last year all i heard was ,get legal,get legal,they will swipe your stuff.
so now im all legal and neat.
now im hearing some hullabullew about trailer hitches,and the police stopping folks, in and around glamis cheching if your hitch is rated for the load your towing..

so whats the latest and what do i need to know
ill get legal again if i need to........i guess

I have not heard of anyone getting busted for trailer hitches. If you trailer is rated over 10,000 lbs then you must have a class A non-commercial license.

Technically, your receiver, your hitch, and your ball must all be rated to tow your trailer. When I bought my trailer from DD RV in Lakeside everything they sold me was only rated to 10K.. Nice since my rig's GVRW is 13.5K. So, once I realized that I was using the wrong gear (2 seasons later) I upgraded everything to 15K. New Receiver, New Hitch, and new ball. $1000.00 later I am legit.

Anthony

My Eaz-Lift Class V is rated to 14k (With Weight Distribution).....My Truck is 10k GVWR and so is the TH.

Good to know I won't have to worry about this issue.


But thank you for the "Heads" up.

Every year there is a new rumor; illegal gas cans, proper license check points, vehicle inspections, towing rigs from ghost camps, CHP checking for over GVWR. I would love to know where these things start.



Just remember not to drive barefoot, I heard they are checking for proper footwear while driving.

Just be legal and not worry about it

can u get a ticket for driving with flip flops on your feet?

I heard it was $1,000 per foot, not to exceed $3,000.

in california:

towing a bumper pull trailer with a GVWR of 10,001 lbs or higher requires a class A non-commercial

towing a 5th wheel or gooseneck trailer with a GVWR of 15,001 lbs or higher requires a class A non-commercial

as far as hitches go, i would have to think that one should use common sense and have the appropriate hardware for the load being towed.....

It probably comes from the CHP. The commercial guys give the patrol guys certain things to look for so there is an increase of enforcement for those things. There are two CHP motor cops that do their paperwork in my fire station and they always pass on what they're "looking for" during that particular quarter. And the original post is right... they're looking for license, hitch and GVWR violations. In my city, the CHP had four RV's lined up heading out east to the desert on Friday afternoon. Those commercial guys mean business!

I heard they are weighing all the big 40ft trailers being towed by 2500's Because most are over weight and don't have the right license to pull them...
A friend of mine saw 7 large trailers and five CHP all pulled over last weekend on the way to G just past the Border Patrol check point....

where do you put the third flip flop to get the $3,000 fine

That's what's nice about having a dually on 33's towing a little 35 ft'r, they don't even give me a second look. Now I'll probably get stopped on my next dez trip.

I should be good to 2009 HD2500 pulling a 2008 FS2600 bumper pull

thats why i feel that it is wise to weigh your rig and figure out where you sit. my 38ft triple axle 5er has no slide outs and is alum sided for lighter weight. im within the weight specs of the truck and my license requirements, as well as the ratings of my tires and the hitch itself. i dont fill up with the 100 gallons of water until im nearly to the dunes to save weight over the mountains.

In my city, the CHP had four RV's lined up heading out east to the desert on Friday afternoon. Those commercial guys mean business!
[/quote]




Were the Mohos pulling trailers???

They're checking underwear now too. Boxers or briefs. At least the female CHP officer who nailed me was checking.

Id like to see the vehicle codes on over weight RV's and the hitches...

i highly doubt she nailed ya steve. pulled you over maybe....

yesterday in escondido on the 15N i spied a nissan armada pullin a smooth sided WW FS3000.....sure glad i was on the 15S and far way from that fool!

She let him go with a warning..
:

did she find the depends??

That one almost got me dead in Hawaii.
Got pulled over, was trying to fish my flipflop from under the seat,

AND THEN I SAW THE GUN POINTED at my noggin!

He let me go with a warning, scared the poop outta both of us!

She/he just bent you over! Didn't care about your skivies.....

X2 but I won't hold my breath.

if i get the 3000$ fine im going to take it to court. and hope the judge is a hottie

These laws are put in place for a reason...not everyone has common sense enough to realize that if your towing 12k lbs, you should have hitch rated for more than that. There are plenty of people out there that have no reason towing anything, let alone a fifth wheel doing 65 down the freeway. As long as everyone uses common sense and stays legal, you have nothing to worry about. I think it is a good thing that CHP is checking this, makes me feel safe that some idiot is not towing a 40'er with a nissan.

Take a look here... http://search.ca.gov/search?q=commercial+d...&submit.y=0

Click on the first link and check that manual... it has all the info on what you can tow with what license. The biggest problem is that some CHP officers don't know all of the laws like the commercial guys do.

For example, when I got stopped, I was cited for not having a Non-Commercial Class A. I contested it because I have a motorhome under 40 feet and my trailer is only 7000 GVWR... which based on my understanding, doesn't require anything but a Class C. Well, several hours at the DMV and CHP offices later, I found out that I was right... any motorhome 40 feet or under can tow anything less than 10,000 GVWR and less than 65 feet total with a Class C.

Now I carry this with me...

Yes... two of them were pulling trailers and were longer than the 65' max allowed in CA... the others two were fifth-wheel rigs... overloading the trucks.

