[alha]

Say GUSS01, couple quick questions for you. I just purchased a 2005 Sterling Acterra with a 96" Bentz sleeper and a 20' box, that I had the engine replaced in. It's now down at Bolt being gone thru, they're taking care of a number of issues with the heating/AC, etc, but I expected there to be some on a 12 year old, 1.1 million mile truck. I had actually purchased it in MI, and the seller charged me $300 to have it titled to me as an RV title (which I HAPPILY paid), and now have it titled here in MN as an RV.

Insurance wasn't too bad, a few back and forths between me, my agent and the Ins co, and they finally got it covered properly. Unfortunately, my tabs aren't nearly as inexpensive as yours, I was shocked when I was doing the reg/plates thing at the DMV, when they gave me the bill, and the line for plates/tabs was like $327. I asked her if this was just a one time thing for the initial plate reg deal, she said nope, being 33000 lbs, this is the plate fee for it every year. For something that is supposedly going to be driven in a somewhat limited fashion, it's almost 10x more than any other vehicle I have. Gotta love MN, eh?

The main reason for me writing here, is because once it's all done being worked on, and I go pick it up, my biggest long term concern while driving it is the 'hassle factor' you mentioned, the scale thing, being chased down, etc etc etc. I looked into having it painted to resemble one of those large 45' bus looking RV's, but was quoted almost $6000. I already have more then I had hoped to spend into this thing already, so for now I am going to have to just live with the faded paint and the FedEx label that is still showing down the sides, even though it was removed. But, I figure leaving it this will only increase the chances of me getting stopped.

Could you list out exactly what you carry to show them, the manuals/books/etc that have the relevant sections that apply to using this vehicle in a non-CDL manner, and could you also highlight them here? The shop that did the engine swap had removed every sticker indicating any DOT weights, registrations, etc, (as well as all of the placards all the way around it) and put in 2" letters "DOT approved/registered (not sure which) Recreational Vehicle" (which the first time I saw it made me chuckle, but reading your post now makes sense). That might help a little, but in the inevitable stops, I'd like to make it as quick, easy and painless as I can, so if I can have everything together in one place so I can just whip it out and hand it to him/her and quickly(?) be back on my way, that would be perfect. As it appears you've already had those experiences, and know just what is needed, if you could share them, I'm sure that there would be a number of us out here who would greatly appreciate it.

Oh, one last question about scales, being an RV, can I just ignore them all, or are there places where it might not really matter, but others that in the end would be better to just deal with it? Personally, I'd just prefer to skip them all together, but I'd also rather not wave a red flag in front of a charging bull, either. ;-) Thanks!