling bumper pull trailers with a GVWR of 10,000, and the tickets stood in court. At least one of them was empty, but the law says if you have a trailer with a GVWR of 10k you need a class A. Never mind you could have 9,999 lbs on the trailer axles with 2 3.5K axles and not get cited, because the law is based on rating not actual weight.

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That was where you thought we were going, i just dont think the resources exist to enforce it. I just wish we could have simple to follow laws, that made sense from a safety standpoint not a revenue standpoint. I know several people who have been cited for driving out of class in Santa Barbra for pulling bumper pull trailers with a GVWR of 10,000, and the tickets stood in court. At least one of them was empty, but the law says if you have a trailer with a GVWR of 10k you need a class A. Never mind you could have 9,999 lbs on the trailer axles with 2 3.5K axles and not get cited, because the law is based on rating not actual weight.

The needed information is printed right there on the vehicle so the owner/driver knows exactly what it says and what it is. Isn't that fairly simple? No scales involved, no need for a scale house, no need to pull into a weigh station. Simple and easy. An empty truck-tractor and trailer (an 18 wheeler) is still required to log his hours of service and still needs a CDL. The laws covering his vehicle also are based on GVWR. His weight might change from trip to trip, from load to load but GVWR is constant. It is what it is. It doesn't change. There is no "guess work" involved. It can't get much easier, or simple.

 

I'm sorry your friends got tickets, but of course the tickets stood in court. They should have paid attention because as you said, the law is based on GVWR, and it IS a simple to follow law. Too many people just get in their cars and drive, with very little thought given to the car. The same mentality transfers over to people towing RV's (and other trailers). They just get into it and drive. I'd be willing to bet that 99% of the HDT RV'ers know more about their vehicles weight than any other group of RV'ers. That is because they understand that they are pulling heavy trailers and want to do it safely. They certainly didn't make their decision based on the fact that a lesser truck might get them a citation. Weight is a something that more trailer pulling people need to learn, something they need to think about before they just jump into a vehicle and take off. I hope it's a lesson that your friends learned rather than just figuring they were cited simply because someone wanted some revenue.

 

Have a good weekend. I'm heading to work for some overtime. :D They are gonna pay me time and a half to do exactly the same work as usual. That's good for me, bad for their revenue.

MY PEOPLE SKILLS ARE JUST FINE.
~It's my tolerance to idiots that needs work.~

2005 Volvo 780 VED12 465hp / Freedomline transmission
singled mid position / Bed by Larry Herrin
2018 customed Mobile Suites 40KSSB3 

2014 smart Fortwo

 

 
 
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License class regulations are based on training and demonstrating the ability to manage the mass, braking systems, and inertia of large vehicles - something the "best in class tow rating", tuner and cold air intake segments tend to overlook...

"Are we there yet?" asked no motorcycle rider, ever. 

 

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Well I've decided that it's really not a good idea to try to get a HDT and squirrel it away in CA for 6 years. The truck I was going to buy looked like the perfect vehicle for me but the hurdles are to high. The thing is some one said on here its fairly simple to follow the law but I'm more confused about the law now than ever. I do know Ca has a lot of road blocks to my getting a HDT, So i'm waiting until I domicile in another state and retirement is in 6 years if SS is still there then. Thanks every one for there input.

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iddy, I'm not going to argue points of law, but I can share my experience.

 

We did live in California, in the Chico area. We got our truck about 9 months before the trailer, because we wanted to make sure we were comfortable driving it before adding the trailer. Despite it being registered as a motorhome in another state, California wouldn't allow us to register as anything except as commercial, just like a pickup truck is registered as commercial in California, except that we had to get and display weight stickers. When we traveled in the truck (we went camping in the truck like it was a motorhome nearly every weekend) we pulled into all the scales, just to be waved on through. When we crossed the Oregon/California border we'd pull into the truck lanes at the inspection station. The officers would laugh as they waved us through.

 

Someone said in the course of this discussion that following the commercial regs is a matter of how the truck is used and not a matter of how the truck is registered. My experience leads me to believe that statement is true.

 

But then, YMMV.

