I have gotten close to finishing my "1960 F600 repower" project, as Ive posted about before on this forum. I have successfully converted it to a 7.3 IDI with ZF5. It works great. Im just going through the brakes, and have to install new king pins and Im set. I am about to open my own car minor repair and sales business. Getting close to getting my state license and surety bond and all that and dealers license. My question is this..... If I use my 1960 F600 to tow a car trailer and pick up cars to repair, either to sell, or for a customer, will the highway patrol give me holy hell every time I make a run? I have heard that the cops, especially state patrol, absolutely love to pick old farm trucks apart. I am really not interested in proving my GCVW, getting inspected on side of the road, and being generally harassed every time I try to help a guy out by towing his car. If you guys think that Id experience a law enforcement nightmare every time I come around a corner, maybe I will just get a 3/4 ton and do something else with the F600. I really dont have much respect for cops, in the old days they were great upstanding guys, but nowadays they are revenue generators that are usually looking at dollar signs on tickets rather than public safety. I dont need repeated run ins with cops.... Thanks guys

 

I think you need to post your state for any good advice. Im sure you will find what you need from the helpful members... Are you going to be within local gvw and towing laws? In California there are one ton pickups with 3 car trailers all over I5. Landscapers often tow big refuse trailers behind their f650 trucks for tree removal.

 

I live in kansas. And i would never come close to 26,000lbs, maybe 13-15,000 with trailer, truck, and cargo. I know once I was towing an empty car trailer on I 35 with my1998 land rover. The safety chains were actually safety cables. The heavy coiled steel cable kind. So i didnt have safety chains dangling. But rather safety cables neatly coiled near the trailer tongue. They were properly connected as well. On my way home, a state trooper going the opposite direction as me came to a screeching halt, went flying across a median dirt road to my side of the highway, then went ***** to the wall to catch up to me as if id just robbed a bank. He got out after pulling me over and laid into me about my lack of safety chains. I told him i had safetly cables. He looked again and said....oh... I didnt see them i guess. I then laid Into him and asked why he could have caused an accident with his driving manners, so that he could check my chains? He gave me a written warning for a light being out on the left side. I got home and saw that both lights worked fine. This my friends, is my luck with the law. If this is any indication of whats to come, I hope i have a good lawyer....lol. I know cops are usually good guys, but over the years i have acquired a bad taste for them. Not a fan of cops really.

 

my opinion is to make your truck look as nice as possible proper tags on truck and trailer , make sure that your trailer has proper brakes and a brake a way system for the trailer brakes encase it comes unattached ! good tires all lites working , dont look like i piece of junk going down the road ! you will always get stopped once in a while and if you are 100% legal and he chews on you then just KISS HIS *** ( i also hate cops ) but they can make your life HELL if they want to !

one other thing is to get to know them get some business cards and when ever you see a cop hand him some cards explain what you do and they might throw some work your way , from accidents to people broke down along the road !

you catch more flies with honey than vinegar !
smile and eat crap !
kill them with kindness !

 

Kansas, huh? I thought things were all warm and fuzzy in the corn belt.

I have a similar beef with the cops too. But it cuts both ways. The current paramilitary, "us vs. them", and other attitudes, are the direct result of assaults and murders of cops, and the endless parade of tragedy that cops have to clean up, most of it preventable.

So now let's concentrate on how you can avoid contact with the cops, and not contribute to the parade.

First, wade into this:

http://search.ksrevenue.org/texis/search?dropXSL=html&pr=KSRevenue&prox=page&rorder= 500&rprox=500&rdfreq=500&rwfreq=500&rlead=500&sufs =0&order=r&query=commercial+towing&site=revenue&cl ient=kansas&proxystylesheet=revenue&output=xml_no_ dtd

That's what I found when I searched "commercial towing" on the Ks. Dept of Revenue. I could search further, but you are the Kansas business man in need of info.

If your truck looks like an old farm truck, I hope they do pick it apart. If it's clean, has good rubber, brakes, lights, everything is in code--well, expect to be inspected anyway.

WHY would a cop NOT inspect an antique doing commercial towing work?

If your ducks are in a row, and you don't give them a reason to inspect you every time they see you, you should be good.

 

If you want to find out what your truck was rated to tow when it was new, just get the proper sales brochure for your year - put it in with your Registration / DOT papers and insurance paperwork and you will always have the proof with you.

It will list the GCWR for your truck. Note that there are generaly several payload packages available, but these only affect the GVW and not the GCWR.

FYI - While you have a F600, this should be the same - Both my 1970 and 1958 C600 brochures have a GCWR of 32k, irespective of the payload package - IE if yo have the 17k GVW payload package that gives you 15k towing. If you have the 23k GVW payload package then you only have 9k of towing.

Assuming in both cases the truck is fully loaded.

I hope this helps.

David

*Edit - My L600 and 1972 C600 brochures also list a GCWR of 32k as well. (42k GVW if you have a 700 series rig)

 

A nice paint job would help too-you want the cops to say "damn thats a nice old truck" not "wtf is that? looks like a serial killer might drive that rusty hulk. I bet nothing works"

Im sure they know people who don't care about their personal property usually disregard the law too. Hoopties always get pulled over.

 

X2 very good advice.

I owned a towing busniess for 7 years here in Ohio. While in my 5th year of towing I enrolled in the police acadamy. I graduated and worked as a officer part time on the week ends while still towing M-F. I gave up towing when I got a full time job as a officer.
When i would get called out to a wreck I got the road cleard as soon as possible (after the officer got his measuments) and That way I always got my share of the calls.