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Show me your lifted legal trucks

campfire said:
I thought CA had all the smog checks and hoops to jump through and restrictions on what engines can and can't be swapped... :confused:
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Like already mentioned, it's under the hood that the crazy liberals here pee themselves.. It's really stupid if you think about it, my 6L LS swap would be illegal if I had to go through smog, which is cleaner running then the stock legal engine. But.... no problem with slapping on a set of 44" boggers and go daily driving. That rubber would have 10x more effects on nox pollution then a set of illegal headers.
 
campfire said:
This truck:

img_0196-2-jpg.194024



And this truck:




Look similar enough to have confused me multiple times. :doah:

It's the red accent color on the wheels that makes it so confusing...
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When I was on my 38.5's....understandable

With my 44's....inexcusable :shame:
 
rjfguitar said:
Like already mentioned, it's under the hood that the crazy liberals here pee themselves.. It's really stupid if you think about it, my 6L LS swap would be illegal if I had to go through smog, which is cleaner running then the stock legal engine. But.... no problem with slapping on a set of 44" boggers and go daily driving. That rubber would have 10x more effects on nox pollution then a set of illegal headers.
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Here is the cool part, if you really really wanted it to be smog legal it would be pretty simple(because its a truck) there are a few rules you have to abide by but nothing that cant be fixed after the fact, swapping motors is completely legit as long as you swap a car motor or close GVW truck motor into your truck, so no heavy duty engines into cars etc..
 
sreidmx said:
Here is the cool part, if you really really wanted it to be smog legal it would be pretty simple(because its a truck) there are a few rules you have to abide by but nothing that cant be fixed after the fact, swapping motors is completely legit as long as you swap a car motor or close GVW truck motor into your truck, so no heavy duty engines into cars etc..
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Exactly but only with a blazer because its an MPV. If you put a car motor in a truck its not gonna fly or vice versa. The other catch that always gets people is you have to use stock exhaust manifolds. Thats a big time eliminator of rolling through inspection with flying colors.
 
sreidmx said:
Here is the cool part, if you really really wanted it to be smog legal it would be pretty simple(because its a truck) there are a few rules you have to abide by but nothing that cant be fixed after the fact, swapping motors is completely legit as long as you swap a car motor or close GVW truck motor into your truck, so no heavy duty engines into cars etc..
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Mine is a 6L, and came out of a GM 3500. I understand it that if you have a 1/2ton you can't just swap in something from a 3/4 or bigger. I could change my PCM out, but I'd have to find one out of an Escalade, Denali, etc. But, I have an LQ4, not an LQ9 that is found in a lot of the 1/2ton 6L trucks. Regardless, doesn't matter much. My 5K is registered and GTG for a long time ahead.
 
I don't understand this thread. Are there a significant number of trailer queen K5's at this point? I guess time has passed me by. Or are we talking about little details nobody is likely to notice, like beadlocks? Someone mentioned sway bar, is it illegal to remove?

Here in AZ you can register as collector car and get out of emissions and inspections. Just can't daily drive it to work. I've gone that route and got rid of cat and some smog plumbing. I don't feel bad though, since with my TBI conversion I'm certainly a fraction of the emissions of the original 83 carb setup.
 
Mastiff said:
I don't understand this thread. Are there a significant number of trailer queen K5's at this point? I guess time has passed me by. Or are we talking about little details nobody is likely to notice, like beadlocks? Someone mentioned sway bar, is it illegal to remove?

Here in AZ you can register as collector car and get out of emissions and inspections. Just can't daily drive it to work. I've gone that route and got rid of cat and some smog plumbing. I don't feel bad though, since with my TBI conversion I'm certainly a fraction of the emissions of the original 83 carb setup.
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Mine, like im sure many others trailer to the trail but also street drive it. Theres just too many advantages to trailering to the trail but being street legal is just as important as it keeps the police at bay, plus there are certain trails where you need to do freeway runs to get back to said trailer.

Any suspension component taken off a vehicle is illegal. 4 links and beadlocks are definitely illegal but the thing is most cops wouldnt know it if it was right in front of them. The ones that do know probably wheel and could care less. Im sure OP just meant lift/tires but every component is a factor if its illegal.

