Hawaii Recon Information, Q&A Thread

HAhaha if a cop does that they are having a bad day. And just ask if they want the rest of your road beer

 

I’m just wondering for the sake of future safety checks. Do safety check inspectors actually go over your recon or just check if you have the sticker?

 

My safety check guy looked at the recon and was like yup you got the sticker and continued to check the rest of the stuff. To be fair I failed 2 times :/ got the original since I shipped the truck, then got a second because I had recon but no registration but needed safety to say I hard recon even though I showed the DMV my recon. So the 3rd time I got it. So I’d get recon then go get safety to just save yourself a trip

 

That's a good question. Lol. I know with one of my lowered cars I had awhile ago my safety check guy was on time out from writing safety checks so I had to go to a regular place that didn't know me from Adam and they checked the measurement at my plates. I don't remember if they were matching it up with the recon measurement or just checking plate height to make sure it's in compliance cause I believe there is a minimum height requirement. I'd think on a lowered car that a 1inch variance would be an issue but with a 4X truck maybe it wouldn't be that much of an issue cause it could be chalked up to tire pressure that caused the discrepancy. That's just me guessing though.

 

2011 Hawaii Code
DIVISION 1. GOVERNMENT
TITLE 17. MOTOR AND OTHER VEHICLES
291. Traffic Violations
§291-35.1 Regulation of bumper height.

Universal Citation: HI Rev Stat § 291-35.1 (2011 through Reg Sess)


§291-35.1 Regulation of bumper height. Maximum bumper heights of motor vehicles shall be determined by the weight category of gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) as measured from a level surface to the highest point on the bottom of the bumper. Maximum heights are as follows:

Gross Vehicle Weight Rating Front Rear

Passenger vehicles 22 inches 22 inches

4,500 lbs. and under 29 inches 29 inches

4,501 lbs. to 7,500 lbs. 33 inches 33 inches

7,501 lbs. to 10,000 lbs. 35 inches 35 inches

For any vehicle with bumpers or attaching components which have been modified or altered from the original manufacturer's design to conform with the maximum bumper height requirements of this section, the bumper height shall be measured from a level surface to the bottom of the bumper. The vehicle frame rail, measured from a level surface to the bottom of the vehicle frame rail, shall not exceed the attached bumper height. The maximum distance between vehicle body to vehicle frame rail shall not exceed three inches. The distance between the vehicle body to vehicle frame rail shall be measured from the vehicle body mount seat to the vehicle frame rail mount seat. "Bumper", for purposes of this section means a horizontal load bearing protective system installed on a motor vehicle which is constructed of sturdy materials that will not shatter or split upon moderate impact and provides adequate protection against damages to the front and rear external lighting and reflective devices, hood, trunk, doors, painted surfaces, cooling system, exhaust system, and other components during a low speed impact. Any vehicle that exceeds the Vehicle Equipment Safety Commission - Regulation 12 recommended bumper height, based on the gross vehicle weight rating, shall be equipped with an audible reverse warning system. The audible reverse warning system is not required on any open cab vehicle with a distance of less than four feet from the rear of the driver's seating position to the rear most part of the vehicle body. [L 1984, c 291, §1; am L 1985, c 122, §1]

(Sauce: https://law.justia.com/codes/hawaii/2011/division1/title17/chapter291/291-35-1/)

 

I didn't worry about bumper height cause it was a lowered car.
Back in the 80s when it was sky high lifts with 10 shocks per axle guys use to run smittybilt double tube bumpers with a hoop and flip them upside down to make the bumper height compliant.

 

So as long as they are within those specs, height shouldn’t matter? Now I’m torn in between getting my recon with my 265’s or getting 285’s....should have listened to my brother and kept my stocks

 

Your recon paper should match your actual truck, otherwise the Periodic Motor Vehicle Inspection (PMVI aka "Safety Inspection") station can fail you if they notice or care about the difference. Meaning, if you run 285's on the regular, your paperwork should reflect that. No need to keep stock wheels and tires unless you're out of compliance with your aftermarket wheels and tires (and fender flares, if applicable).

 

What about downsizing? If I get recon with 285’s then later down the road get a safety check with 265’s? I say this because I want to run 285’s with my current wheel setup, but may change my wheels down the road for ones with more negative offset. In this case, I would re-use my 285’s on the new wheels and replace my 265’s on my old set.

I apologize for my indecisiveness lol.

 

Chance'um!

 

Only way to find out I guess

 

Your truck, your responsibility...you do what you can afford.

 

The number on the paper need to match whats on the truck, Even though its the same tire size, but different wheel size, i had to get min eupdated from 285/75r16 to 285/70r17.

 

Thanks for the tip. Dropped by there the other day and they seemed to have every bracket imaginable.

Also got Recon today. Went mid morning and was the only one there at first. All in all it went super smooth. Lady didn’t even measure my tint, just my front and rear bumper and poked her head into the engine bay for a sec. Then she was just like “remove this thing (pointing at my side reflector overlay sticker) and you are good.“ She didn’t even trip about putting the sticker on the bracket.

 

Congrats on being legal beagle!
That reminds me that I gotta go back down to update my recon for the 35s

 

What does upgrading the recon paperwork exactly look like? Will they do whole another walk around and check? Or do you just go down there and pretty much just tell them what you changed?

 

They completely looked over my truck again when I went to go update my recon document.

 

I’ve heard of people getting the full inspection routine again and for me personally when I took my Infiniti in for the same reason (update tire sizes) all they did was look at the tires and write a new paper up. Kept the same sticker. I’ll be expecting a full inspection though regardless and will be changing my headlights, taillights and fog lights back to stock.

 

Does anyone know if they check or care if the tpms light is on? Friend of mine wants to know.

 

Best for you or your friend to call and ask directly. It's never the same, and also depends on the inspector.