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exo cages in washington

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MechanicalTragedy

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I have heard rumor that exo gages are now illegal on street driven vehicles. Does anyone know for fact if this is or is not true. My rigs body and the future purchase off a tow rig and trailer depend on it.
 
Yes they are. Snoop around on the State of Washington site & you'll find all kinds of little laws about bumpers, fenders, etc and you can't have extrusions beyond such and such etc.... If I find a link, I'll edit it into this post. But it's hardly enforced. Just drive safe and sane with mudflaps and cops won't give you a problem. And I can't find it, but there was somewhere a law that said your fender flairs cannot excede 2 or 3 inches.
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RCW 46.37.517
Body and body hardware.
</B>(1) The body, fenders, and bumpers shall be maintained without protrusions which could be hazardous to pedestrians. In addition, the bumpers shall be so attached and maintained so as to not protrude beyond the original bumper line.
(2) The hood, hood latches, hood fastenings, doors, and door latches shall be maintained in a condition sufficient to ensure proper working equal to that at the time of original vehicle manufacture.
[1977 ex.s. c 355 § 44.]
Notes

There's another subsection which also talks about other stuff, see if I can find it also. And YEAH, I know it's lame, but tell it to the judge, 'cause I don't care.

Also notice that the DOORS are required to be on the rig as per the original manufacturer. That means NO door mods or removal. If it came with doors, it needs to still have them.
 
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this is a huge gray area. this is an instance where cops will make up laws that they think are legit. if you do not know your rights, they will not truthfully explain them to you. if you explain your rights to them, then your a wise ass and they will write you for something else.

asplundi tree trucks (f450) are equiped with full front end protection (exo from the cowl foward).

an ignorant cop will always resort back to - faliure to maintan factory equipment. every judge will throw it out too for being too broad and not enforceable.

I have had cops bitch about me not having flaps, and at the same time commend me on the cage doing the duty of flares.

if a truck has a cage, and you are pulled over for it, and you inform the officer that is legal, then he will move on to the next item. and I guess an exoed truck is probally got more illeagel items more important than a cage.


BOTTOM LINE= IF COPS WANT TO **** WITH YOU----- THEY WILL, EVEN IF ITS LEGIT OR NOT:looser:
 
Yes they are. Snoop around on the State of Washington site & you'll find all kinds of little laws about bumpers, fenders, etc and you can't have extrusions beyond such and such etc.... If I find a link, I'll edit it into this post. But it's hardly enforced. Just drive safe and sane with mudflaps and cops won't give you a problem
) The hood, hood latches, hood fastenings, doors, and door latches shall be maintained in a condition sufficient to ensure proper working equal to that at the time of original vehicle manufacture.
[1977 ex.s. c 355
 
Yes they are. Snoop around on the State of Washington site & you'll find all kinds of little laws about bumpers, fenders, etc and you can't have extrusions beyond such and such etc.... If I find a link, I'll edit it into this post. But it's hardly enforced. Just drive safe and sane with mudflaps and cops won't give you a problem. And I can't find it, but there was somewhere a law that said your fender flairs cannot excede 2 or 3 inches.
edit

There's another subsection which also talks about other stuff, see if I can find it also. And YEAH, I know it's lame, but tell it to the judge, 'cause I don't care.

Also notice that the DOORS are required to be on the rig as per the original manufacturer. That means NO door mods or removal. If it came with doors, it needs to still have them.

RCW 46.37.517
Body and body hardware.
</B>(1) The body, fenders, and bumpers shall be maintained without protrusions which could be hazardous to pedestrians. In addition, the bumpers shall be so attached and maintained so as to not protrude beyond the original bumper line.
(2) The hood, hood latches, hood fastenings, doors, and door latches shall be maintained in a condition sufficient to ensure proper working equal to that at the time of original vehicle manufacture.
[1977 ex.s. c 355
 
Hmmm that is so full of grey area that its not funny,

it does not say anything in there about2"-3" fender flairs, just that they cannot hazordus to pedestrians, just a judgment call by the cop and a judge.

