So every other vehicle in south eastern Ma is a lifted GM truck. All either 4” or 6” lifts which may or may not require discarding a lot of factory brackets and/or components.
i won’t even get into all the Wranglers and XJ’s and lets not forget the imports and Mustangs that surround us out here with body, exhaust and suspension mods that can cost into the thousands of dollars.
Please walk me through the scene when these trucks’ inspections run out and they pull into an inspection station...
I imagine we see a lot of people rolling around the South Shore with NH/ME plates in the near future. I know it's not legal, but neither are their brodozer trucks/ flat-brimmed cars. I imagine they'll figure out how to keep them by registering them at their "cousins" house in Northern New England where the laws are a lot more forgiving.
In PA, but, I've had cars I've driven for a decade without a current inspection sticker. In fact, the only time I bother to get a sticker at all is to give the next owner piece of mind when I'm about to sell the thing. It's just another road tax - if the fine is cheaper than fixing the car, just pay the fine. The only time anyone notices inspection stickers is when you try to go thru a DUI checkpoint sober. So... avoid those and it's clear sailing.
In reply to Huckleberry :
I’ve been pulled over twice for a sticker and so has a car-guy friend of mine. I did make it 5 years without a sticker while my GF at the time got dinged for ONE DAY expired!
i still want to know what these guys are gonna do. I’m not so sure the out of state inspection is gonna be all that common.
so then what?
In reply to Mazdax605 : I have one brother in NH and my other is is ME. Seems like more of a PITA than most people can or are willing to deal with
In reply to Huckleberry : but what’s the penalty for putting on an expired plate?
For non 4wd vehicles the maximum is 2" period end of story.
4wd it gets a bit technical but here is the law. I went to my inspection manual and then verified it against the on line version to make sure it was corect.
The short of it is yes if you have a lifted truck you will have to "fix" it or find a inspector that is willing to loose his license for you.
Here is the law:
6.05: Maximum Combined Mechanical and Tire Lift
(1) The maximum mechanical lift for four wheel drive motor vehicles shall be calculated by multiplying the wheel base times the wheel track, and dividing the product by a safety factor of 2200: i.e., 92" w/b x 58" w/t = 5336/2200 = 2" (maximum mechanical lift). The outside diameter of the largest tire size available from the original manufacturer as standard or optional equipment for the particular motor vehicle may also be increased up to an amount equal to maximum mechanical lift calculated.
(2) The maximum combined mechanical and tire lift shall be no greater than the sum of the maximum mechanical lift and increased tire size calculated for the particular vehicle.
(3) Reconstructed motor vehicles shall be limited to the maximum combined lift allowed for the particular chassis used, in accordance with the applicable provisions of 540 CMR 6.05(1) and (2), i.e. a vehicle having a 65" track, 105" wheel base, and an original manufacturer's door height of 21" is allowed a maximum combined lift of four inches above the original manufacturer's door height. Accordingly, the lower edge of the door, door edge line or floor panel, as stipulated in the general requirements of 540 CMR 6.00, of any unladen body mounted on such chassis may not exceed 25" above the level surface upon which the vehicle rests.
(4) In doubtful cases, or in any case where the original manufacturer's specified height is not known or available, or where a motor vehicle is assembled without using a particular body and/or chassis (i.e. homemade), the Registrar shall determine the allowable maximum height and may issue a permit authorizing the operation thereof.
(5) The Registrar shall periodically provide the specifications of approved maximum altered heights.
MA requires a front plate unless you have the old green ones. They are being aggressively phased out due to the new toll systems that use plate readers.
A lot of those lifted vehicles also end up with wheel setups that widen the track width, so that increases the amount of allowable lift. Looking at a common crew cab / super short bed pickup with a wheelbase of 145 inches and track width of 67.6 inches, we get a max allowed lift of 4.46 inches from that formula.
Add a little track width in the wheel / tire change to get an even 70 inches of track and now it's allowed 4.61 inches of lift. That's also a big enough allowance to up-size the stock 32" tall tires to something on the small end of the 37" spectrum.
If we started with something like a Raptor or Ram Rebel that starts out with bigger tires, taller ride height and more track width, we'd be able to go even further.
So I don't see this affecting pickups a whole lot other than the gigantic bro-dozers. But it does affect smaller stuff like Jeeps a lot. With its current (somewhat wider than stock) track width, something like my Jeep is only allowed 2.9" of lift. And based on the stock tire size, that would allow 31" tires or maybe just barely a 31.5" tall tire.
Would it make sense to make sure you have stock diameter tires on it during inspection, then swap them after you get the sticker?
