License Plate warning!

Charlie Stephens said:
I have been trying to find a set of California commercial plates for YOM registration of my '31 RDPU for the last couple off years. Swap meets, collectors, EBAY, fordbarn posts, HAMB posts. I am yet to even see a pair for sale. I have been warned that they will not be cheap. I am not a plate collector (you should talk to one) but I know that the correct plates for 1931 have small letters PC (standing for Pneumatic Commercial, they also had SC for Solid Commercial and a few others) on the plate. Look on EBAY and if the seller knows what he has you can see the small letters "PC". There is one bit of good news. I have heard from several sources that you can use passenger car plates for YOM registration of your truck. This may be because according to the DMV code book you can use passenger car plates on pre 1936 commercial vehicles, or it may be because the DMV doesn't know the difference or maybe they just don't care. You can do a quick check to see if the number on a plate you find can be used by going to the DMV site to order vanity plates and input the number. I have been cautioned that this data base is not complete and you should call DMV in Sacramento and have them check the number in their data base(s).

Charlie Stephens
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I ran non commercial YOM plates on both of the '40 1 1/2 ton trucks I had before I sold them and currently have them on my '39 p/u. Had no issues with the CA DMV. The number sequences aren't like a typical current passenger car plate. Just paid the correct weight and YOM fees and I was good to go.
 
Here is my YOM license plate on my 1940 cleared to use in NH.
 

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I have '41 passenger car plates on my '41 pickup here in Ca. No questions asked when I took them to DMV. They were clear plates(had previously been on a passenger car) and the process sailed right through. Ca. apparently doesn't care as long as they collect the registration and weight fee. It's all about the money here. California commercial plates are hard to find. I had a nice set of '40 commercial plates I gave to a friend for doing some work for me. Nice '40 commercial plates will bring $400-500 a set if you can find them.
 
37coop said:
over here in the u.k it works differently ,you can transfer a number from one car to another owned by anybody to anybody,some numbers are worth a fortune ,example RR1 would be worth hundreds of thousands of pounds, I saw a lovely one on a bently,it was 130 OND, squeezed together to read BOND,(should be on an aston martin) slightly illegal but great,on a bike I saw which made me laugh ...K 155 MAS,,,pushed together reading KISS.M.***, all good fun but the police don't like it ,some of the early numbers can be rude ...a well known naughty lady had F U 2 on her jag , the modern numbers are now scrutinised to make sure nothing rude or naughty can be made of them before they are allocated , cheers jim.
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Personalised Plates here in NZ scrutinize rude stuff but you can still get away with some. I saw a car with BOLLIX on years ago. There was also a cab running around with I FLICK...that of course is "very rude". When viewed from a distance the L and I appear to merge. A mate of mine had O4A0E on his Toyota Corrolla. An Alfa Romeo I saw had FARCED.. which could be interpreted two ways. I suspect the owner thought it was fast but I reckon it was the other because it was a POS!

GB
 
Old Henry said:
I'm curious what you mean by the plate was "no good and hadn't been for years." Does that mean that someone else had already registered that number or something else? Here in Utah I was able to go to the DMV with just a number to see if it was available without even showing the plate. That may be one way to avoid this for others - get the plate number from the seller and check with the state to see if they would let you register that number plate for the year of your car. Might work.

Oh, and here in Utah they would not let me register the one plate I had for years because I didn't have two. Had to find a matching pair.
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I did just that....checked with the DMV first before buying the plates on eBay...mine were good to go!
 
...In Texas, you can register your car with a pair of YOM plates in good condition and same colors and design of the original YOM but they are only good as long as they are currently registered. You can also cut, slice, and modify a YOM plate(s) with any numbers and letters you want as long as it simulates an original plate of that year and it is approved by the DMV. (Do that first). Several years used the same size and design letters and numbers. Its a lot of work and must be done nicely and must meet the approval of your DMV. This might be an idea for Trevo from NZ.
 
There is one little problem with using passenger plates on a vintage pickup here in CA. Pickups are licensed by weight, the pre '49 1/2 tons are generally pretty light, the pre '40's are even lighter...
If you put commercial plates on a pickup. legally you can not carry any kind of a load in the pickup bed. You can carry passengers in the bed, but they must have a seat with seat belts..
You can put a large camper on a pickup and use passenger car plates on the truck. however, if you take the camper off, you can't use the truck as a truck.
Large motor homes have passenger car plates, regardless of the weight, because they are in fact passenger vehicles.
Towing a large trailer with a pickup that has passenger car plates might get you a ticket. However, not if the vehicle is strictly an RV..
I have a very large diesel RV with air brakes. I very often pull my 25' enclosed trailer behind my RV with an antique car inside.. The combined load is 64' with a combined load of approximately 40,k.. I had a commercial license until last year, dropped it because I did not need it because the rig is classified as a RV.. Figure that one out..
California has some really strange DMV laws, but then again they can be quite loose, other states tend to be more restrictive.
I know guys that have put campers on their pickups, went to the DMV and got passenger plates for the vehicle, then they took the camper off, thinking that they had pulled a fast one on the DMV. At a point in time they went to the nursery, loaded up a bunch of plants, etc., which resulted in a ticket.. The same load in a station wagon would have been exempt..
 