Doors can be modded they just need to be maintained in a condition "sufficient " to ensure proper working equal to that at the time of original manufacture. Again a judgment call, grey area.

just my .02 cents:redneck:

I couldn't find the fender flair width law, but I've seen it before. And YES, it's completely and entirely GREY. But the Sheriff in Yakima county has no problem about handing out tickets to YJs with doors removed, and toyotas with half doors. Does that make it legal? NO. Does it make it illegal? Again NO. But it does require you to either PAY the ticket or go to court and fight it. Either way, it costs you money. And yeah, Exos are grey, but they do go beyond the body of the rig and that puts them in jeapordy of the ticket.
 
Here's something to think about

scan0001.jpg
 
So, i'm gonna tube and dovetail the back half of my Cruiser soon, does that mean that I won't be able to drive it on the street anymore?

Kevin
 
Technically, yes. Legally, who knows? It most likely will cause you to get tickets due to the no rear fenders, which are required. As is a factory width rear bumper. Etc. Etc. Etc. Whether you can successfully defend your rig in a court of law may be a completely different story.

I've wheeled and street driven with several buggies, down the highway at 80mph, but always in a large group. Never once got pulled over. There is a definate safety in numbers. Also, there is safety in mud flaps and mufflers. Those two (muds & mufflers) are definately cop repellant.
 
If you go slow there is a loophole in the law which allows exemption from all the bumper/mudflap/lighting/safety laws so long as you do not exceed 20 mph. This is intended for emergency purposes but will cover you if the cop can't prove you drove that way more than the one time. Myself unfortunately was going about 24mph so the court wasn't buying it, but :beer: to my lawyer for finding such a loophole and almost beating the system.
 
Nice, so i guess as long as the cop doesn't specify on the ticket what speed you were going you could argue this in court (not saying to lie in court, but not saying not to).

Kevin
 
Stupid or not

I am starting with a $3300 rig this time not a $500 Toyota and with my yota i changed cabs 3 times in the last year due to body carnage beyond repair. Now that i'm in a fuel injected rig with a bajillion wires and smog lines i choose not to do this amount of work. Also the fact that i cant throw around a pathfinder body by myself has made me realize the need for a cage. The body has become such a priority that i am spending my sas money to cage it first. Not arguing , just my personal reason for the cage. I always was a fan off beating the **** out of a truck, now that 3 kids are here i can only afford to build it once.
 
Stupid or not

I am starting with a $3300 rig this time not a $500 Toyota and with my yota i changed cabs 3 times in the last year due to body carnage beyond repair. Now that i'm in a fuel injected rig with a bajillion wires and smog lines i choose not to do this amount of work. Also the fact that i cant throw around a pathfinder body by myself has made me realize the need for a cage. The body has become such a priority that i am spending my sas money to cage it first. Not arguing , just my personal reason for the cage. I always was a fan off beating the **** out of a truck, now that 3 kids are here i can only afford to build it once.
 

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My 2 cents for your application:

Add a reasonable interior cage, use Darius's build thread on his 4runner for an example. Then wheel the heck out of it, but wheel it carefully to avoid the body carnage. You'll have just as much fun wheeling careful as you will wheeling carefree. And just don't hit the trees. The interior cage will give you the safety your family needs, and your rig won't inspire cops to stare at it, or thiefs to steal it. You're very close to Darius's shop and they do outstanding work.
 
well i wheel right.

I only wheel one way. I do what i have to and never back away from a trail. I take the hardest lines. I don't want the guy who built my hi lifts job to have been done in vein. Anyway the only trails that were available on sumas mountain are sami trails. They are a bitch. And yes for that one guy i know sumas is off limits. I quit when i got forced too. Id say 3 cabs in 56 trips isn't all that bad. I just dont have enough free time anymore to change them. Oh and yeah bring that jeep over here to the trees for a year and see what it looks like. If i lived in the frikkin nothing desert Thats wide open id get my way and be wheeling a full size with some horsies not a jap rig with only ponies. It's completely different wheeling up here if you haven't been you should try it.
 
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