Trish & Raquel

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That was where you thought we were going, i just dont think the resources exist to enforce it. I just wish we could have simple to follow laws, that made sense from a safety standpoint not a revenue standpoint. I know several people who have been cited for driving out of class in Santa Barbra for pulling bumper pull trailers with a GVWR of 10,000, and the tickets stood in court. At least one of them was empty, but the law says if you have a trailer with a GVWR of 10k you need a class A. Never mind you could have 9,999 lbs on the trailer axles with 2 3.5K axles and not get cited, because the law is based on rating not actual weight.

 

 

Hmmmmmm .........I also know several people (not cited) towing bumper pull trailers - including custom made race car hauler bumper pulls - that have a GVWR of 9,999 - BY DESIGN.

(They knew - and understood the req's - no rocket science necessary)

 

The only revenue the state got (or gets) is the annual registration.

 

In CA the 10K GVWR requiring a Class A (and later a Non-comm Class A) license requirement goes back LOTS of years.

BIL had his custom built hauler (9,999) about 30 years ago.

 

Ignorance of the law is no excuse - and if they don't/didn't do their bumper pull homework (unfortunately) - shame on them.

 

Of course - the RV salesman will remind the buyer of a TT in CA which license he needs, right?.

 

BTW - in the past, folks in CA didn't need an endorsement 41 for towing fifth wheel trailers over 10K and under 15K - and a Class A non comm for over 15K.

 

LOTS of 'em are on the road - and clueless about those reqs also.

 

.

 

.

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It's funny you mention the endorsement 41 and non commercial Class A for 5th wheels...my insurance guy asked me to get my "41" when I bought my first 5er and then upgraded to a non Comm class "A" when I got a larger 5er over 15k.

 

This kinda "ties in" to gray area HDT to Motor Home conversions In CA - and the "unknown" (2004) Appellate Court ruling regarding same,

 

You would think they (all the DMV offices) , would all be on the same page, have the latest info, know the rules & regs, etc.

 

First (how it should/might work) - CA to SD Driver's License change.

Walk into the SD DMV office to change my DL from CA to SD. Figured I would have to take a test, or?

Hand the clerk my CA DL, he checks the computer - says, "You had a Class B Commercial in the past, do you still want one?"

(Hadn't had that one for about 5 years - at least)

So tell him no, just a standard DL with my MC endorsement. He says to take a seat, and we will call you.

About ten minutes later, he calls me - hands me my laminated SD DL and away I go.

I'm impressed!

 

Fast forward 5 years - back to CA, need to switch back.

Been there, done the CA DMV for lots of years - know what to expect.

 

SD DL is expiring in a couple of days - so too late to make a DMV appointment (highly recommended).

Show up at the local DMV about 8:30 AM - probably 50 people in line for the "Information Desk" (Req'd first stop).

Hmmmmm - figure I'll come back the next day *before* the office opens (at 8AM).

 

Show up at 7:30 AM - *only* about 10 people in line.

 

Now the fun begins!

Get to the desk (politely) tell the gal I want to get a Class C DL - with MC & 41 endorsements.

She says - "You want a Non-Commercial Class A with a MC endorsement".

 

No - I want a Class C with a motorcycle (M-1) and 41 endorsement.

She says (and insists) - no such thing as a 41 endorsement.

 

Show her the DMV printout & info for that.

 

"Oh - OK - go to window XX to take the test/s."

 

Go to the window, gal hands me three tests.

As I walk to the exam area - I see she has given me a Motor Home test.

Go back - and tell her, wrong one - I need/want the endorsement 41 test.

After some discussion with other clerks - she comes up with the correct one.

 

Take tests - get 100% on Class C, and endorsement 41.

Get to take the MC again - (whoever made up the test has never ridden a MC) - OK - done, passed.

 

I'm waiting while the clerk is inputting the info and printing out the temporary DL.

 

He says, "Oh - you need to have a medical form signed by a doctor before we can issue your Class A DL"

Look down at the form he has - it's for a non-commercial Class A DL.

 

(He never said anything about the *required* driving test for a Non-Com Class A)

Probably should have said, I'll bring the medical form in - (have any future 5ths covered!) - but I'd been there too long already, my patience had worn thin, so told him the test he just corrected is *not* for a non-com Class A - and the endorsement 41 doesn't req a medical form.

 

Oops - chats with other clerk/s - tears up the temp Class A he has printed, re-does the process - and away I go with the correct temp license and endorsements.

 

Hey - it's just "routine" at/for the CA DMV.

 

.

