3500/Dually owners

[bagged123]

I just bought a 3500 dually and the dealer tagged it 'commercial' due to the GVW, so my question is, when I hook up my camper, am I going to run into issues with commercial plates, I found out I can register it with combo plates, but it'll bring my GVW down to 12,5#. What do other dually owners register their duallies

[JRTJH]

Every state has different rules, regulations and requirements for registering, licensing and operating vehicles. What applies in the state of Connecticut may well be very much different than in an adjoining state or "somewhere in the southwest". So, your best bet for getting accurate and reliable information would be the vehicle licensing/registration office in your area. If you have questions they can't answer, then elevate them to the state level at the office of responsibility. In Michigan, that's the Secretary of State, but may be different in other states.

As for travelling, once you've met all the legal requirements for your state, you are "legal anywhere in the USA" for licensing, registration and ownership. You do have to follow the laws of states you travel to, laws such as speed limits and other operating limits, towing rules (like not towing in the left lane if it's a law there and not in your home state, etc) and if any specific state enacts a rule requiring vehicles towing trailers to be weighed, then you'd have to obey that state's rules while in that state. As a comment, I don't know of any state that requires weigh station stops for privately owned travel trailers as of now, but that is surely going to change in the future. But for now, essentially, once you meet your state's registration requirements, you're good throughout the USA.

[bagged123]

Originally Posted by JRTJH

Every state has different rules, regulations and requirements for registering, licensing and operating vehicles. What applies in the state of Connecticut may well be very much different than in an adjoining state or "somewhere in the southwest". So, your best bet for getting accurate and reliable information would be the vehicle licensing/registration office in your area. If you have questions they can't answer, then elevate them to the state level at the office of responsibility. In Michigan, that's the Secretary of State, but may be different in other states.

As for travelling, once you've met all the legal requirements for your state, you are "legal anywhere in the USA" for licensing, registration and ownership. You do have to follow the laws of states you travel to, laws such as speed limits and other operating limits, towing rules (like not towing in the left lane if it's a law there and not in your home state, etc) and if any specific state enacts a rule requiring vehicles towing trailers to be weighed, then you'd have to obey by that state's rules while in that state. As a comment, I don't know of any state that requires weigh station stops for privately owned travel trailers as of now, but that is surely going to change in the future. But for now, essentially, once you meet your state's registration requirements, you're good throughout the USA.

yeah I'm familiar with all of the rules of towing, etc. I've been towing a TT for years, this is my first dually, and was curious on how others have theirs tagged, (comm., or combination)

[JRTJH]

Originally Posted by bagged123

yeah I'm familiar with all of the rules of towing, etc. I've been towing a TT for years, this is my first dually, and was curious on how others have theirs tagged, (comm., or combination)

Objectively, answers from dually owners in Connecticut may be helpful, but answers from Texas, Michigan, California or anywhere outside of Connecticut would just be "heresay" and not applicable. Good luck getting answers that would apply to your specific situation. I would ask the obvious question: If you "derate your registration to 12,500 pounds, will it affect your ability to tow within that limit? If not, then it may be a solution, but it your trailer will cause your truck to be "overloaded per registration limits" what impact would that have if you're stopped by law enforcement and asked to produce a certified weight as your rig sits? Something to think about......

[Ken / Claudia]

To get the correct answer, I would contact the agency who enforces the law. DMV may give you advice and answers but they never cite or arrest folks nor do they answer to a court over what they do. Ask the cops, who enforce the law. Here all state troopers who work in patrol are trained in those laws. Some work full time with enforcement of that type of vehicle. We call it a truck license. Which is normally any vehicle with GVWR over 10,000 lbs. Even if it is for a private pickup or a company plumbing truck etc. The insurance that I have looked at on those vehicles is always listed as a comm. vehicle.

[bsmith0404]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the GVWR on your truck 13,000 lbs? At least that's what it is on my 2011. Your truck (I'm assuming 4x4) will weigh in at right around 9k lbs. So with a 12,500, you still have about 3,500 payload. If you can get by without the additional 500 lbs of payload, I'd drop down, but that's what you need to figure out. A trip to the scales sounds like a good start.

[bagged123]

Originally Posted by bsmith0404

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the GVWR on your truck 13,000 lbs? At least that's what it is on my 2011. Your truck (I'm assuming 4x4) will weigh in at right around 9k lbs. So with a 12,500, you still have about 3,500 payload. If you can get by without the additional 500 lbs of payload, I'd drop down, but that's what you need to figure out. A trip to the scales sounds like a good start.

Yeah, I'm a little over 13k gross, I'm going a CAT scale today to get weighed to get real numbers and I'm calling DMV tomorrow (closed for the holiday) to get information on it. I just don't want to deal with the hassle with comm. tags when towing a camper to go camping with the fam., especially when the trucks sits in the garage 4 days a week

[Tbos]

Originally Posted by bagged123

Yeah, I'm a little over 13k gross, I'm going a CAT scale today to get weighed to get real numbers and I'm calling DMV tomorrow (closed for the holiday) to get information on it. I just don't want to deal with the hassle with comm. tags when towing a camper to go camping with the fam., especially when the trucks sits in the garage 4 days a week

How did it go on the scales?


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[bagged123]

Originally Posted by Tbos

How did it go on the scales?


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I re-registered it to 12,5k gvw and put combo plates on it. After talking to a few, I wasn't dealing with DOT, chicken coups, and facing issues when I hook up to the TT with no DOT#'s on it and not for hire on it, with commercial tags.

[Tbos]

Sounds like a good move. I saw a similar one on line today and it also had a GVWR over 13,000.


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