My 1959 B61T restoration/modification build thread

[mowerman]

It’s been done time after time mine used to be a dump truck. I took the body off a long time ago.

[wingrider]

Managed to get to the local  license bureau that will actually talk with you about something other than just tell you it won’t work.  The way this one is going to work is, I am applying for a bonded title, which will cost me a little bit of money, but should get a clear title in my name.  Only stipulation is that the truck cannot be sold for 3 years, (not like that is going to happen).  I have never dealt with a bonded title before, so we shall see how that goes.  
 

I was issued a license plate for the truck, which happens to be a collector plate.  In MN, you can put a collector plate on anything that is over 25 years old.  In my case, it was cheaper to do this, than to put in for a tag that the truck will actually need when it comes time to do some pulling.  So right now I can drive it to car shows and parades, but no trailer behind it.  
 

So, here is to hoping I am on my way to getting a title for this rig.  🍻

[mowerman]

Excellent most states have a commercial antique plate includes pulling a trailer and other antiques

[mowerman]

Well, maybe I shouldn’t say most states I will say a lot of states I know California in Nevada have them.

[wingrider]

Sadly, MN isn’t one of them, but when the time comes, the tag won’t be all that bad every year.  

[wingrider]

21 minutes ago, mowerman said:

Excellent most states have a commercial antique plate includes pulling a trailer and other antiques

Wish ours was one of them…

[mowerman]

lol yeah its a great deal,,,,registration and title are peanuts here,,,im sure they will atleast offer you non commercial,,,i used to be an owner op in california years ago and registration and insurance was a fortune i remember last time i payed for tags,,,1990 it was like 1000 bucks insurance was around 8 Gs 9 grand a year just to get it legal,,,i heard a few years ago california did something with thier outrageous insurance fees and even to this day,,,thier not paying anywhere near was i was  35 years ago

[wingrider]

Yes, my hope is that I can get a real license plate to haul things without getting into the commercial realm.  I have been told it is possible, but it does get a little creative.

[Geoff Weeks]

19 minutes ago, wingrider said:

Yes, my hope is that I can get a real license plate to haul things without getting into the commercial realm.  I have been told it is possible, but it does get a little creative.

Hauling things for payment of any kind, (even prize money) puts you in the commercial realm.

Fines and impounding can be the result.

Hauling your own stuff for no payment is a gray area, just because it is harder to determine on the side of the road if it is commercial or not.

 Remember, it is not what the letter of the law says, it is what the officer who has you stopped on the side of the road thinks. Yes, you may win in court, after your truck has been impounded and you have fought the fine in court. The 1st two things come before the court date!

 It is also why very few insurers will write policy's for larger trucks towing trailers that aren't commercial policy's. They just don't want to be paying out for commercial use on a private policy.

Then there is the fact that taking it out of state without an IRP plate is likely going to cause problems. Same for fuel tax.

 Yeah, I know big RV's don't pay those things, but to the officer on the side of the road, a "Truck is a Truck".

Edited 9 hours ago by Geoff Weeks

[wingrider]

Yes, the grey area is always uncertain.  I would only be hauling my tractors locally, but do understand that someone with nothing better to do can what they please.

 

[Brocky]

28 minutes ago, wingrider said:

Yes, the grey area is always uncertain.  I would only be hauling my tractors locally, but do understand that someone with nothing better to do can what they please.

 

Get in contact with an ATHS and/or ATCA Chapter member in your area and see what they have done to keep legal.. Our chapter has a member who is a retired SC State "Diesel Cop" and he has connections with some higher ups in the DMV so we get much useful information from him. 

[wingrider]

Thanks!  Being I more or less jumped into this feet first, there are a lot of things I probably should know, but do not.  

The fella I bought the truck from is a member of the ATHS I think, (he gave me old magazines from them) so perhaps he knows who I could speak with. 

[wingrider]

Funny enough, when I went to try to get the title for the truck, the clerk couldn't find Mack as a brand of vehicle in whatever program she was using.  I politely told her that this is an old semi tractor...but she apparently did not believe me from the pictures I had provided, as there was not any other items to reference it's size.

She got on the phone to the state to add Mack to this program she was using, and the person on the other end explained that she was looking in the wrong spot, and that this wasn't a 1 ton truck.  I could hear the one side conversation, and she said, "it looks like a small version of an old Ford".  😲

[mowerman]

lol it happens,,,,,most of the public that knows absolutely nothing about big rigs have atleast heard of mack and peterbilt   bob

[wingrider]

I tried telling her that, and although she seemed like she knew what she was doing, she certainly did not know trucks very well.  

[mowerman]

And yet these people are telling you what you can and cannot do. You should’ve just told them. Yes it’s simply a pick up truck and all I do is pick up chicks.

[Joey Mack]

Bob...  Here my 2 cents.   I registered my Isuzu NPR in 2016..  and every year up to last year.. I didnt even realize the tag weight that I was given was wrong..  3 years ago I got fined for an under weight tag. It was found during my renewal, not by a cop on the side if the road.  The tag office listed my truck wrong, and for a few years renewed my tag.. Then when they realized the error, they fined ME $50+ fees, for a mistake I did NOT make.. Wingrider needs to stay on the up-n-up... Just my experience,,  jojo

[mowerman]

haha i dont have much trouble these days but back in the day when i was buying 100 dollar beaters with bill of sales written on a paper bag,,,,i used to spend alotta time in there with issues on shit that were usually resolved but standing in lines and telling them the wildest stories i could come up with,,,bob

[Geoff Weeks]

Try getting them to find Marmon ("who made that?" Marmon made Marmon, "yes but who made it?") or Dart (Oh, you mean Dodge! no I mean DART!

[Joseph Cummings]

My uncle had a Rauch & Lang electric from the mid teens, and the first time the title came back from PA it read "Russian Lang"

[Mark T]

So what you guys are saying is there are (?) actually people who don't eat sleep and breath truck stuff ?   🤔 

[Joseph Cummings]

53 minutes ago, Mark T said:

So what you guys are saying is there are (?) actually people who don't eat sleep and breath truck stuff ?   🤔 

Yeah but if you work at the DMV you should at least know the more common manufacturers

[Freightrain]

Remember, the DMV is typically a private run company doing the work for the state (at least in Ohio) so they have absolutely NO clue about much.  You can't take their words as law, it is just their opinion.

I put truck plates on my B at first, then IFTA.  One year of that and I put Historical tags on it.and never looked back.  Been three states away, plenty of scale houses and no one really cares.  I keep it looking nice and that helps in my opinion.  But with the "rat rod" crap running around these days I think it is less of an issue.

My trailer is lettered up with my race car name but at some point that will get removed if I ever change trailers or reside this one.

23 yrs and I keep my nose clean.

[wingrider]

I do wish MN would be a little lenient in historic plated trucks hauling antique tractors on a trailer, but the law is the law here.  She said if I put a trailer on it, it needs different plates.  
 

I know we love these trucks, and would drive them to a great extent.  But from what I have seen of the drivers today, they wouldn’t even climb in the cab of one of these old girls, much less try to drive 'em. Perhaps we have a local chapter that can shed some light on what I could do here in this state.

[Brocky]

99&44/100 % of the DMV workers in all states DO NOT know what the laws actually are!!!!!!! They just go by what pops up on their computer screen. Contact the Public Relations officer for what ever department that the "Diesel Cops" work for and you can usually get the proper answers as they are the personnel working the scale houses and make the roadside stops. Get it in writing (printout) and take it to the DMV and say "this is what I need"!!!!!!! We are lucky to have such a person as a chapter member and he has straightened out several DMV offices.