Easy, Painless and Cheap way to Register your Trailer

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Re: Easy, Painless and Cheap way to Register your Trailer

Postby MoparCzy » Mon Oct 21, 2013 6:48 pm

len19070 wrote:
rowerwet wrote:the real point to this thread is how to skip your own states red tape for a homebult or kit trailer. Instead register it in Maine, without ever leaving your own state :D , then if you still want to have a local plate take your Maine reg and plate to your nearest DMV and transfer it to the state you live in, a much easier thing to do, since the trailer is already on the road and certified in another state. :D :D :D
Much like the way most states have a whole procedure to getting a drivers license, but a transfer from another state is just a matter of paperwork and money, usually not a written and road test.


Thank You!

Happy Trails

Len


In Oregon you would still have to bring the trailer to the DMV for an inspection after you got the paperwork and if it doesn't have a VIN number then you can run into other issues. Much easier to just do it right with receipts and in Oregon instead of the extra cost of getting papers from another state.
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Re: Easy, Painless and Cheap way to Register your Trailer

Postby len19070 » Tue Oct 22, 2013 8:02 am

MoparCzy wrote:In Oregon you would still have to bring the trailer to the DMV for an inspection after you got the paperwork and if it doesn't have a VIN number then you can run into other issues. Much easier to just do it right with receipts and in Oregon instead of the extra cost of getting papers from another state.


First off the " extra cost of getting papers from another state"(ME) is $10. And to obtain an active document from any DMV, for $10 is a bargain.

I can almost guarantee that having a current registration form on a registered trailer from another State when trying to transfer into your state is a definite Plus.

If Your State is easy....Thats Great! :applause:

Many States aren't.

If your State is easy, Don't use the Maine registration.

If your State is a PITA, Maine is a viable option.

Many of us have used this and are still using it. And based on our experience,....It works!

Thank you all for chiming in on how easy your State Registration process is. This post is not for you.

Happy Trails

Len
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Re: Easy, Painless and Cheap way to Register your Trailer

Postby itc217 » Wed Oct 23, 2013 2:48 am

This sounds like a great option, but I am hesitant because of the few people that have said that it isn't legal to own a trailer registered in another state I their state...

Does anyone know if this if the case in the great state if Illinois? I've searched and searched but can only find the law for cars, not trailers...
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Re: Easy, Painless and Cheap way to Register your Trailer

Postby len19070 » Wed Oct 23, 2013 5:59 am

itc217 wrote:This sounds like a great option, but I am hesitant because of the few people that have said that it isn't legal to own a trailer registered in another state I their state...
Does anyone know if this if the case in the great state if Illinois? I've searched and searched but can only find the law for cars, not trailers...


What I did before I took advantage of this was, contacted Maine and asked them, I contacted my local State Police and just for the heck of it I contacted my local police and asked.

I basically contacted the enforcement end of this and did not contact my home states DMV because I thought there response would be Bias. i,e, should I give you (PA. DMV) a few hundred dollars and a lot of time and effort....or can I give the State of Maine $10.50 and be done with it!

This is specifically for "Non Residents" of Maine. And is often confused with a traditional "Resident" vehicle registration where you move from one state to another and DO have to re-register a vehicle after 30 days.

Since the applicant of a Maine Non Resident registration has never lived in Maine thereby never moved from Maine to another State the Traditional Registration rules do not apply.

This is how it was explained to me by the Maine DMV, The PA. State Police, my local Police and AAA.

Happy Trails

Len
Last edited by len19070 on Mon Oct 28, 2013 8:18 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Easy, Painless and Cheap way to Register your Trailer

Postby Cantputt » Wed Oct 23, 2013 2:52 pm

Seems like a lot of work to me. I'm in Michigan, took my HF paperwork to the secretary of state office and got my plate. Then built my camper. Previous to this I bought a trailer, weighed it at the local elevator, then same trip to the secretary of states office for the plate. Easy Cheezy here.
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Re: Easy, Painless and Cheap way to Register your Trailer

Postby len19070 » Thu Oct 24, 2013 7:53 am

Seems like a lot of work to me. I'm in Michigan, took my HF paperwork to the secretary of state office and got my plate. Then built my camper. Previous to this I bought a trailer, weighed it at the local elevator, then same trip to the secretary of states office for the plate. Easy Cheezy here.


len19070 wrote:If Your State is easy....Thats Great! :applause:
Many States aren't.
If your State is easy, Don't use the Maine registration.
If your State is a PITA, Maine is a viable option.


OK, Oregon and Michigan are easy States to register.....Any more easy States?

Happy Trails

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Re: Easy, Painless and Cheap way to Register your Trailer

Postby legojenn » Thu Oct 24, 2013 9:19 am

len19070 wrote:
Seems like a lot of work to me. I'm in Michigan, took my HF paperwork to the secretary of state office and got my plate. Then built my camper. Previous to this I bought a trailer, weighed it at the local elevator, then same trip to the secretary of states office for the plate. Easy Cheezy here.


len19070 wrote:If Your State is easy....Thats Great! :applause:
Many States aren't.
If your State is easy, Don't use the Maine registration.
If your State is a PITA, Maine is a viable option.


OK, Oregon and Michigan are easy States to register.....Any more easy States?

Happy Trails

Len


Hey Len:

I got my boss one of these for Christmas when we were working on a major IT project with our Finance Branch. They are fun.

