Remove box for flat bed...Why not?

tmartin000 wrote:

BigToe wrote:
In some states, removing the factory pick up body can change the registration status of the truck, which can lead to higher annual fees, weight declaration requirements, stopping at roadside scales, and other potential vulnerabilities if a highway patrol officer really wants to hassle you.

Specifically, in California, once the factory pickup bed is removed and a flatbed installed instead, the truck now legally is required to stop at scales, as it is no longer a "pick up". This is not practically enforced, but it is legally enforceable.

California actually has set forth a statutory definition of "pick up", and ever since the Commercial Vehicle Registration Act of 2001, trucks that are not "pick ups" have to have declared, in advance, the maximum weight that will be borne and towed by the truck, and pay fees according to that declaration. Should a CHP pull a flat bed truck over for not stopping at the scales, and should the CHP decide to weigh the truck and the weight of the truck, camper, and trailer exceeds the amount that was previously declared, then the fine is the maximum fees that would be levied on an 18 wheeler semi declaring 80,000 lbs.

Pickups, on the other hand, do not have to anticipate what weight they will carry. An owner of a pickup can decide one day to pull a 9,999 lb trailer, while having a 5,000 lb BigFoot 3000 in the bed, and not have to have paid fees for 22K gross combined like a flat bed truck owner would have had to do in order to operate legally in that configuration. Keep in mind, these rules apply irrespective of the door plate rating of the underlying truck chassis, and irrespective of the fact that the chassis could very well be the exact same.

The rules apply to merely the characteristic of the bed. And that is one reason why some California light truck owners keep the pickup bed installed, even when aluminum flat beds with underslung tool boxes offer more common sense convenience and practical utility.

Don't really care since I don't live in California. With Oregon plates, they'll probably wave as I drive by. :)

But us Oregonians get stuck with stupid rules about T-plates and heavy ''non-RV'' trailers. So my 10k rated Enclosed Trailer is a pain in Oregon. Oregon considers any ''non-RV'' trailer rated over 8K a ''heavy'' trailer subject to T plate rules and weight registration and yearly fee. And yes the TC is included in the weight I register for.