Harbor freight trailers and Pennsylvania

Toyman01 said:

Y'all are making me glad I live is SC where trailers don't require anything until they exceed 20" or 2000 pounds empty weight. 

No kidding. I have to deal with trailers (single and double axle utility and boat) in 3 states - Illinois, Wisconsin, and Michigan. Illinois is super easy, assuming you have a title--registration is like $18 bucks a year, and I've never had to do an inspection. Michigan, as far as I've seen, is just as easy except you can get a lifetime plate. There might be an inspection for that, I can't remember, because it is a lifetime plate. Then Wisconsin is the easiest yet--nothing as long as it is under 3000 lbs. 

Much truth.  I usually use Sollenberger's which is a PA DMV notary service.  With rare exceptions, they know their E36 M3.

Here is the thing about PA and Sp Const trailers...  (from the DMV fact sheet)

Specially Constructed Vehicle - A vehicle not originally constructed under a distinctive name, make, model or type by a generally recognized manufacturer of vehicles.
 Some examples of vehicle configurations which would require a specially constructed vehicle title include but are not limited to:
 - Vehicles assembled from a kit - Vehicles assembled from various vehicle makes/model years - Dune buggies - Glider kits - Homemade trailers

Notice it says "homemade trailers" and "vehicles made from a kit."  It does not say "trailers made from a kit."

If you buy a pre-assembled trailer from TSC, you get the assembled trailer, the vin plate, and a certificate of origin.  If you buy a HF kit trailer, you get the same basic thing, just not assembled.  Once you assemble it, the inspection shop does not need to delineate between kit or pre-assembled.  Some DO, but they don't need to.

The gray area is that the law spells out homemade trailers, new pre-assembled trailers, and kit cars, but not kit trailers.  The bottom line is that if you go to a trailer inspection shop with a new trailer and a certificate and they tell you it requires an enhanced inspection, you went to the wrong shop.  Try a different one.  Kit trailers do not technically need an enhanced inspection.  They need working lights.  Period. 

When I bought my HF in 2003 PA didn’t accept their CO so I had to register it as specially constructed.  Hardest part of the process was finding a shop that had someone licensed to inspect trailers.  Eventually took it to an International heavy truck shop.

What happens if your state does not require plates on a small trailer and you drag it to a state that does ?

Same problem where Arizona goes not issue front plates , but surrounding states do....

For the most part, you fall under the rules of your state, but there are exceptions.

An example:  I'm licensed in PA and I can legally drive a 26,000 GVWR vehicle with a 10,000 GVWR trailer.  CA requires a non-commercial class B license for that.  If I drive this thing to CA, I am legal to drive it there because my license from PA says I can.

If you live in a state where insurance is not required, you can drive your car to other states.  This is why I carry uninsured motorist coverage on my policy.

PA doesn't require additional insurance on trailers - it is covered by the liability of the tow vehicle.  In states where that is not the case, it doesn't matter.  You are still legal to tow the trailer in that other state because your home state's law doesn't require it.

If you drive your non-emissions car to CA, you don't have to get it smog-checked unless you register and title it there.

And I thought it was rough getting a trailer registered in NJ.

Last trailer I registered in NJ was the one my boat is sitting on. Came from PA with a notarized title. Took me 6 trips back because they wanted photographic proof of the VIN. Well, the sticker was UNDER the boat and badly corroded. None of the pictures I took was good enough for them.

I have another trailer I can't register because they do not recognize the VIN even though I have a notarized Bill of sale. That one is going to get scrapped

In reply to coopersc50 :

Tried to contact you, have an extra PA title. Might be able to work something out. 

californiamilleghia said:

What happens if your state does not require plates on a small trailer and you drag it to a state that does ?

Same problem where Arizona goes not issue front plates , but surrounding states do....

In this vein, what's to prevent me from saying the trailer is on loan from a friend in Tennessee, where you don't need to register a trailer (paraphrasing) that can't carry a vehicle?

I'm sure I'll get a ticket because Pennsylvania, but if I have say a note from a friend saying I borrowed it for a while, I should be in the clear?

Too much dog and pony show. Too much Pennsylvania bureaucratic stupidity.

In reply to porschenut :

I can't pm you either. I may be interested. I'm trying to see if I can find someone local that may be able to do something for me. I'm in Harrisburg. 

I built a 4x8 HF trailer a few years back, and all I remember is assembling it, making my own VIN tag for it, getting it weighed on a certified scale, and sending in the paperwork. You have to get a specialized inspection according to the interwebz, I guess I did, but I don't remember doing it. It must not have been a big deal.