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Tagging a buggy?

30th6

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Joined
Oct 24, 2011
Messages
1,196
Location
florence al
I'm almost done with my buggy and I want to put a tag on it just to run back roads.
I have access to a jeep Cherokee vin and title, but I don't know how to legally swap the vin and title to the buggy.
Any help would be appreciated, I'm in Alabama and the buggy has brake lights and tail lights.

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I just don't want to get in trouble for swapping vins if there's a **** head cop.
I called Montgomery registration, they are supposed to sending me paper work to start on getting a homebuilt vehicle vin.
The problem with this is I have to have it inspected, then I don't know if my insurance will cover a homebuilt vehicle.

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Pop rivets. Tell them all the mods are safety upgrades and that is all you have left.


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if the vin is good, and the original vehicle has been dismantled/modified to the point that it "IS" the buggy, then

If I was going to drive on the road I'd at least make it looks sorta like the vehicle it is registered as... like put a grille on it it and some badges/emblems
 
I don't think it will pass as a Cherokee. I don't want to put badges and grill on it. It will have aluminum panels but Maybe I'll just chance the vin and make it a "Cherokee "
2030acb92c106edcc6ff393e481b207e.jpg


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Find someone who builds rat rods. I think that they would have better information on what hoops you have to jump through to get registered on the street. keep us updated on what you find out.
 
Re: Re: Tagging a buggy?

84mallcrawl said:
Find someone who builds rat rods. I think that they would have better information on what hoops you have to jump through to get registered on the street. keep us updated on what you find out.
Didn't think about that. I'll keep y'all updated

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Home made vehicle is a pain in the ass in Missouri to get done but it can be done just serval trips to get everything taken care of so it might depend on your state . Most people purchase a " Historical document " / title and make their own vin plate never have an issue. 9 times out of 10 the cop is just checking out the car anyways
 
Not sure what the DMV in your state requires, but in NC all vehicles registered for street use must meet certain minimum safety requirements. If you are going the home built/custom built vehicle route (at least here) the vehicle must be inspected by the DMV before the vehicle can be registered, so they can verify these safety components are in place. One of the things on that list is a mechanical linkage/connection between the steering wheel and the steering components on the axle. This means full hydro is not a "street legal" steering setup in NC. All states have different regulations, but its something to look into. This is what stopped me from getting my buggy through this process.
 
Using the Jeep Cherokee method is the easiest....
Biggest thing is getting vin plate installed- pop rivets.

Then the vehicle it came from going away in little pieces.... careful, most vehicles have vin in other places also, floor pan, frame rails, etc.

If the vehicle is "somewhat" legal... ie it's looks like has fenders, panels, or whatever.... even if pulled over you can talk your way through it.
I'm in same boat, my Sami is just tubes... 4 linked, and full hydro.

The one cop I got pulled over by actually asked if it was street legal to be on road... I said yes, it's regsisted, tagged, and has working lights.
He "accepted" this and let us go, but again, could he have hammered me- Yeap!

While I don't ride my buggy on road much any more, I do at least have vin plate and it's in my name.

But if push comes to shove a cop could nail me for full hydro, bead locks, lights, blinkers, no windshield, and the list goes on and on.
 
What I was worried about more than anything if it's a felony to switch vin plates from one vehicle to another and have it registered in your name

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I had a buddy I that's a local deputy come by the house to inspect my Jeep. He just made sure I had turn signals, marker and brake lights and headlights.Filled out a piece of paper and I went and got a title. If you have any friends in law enforcement that would be my suggestion for your first step.
 
In NC, if its so old (my 76 cj qualifies) you can get tags without any inspection as a classic vehicle. You just need some old ass rusted out beater to use the title for. Cut out the vin, weld it in on the chassis and send that ****. :woot:
 
Go ahead and tack insurance fraud onto that as well. And Heaven forbid you're involved in a collision with serious injuries. You would be personally liable for those costs because your insurance coverage will be null and void if you misrepresented the vehicle, or insured it as something it is not. For me, the potential consequences don't even come close to being worth the risk.
 
June dog said:
I had a buddy I that's a local deputy come by the house to inspect my Jeep. He just made sure I had turn signals, marker and brake lights and headlights.Filled out a piece of paper and I went and got a title. If you have any friends in law enforcement that would be my suggestion for your first step.
This is definitely the easier route. I bought a jeep from another state and had trouble getting it registered. The DMV workers were not going to let me register it because they couldn't verify at least two VIN plates on the Jeep. Since there was no windshield it didn't have the vin plate that is normally on the windshield frame. When looking for the other VIN plates they wouldn't even let me be outside with them because they didn't want me to know where the other VIN numbers that they were going to verify were located. After they wire brushed and rubbed chalk on the rear passenger frame location it was very hard to make out the characters, and according to them didn't match the title. I tried explaining that this jeep had been modified several times and may even have a different frame, but they didn't want to hear any of that and were basically telling me that they were not going to allow it to be registered. I met a police officer at the station, showed him where the one visible VIN Plate was, he filled out the form from the DMV and then I just went down to the tag office and registered it with no issues even though I still had no windshield or turn signals.
 

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