DMV rules blow. I hate the shell on my F250, but it magically transforms it from "pickup" to "passenger car" and since it saves me about $200 in license fees, it stays. Why? I've still gotten about 3800 lbs of firewood in it with the shell, so whatever they think about it limiting the load capacity couldn't be more wrong.

How did you get away with that? Is the cap "permanently attached?". Did it have to be inspected by someone to verify?

Once one realizes that half the code is not about safety, but money, it all becomes clear.

The strangest thing is the unladen, not gross weight is taxed for trucks under 10K GVWR. That is the difference. Your state might call that commercial, where even a Falcon Ranchero is commerical here. The extra fee is only $8 if under 3K unladen, but it gets expensive for heavier rigs.

The term "1/2 Ton" is irrelevant. Tell me what about a 2011 F-150 is half a ton? They have porked out to the extent that some configurations push 7000lb unladen. The GVWR of a 1990 F-150 was only 5600lb. Even that had a 3/4 ton payload.

Nope. Car plates are a different number/letter sequence than commercail plates and therefore easily spotted by cops. If you have a shell on your pickup, you can apply for car plates and save money. All you have to do is fill out and sign an affidavit at the DMV and PRESTO! You're saving money. BTW, get caught driving a pickup without a shell and with car plates and the fine is big.

So what happens when your load won't fit with the cap on? Do you have to get a special permit?

Truck schmuck! The term has been watered down to the point of ridicule. All the SUV out there being considered a truck for the sole purpose so as not to be counted in a manufacturers CAFE rating. (corporate average fuel economy) Consider Porsche, sells more Cayannes (an SUV)than sport cars so I guess that makes them a truck manufacturer.

My Ranger is a truck. My wife's Expedition is an SUV.

I probably could make do with an El Camino though, my wife would be okay with a minivan or a station wagon.

My definition of a truck has nothing to do with cab size, or box size, 2 or 4 wheel drive, 6 ply or 10 ply tires, gas vs diesel, etc. There's a cab, there's a box. But here's the kicker, a Honda Ridgeline isn't a truck. When you see a truck, you know it's a truck. If you have to ask, it probably isn't a truck.

and my ranger is a truck not an suv! a class 8 truck is a tractor. all the others are cars or suv's! or cross overs what ever that means not a truck....

Is an El Camino a truck? Is an early 1960's F-100 without a separate cab and box a truck?

The Subaru BRAT was not a truck by definition only because there were two jump seats welded in the bed when it left the factory. The new Ford Transit Connect is also shipped with a back seat, which is removed after it clears Customs. Why in both cases? Chicken tax, a 25% import duty on imported trucks that was originally supposed to punish Germany for tariffs on US chicken meat in the 1950's. VW pickups were very expensive due to the tax.

Truck:

#1 - Rear wheel drive, or 4 wheel drive
#2 - Body on frame construction, no unibody
#3 - #1 & 2 rule out the honda ridgeline
#4 - Something you can work the piss out of, and still drive daily
#5 - A tow hitch
#6 - A bed bigger than 5 feet
#7 - Its all personal preferences, I could go on and on to say you gotta get a real truck dirty, you gotta haul and tow stuff, yadda yadda yadda, real trucks have manual transmission, all that. Everyones got a few basic rules about what it should be, but you sure know a real truck when you see one.

You either get a trailer or transfer back over to commercial plates and pay the difference. Once you have car plates, you can't remove the cap.

No. Maybe call it a station wagon with the roof cut off. But for my particular needs, I could make do with one.

In some internet pictures I've seen Aussie Falcon Utes similar to an El Camino, but in other pictures, I've seen Falcon Utes in cab/chassis configuration.
[quote-jimandmandy;10489727]Is an early 1960's F-100 without a separate cab and box a truck?[/QUOTE]
Yes.

Again, back to what I said earlier, when it comes to trucks, you know it when you see it.

howdy all,
theres a guy in australia that has one and its a cool looking rig really. and he has a mad max dup car thats pretty cool. but i forget who he is. its been about a year since i talked with him. we may have to go to the international chapters to see.

Truck: or big station wagon like the '65 Impala we had.

#1 - Rear wheel drive, or 4 wheel drive - check, RWD
#2 - Body on frame construction, no unibody - check
#3 - #1 & 2 rule out the honda ridgeline - but not the Chevy
#4 - Something you can work the piss out of, and still drive daily - check
#5 - A tow hitch - check
#6 - A bed bigger than 5 feet -check, 4x8 with the seats folded flat
#7 - Its all personal preferences, I could go on and on to say you gotta get a real truck dirty, you gotta haul and tow stuff, yadda yadda yadda, real trucks have manual transmission, all that...

That sounds like the Supreme Court definition of pornography.