zcookiemonstar wrote:
HMS Beagle wrote:
I have researched this extensively and have all the relevant CVC sections at my fingertips. CC with utility bodies have always had to stop at scales, it has just been weakly enforced. The problem with the newer pickups exceeding 11,500 GVWR is new, and the CVC hasn't caught up with it.
How is this new? My truck is a 2003 and GVWR is 12000#
2003 was about the first time a one ton pickup went above 11,500. My '99 was identical to my '15 in just about every way possible, except the GVWR was 11,500 instead of 14,000. The logical thing is for the vehicle code to change to match the times (and the likely intent), and redefine a "pickup" as 14,000 GVWR and more than 8001 lbs empty. I doubt very much that the CHP or DOT want every pickup jamming the scales. Just about any newer diesel crew cab is well over 8001 lbs empty, and any one ton is over 11,500 GVWR. If they all stopped at scales you wouldn't be able to fit a big rig in there. But the wheels of government turn slowly.
I think the risk of getting stopped with a camper on a utility body is vanishingly small, and I would argue that point into court. But without the camper you run the risk. I'm not surprised the average CHP officer isn't up on this stuff. My local DMV required a lot of training to understand even the easy bits.
A low box utility body would be great under the camper. There used to be one that looked exactly like the stock pickup bed, but it was all made into doors and storage compartments. Unfortunately the company no longer makes them.
