Projects What does a Model A weigh? Or fun at the DMV

I have gotten(?) the best results by calling the main DMV office in Sacramento and talking with someone in the proper department for your situation.

 

Another standard DMV issue turned into the usual anti government rant. California does and always has registered trucks as commercial vehicles. Therefore there is a weight fee, ergo, CA has to know how much it weighs. They don't care how old, how cute, how big or how small it is. We don't have the non commercial truck registrations like some states have.
You can avoid the whole thing with special plates, but if a snotty cop pulls you over and there is as much as a nut or a drywall screw in the bed, you'll get a ticket and probably forfeit your special tags and have to go commercial anyway. I had to do it with my stock "T" pickup. Was no big deal

 

tell them to double check the rule, i'm 99% sure if it's pre 36 it doesn't have to be weighed. i went to register a model a truck about 8-10 years ago and was told to weigh it, and come back. got it weighed came back the next day and the gal who was helping me said "who told you to weigh it, pre 36 doesn't qualify as a commercial vehicle" she showed me in the dmv book where it states this, the lady who had told me to weigh it was one window over, long story short, i got an appology and a check for the cost to have it weighed from the dmv.

 

If you have paperwork, and your #'s match the paperwork, why not go to AAA. Stop by a scale to get a cert. if you think you need it. Did my out of state A like that and was smooth.

 

How exactly can you prove that you are only carrying things for personal use? That would be a non enforceable law, which is illegal to p***.

If you do this and are caught without the camper shell and anything in the bed, you will be cited and pay heavy fines.

DO NOT register it as a Historical vehicle. In California Historical plates are subject to restricted use. Not a good idea here.

That is exactly how you do it here!

i don't know about a year break, but this is right from the CA DMV Site for registering out of state vehicles;
<A href="/forms/reg/reg4008.pdf">Declaration of Gross Vehicle Weight/Combined Gross Vehicle Weight (REG 4008) (<ACRONYM>PDF</ACRONYM>) form for commercial motor vehicles (pickups with unladen weight of 8,000 lbs. or less are exempt from this requirement)

 

ok it's 35 not 36 and has something to do with the vehicle code not going into effect until 35, when they looked it up for me it was in a giant book, wouldn't be surprised if they went to all computer based stuff since then, but it does state that there's no commercial vehicles before 35 because of when the code was enacted.




i don't know about a year break, but this is right from the CA DMV Site for registering out of state vehicles;
<A href="/forms/reg/reg4008.pdf">Declaration of Gross Vehicle Weight/Combined Gross Vehicle Weight (REG 4008) (<ACRONYM>PDF</ACRONYM>) form for commercial motor vehicles (pickups with unladen weight of 8,000 lbs. or less are exempt from this requirement)







Vehicle Acts And Codes


The California Vehicle Act of 1923 revised the heavily amended Act of 1914 and provided the framework for future motor vehicle regulations.
The California Vehicle Act of 1923 created what later became the California Highway Patrol by authorizing the chief of the Division of Motor Vehicles to appoint state inspectors and traffic officers to enforce the act.
Other changes made by the California Vehicle Act of 1923 included:

• Replacing the unpopular horsepower tax, which had been introduced in 1913 as a rating system for fee ***essment purposes, with a flat registration fee of $3, plus weight fees for commercial vehicles; and
• Enacting the original gasoline tax, which was two cents per gallon and earmarked for county and state highway purposes.

In 1929, the Division of Motor Vehicles was transferred to the Department of Public Works. At the same time, the California Highway Patrol was established under the Division of Enforcement.
An independent Department of Motor Vehicles was again established in 1931. DMV retains this status.
The Vehicle Code of California, as the California Vehicle Act came to be known when it was codified in 1935, superseded local and county ordinances.
Frequently, these ordinances caused motorists to be arrested and fined for violation of motoring laws as they crossed county lines.
The new code provided the framework for additions and amendments to California's vehicle laws for more than 20 years. In 1955, the legislature appointed a commission to determine if another codification was necessary. It occurred in 1959.

 

Burden is not on you to prove your innocence, burden is on the state to prove your guilt.


We ain't going to agree on this matter.

 

So what's it weigh?

 

What does a Henway?

 

OK, back from the scales (with work in between) and it weighs..................... 1940 pounds empty. Cost 15 bucks, and was fun. They never had a Model A p/u across their scales. A customer who is a cop is going to VIN verify tomorrow for me. No time to address any other issues right this second. Be back later. Thanks all!

 

Oh, and I have 1929 plates for it that I'll do the YOM AFTER I get it registered and ***led. Don't want to make it any harder at the moment.

 

My model A pickup weighs 1900 lbs.

Rich

 

A 41 pickup tips the scales at 2800#.
AAA can't do out of state cars.
Been through the whole mess, not as bad as most people think.
Hardest thing was getting the DMV to look under the hood for the ID#,
if they can't see it through the windsheild, their lost.

 

Go to this web site and print it out http://mafca.com/data_weights.html Tell them 2073. As an aside commercial vehicles built prior to 1936 can use p***enger plates and this may get you around the weight question. They may have to read the code twice but it is in there (at least it was a couple of years ago when I last looked).

Charlie Stephens

 

I look at threads like this one and always learn something I never knew. I did not know there were services in CA to run DMV paper.

 

My '61 Comet (tudor sedan) has YOM commercial plates on it. The DMV main office told me they didn't care about '56 plates being commercial or not when I called them, before I bought them from ebay.

 

Bump.

