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Is my MOD Legal or Illegal?

42K views 122 replies 76 participants last post by  Squish 
#1 · (Edited)
Hello Rammers,

Now, I know most of us are law abiding drivers. Right? :Racing:

But do you know for sure if your MODs are legal in your state or county?

All states have various allowances and restrictions when it comes to MOD's on a motor vehicle intended for driving on public roads and highways. Lights, tires, suspensions and window tints are probably the most common, But there are some others you may find surprising to be restricted.

So how do you find out what is legal or not in your neck of the woods? One would think that the simple answer would be to ask a local police officer. Go ahead... try asking 2 different officers and you will probably get 2 different answers. So sometimes even the PoPo doesn't know. :4-dontknow:

The best way to find out is to contact your local DMV and/or research your local state codes regarding the laws on Vehicle Equipment. In some states the laws are further broken down and vary drastically from City to City or County to County. So do your homework first before you buy. It sucks to spend time and money on a MOD only to find out after another $200+ (by way of a ticket) that your MOD is illegal and has to be removed.

Below... is a list of US States and links to various documents including, Statutes, Articles and Sections references for that state. For those of you having questions like... "is this legal or not?"... this is a great starting point.

I hope this is helpful to you and if so... or if you can just appreciate all the work in BB Code I did to get this list to show up here properly... let me know by way of giving props, reps, etc, by clicking on the little "Scales of Justice" Icon at the top right corner of this post. :)

Thank you for your comments and support and see ya in the threads!

- Tim
 
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#29 ·
Great info Tim!

I just took a quick look through, but found out lots of stuff I didn't know about.

I noticed that for Louisiana it's all about traffic laws, didn't see anything about modding restrictions, but that could be 'cause I didn't look hard enough.. will do so when I've got more enthusiasm.. (it's still early yet LOL)


Exco
 
#32 ·
..i'm so illegal it ain't funny... next year will be my first year of emmisions testing so in order to make it legal I'll either A) put stock cai back on, have stock cats put back on, have a piece of piping added onto dump and have it exit stock location and possibly put straight piping in place of cutouts.... or B) find someone and pay to have it "pass"
 
#34 · (Edited)
You all ought to be glad that you don't live out here in Southern Californifiation, just the smog laws alone are unreal, i'm waiting for them to require an charcoal canister on my butt.
Bumper & headlight heights are really checked closely
If your in my business, the orange rotating lights have to be covered or removed, if not actually in use, but, contractors, tow trucks, utility vehicles don't have any rules on orange lights, (either strobe or any others), except that they can't be turned on when they are not suppose to be, like a telephone company truck driving down the highway with them on

this is funny but, its also what i think of californias laws
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_-umNqM-3I2Y/S0jvM_5KL5I/AAAAAAAAI8U/3AkNSgRCpxM/s1600-h/OSHACowboy.jpg
 
#36 ·
Its only illegal if you get caught. Laws suck. And so do North carolina laws. Thats why i still have my wisconsin plates on my truck. im not paying for an emissions test and then have to pay tax on my veichle every year that i already paid tax on when i bought it. I guess its good to have a residence in 2 different states.
 
#38 ·
The reality here over the pond is that you can't legally drive american car unless it was built....in Europe and for Europe ;) Seriously, there's a number of changes one needs to make to legally drive US car (I've coverd in in the newbies section introduction so I won't copy-paste here). Any mods are basicaly difficult to get legal, but the reality is that as long as you don't mess with lights, emission, noise (exhaust) and tires sticking out off of the flares you're pretty safe and the police should not pull you over. Although if they see a "strange" looking car sometimes they stop you and search as long as it takes to find something "illegal". Just a hobby, I reckon....
 
#40 ·
You can change a continent, but not the cop :):):) How true! Same here - some just don't mind, some make a big fuss about your winch sticking out from your bumper and being a "serious threat to a pedestrian" ;)
 
#41 ·
Is My Mod Legal Or Illegal?

Better Question:

Who Cares?

PS. I live in So Cali too GTYankee and I agree the car laws here are rediculous, go read some of the stuff on HID laws, they might as well just make them illegal there are so many restrictions its stupid... and I'm gonna do CAI and cat-back soon and gonna have to figure a way to get around the smog check :)
 
#45 ·
my first smog test is this upcoming feb here in Norcal...i'm enjoying this while i can an will address when i can...i think I just need to put the cats back in and have carb legal headers installed...
 
#44 ·
The thing that gets me is the subjective nature of a lot of these laws. One officer may think it is too loud, and another wouldn't. If they are gonna have restrictions on exhaust, then there should be a dB limit at a specified distance, rather than just excessive volume.
 
#46 ·
big reason while I run the biggest mag muffler...sounds like stock compare to flows... and when I'm in the mood (or if someone revs me with their loud mufflers), i open the cutouts an go nascar on them:158:
 
#48 ·
Cutouts are illegal here as well, doesn't mean I'm not gonna run them...i open them up few an far between but I want them at my disposal anytime. And with them closed I am waaay quieter then the guys who like to run the short mufflers who think they are faster then me...they believe louder is faster..lol
 
#49 ·
Ok so in FL we don't have any state inspections and just the normal light and height laws pretty much. However removed the doors of my ram for paint for ding repairs and had my exhaust off for an upgrade and got pulled over by one cop for no exhaust but said nothing about my doors (just that I was stupid for driving that way, lol) but got pulled over a few days later after he busted a u-turn to follow me home to try and give me a ticket for no doors because he said only Jeeps can run with no doors because their floor pans are deeper... This is why laws don't mean crap... If a cop wants to give you a ticket he will and will tell you anything to get away with it... @#$% the Police (not all are bad, but a good majority)
 
#56 ·
I don't see it as a f*** the police thing, more of a when will the stupidity stop things. In my humble opinion, the vast majority of vehicle "mod" laws are ridiculous. I live in TN, and the county I live in (Sumner for fellow TN members) requires emissions, and wheel tax, whereas 300 ft down the road, (Literally) Macon County TN residents, don't require any of that. I belive alot of them are just a way to bring "revenue" (ie, MY money) into City, County, and State hands.
 
#58 ·
this is more like a big brother government politics kinda thing...the police are just pawns in this..with that said, after my last encounter with a couple of officers, I just have no respect for them...they just seem so uneducated and hide/use their uniform and badge to intimdate... i have a few friends that are cops and they just seem like regular people...then the ones that stand out are the true d!@#$
 
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