Good lord.... reading through that state law garbage was terrible. That’s communist activity right there.
ebonyandivory said:In reply to Mazdax605 : I have one brother in NH and my other is is ME. Seems like more of a PITA than most people can or are willing to deal with
Where there's a will, there's a way. It seems ME is like the wild west when it comes to trailer registration, so maybe it's the same for vehicles as well. Someone years ago told me that ME doesn't really have a DMV like most states, but rather you go to the local town hall, and they take care of it. It seems there is a pretty good industry online for people registering their trailers in ME, so maybe you can do the same with your regular vehicles as well. Never step foot in the great state of ME, but somehow get your Brodozer registered there? Could be possible...
Not to derail the thread but as a Kentuckian who has traveled and lived all over, it amazes the ever loving E36 M3 out of me that people have to register and keep plates on trailers! It isn't a motor vehicle. It can't go under it's own power. Requiring plates and registration is just a pure money grab by scumbag politicians.
Just take the plate off and tell anyone who asks that the trailer belongs to me.
Huckleberry said:In PA, but, I've had cars I've driven for a decade without a current inspection sticker. In fact, the only time I bother to get a sticker at all is to give the next owner piece of mind when I'm about to sell the thing. It's just another road tax - if the fine is cheaper than fixing the car, just pay the fine. The only time anyone notices inspection stickers is when you try to go thru a DUI checkpoint sober. So... avoid those and it's clear sailing.
PA here also, and I've definitely bought into this line of thinking before, though I'm not nearly as egregious an offender. I've gone 6+ months on expired inspections in my cars, and my bike hasn't been inspected in like 4 years now, and never had an issue. Then about a month ago I got stopped by some gung ho state trooper coming the opposite way through a stop sign for what he thought was an expired sticker, but in reality he just read the "18" as a "16."
As a small government type, this stuff really pisses me off. And it’s more than a bit ironic that the other myriad things that are a NO-GO inspection-wise here are going to very much negatively affect the people that can least afford a perfectly stock (or realistically so) vehicle.
My stock 2005 Yukon Denali would fail inspection with the 1” hole in the sheet metal above the rear wheel. That’s ridiculous.
In reply to dean1484 :
Wow, thats nuts.
Just for giggles, my big F450:
230.6" wheel base (I think its actually a bit longer...)
Dually rear end is 74" to center of the rea wheels, that allows 7.75" of lift.
If we use outside of wheel dimesnions (93.6") we get 9.81" of lift.
I think I would be over max hieght at that point 
In Montana you can set up an LLC and register your vehicles there. The Montana LLC laws are very loose as you don't actually have to conduct any business. It can all be handled on the Internet.
In reply to drdisque :
I know a lot of the huge motorhomes get Montana plates through that process to avoid sales taxes. My understanding was that states were on to that trick though and were going to start finding ways to crack down.
drdisque said:In Montana you can set up an LLC and register your vehicles there. The Montana LLC laws are very loose as you don't actually have to conduct any business. It can all be handled on the Internet.
“Massachusetts has announced a crackdown on Massachusetts residents registering their vehicles in another state. I have been advised by Massachusetts State Police that they have been instructed to give special attention to vehicles registered under an LLC and other forms of registration used to avoid Massachusetts' fees.
Massachusetts joins a list of other states such as Connecticut, Colorado and California that are taking action against the use of LLCs.”
Paul DuBois
FMCA Governmental and Legislative Affairs Committee
Time to move out of Massachusetts
Trackmouse said:Time to move out of Massachusetts
Oh, that time was long ago...
Damn commies.
This probably should go in minor confession but the SE hasn't had an inspection in 7 months ( still insured) but sits right outside the apartment in a street spot with no parking restrictions and very little parking availability for the neighborhood. I call it my permanent free parking spot as I can just cycle cars through it. You'll pay $200 for an alley spot around here. More for gated or garaged. Gotta push it through emissions but I'm not giving up that spot. 
If I remember from a decade or more ago friends were fined $300 for an expired sticker due to registration and emissions being off from each other by months which they forgot about.
I can not wait for them to try and back charge you for inspection fees for a registered vehicle that otherwise is legal but you did not get a sticker for. I wonder if not having a sticker will raise a red flag when it comes time to renew the registration. I can see another money grab opportunity here.
By the way don't get mad at the registry or the state. The crack down in the inspection system is coming from the feds and is because inspectors were not doing there job and people were killed (people like a firefighter and some young kids and infants and an elderly lady) and yes those inspectors are now in jail I was told. If the inspectors had done there jobs in the first place Massachusetts would not have had this new system implemented. You would not believe how many people want us to let something slide thinking they are special or something. It is not going to happen. There really is no grey area when it comes to inspecting cars.
A buddy of mine had his motorhome registered in Mt for years. Mass came after him and used Google Earth images of his house showing the motorhome in the driveway. They hit him for 10 years worth of fees and penalties. Might have had something to do with the fact that he owns a large paving company and a gun store, and he is always looking for ways to cut expenses. I have already started giving some of my cars to my dad in RI. Let him enjoy them if I can't. When he dies, I get everything including his house anyway.
You'll need to log in to post.
