What are people thinking when they build conversions over 40 feet in length?

BravestDog · 07-02-2008, 09:25 PM

I live in CA where I believe 40 feet is the maximum length for a person with a normal drivers license. Anything over 40 feet requires some other kind of license that most people don't have.

So if you wanted a conversion that your friend, girlfriend, wife...could drive so you could take a break from driving because your tired, sick...it would have to be under 40 feet because most people have standard drivers licenses.

As I search RacingJunk.com, Ebay...I'm seeing many conversions that are typically over 40 feet in length which renders them unusable for my needs.

What are people thinking as they order, build these long conversions...?

Wick · 07-09-2008, 05:49 AM

AS someone who has a 46ft conversion, I guess I can partially answer your question. We spec'd ours out and designed the floor plan to meet our needs at the time. We are in Virginia and do not see us ever driving to Ca. My wife never liked driving our previous bus style motor homes but once she got behind our truck conversion she actually enjoyed driving it. It handled high winds and all the truck traffic wonderfully. Stopping it with our 32ft tag trailer was no problem either. We needed the extra length to accommodate our kids and our needs as we used it allot. We as a family would travel all over the country from Texas to North Dakota to all points North East to Florida and back to Virginia. When the family was not with me I traveled with two helpers and we liked to sleep in separate beds. I was gone about 32 weekends a year (from Wednesday thru Monday). Having the extra room and the space for all my equipment. So in short it comes down to desire and need. I agree some go over the top with length. I have seen some in the 50+ ft range that I thought was ridiculous.

Dave B · 07-09-2008, 01:46 PM

I can't under stand the whole CDL mess! I know that the states have their own input; but the rules vary so much from state to state its difficult to understand the reasoning behind it all. It really varies as to what can or can not be driven as an RV using a state's nonCDL license. I know men who are in their 70's and really aren't able to drive; but haven't been able to figure that out yet. I know others that still drive 18 wheelers with 53 foot trailers for a living; and I wouldn't mind sleeping in the sleeper cab while they are driving down the road.

Dave B · 07-09-2008, 05:12 PM

BravestDog, I did some research on the California DMV at www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs. I found the definition for commercial vehicle under section 15210. Section 15210(b)(2)states that a recreational vehicle as defined by section 18010 of the California Health and Safety Code is not a commercial vehicle. So, I went over to the Health and Safety Code. Section 18010(a)states it must be built on a single chassis,self propelled,truck-mounted or towable without a permit. There are two square feet tests it must pass: (a) less than 320 square feet of living room area and (b) 400 square feet or less of gross area measured at maximum horizontal projections. Most truck conversions I've seen are a maximum width of 102 inches or 8.5 feet; and the length of the average truck conversion I see is 45 feet(bumper to bumper). Most class 8 truck cabs are at least 10 feet(120 bbc). We could add a 35 foot conversion to that and still be at 45 feet. We would pass the 400 gross square foot test at 382.5 square feet(45 X 8.5). We should be able to pass the 320 square foot test since the 35 foot truck-mounted conversion using exterior dimensions measures 297.5 square feet(35 X 8.5). The cab shouldn't be counted since it was there before the conversion was mounted. Cabover bunks might count since they are part of the conversion. Slides shouldn't count since no one(I hope)drives down the road with them out. The bottom line is you probably could drive a forty five foot truck conversion legally in California without a commercial license. I hope this doesn't bore you; I have 31 years with the U.S. government, and boring is what government workers do best!

BravestDog · 07-09-2008, 09:41 PM

According to the link below, does it say with a standard Class C license, the type most people have, that you have to be 40' and under? This is for CA.

"any house car 40 feet and under, in length"

and if you have a non commercial Class B, you can drive a 40-45'?

"a housecar over 40 feet but not over 45 feet, with endorsement"

http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/dl648/dl648pt2.htm

Anyone know what the penalty/fine is if you have a Class C license and you are caught driving a RV over 40'?

geofkaye · 07-09-2008, 10:37 PM

....Kalifornia is a different situation completely-since they have started their own ''nation''-seems that everything is not legal or one must get a special permit or something that costs money to go there......but when they come east we are expected to bend over for them....I had a "drive-in" that expected for me to drop everything and make a roof repair-because it ''MIGHT'' rain....."well no chit it will rain!-do you have a canvas or do you want to go to Harbor Freight and get a canvas?"...."well, at least you could look at it and decide if you want to fix it or not"....."No- I don't want to fix it just right now-I'll get to it next week when the injection in my spine wears off and I can climb a ladder...."....it got ugly from there on....they were from San Fran-two guys and really demanding....but I don't work except now and then when I feel like it....they don't understand-I do a lot of repairs when I feel good and don't do chit when I feel bad....it's an age/body thing...geofkaye

Dave B · 07-10-2008, 07:48 AM

I see what you mean now! Did I mention government workers are also good at creating confusion? Geofkaye is right; government's #1 function is to get as much of your money as possible.

