I went to register it and they were going to register it for 7000 lbs. That is the legal weight that I can load my truck to. Over and I can be ticketed because I didn't pay for it.

I quickly explained that should not even be an option as my GVWR is 7200 lbs and my axles when added together are 7600 lbs. So I asked for at least a 8000 lbs registeration. In Indiana the next one is 9000 lbs (Class 9) so that's what I got. It was $50 more than a class 7 (7000 lbs).

I told her that shouldn't even be offered as many would be over without even realizing they were sold a registeration that plated the truck to low. She said most want it because it's cheaper, without any consideration for loading the truck.

Just a heads up. I don't know if they would ever do anything, but if it's loaded up visually, and you only have a 7000 lbs plate, it may be obvious to the State officer.

 

I had the same experience when I registered my 08.... The girl at the BMV asked me which plate I wanted...I asked her for a recommendation...said she was not allowed to make one. My truck has 9k registration, BUT and here is the funny part: I have the "Environment" plate and it does not have a weight on it. Since I spend a lot of time in Chicago, and with LSD, Ohio, and the express lanes being truck restricted, I found it cheaper to have a plate that does not say truck. According to the Illinois State Police, as long as the plate is legal for that vehicle, they go by what the plate says. It says truck, it is a truck. If it does not say truck, then it is not a truck.

Story: Friends moved to Chicago from Vermont and he had the wife register their Nissan Pathfinder. Since it was cheapest, she did it as a truck. After a bunch of tickets, they registered it as a RV...no more tickets.... Welcome to Chicago

Woof
Bowser

 

I'm in NW Indiana as well obviously. I have the "In God We Trust" plates so I can drive on LSD supposedly. Knowing how Chicago cops are, I wouldn't trust that plate as I'm still registered as a Truck at 9000 lbs.

I try to stay out of Chicago when I can. So many reasons not to go, not enough reasons to go.

 

Illinois.... what a joke. I thought Maryland had issues until I moved to Illinois.

 

NY state has two types of registration for trucks .One Commercial and one non-Commercial. Non-commercial permits you to drive on parkways such as the Taconic Parkway. On those roads they look for Commercial plates !

 

Yeah, I have the "In God We Trust" plates as they are a free alternative. Bowser4X4 is right. They go by the plate. My cousin is Chicago PD. Been driving LSD for years with that plate. My friend drives his Chevy Dually on LSD all the time with that plate. No weight is on the plate either so a LEO would have to pull you over and look at your registration.

 

Our registration steps are at different weights and costs .... but over the years, there were maybe a few times when I was working portables (with portable scale crew) and we saw a really heavily loaded PU of firewood and while watching it, just pick up the mic or punch it in the MDT & run the tag for weights, takes a few seconds only ... and find out if it was licensed for a low weight thus saving money.

If it was a slow day and looked like one of the locals who are often seen hauling heavy ... or if it looked overloaded ... we'ld stop it and weigh it.
Doesn't take long, 5 minutes maybe.

Not looking for a few hundred pounds, usually looking at a good thousand over license weigt. They didn't get no points and no lioquidated damages were asessed for that violation, just a fine and court costs. Sometimes, if not a "regular", the judge would "comply with law" and no fine if they upped the weights on their registration with DMV before court ... but that was "maybe".

So, yeah, some get weighed.

 

Not exactly. An officer does not need to have a reason to run your plates, and it can be done by most with very little problem when driving behind you. Some agencies even have a program that verbally states how your registration comes back so the officers don't even have to look at the laptop. The information that comes back is the same information on your hard copy registration.

 

tbear853 & 1depd, I'm assuming you both are LEOs, do you guys ever go by GVWR or GAWRs. I heard from some others that the GVWR was not used by law enforcement but GAWRs were along with plated weights.

Thanks

 

Can you expand on this?? And what is LSD?

I'm considering registering my vehicles in IL, so give me some compelling reasons not to. Is it possible for you to be subjective and see any positive reasons to register in IL...money for example? I'm not in the Chicago either if it matters.

 

Police carry scales? How do they know what your truck weighs?

 

LSD = Lake Shore Drive

With all the political corruption and the highest taxes already, I'm sure they'll find fees and more taxes to tac on to the registeration. IMO, Illiniois is poison. Unfortunately, the wife likes hanging out in downtown, so I'm forced to go.

 

Back in the day, the Police would be all over you if you were on LSD.

I believe these posters are using the acronym to mean Lake Shore Drive.

About 40 years ago, LSD was a very popular illegal substance with hippies.

 

Talk about stupidity. I have the comercial plates to avoid hassle and when I go to the city we take the wife's car. God forbid you want to own a truck and not use it for commercial purposes. In NY state you either have meet the following requirements :

* is used only for non-commercial purposes, and
* has an unladen weight of 5,500 lbs. or less (the unladen weight of your pick-up truck is listed on the title certificate and on the door sticker), and
* does not have any business advertisements on the truck.


OR meet ALL of the following :

* The pick-up truck has an unladen weight of more than 5,000 lbs. and is used for non-commercial purposes.
* The pick-up truck does not have any business advertisements.
* A permanent camper top completely encloses the truck bed, and which has one or more side windows.
* The pick-up truck has seats, seat fittings, or permanent camping equipment that are installed in the truck bed. "Camping equipment" indicates that you have a permanent bed, a permanent stove, or a permanent refrigerator in the vehicle. If this equipment is removed and you use the pick-up truck, you must register the pick-up truck as a commercial vehicle.

 

State Police in Michigan do. Weightmasters do too.