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  • 1 month later...

If you own land in another state and you've improved it enough so that you can live and store your RV there you can register it there as well. So if you have a place in Oregon, or any other state, you should be able to register your RV to that address as your second home or if it's commercial to that business.

 

This should also work for insurance because insurance is based on where the vehicle is garaged. If the RV is garaged in OR, or any other state, that where you pay for insurance.

 

So the bottom line is that when you drive it into CA it's ok since its garaged and registered outside the state at your second legal address and most of its use is outside the state. However you can never "Store or garage" it in CA.

 

IMHO

John & Joyce

N6BER

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If you own land in another state and you've improved it enough so that you can live and store your RV there you can register it there as well. So if you have a place in Oregon, or any other state, you should be able to register your RV to that address as your second home or if it's commercial to that business.

This should also work for insurance because insurance is based on where the vehicle is garaged. If the RV is garaged in OR, or any other state, that where you pay for insurance.

So the bottom line is that when you drive it into CA it's ok since its garaged and registered outside the state at your second legal address and most of its use is outside the state. However you can never "Store or garage" it in CA.

IMHO

Oregon is a bit of a urban legend when it comes to converting and operating a HDT RV..........

 

Like most legends the real world is a bit different......first California is just one thin line away from Oregon

 

Oregon and Califronia DMV's do cooperate to them extent that in Oregon just owning land or a second home WILL NOT make you elegiable to convert a HDT to a motor home.........to be elegiable you MUST PROVE that you ARE a Oregon RESIDENT!!!!

 

Some folks try to pull wool over the eyes of the OR DMV but this can get really ugly fast when both Oregon and Calf. DMV's dog pile on the outlaw.......

 

Oregon has NO SALES TAX and this also gets ugly when folks from Cal. try to buy items and use Oregon to skip the sales tax......not a very good idea........Calf. Tax geeks no all the tricks so..........

 

Oregon is a good deal for a HDT owner.......the devil is in the details.......you have to reside in Oregon.......

 

Drive on.........(where is my Oregon.......drivers license)

97 Freightshaker Century Cummins M11-370 / 1350 /10 spd / 3:08 /tandem/ 20ft Garage/ 30 ft Curtis Dune toybox with a removable horse-haul-module to transport Dolly-The-Painthorse to horse camps and trail heads all over the Western U S

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Well said, Dollytrolley.

 

Timon - the title of this thread is....*CALIFORNIA*.... HDT Registration" !

 

A CA resident can register his/her HDT as a private truck (non-commercial) in SD very easily.

 

If you drive with a *CA* DL(in CA) and a RV registered in a different state, you may/will have "problems" if you are stopped for some reason by the CHP..

 

Sales tax "avoidance" - as DT stated - is an obvious "flag". when plates & DLs don't match.

 

Consequently, if your rig has out-of-state plates different than your DL......you will play 20 (or more) questions!

This is especially true for drivers with CA DLs and rigs registered in OREGON and/or MT.

CA is looking for CA residents avoiding the (steep) sales tax..

 

Should add - CA residents *can* legally avoid sales tax - the 90 day (now one year) rule, boats, planes, RVs.

However, the "glitch" for HDT's is CA is *not* allowing MH designation for HDTs.

Yes, there are/have been "exceptions" but those are of the "slipped thru the cracks" variety.

 

BTW - even genuine "new" Oregon full-time residents must jump through "serious" hoops when first registering their vehicles in Oregon.

CA "transplants" -there are lots of those- get a few extra hoops!

 

It is what it is.

 

 

~

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Pappy your insights into the Golden State hit the mark.........

 

In the "Information Age" the cop with the red and blue lights on behind you very likely knows more about you, than you "think" that you know about yourself........whew.....

 

Our cell carrier just emailed us that our 14 year old flip-phones that are wood-fire-powered will no longer be able to utilize the "new-improved-network" (Uh ho ....bad juju) .......anyhow now us old geezers will now have to get ....Smart.....phones...........I'd rather the phone company just send me the "Smarts" and just let me keep the old flip-phone........

 

If you "think" you can scam the CHP..........well consider the CHP car is BIGGER that your smart phone and it is hooked-up to LexisNexusAndNSAandCIAandPTAand...and.......so scamming CA DMV / CHP/ DOT is like taking a Leatherman Tool to a gunfight .......your only hope is that the opposing "players" gun jams and he hands it to you so that you can work on it with your Leatherman..........everyone that tries "playing 20 questions with the CHP seems to get whacked at about question #7...........not a fair game........