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Re: Easy, Painless and Cheap way to Register your Trailer

Postby dmank86 » Wed Mar 19, 2014 8:39 pm

Hello,
I just bought my NT 5x8 trailer. I wanted to know how do you guys go about registering this in NEW YORK. The site is very consing and no one there (dmv) actually answers the phone. I did not build my tear yet just "dotting my 'I's and crossing my 't's before I start.

Thanks much Dan
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Re: Easy, Painless and Cheap way to Register your Trailer

Postby MtnDon » Wed Mar 19, 2014 11:05 pm

legojenn wrote:
len19070 wrote:

OK, Oregon and Michigan are easy States to register.....Any more easy States?


New Mexico.

I've registered several trailers in three decades of living here, one old and brought with us when we moved here, a couple of new ones including an NT 5x8, the recent CT, a used water hauler trailer and one real TT. DMV never set eyes on any of them. I simply took the paperwork, old registration from another country or the bills of sale for the other new and used, and DMV NM processed and issued registration and plates.
Our 6x12 deep vee nose cargo trailer camper conversion... viewtopic.php?f=42&t=58336

We have a small off grid cabin we built ourselves in the NM mountains; small PV solar system; 624 watts PV, Outback CC & inverter/charger ... http://countryplans.com/smf/index.php?topic=2335.0
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Re: Easy, Painless and Cheap way to Register your Trailer

Postby Jdw2717 » Fri Mar 21, 2014 7:39 am

I registered mine in my home state of Tennessee. I had to send in some $$ and a form stating that it was a home built camper even though I bought the base tilt trailer off of craigslist. I changed out the coupler, lights, hubs, wheels and tongue jack after stripping the wire mesh floor and paint. This changed the trailer to a rebuilt trailer thus requiring it to be classified as home built. The state contacted me and set up a time to have a state trooper that inspects trailers come out and go over the trailer. The rules say that it has to be road worthy and built of metal, have lights, etc.. To make a long story short (too late?), he had the vin stamped on the tongue before I even got home since he beat me there. I was worried about the process, but it was easy and the guy was very professional and actually was very interested in my camper and asked me more questions about it than the actual trailer frame.
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Re: Easy, Painless and Cheap way to Register your Trailer

Postby absolutsnwbrdr » Wed Mar 26, 2014 7:55 am

I suppose its ok to know what states have it easy, although that isn't really the topic of this thread.

And this may be slightly off-topic as well.... but what I'm curious about is if there are any other states that will issue a trailer registration to a non-resident, as Maine does. :thinking:
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Re: Easy, Painless and Cheap way to Register your Trailer

Postby Krusty » Mon Mar 31, 2014 10:20 am

I contacted the Maine DMV last week and got ready to start the registration process...then I read through this thread.

I'm in California. The Maine DMV said they'll let anyone register their trailer and it's my responsibility to know whether or not it's legal. I was disappointed to find in here that it's not legal to register it out of state in California.

I did, however, discover a wonderful thing that saved me from hours of nightmare at the DMV: I'm able to register my trailer at any AAA office. It's about time I made good use of that 20 years of AAA membership. I still had to bring my trailer for inspection, but my nearest AAA office happened to be less than half a mile away, was very uncrowded, and had pleasant people there ready to help me out with my registration. Oh, and they were open on Saturday! Total cost was $41 and they said I'd need to pay a renewal of like $10 every 5 years or so..

So for those of you who want to do it 100% legit and have an AAA membership, I'd suggest finding out where your nearest AAA office is.
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Re: Easy, Painless and Cheap way to Register your Trailer

Postby tx_slvreagl » Mon Jul 14, 2014 10:15 pm

Looks like Texas is just a simple form on the DMV webpage. Fill it out and mail it in.
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Re: Easy, Painless and Cheap way to Register your Trailer

Postby eggsalad » Tue Jul 15, 2014 1:56 am

Having read through this thread, I find that there have been two topics that have been missed - personal ethics and law enforcement.

PERSONAL ETHICS:

If I am in a state that requires trailers to be registered, I register my trailer. HOW I register it is my business. My camper is based on a PWC/JetSki trailer. In Nevada, that's considered a "flatbed trailer". That's what I registered it as, at a cost of $15/year. THEN I built a camper on it. If anyone ever asks, I can point to four obvious bolts (there are more that aren't obvious) and say, "If I take off these four bolts, it's a flatbed."

Nevada does also license recreational vehicle trailers. However, the standards are so vague that a homebuilt camper is subject to the whims of the individual inspector - that is, if you *choose* to have it inspected after you build it. I simply chose not to!

LAW ENFORCEMENT:

I have never, not even anecdotally, heard of a towed vehicle being pulled over (or in an accident - anything that involves a LEO) where the plate number or registration was looked up and what the officer saw was compared to the registration. Setting aside something obvious and stupid - perhaps registering a semi-trailer as a 1000 lb GVW trailer - I find it hard to believe an officer is going to make an issue out of it. I would contend that most officers would consider it their mission to enforce traffic laws, not obscure and vague vehicle registration laws.

====

So in a sense, it is up to the owner what risks they are willing to take vs. what the potential outcome might be. In most states, the laws are somewhat vague when it comes to homebuilt campers that there isn't a lot of risk involved.

As in all of life, we must each manage the risks that face us. For example, each of us has exceeded the posted speed limit. We know the risks, and when the rewards outweigh them, we take the risk.
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Re: Easy, Painless and Cheap way to Register your Trailer

Postby Epbowen » Wed Jul 16, 2014 4:15 pm

Went the dmv in oregon to get a Vin, title, and plates...took an hour in line. Showed my reconstruction pics, gave them $200. I have a Vin and title and plates for my 48. They asked "what's a teardrop?" ;-)
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