BravestDog · 07-10-2008, 10:24 AM

The scarry part is that after reading the specs in the CA DMV book, I'm NOT sure if I've read it correctly or if it's correct, outdated, misprint... There could be some clause somewhere that says "but/if/however..."

You can't call them either because the operator may not know how to read or interpret the data. If you go in person, they can't help you either. I've gone through this in the past. It's baffling. It's like they are all too loaded on Prozac or some kind of legal anti depressant drug to care or be of assistance. And too afraid to complain to their supervisors because they are fearful of being reprimanded...

What a mess. Why can't things be standardized or made uniform? Seems like it would solve a lot of problems with matters like this?

And this must be insignificant compared to more important or more detailed matters in the trucking world.

Makes you want to move to an isolated island somewhere in the Pacific where there are only trails to walk on and canoes to paddle in.

geofkaye · 07-10-2008, 10:51 PM

....writing a letter to the State Department of whatever does make a difference some of the time....I ask for a "simplification" and usually they wright back that simplification....sometimes they say I should seek the advice of an attorney so I call the Attorney General of the State of Ohio and ask for a simplification and that whatever department wouldn't give it to me-also a copy to the Inspector General's office will get the juices flowing.....I mention that I have been a resident of the State all my life and need their assistance.......geofkaye

cameron · 05-08-2009, 10:58 AM

born and raised in Mexifornia and all I can say is this state is f'd up because of all the liberals coming from all of the other states and pushing their agenda's on us,so we are reaping the rewards(ha ha) of affirmative action and the welfare program that all of your states decenters have inforced here by crying to the Homo ran media...guess what, I'm going to finish my conversion/hauler and pack up my family and our guns and ammo and head north!...sorry for the tangent,back to conversion talk...

Gary Atsma · 05-08-2009, 04:28 PM

OK Cameron, sit down, close your eyes, and breeeaaathe DEEP! There, is that better now? I too live in this state (that of confusion....) about 200 miles N of you. I know of what you speak.....

Gary

Bob86ZZ4 · 05-08-2009, 08:47 PM

I know it doesn't help the residents of California, but, just wanted to point this out. We are all ruled by our state of residence. So, if I'm legal to drive a 55' rig in MN on a regular class D (the lowest class in MN) then I can go drive that right over to California and drive all around that state and they can't do anything to me. As long as it's registered in MN and I have a MN license. Here in MN we have a 75' max limit for any single unit or combination of units. And, we don't need anything special over a D license as long as it's got rv plates and the required rv equipment in it. Again, I know that doesn't help the CA residents. But, just wanted to make sure everybody knows that they can certainly go visit and drive through CA with longer than 40' units on low class licenses.

BravestDog · 05-11-2009, 06:31 PM

Bob

Welcome to California.

Let's just say you decide to visit with your rig and your standard drivers license.

And let's just say that your rig is longer than what is allowed in CA for your license rating.

And let's just say that you decide to stay for longer than 30 days or maybe engage in some part time work (maybe you need the money...)

I believe the way the Law works is that if you are here for an extended period of time (7-30 days, not sure) or if you begin working, you now qualified yourself as a resident and now CA Law applies.

I don't know the details of this, but Law Enforcement cited a friend of mine because he told them he had been here to work but lived in Nevada. He had a small car with Nevade plates, a Nevada Drivers License and Nevada insurance and gave a Nevada address for his residence.

I believe the Judge dropped it, but he had to appear in the court within 21 days which cost him a day of work. You are considered guilty if you fail to appear. Sending a letter in, may dismiss your ticket, but who know's. You're not there to argue your point and the local Judges don't like for you to argue, let alone state your defense, so good luck if you are not there to argue your defense.

In CA, it's not about safety, it's about income for the City, County and State. The idea is to have Law Enforcement write tickets that have the highest dollar value and don't require an appearance by the Officer. Those tickets provide the highest income to the City, County, State. In the meantime, people are being shot, stabbed, robbed, assaulted...homes and property burglarized, vandalized because the Police are in the courtroom trying to defend the reason they wrote you a ticket and not on the street catching the criminals.

CA is a nice state, nice weather...but things are screwed up here. Does anyone else want to give some examples...?

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