 

Our family "moved" to Oregon so early that even the Indians felt sorry for us and no one yet considered statehood.....(later the indians reconsidered and we and them traded some lead.......but a few of us and them survived) so the jest of it is Oregon is OK for HDT ownership but the property taxes are steep, the income tax is a pain, the rain West of the Cascades is great for mold, and the winters East of the Cascades in the high desert is colder than a well digger kiester..........At various times I considered moving to CA but folks from Oregon have to

rob several banks just to gather up enough $$$ just to be considered "poor folks" in the "Golden State".........

 

Just a few days ago I went over to a property that we have owned in Bend forever and I was walking around my old truck parts junk pile when a nice chap from CA came over and introduced himself.........he is a developer, and he said he had just bought the five acres next to me and was about to spend + $17,700.000 or a "bit" more to build upscale town houses next to my truck junk pile.......(hummm I'll bet they will want my junk moved a "bit").........such is progress.......

 

I wonder if the "CA developer is just building a bunch of townhouses so that folks from the Golden State will become Oregon residences so that they can get easy HDT registration.............I am starting to see black helicopters.........again......

 

And they think my mom-n-law is crazy..........try sneaking scams the size of a Freightshaker into the Golden State........

 

Drive on............(LGT is the Golden State official.......truck)

97 Freightshaker Century Cummins M11-370 / 1350 /10 spd / 3:08 /tandem/ 20ft Garage/ 30 ft Curtis Dune toybox with a removable horse-haul-module to transport Dolly-The-Painthorse to horse camps and trail heads all over the Western U S

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In the "Information Age" the cop with the red and blue lights on behind you very likely knows more about you, than you "think" that you know about yourself........whew.....

Odds are before he even turns on the flashing lights he knows who you are or at least the owner of the truck/trailer. That MDT (Mobile Data Terminal not Medium Duty Truck) is so quick now that here locally just sitting at traffic light our officers will start running multiple tags, mostly looking for warrant hits.

 

With returns on tags being so quick that is another reason it is smart to have everything registered in the same name/location. In Texas they can even verify your insurance electronically. I don't even carry my card any more because they are going to verify if the card is valid anyways.

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Our family "moved" to Oregon so early that even the Indians felt sorry for us and no one yet considered statehood.....(later the indians reconsidered and we and them traded some lead.......but a few of us and them survived) so the jest of it is Oregon is OK for HDT ownership but the property taxes are steep, the income tax is a pain, the rain West of the Cascades is great for mold, and the winters East of the Cascades in the high desert is colder than a well digger kiester..........At various times I considered moving to CA but folks from Oregon have to

rob several banks just to gather up enough $$$ just to be considered "poor folks" in the "Golden State".........

 

Just a few days ago I went over to a property that we have owned in Bend forever and I was walking around my old truck parts junk pile when a nice chap from CA came over and introduced himself.........he is a developer, and he said he had just bought the five acres next to me and was about to spend + $17,700.000 or a "bit" more to build upscale town houses next to my truck junk pile.......(hummm I'll bet they will want my junk moved a "bit").........such is progress.......

 

 

 

 

Bend has become the new "hot" location for outdoor activities for the "in-crowd" from anywhere/everywhere - driving housing and rent/lease prices, up, and UP! - Those condos will be occupied in short order.

 

CA residents - whether they are developers or single-family homeowners- have realized dramatic increases over the years of what they own(ed) in CA.

Not necessarily true of *all* CA - but for So. CA, etc. - a regular, major - "ka-ching!".

 

Big profits "if* they sell - but, where to go?

Easy! - ..Go North, young man - Oregon is beautiful, Oregon is a BARGAIN!

Since you can't afford something larger/better than what you just sold in CA , and your "new" property taxes (w/o Pop 13) will make Oregon's look do-able - - "pocket" some of your profits, and pack up that LGT..

 

Of course, the rise in value in Oregon properties - driven by the CA spenders, muttering "what a deal, Margaret" when they signed on the dotted line, didn't sit well with their new Oregon neighbors - unless *they* also wanted to sell.

(Even if they had done the same move a few years previously themselves).