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I have often wondered how they handle the pre 1936 commercial vehicles (I have a '31 RDPU)? The vehicle code says you can run passenger car plates on a pre 1936 commercial vehicle but makes no mention about restrictions on carrying stuff in the bed at least that I can find.

Charlie Stephens
blucar said:
There is one little problem with using passenger plates on a vintage pickup here in CA. Pickups are licensed by weight, the pre '49 1/2 tons are generally pretty light, the pre '40's are even lighter...
If you put commercial plates on a pickup. legally you can not carry any kind of a load in the pickup bed. You can carry passengers in the bed, but they must have a seat with seat belts..
You can put a large camper on a pickup and use passenger car plates on the truck. however, if you take the camper off, you can't use the truck as a truck.
Large motor homes have passenger car plates, regardless of the weight, because they are in fact passenger vehicles.
Towing a large trailer with a pickup that has passenger car plates might get you a ticket. However, not if the vehicle is strictly an RV..
I have a very large diesel RV with air brakes. I very often pull my 25' enclosed trailer behind my RV with an antique car inside.. The combined load is 64' with a combined load of approximately 40,k.. I had a commercial license until last year, dropped it because I did not need it because the rig is classified as a RV.. Figure that one out..
California has some really strange DMV laws, but then again they can be quite loose, other states tend to be more restrictive.
I know guys that have put campers on their pickups, went to the DMV and got passenger plates for the vehicle, then they took the camper off, thinking that they had pulled a fast one on the DMV. At a point in time they went to the nursery, loaded up a bunch of plants, etc., which resulted in a ticket.. The same load in a station wagon would have been exempt..
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There is probably a very good chance in California that the application of passenger type plates on a commercial vehicle, i.e. pickup, is up to the interpretation thereof by a law enforcement officer.. Under the DMV rules, you are guilty until you prove yourself not guilty.
An example; Under CA law a commercial vehicle that is subject to going through the weight scales, must put the yearly validation sticker on the front plate, the object being so the officer (s) in the scale house can see the validation sticker before the truck crosses the scales.
I drove regulated trucks for over ten years. I had a running battle with a CHP officer in the El Monte area. He would stop me because I did not have a validation sticker on the rear plate, this would give him the option to inspect the truck.
I would politely tell him he was wrong, we would have a little ***-for tat about the issue, I would reverse the location of the plates. Upon my return to my home 20 i had to go through the weight scales, they would red light me, I had forgotten to reverse the plates.. A reversal of the plates solved that problem. The officer in El Monte finally got transferred, my problem ended.
 
Some additional words from experience..
A license plate issue, out of date validation, etc., gives law enforcement the right to stop a vehicle for "probable cause". Once the vehicle is stopped, the officer can open up a whole can of worms, if he is so inclined..
Is he doing his job or is he fishing for bigger fish, to add to his daily quota..
I recently purchased a '65 Corvai Corsa, a one owner "barn find" with only 31.k on the odometer. The car had not been registered since '93.. I thought cool I'll put YOM plates on it, Black/Yellow.. Did some research, found out that to be correct for the car, they had to have the correct number sequence for '65, that being "N, O, P, Q. XX XXX.
Looking around I found that a good set of B/Y CA plates would set me back $300. plus. Being a collector of anything old I went looking through my collection. Attached to the wall in my garage was a set of QXX XXX.. Score. The plate came on a '56 TBird that I had owned for many years..
X
 
Here in Mass, you can check with the RMV online to determine the plate number. Very easy!
 
Bought a cool 4 digit plate for the wife's 55 Tbird. Trouble is, it is a 54 plate....

Seems WV didn't issue plates in 55 so the correct plate for a 55Tbird IS a 54. Can't wait for spring to see how many questions she gets at the local Friday cruise/show. How do you have 54 Thunderbird?!
 
I had a similar issue with my 61 comet plates. Alaska made 1960 plates, but not 61, but they made metal tabs to go over the 60 part. Luckily one of my friends that collects plates not only had a pair of 1960 plates, but the metal tabs as well.
 
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