Permanent trailer license in CA.

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Permanent trailer license in CA.

Postby clamlamp » Fri Oct 20, 2017 4:09 pm

How many of you built on TD on a permanent license for utility trailer n California instead of switch it to camper trailer? Have you had any issues with CHP or DMV? Thanks for the advice!

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Re: Permanent trailer license in CA.

Postby GuitarPhotog » Fri Oct 20, 2017 8:46 pm

clamlamp wrote:How many of you built on TD on a permanent license for utility trailer n California instead of switch it to camper trailer? Have you had any issues with CHP or DMV? Thanks for the advice!

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Even the "permanent trailer license" requires renewal every 5 years on the honor system. There is no tag with a date and you won't be ticketed for an expired tag, but if you are pulled over for another reason if your plates are out of date you can be ticketed. But..... your mileage may vary.

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Re: Permanent trailer license in CA.

Postby clamlamp » Fri Oct 20, 2017 11:58 pm

GuitarPhotog wrote:
clamlamp wrote:How many of you built on TD on a permanent license for utility trailer n California instead of switch it to camper trailer? Have you had any issues with CHP or DMV? Thanks for the advice!

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Even the "permanent trailer license" requires renewal every 5 years on the honor system. There is no tag with a date and you won't be ticketed for an expired tag, but if you are pulled over for another reason if your plates are out of date you can be ticketed. But..... your mileage may vary.

I mean that there is different registration for a "utility trailer" and a "camper trailer". The utility trailer registration is for 5 years and the camper is for one year and more expensive. My question is, has anyone just kept the registration and license plate as a utility trailer and built a teardrop had any issues with CHP or the DMV? I'm not taking about not paying the registration. Sorry if i wasn't clear.

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Re: Permanent trailer license in CA.

Postby Bill n Robi » Sat Oct 21, 2017 9:55 am

My TD is store bought but I have a Perm plate and you made me look, the registration says EXP:PERM makes me think I wouldn't need to renew, BTW it was $40 in 2015.
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Re: Permanent trailer license in CA.

Postby Midget » Sat Oct 21, 2017 3:02 pm

We built our 5x8 from scratch.Put the floor on the home built frame with some fenders and lights and took it to the DMV for a VIN. No questions asked and we got our perm trailer plates. We've had the tear on the road for a couple years now and no issues.
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Re: Permanent trailer license in CA.

Postby TomD » Sun Oct 22, 2017 10:00 pm

[quote="GuitarPhotog"][quote="clamlamp"]How many of you built on TD on a permanent license for utility trailer n California instead of switch it to camper trailer? Have you had any issues with CHP or DMV? Thanks for the advice!

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Even the "permanent trailer license" requires renewal every 5 years on the honor system. There is no tag with a date and you won't be ticketed for an expired tag, but if you are pulled over for another reason if your plates are out of date you can be ticketed. But..... your mileage may vary.

:beer:[/quote]

Yes..even every 5 years it’s still cheap. Better safe than sorry in California.
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Re: Permanent trailer license in CA.

Postby S. Heisley » Sun Oct 22, 2017 10:54 pm

Several years ago, when I was researching this, I called the DMV. At that time, I was told that, as long as the camping trailer doesn't have a plumbed toilet, licensing fell under utility trailers and you could get a permanent trailer license. To my knowledge, nothing has changed. Just don't plumb a toilet into it.

PS. At that time, I also called the CHP and asked their advice. The guy I talked to related that they really didn't care, as long as it had a trailer license. They have bigger fish to fry than us little guys. Now, tow at speeds over 55 and it's a totally different story! :lol:
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Re: Permanent trailer license in CA.

Postby clamlamp » Mon Oct 23, 2017 9:09 pm

S. Heisley wrote:Several years ago, when I was researching this, I called the DMV. At that time, I was told that, as long as the camping trailer doesn't have a plumbed toilet, licensing fell under utility trailers and you could get a permanent trailer license. To my knowledge, nothing has changed. Just don't plumb a toilet into it.

PS. At that time, I also called the CHP and asked their advice. The guy I talked to related that they really didn't care, as long as it had a trailer license. They have bigger fish to fry than us little guys. Now, tow at speeds over 55 and it's a totally different story!
Thanks for the replies! Glad to know I can save a few bucks on registration fees.

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Re: Permanent trailer license in CA.

Postby rivernstream » Wed Nov 08, 2017 11:00 am

I just titled and registered my TD. The permanent trailer classification is the same regardless of whether you have a utility or camp trailer. It's $20 for five years. As long as its 16 ft or less it will qualify. https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/wcm/conne ... OD=AJPERES


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Re: Permanent trailer license in CA.

Postby clamlamp » Sun Dec 03, 2017 5:30 pm

rivernstream wrote:I just titled and registered my TD. The permanent trailer classification is the same regardless of whether you have a utility or camp trailer. It's $20 for five years. As long as its 16 ft or less it will qualify. https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/wcm/conne ... OD=AJPERES


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Great! This confirms! Thanks for the link!

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