22350 is the one that can get you on just about anything... it is a discretionary code number that really can encompass everything. It's the "Due Regard" code that basically says if you do anything that could be deemed unsafe, they have a catch-all to tag you...

ah yes, i need to get an endorsement to my class C

Are you sure about the gooseneck GVWR? I was/am working at the CHP inspection station at the border in Otay, and had just bought 2 gooseneck trailers. I asked a few of them a few questions about weight and DL requirements. I heard about everyone get'n pulled over with big trailers and was worried because I have had a 34' tripple axle bumper pull with a high GVWR. A few of them told me that I need it for any of my trailers that are over 10,000, and depending on the total lengh you need one also (even if it is under 10,000). I'm not arguing with what you said, I like your answer better than the one I got from the inspectors.

I run without any, freeball per se, will I run into problems?

That part of the law is actually clear... Your max length can't be more than 65' no matter what... and the weights above are correct. If you go above 10,000 lbs on a bumper-pull or over 15,000 lbs on a 5th wheel, you need a Non-Commercial Class A. Thankfully, that is very clear in the vehicle code... so you shouldn't have any problems if you follow those rules.

checked the hitch today
the gross towing weight is 12,500
and the max toing weight is 1,250

last time i had the trailer in the scales ,wet and loaded
the toung was 1,400, im about 250 over rats

Sorry but your wrong, 22350C.V.C. is unsafe speed. It's not a catch all section for anything.

22350. No person shall drive a vehicle upon a highway at a speed
greater than is reasonable or prudent having due regard for weather,
visibility, the traffic on, and the surface and width of, the
highway, and in no event at a speed which endangers the safety of
persons or property.

What laws? Please post up the California Vehicle Code sections that cover weight ratings of hitches I would like to read them.

One could make the argument that towing overweight, while not specifically addressed in the vehicle code, "endangers the safety of persons or property" and thus falls under 22350. Think "unsafe at any speed" (thank you Ralph Nader). I'm not a LEO or a lawyer, but that looks like a pretty big loophole to me. And I'll bet I'm not the first to think of that, and the other folks probably have access to ticket books.

That said, I think if you're under the legal length and towing a trailer under the legal weight, you should be fine (even if you exceed GCVWR overall). But a 42' bus towing a 28' stacker is going to attract attention.

Now here's the question: is that a "catch and release" type of citation? Or are you parked until you can correct the situation?

That's makes waaaaaayyyy to much sense, how dare you.

The VC they can use if your Hitch is not rated to pull your load....

http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/vctop/d13/vc29003.htm



- - - -

The Fine you will pay . . . .

http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/vctop/d18/vc42030_1.htm



- - - - -

The Reason they can claim to pull you over . . . .

http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/vctop/d02/vc2802.htm

I'm not gonna post the VC for this (you can find it..I saw it today...)...but...

A) All Vehicles Now sold must have the GVWR listed. That includes Trailers and TH's.
B) Any Vehicle that does not have a GVWR will be held to:
- - Less than 6 Wheels = Under 10k lbs
- - 6 Wheels = OK for Over 10k lbs

That's exactly how they do it... those dudes are sneaky!

What were you asking again Shawn???


Nice work Scott!

i prefer the speedo myslef...

One thing I think should be added to this, is if you are towing a 5th wheel trailer or gooseneck trailer over 10,000 pounds but less than 15,001 pounds then you need an endorsement from the DMV. On the front of my license it says RSTR:41 and this is what it says on the back:
41. May tow fifth wheel recreational trailer between 10,001 and 15,000 pounds GVWR

This was added because there were too many retired folks driving large trailers that they needed to regulate.

You could make the argument in court but I guaranty the officer would lose that one. It would be like charge a drunk driver with unsafe speed rather than 23152CVC driving under the influence.

Now the sections posted by Crusty would be more appropriate. But then again how many still have the stick on their hitch. I know mine came off years ago.

It seem every year there is a thread on how they’re going to crack down this year, I’ll believe it when I see it or when someone finally comes on here and says they got stopped and not some friend of a guy who knows a guy that heard from this other guy that over hear a dude in line at 7 11 talking about his friend that know this guy that got stopped.

i was actually trying to get ahold of someone at the DMV today to figure out when and where i can take the 2 needed tests to get the 5th wheel recreational trailer endorsement.......after 22mins on hold i hung up. im just going to go down to the DMV either this week or next and do it. to get the endorsement, you need to take the class A non-commercial law test and the class C law test, thats it

Thats what the CHP inspectors I've been working around for a few weeks, some of them are the guys that drive around in the trucks with the scales inside and the big ticket books. That you need a "recreational class A", not the same as the class a for a commercial class A. The guy I bought one of the trailers from had employees ticketed for pulling the trailer, that's why I got it at such a good deal. That and he said he was afraid because most of his drivers were not smart enough for use it.

Make sure you go to the Commercial office... you can walk right in... no waiting... and they can get you all squared away quickly.

Here's the phone number... I can't remember the address... (619)441-0169

Just call up and ask them which office near you handles the commercial truck licenses, that will be the office you want. If you can't get them on the phone go into your local office and talk to the person at the info desk, they can tell you.