State of CA and 5 ton regs

Hello I have been on the phone with DMV for days trying to find out if the Five Ton's are street legal. I want to buy 100dollarmans five ton but I do not have a CDL. I would like to turn it into a RV/Camper. I can not seem to get a answer out of DMV.

Dmv

HI ca guy here,sorry its still a comm trk in ca even if box is a camper.
The reqirement for CDL is if trk's GVWR (trk weight n load weight) is over 26,001 lbs it would be a class B with a tlr cl A. ANY 5 TON is over 26,001 GVWR.
The 2 1/2 ton is not. M35 that is,but with a tlr is a class B.
The other bad thing about ca,it has to scales too,and CHP will make it haft to have civ seat belts like your car and door glass will haft to be tempered like your car's side glass

Thank you so much I apprecate it it's nice to know that it only depends on weight. I will defintly be refining my search for the perfict ride

scottsdal said:

Thank you so much I apprecate it it's nice to know that it only depends on weight. I will defintly be refining my search for the perfict ride

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It's weight and also axle count. I had an M 818 it was class A. You will want to register it Historical, period.

axle

HI yup 5 or more is a cl A in ca even my p/u and 3 axle tlr,so a 1008 w my tlr is a cl A but CHP (at least in nor cal)does not care. The M818 w/o a tlr is a cl B same as a civ tractor,or a M915. They are a cl A only if pulling a tlr.

In ca 3 axles over 6,000 lb is class b

Towing a trailer over 10,000 is class a

Technically a duece is class b.

I have never heard about upgrading historic vehicles with seatbelts or tempered glass.

Military trucks have an exemption that transfers to the civilian buyer.

HI nope do not haft to do belts n glass if using for historical only,but if going to use for comm use yes u do.

WILDBOY6X6 said:

HI nope do not haft to do belts n glass if using for historical only,but if going to use for comm use yes u do.

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In Cali if your going to use a 5 ton for commercial work, it would seem you'd be in a world of $$$$ hurt. I believe you would be required to replace the engine and bring it to 2010 emissions specs.

smog

HI yup big $$ if you have less than 3 trks your ok do not haft to meet new smog regs,well un less your going into the port of oakland even p/u's haft to be done now 96 n newer.

Wow Ca sucks lol I really just wanted one to drive occasionally. For none commercial use like camping excreta.

I found thefollowing threads in less than 4 minutes, lots of information and answers to questions. I typed in "California Regulations".

Help!- California licensing Issues
California CDL: Another Clarification (long)
California ARB (CARB) and Diesel "pollution"
California Truck Scales "Weigh Station" Question..
California Historic Vehicle Question...

If you are thinking about buying that truck that Hundy is selling you can register it as a motor home. It just has to have a sink with running water and toilet then registration would be real cheap. You would not have to worry about commercial weight fees, but you would have to have a Class B drivers license. I would try to register it as a Historical vehicle first if you don't want to go the motor home route.

WILDBOY6X6 said:

HI yup big $$ if you have less than 3 trks your ok do not haft to meet new smog regs,well un less your going into the port of oakland even p/u's haft to be done now 96 n newer.

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Do you know where the exemption is for less than 3 trucks?

CA is a lot easier to deal with than some other states.

Most of the guys that I know who drive the big trucks have CDL's for work.

Ok I just got off the phone with DMV and he said the bottom line is make sure its two axle and its under 26,000lb prior to 1987 (so no smog regs) and you are good to go with class C and no scales or anything. Three axles and larger then 6,000lb you need a class B exct and its starts to get a little confusing. So its a M35a2 for me

Thank you everyone for all your help this is a great group of guys

A stock M35A2 needs a class B licence in CA. I think that a bobbed M35A2 with 2 axles can be driven non-commercially on a regular class C, though. It's still considered a commercial truck, just like any pickup truck is in CA, but having only 2 axles and a GVWR under 26,000 pounds keeps it out of class B license territory.

Let me google that for you

nf6x said:

A stock M35A2 needs a class B licence in CA. I think that a bobbed M35A2 with 2 axles can be driven non-commercially on a regular class C, though. It's still considered a commercial truck, just like any pickup truck is in CA, but having only 2 axles and a GVWR under 26,000 pounds keeps it out of class B license territory.

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This is dead on. I have a bobbed deuce that comes in ~9500lbs. I drive it on a regular class C and am legal. I registered it historical and saved a ton of cash. Historic registration has NO impact on the type of license required.

How cm i hve sch hrd tm rding ths thrd ??

Historic also exempts you from the carb diesel smog rules.

A Class B CDL is not that hard to get.

Some scales want anything larger than a pickup to scale.

In CA you have the DMV, CHP and DOT to deal with. The issue is enforcement! And it varies by area.

In cal, anything over 6,000# with 3 axles needs a class B. There is no distinction between commercial and private use. Anything other than RVs that need a class B or higher is called a commercial vehicle regardless of it use. If you register it as a commercial vehicle, fees are $1-2K per year. Historical registration will be less than $100. The big kicker with a commercial registration is that the engine will need to be replaced on all trucks by 2023 at the latest(most before 2020). A small fleet(3 or less) still needs new engines, only the replacement date is later. Historical vehicles do not need to have the engines replaced. There is also the issue of air brakes. Contrary to everyones statements, CA considers anything with air on it as air brakes so therefore you need an air brake endorsement on your license.