So I just got my 1938 AB pickup VIN verified today. Yippy!, Step 1 complete. Cop said needs to be weighed before I go to the Department of Money Vultures. Then I found this on the DMV web site:

Weight certificate

A California public weighmaster&#8217;s certificate of the vehicle&#8217;s unladen or empty weight is required for trucks and pickups. This certificate may be obtained from many moving and storage companies for a nominal fee. For a listing of public scales check your local telephone directory or visit the California Department of Agriculture website at www.cdfa.ca.gov/DMS/.

A weight certificate is not required for:

Trucks or pickups previously registered in California, when the prior California registration shows the unladen weight, and the vehicle has not been modified to change the weight.
Trucks or pickups with an unladen weight of 6,000 pounds or less where the empty, unladen, scale, or tare weight is indicated on an out-of-state certificate of ***le or registration, and the vehicle has not been modified to change the weight.
Two-axle or three-axle trucks weighing 10,001 pounds or more. The estimated weight is required.
Autos, trailers, and motorcycles.

http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/brochures/howto/htvr9.htm

My Florida ***le has the weight listed, 1,200 lbs., so the way I'm interpreting this, I don't need to get it weighed. I'm sure the DMV will think otherwise.

Anyone want to 'weigh' in?

 

model a roadster wieghs in at 2620 with ten gallons of gas

 

It's an old thread but I think the weight slip thing is a state to state thing. You can go by most larger truck stops and get a weight slip from a certified scales for under 10 bucks that any state in the Union will accept.

 

A weight certificate is not required for:

Trucks or pickups with an unladen weight of 6,000 pounds or less where the empty, unladen, scale, or tare weight is indicated on an out-of-state certificate of ***le or registration, and the vehicle has not been modified to change the weight.

You have a Florida ***le, right? So, you don't need it.

 

Let me know if you need help registering it. (909) 810-2005. Ask for David with All In One Reg Service.

 

State of California DMV, 1936 & earlier comercial vehicles are exempt from having to have comercial plates. So no weight slip is necessary.
You'll have to ask about this at the DMV & keep asking until you get to someone who knows.
My 23 TT truck & my 32 truck were both registered this way.

 

P-wood has it right. California Vehicle Code Section 9401 (a) states that "Motor vehicles manufactured in or prior to 1936 are exempted from the payment of the weight fees provided for in Section 9400."
When I registered my 1929 Ford open pickup, I asked for and got this exemption, but DMV would not issue me commercial plates.
JimSig

 

Well, all you can do is try it at the DMV and see what happens.

That 1200 lb weight may throw up a red flag if the clerk is paying attention, or it may not, my '60 Pontiac came from North Carolina originally and the reg claimed it weighed 2300 lbs, and it went right through even though that's a 4000-4500 lb car.


Worst case, you get it weighed on a certified scale for like $10, not a big deal, just a pain in the *** if you can't drive it or one isn't close by.

 

I like that this thread reappeared. Shows me how far my project has come. Only update is no problems with VIN, registration, or YOM commercial plates. It all went smoothly. It was an out of state purchase that required VIN inspection and weight.

 

Dang, looks like I missed the commercial plate mandate by 2 years (mine's a 1938). Seems sort of arbitrary, why isn't it pre-WWII? Somebody fix that, OK?

That said, my '80s commercial plate vehicles don't cost any more to register per year.

So I was thinking of buying 1938 plates, like these, for YOM plates. Guess they won't fly eh?

 

A ny TMT plate

 

So there I was, on deck at the DMV. Got my out of state ***le, bill of sale, VIN verification, appointment slip. Half an hour after my appointment time I get called to the plate, hand over the docs. Where's your application for a new ***le? Dang, strike one, slide aside, come back when you get that filled in. OK, no big deal, only needs my signature. Back up to bat, what's the odometer reading? It doesn't have a speedo, Florida ***le says exempt in that box. Well, your going to need an odometer to drive it on the street in California. Darn, strike two. Wait, Another clerk overhears, says let it go. Sweet, overruled by the first base ump. Looks at the bill of sale, you only paid $500 for it? Gulp, uh, yes. OK. Whew, almost hit by a wild pitch. Well it's a pickup, commercial vehicle, you're going to need a weight certificate. But I read there is an exemption for under 6K weight if it's listed on the out of state ***le? No, you need a weight cert. Takes my money anyway. Strike three, I'm out, no plates, no reg.. Go home, find the do***entation on the 'net, print it out, go back to DMV. Next inning, show him what he's supposed to be trained to know. HOME RUN, I leave with plates and stickers.

Here is the relevant weight info:

A weight certificate is not required for:

Trucks or pickups with an unladen weight of 6,000 pounds or less where the empty, unladen, scale, or tare weight is indicated on an out-of-state certificate of ***le or registration, and the vehicle has not been modified to change the weight.


https://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/brochures/howto/htvr9.htm

 

Congrats, blowby...I'll have to go thru all that again soon, for my 'stable' of fresh cars!

Glad you made it through.

I wanted to get the weight penalty dropped from my registration fees...so I had my truck weighed. ('55 F100, 350/350) Truck tipped the scales at 2997 lbs. unladen weight!
Anything less than 3,000 lbs. is exempt from weight fees.
As my registration says it weighs 3,110 I asked if I could get that changed...the lady said "Sure, just fill out a do***ented page declaring all you did (LEGALLY!) to drop the weight."
I declined to go into the engine and trans which "don't belong in there"...so I pay $26 extra every year. (not as bad as the doubling of fees experienced 2 years ago...Used to be $67, now $122.)

Who said the guv'nor is the People's guy?

 

A supervisor at a (CA) DMV explained to me it doesn't matter what the clerk at the local DMV says you can get by with, when the paperwork gets to Sacramento and the next clerk sees "truck" and no weight slip they just kick it back, so just go to the scales they tell you to go to and get it weighed!