Thanks Larry,
I did read all the posts in your "Larry Zeigler" section and I will attempt to use the techniques you suggested in your "Registering a Tractor As A Motorhome" post. I have read all the statutes in the California Vehicle Code but their definition of a "housecar," as the code calls a motorhome, is vague. The pertinent portion of CA. VC § 362 reads:
A "house car" is a motor vehicle originally designed, or permanently altered, and equipped for human habitation, or to which a camper has been permanently attached. A motor vehicle to which a camper has been temporarily attached is not a house car...A house car shall not be deemed to be a motortruck.
I'm not certain if the word permanently means that only an integral sleeper would qualify and modular style, detachable sleepers would be precluded. The statute does not specify exactly what equipment is required to qualify as "equipped for human habitation," and I haven't yet discovered whether any other written requirements exist that are not included in the vehicle code. Bill R said the info is scattered throughout the CVC but I haven't found anything else yet. If anyone knows, please post it or let us know where to find it.
As I said, I would be fine with a non-commercial registration but the code seems to imply that all trucks, even pick-ups and vans, are commercial vehicles for purposes of registration (and thus will pay some amount of surcharge). It's probably just a revenue thing. I don't know how much commercial plates for a tractor are here, but I'll bet it's high (and commercial reg. would mean a CDL requirement and all the other headaches that go along with that).
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