California Mod's. What's legal / illegal?

I currently live on Maui where the laws for modified Toyota's are totally relaxed. I have a 3" suspension lift, 32x11.5 tires, and no mud flaps. I plan on getting wheel spacers some time down the road and adding mod's as my bank allows. But eventually I plan on moving back to California, and I don't want to deal with harassment from the local PD. So what's legal / illegal for trucks in Cali.?

 

ive gotten so many fix it tickets
no mudflaps
no offroad light covers
tint
exhaust
turn signals
headlights...
its shitty sometimes but worth it,my truck stands out too much

 

Some parts of cali strictly enforce Tint laws, front license plate laws, offroad light covers, mud flaps for bigger tires, and some other stuff. What you have on your truck is fine for Cali.

I got fined/ warned for those I mentioned above.

 

The laws here are very strict, probably the most strict in the country; and many on the books, and more and more every year it seems like. Not to mention higher ticket fees now.

I don't know the law on mud flaps, but I do believe that you can't have more than about 1 inch or inch and a 1/2 of tire sticking out from the fender. So if you use a wheel spacer or go wider on tires......you will probably need to buy an aftermarket fender that will cover more of the tire.

You won't get "harassed" if you don't stick out like a sore thumb.....many professional Cops here in CA. They're just doing their jobs.

Here is the California Vehicle Code, all the laws of the road here in Cali.
If you are looking for laws on fenders, click into 'f', and scroll down to find finder laws. And m or f for mud flaps, so on and so forth.

http://dmv.ca.gov/pubs/vctop/vc/vc.htm

Hope that helps.....and welcome to Tw.com!



(EDIT NOTE: Some cities will have local minor laws here and there that aren't in the CVC.)

 

Cali is definitely strict!! Been pulled over a couple times down there, and ticketed once(not mods related though) but never hassled here in Oregon.

 

I guess it depends on what area and how the cop feels that day. I've got the typical 3in lift, oversize tires, and exhaust. One license plate fix a ticket and the rest are speeding tickets from a while back. What part of california you moving to?

 

I find it interesting that California has such strict laws, yet a large proportion of the heavily modded trucks on this site seem to be based there. Yeah! Stick it to the man!!

Interestingly- If you come to BC, you might get a stupid ticket like the one I just got. Driving on a "no driving street". There are still zones that have signs that were placed during the Olympics to allow special traffic to flow. Our local government- like everywhere- is broke. Hence, they have decided to keep enforcing the laws that were temporarily put in place for special event traffic.

Also, they have enacted new no drinking and driving laws (toughest in North America). If you blow over .05 they will tow your car- fine you and hold your car for 3 days and you pay storage and license reinstatement fees. You have no option to go to court. My brother is one of the over 1,400 people who have been fined in the first month. He drank 2 pints with dinner. Total cost is over $750 but you have not officially broken the law (.08). Local restaurants have seen 20-30% drop in business. Now the government is urging people to have a couple of drinks with dinner- they have told the police not to enforce the new law quite so hard (sure). I just drove through a roadcheck last night on the way home from work!!

 

Solving the state's budget crisis one ticket at a time baby!

 

Originally I'm from Laguna Beach, but I'm moving back to San Francisco sometime early next year. A truck might not be the best vehicle to have in the city, but there's no way I'm getting rid of her.

I'm thinking I'll be okay for the first several months with the Hawaii license plate, but will they make me change anything when I get her registered for Cali again, or will they even check?

 

Well I've always wanted to visit Vancouver, BC but instead of driving up, maybe I'll fly to Washington and have a friend pick me up and drive across the boarder. Sounds too confusing for me to have to deal with all those new (and strange) traffic laws!

 

make sure it can be smogged. dont show up with CAI. wont pass.

 

youll be good with an HI plate as long as you also have an HI drivers lisence ... as for living in san francisco, ive always hated the place, cant see why anyone would want to live there ... but anyhow, if you got a place to park keep the truck

as for mods, if you pass smog they dont care about other mods

i have tint and no front plate, ever since i got out of hondas and into trucks i get pulled over once a year for tint but thats about it.

 

This is a common misconception about plates and licenses.

Unless you are in the military, you have 20 days to register your vehicle in CA. And based on the fact you'll be living in the city, you probably want to do that within the time period allowed. If you get caught, your registration fees plus the penalty will be insanely high (not to mention whatever they jack you with "fee" wise--so you know, tickets are usually cheap but the fees and all the other bullshit they tack on make them expensive).

You can find the DMV info here.

 

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Thanks for the heads up and the DMV link! When I moved back to CA from CO I didn't change the registration or plates until the CO reg. expired... I didn't realize it changed. I might be okay if I'm renting and not owning... I'll have to do more research on it.

THANKS GUYS

 

You have 20 or 30 days from the day you move to register your vehicle here and get a CA drivers license. You will need an inspection, weight cert and smog when you do so

 

Its cuase ur truck is too cool for cops, yeah cali is too strict, tint , and sound and crap

 

It's not as bad as all that- I just wouldn't have any booze on my breath. Some small framed ladies have been fined after a single glass of wine!

 

The key is "when you establish residence" that means buy, rent or lease some place to live.

The thing is, the cops probably don't care as much but your neighbors can call an toll free number and turn you in.

My buddy bought a TX plated bike and waited till the reg expired to go to the DMV. They looked at the bill of sale and tacked on fines and fees to make what should have been maybe $250 into $1200+. Talk about getting cornholed.