Im sure theres a very slim amount of trucks that are actually to the T legal.

Your truck puts out less emissions on its worst day then 5 square miles of lawnmower use im sure. Its the illegals and lawnmowers/weedwackers that should be smogging lol.
 
wetoolowdingbangow said:
Mine, like im sure many others trailer to the trail but also street drive it. Theres just too many advantages to trailering to the trail but being street legal is just as important as it keeps the police at bay, plus there are certain trails where you need to do freeway runs to get back to said trailer.

Any suspension component taken off a vehicle is illegal. 4 links and beadlocks are definitely illegal but the thing is most cops wouldnt know it if it was right in front of them. The ones that do know probably wheel and could care less. Im sure OP just meant lift/tires but every component is a factor if its illegal.

Im sure theres a very slim amount of trucks that are actually to the T legal.

Your truck puts out less emissions on its worst day then 5 square miles of lawnmower use im sure. Its the illegals and lawnmowers/weedwackers that should be smogging lol.
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This paragraph is so full of California that my head is starting to spin. I feel like balancing it out with a Midwestern perspective.


In the states where I have lived, inspections are not required (neither safety nor emissions). You could walk up with a title to a truck that no longer exists and walk away with plates (they don't care what condition it's in). Both Wisconsin and Iowa have provisions for homemade vehicles (that obviously couldn't have passed any EPA or NHTSA testing). You walk up and say "I built a car," and Iowa hands you a title. Wisconsin requires a basic safety inspection before issuing a title, but only if you're starting from scratch (instead of modifying an existing title). The list of requirements for putting something on the road is very short. 2 headlights. 1 tailight. Seat belts in the front (if newer than 1966). Mud flaps or fenders. A couple of other very basic things that directly relate to road usage. Smog, engine swaps, custom suspension, beadlocks, etc. were not mentioned in any of our laws last time I read through them. You can't get a ticket for the sins of your tailpipe. Even if you're belching visibly black smoke (as owner of an original N/A 6.2 truck, I do this fairly regularly). If you build a "farm tractor," you have no restrictions aside from a maximum speed limit of 35MPH (and no requirement for registering).

Nearly every truck I've ever seen (that is still even remotely truck-like) is still street legal here. A tube buggy with fenders is registerable for road use. I'm not sure why you think California is so generous with regards to truck laws. They sound downright messed up to me. :dunno:


Kinda reminds me when my buddy from New Hampshire, while proud of how much freedom he has in the "Live Free or Die" state, announced that he was selling his car because it wasn't passing inspection anymore (and he brought it to the Midwest because it wasn't saleable there without passing inspection). Doesn't sound very free to me.

I don't think the answer is smogging more lawnmowers. I think the answer is backing off some of these regulations and letting people tinker in peace. How can you ever have automotive innovation if every car has to conform to pre-existing standards? :screwy:
 
wetoolowdingbangow said:
Exactly but only with a blazer because its an MPV. If you put a car motor in a truck its not gonna fly or vice versa. The other catch that always gets people is you have to use stock exhaust manifolds. Thats a big time eliminator of rolling through inspection with flying colors.
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Not Exactly, The car motor can be put into the truck but a truck motor cannot be installed into the car. you can take a light duty engine and put it into the truck, so corvette, gto whatever is legit in a truck as long as emissions equipment is retained, but as someone else said Higher GVW engines cannot be installed into lower GVW vehicles, which is why almost no one can put a 5.3 into Camaro, RX7 etc and have it pass ref, A blazer or burb is special because they have heavier GVW ratings but are not considered commercial because of the shell. so its open to more options. Basically anything with a GVW close to 6200 would fly depending on the REF.. so there are many variables. The best thing you can do is call before you buy or install anything. The ref would tell you what is permissible. So for the record, Denali, 1500's Tahoe, Colorado v8, and any GM car motor is ok to install and should pass REF if your retaining emissions equipment. and all of those engines are rated over 280hp being the lowest and the highest being 638hp.. pretty good range :)
 
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