 

In the 1980's, we would regularly visit a friend , who owned about 5 acres outside of Springfield - Jasper area - which was kind of close to the city (Springfield/Eugene) but semi-rural. She built a modest home on her property.

 

A few years later, a buyer (maybe a transplant?) with several of Dolly's kin, purchased the adjoining property.

He graded a nice (LARGE) "ring" for his riding activities. - but the darn rain got to him.

Easy solution = cover it.

 

Our friend moved, but we visited the area a couple of years ago - that semi-rural area is now full of "estates" - - and that *covered* high school running track size "horse ring" - looks normal, and fits right in with the area!

 

Progress.

 

.

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  • 1 year later...

Howdy,

Does anyone have current 2017 reliable info on legally converting our KW T2000 in CALIFORNIA :

I have read about losing the third axle and 5th wheel and airlines and possibly some sort of deck. And getting the  VIN altered to reflect MH status.  BUT I also read these options are not valid anymore ?? My reg agent knows nothing.

I do have the CDL and not sure i want to reg in another state while we live here. Just want to be able to pull a nice toy hauler and keep my beloved KW. Been researching off and on for 19 months but can't seem to find the answer. 

 Is there a local converter and registration agent currently doing conversions ?

Thanks Tim

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26 minutes ago, tgtrotter said:

Howdy,

Does anyone have current 2017 reliable info on legally converting our KW T2000 in CALIFORNIA :

I have read about losing the third axle and 5th wheel and airlines and possibly some sort of deck. And getting the  VIN altered to reflect MH status.  BUT I also read these options are not valid anymore ?? My reg agent knows nothing.

I do have the CDL and not sure i want to reg in another state while we live here. Just want to be able to pull a nice toy hauler and keep my beloved KW. Been researching off and on for 19 months but can't seem to find the answer. 

 Is there a local converter and registration agent currently doing conversions ?

Thanks Tim

You might get lucky and be able to convert it in CA, but technically it is not currently possible.  It has nothing to do with the law, but rather it is because of a rule in the DMV handbook.  Chapter 13, page 5 of the DMV handbook talks about Truck Tractors.  It specifically says,

"Truck tractors must always be registered as commercial vehicles, even if they have living quarters.
• The living quarters are secondary or incidental to the primary function of the vehicle, which is still drawing other vehicles.
• Truck tractors with living quarters cannot be registered as housecars."

There was a time when people were able to get lucky on their own and go to a DMV and find a clerk that was unaware of this rule and that clerk would allow a title conversion from truck tractor to housecar.  This was fairly hit and miss though.  Several people were able to do it and several people were stopped dead in their tracks doing it this way.  Then for a while there was a broker (Brakken Tax and License) who dealt with trucks and other commercial vehicles and had a relationship with their local DMV.  People used Brakken quite successfully for a while to get titles converted.  Unfortunately, several years ago, the clerk that Brakken used found the rule I mentioned above and stopped doing the conversions.  As a result, Brakken got out of the business of trying to get it done.  Since that time, there are only two HDT registrations as housecars in CA of which I am aware.  They were both simple transfer of ownership between two parties of HDT's that already had housecar titles.  In other words, these were not new conversions.

There is no issue with registering the HDT as a commercial vehicle in CA and using it to tow your RV.  It is no different than registering a pick up in CA, which is also by default registered as a commercial vehicle.  It simply will cost more because the commercial registration has weight fees involved on top of the registration.  It will also mean that you will have to stop at weigh stations because you will be registered as a truck and be over the magic weight that triggers the law which states trucks over that weight rating must stop at scales.  If the HDT is solely used to haul an RV, it would be exempt from CARB requirements so emissions equipment and age of the HDT are not at issue.

2000 Kenworth T2000 w/ Cummins N14 and autoshift
2017 DRV Mobile Suite 40KSSB4 with factory mods, dealer mods and personal mods - now in the RV graveyard
2022 DRV Full House MX450 with customized floor plan
2018 Polaris RZR Turbo S (fits in the garage)
2016 Smart Car (fits in the garage or gets flat towed behind the DRV when the RZR is in the garage)
My First Solar Install Thread
My Second Solar Install Thread & Photos and Documents Related to the build
My MX450's solar, battery and inverter system - my biggest system yet!

chadheiser.com      West Coast HDT Rally Website

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