Bill did his registration the right way. He was
totally prepared for all contingencies. When he went to the Californina DMV he took all the WRITTEN requirements with him. He was thouroughly familiar with all the material.
The first thing to do is go the the DMV in your State and get the WRITTEN requirements for registering a vehicle as a motorhome. You can probably just find your DMVs URL, locate "motorhome," and download the reqirements.
Do not ask ASK ask govt employee DMV, DOT, Highway Patrol) if you can register a truck as a motorhome. The answer will always be a resouding, NO!
Each State has different WRITTEN requirements.
Most of the State employees don't have a clue as to what these requirements are. If it was manufactured as a motorhome its obviously no problem to register. However, if it's a converted tractor, that's a different story.
Most states do not speficially define their own requirements. For example, Oregon just requires:
"Sleeping and Cooking Facilities." These "Facilities" are not specifically defined.
The First Volvo I registered as a motorhome had a bed in it. (They all do if they have a sleeper) I simply sat a crock pot (with no power source) on top of the cabinet and registered it as a motorhome.
I did have some problems with DMV people. They
will try to make up equirements. Ask for it in WRITING. (they didn't have it.)
Some States have requirements such as "Shore power" (extension cord you can put out the window) "Running water" (cooler with spigot) "Holding tank" (plastic jug) "Commode"
(chamber pot) "Refrigerator"(small model from Walmart)"Cooking facilites" (anything you can cook on, see above)
These are examples of different requiremnts and
ways to be in legal and technical compliance. Lay out the written requirements, and you MUST be prepared to argue your case if necessary, (it will be)
None of the requirements say any of the required items must be in working order. Most everything in life in life is negotable. Prepare to negotiate and if you meet the legal requirements, don't take "NO" for an answer.
Request a supervisor if necessary. I alway got it
done. I have registered four Volvos as motorhomes so far.
Bill gets more credit than I do, because he did it in California, one of the toughest States there is. The factory Holland hitch was on Bill's Volvo when he registered it. Note! Missouri is a very tough state. They do define their requirements. Meeting these requirements involves considerable work and expense.
As a last resort, full ime RVers can sometimes move to States that are easier to comply with.
Larry
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