My answer to the people who said my Suburban was too big!

[Truckoholic]

Ha ha, Got 4 of my 16.00R20 tires mounted. Waiting on a new valve stem, and some new O rings to come UPS this Friday before I can mount the other two. So for now, I just chained up the front axle so I could atleast move the truck out of my shop. So I decided to get a couple pictures of it with just the two axles. It is almost tempting to remove the middle axle. It looks pretty cool as a 4x4. And if I did, I would put the rear axle right back where it is right now. No shortening of the frame or bed.



But............. I prefer my trucks with all three axles.


But yeah, my answer to the tree huggin, global warming people who have told me my Chevy Suburban was way too big............



And also my answer to the people who told me my frickin LOGGING TRUCK was TOO BIG!!! Ha ha!




I can't wait to get the other two tires mounted, and get the SF97 in the mail so I can go to the DMV and register this thing! It's already been insured for close to a month now because I put insurance on it with State Farm back when I thought I was going to be able to go get it at the beginning of June before finding out Barstow was so busy that they couldn't give me a pickup appointment til weeks later. AHHHHHHH!!!! Pretty sure I am going to register it historic. It's barely old enough to, and I don't think I am going to use it enough to justify spending $1,000 or more a year for registration, and don"t want to have to put my CA numbers on it, or pay extra for it on my BIT inspection, or have to pay heavy vehicle use tax on top of the registration fees, and don't want to have to worry about the California air resources board and their ridiculous nonsense. Yep, I think historical is the way to go.

 

[197thhhc]

Looking Good

 

[LIFTEDANDTURBOM1028]

Ive got a 1998 surburban LT 3/4 ton 454 with a 6 inch lift on 35 inch buckshot mudders.My wife loves to drive it to work cause its so loud goen down the road from the tires.Im goen to put 38.5 or 42 inch boggers on my 1985 M-1028.But you have 1 dang nice truck there.

 

[m1010plowboy]

Too big Deuce

I'm just thinkin' that the Deuce is too big. It's definitely too big.

What are you going to do with that? It's way too big.opcorn:

 

[Truckoholic]

Ive got a 1998 surburban LT 3/4 ton 454 with a 6 inch lift on 35 inch buckshot mudders.My wife loves to drive it to work cause its so loud goen down the road from the tires.Im goen to put 38.5 or 42 inch boggers on my 1985 M-1028.But you have 1 dang nice truck there.

Ha ha nice! I used to have a 1992 Chevy Suburban lifted 12 inches with 38 inch super swampers on it with a 3/4 ton with a 454 that I swapped in a 5 speed behind. I LOVED that thing! Only got about 9 miles per gallon, but it was cool as ****, and everywhere I went it demanded attention!

Then I had a 2000 Ford Excursion with the 7.3 powerstroke that I lifted 14 inches and put 42 inch super swampers on. I LOVE my big SUV's!

Now I bought this 2000 Chevy Suburban that I decided to just leave stock, so I could have something to drive when I wanted to just blend in with the crowd and could actually park in parking garages and things.

Here are all of my big SUV's.

 

[ARYankee]

That looks great!!! Can't wait to see it with the other 2 mounted. I know mine is really tall with the 1400s. I can't imagine what it would be like with 1600s.

 

[Bob H]

That looks great!!! Can't wait to see it with the other 2 mounted. I know mine is really tall with the 1400s. I can't imagine what it would be like with 1600s.

2 more inches

 

[Truckoholic]

2 more inches

Ha ha yeah. Not much height difference between the 14.00's and 16.00s. But they sure look better to me

 

[jrod66]

I talked to the dmv lady today and she said that if I register historic I can only drive it in parades? does that sound right?

 

[swbradley1]

I talked to the dmv lady today and she said that if I register historic I can only drive it in parades? does that sound right?

Since you don't have a city and state listed no one can accurately comment on whether it is right or not. But, if your DMV says that's the way it is then they are probably right.

In Ohio that is almost correct. It is for shows and parades, not driving every day or going to Home Depot to pick up some stuff. I do drive mine wherever I want but I run the risk of getting pulled over.


Now back to the OP, nice looking truck.

 

[gungearz]

Over here by me.... If you register it historically, they only allow you a certain amount of miles per year, only on weekends and if you get pulled over during the week. You got to make sure you have a part in your hand or a dated receipt for the day you get pulled over. Guys keep a broken part in their trucks just in case. They don't check the mileage unless you need to take it to inspection. I would ask someone that has historic plates in your state on how they get away with it.

 

[Truckoholic]

Yep here in California the DMV says

Historical Vehicle Plates
Issued to motor vehicles or trailers manufactured after 1922 which are at least 25 years old and of historic interest.

• Vehicles assigned Historical Vehicle or Horseless Carriage plates are limited to operation or movement over the highway primarily for the purpose of historical exhibition or other similar, noncommercial purposes, such as parades or historic vehicle club activities.

It's a really tough one, because I don't like to worry about getting in trouble, but California pretty much forces us to take that risk because they have no middle ground registration. I would GLADLY pay as much to register this truck as I would a regular car or pickup truck. But there just is no way to. There are no provisions in the law to do it. You either have to register full on commercial based on weight and be held to all of the other requirements of a commercial vehicle such as Biennial Inspections of Terminals by the CHP, the heavy vehicle use tax, and paying the ridiculously high weight fees based on whatever weight you intend to operate the thing at. And since the truck already weighs almost 23,000 pounds empty, you would have to register it for atleast the 26,000 pound level, and then you would only have a 3,000 pound available payload anyway.

So the way I see it.........It is a vehicle of historical interest, I am not using it commercially, everywhere I go it is on exhibition and people are looking at it and asking questions about it. So it's California's own fault since they won't make some middle ground, or former military vehicle registration provisions like Texas and other states have.

 

[Odyssey M]

OP...

 

[quickfarms]

The key word in there is primarily, just do not use it commercially unless you pay the weight fees.

 

[quickfarms]

The real issue in California is to scale or not to scale

 

[Truckoholic]

The real issue in California is to scale or not to scale

Yep, that one for sure has been the subject of lots of speculation and argument. I don't know what the answer is. It's my understanding that pretty much any big vehicle other than motorhomes and pickups trucks are supposed to go through scales. Even moving trucks are indeed supposed to. I know that. But when a truck is registered historical, it is my understanding that it basically makes it no different than a car other than the whole being restricted to parades and things.. And therefore would not need to stop at scales. Ill have to ask my local commercial cop sometime what he thinks about it. Not that he is the final authority either though.

 

[Truckoholic]

Oops. Double post. Stupid phone!

 

[DeucesWild11]

I put the flags on the back and PRESTO! I am in my own parade. So far no one has bothered me and I usually get thumbs up from cops..

 

[jrod66]

Let us know what you do and how it works out, quincy is a small town so the cops will get to know your rig, but its not a daily driver so you should be fine.

What are you doing about smog? does this not apply to historic vehicles?

 

[dezert ratt]

i have been driving my 5t around since last dec. and i still have the historical plates in the glove box (not mounted yet). sometimes if im worried about it, ill just hook up the trailer (which has pti plates) and then hope for the best. so far i just get looks from leo's and have not been pulled over yet. here in so cal.