The wight fees go by the weight of the vehicle. The Motor carrier fees go by the GVWR.
It's not bad if you stay on top of it and don't get behind. If you register when you are supposed to then there are no penalties. And a 3/4 ton's weight fees are quite a bit less, it costs under $200 a year to tag my F250. I'm assuming Joe's truck has back fees and/or penalties on it. Or he just hasn't paid the taxes and transfer yet.

But California will bite you if you give them a chance! I bought my S15 as a project, the motor, the wiring, the fuel system were all dead. I put it together over a span of three years. The DMV not only made me pay the current registration fess, but I had to pay the back three years I owned it while it was not operating!!!

 

Here is a chart that shows California's weight fees. Note these fees are weight only, they are added to the registration fees:

V C Section 9400 Weight Fees for Commercial Motor Vehicles with Declared Gross Vehicle Weight 10,000 lbs or Less


Here's a fee calculator to help you figure out what your registration would cost:

Vehicle Registration Fee Calculator

 

Cool. Thanks for the info. Not quite so freaked out about it. Still hight compared to the 38$ I'm used to paying, but feasible. Sorry to keep digging, but do they actually ~weigh the truck, or go by a curb weight associated with the VIN? A heavy add-on might make a huge difference if you are near one of the weight thresholds... a certain custom pipe bumper weighing ~200# that's sitting in my driveway comes to mind!

P.S. sorry again, Joe, for the hi jack.

 

If the vehicle is already licensed in California they just go by the weight on file. New to the state you'll have to weigh it. (Any in-state certified scale can do this, I go to a local truck stop.) If you are close or just over the next increase in fees then it is a good idea to lose the tools, cargo, tail gate, extra fuel, etc before scaling to save yourself some money every year.

 

you can always call oreo. i heard he is used to towing your broke *** truck around

 

These trucks don't even come close to weighing 10,000#. I'm actually surprised how light they are.

 

my 1995 s10 is a "commercial" vehicle in california.

 

my 88 single cab diesel 4X4 weighs 9200 lbs.
i would not call that lite.

 

With 4k in the bed. My 00 Super Duty PSD weighs 10k with 1500# in the bed. And SD's are MUCH heavier than these 80's trucks. I've weighed both at the dump.

 

really? my 02 diesel 4X4 stretch cab is only 8,300 lbs.
900 lbs lighter than the 88

 

i have a 90 singal cab flat bed dually and its 13,900lbs but the bed was made to haule honey 55 gallon barrels stacked 2 high and 4 wide 6 deep lol i dont know the weaight of all that but the barreal are somewhere close 1000lbs each

 

tjc, you should keep that truck forever. It's the heaviest 1988 Ford single cab 4x4 on the face of this planet.

 

That's very heavy compared to what other members' trucks weigh in at...

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...uck-weigh.html

 

my truck weighed 9100 with my usual stuff in/on it. my 05 dodge weighs 9600 with me in it.and i know thats right cause i test scales.lol