If you pull a trailer, you best read this..

[Mike Javi Cooper]

Driving through Liberty Hill on 29 yesterday I saw the perfect poster child for this law.. Wish I'd had a camera... Almost new F350KR 4X4 pulling a 16' dual axle car trailer.. trailer had no working lights and tracked 3 feet into the inside lane.. The idgit in the truck was running a good 10mph over the speed limit and weaving in and out of traffic leaving a wake of ****** off folks behind him..

Trailer inspection won't fix stupid, but it darn well could keep that trailer off the road till it got fixed.

[denowt]

Maybe they will start a bicycle inspection for all the cyclists using the roads.
I would rather see them do that rather than the trailer inspection.

If we're going to go this direction then bicycle insurance would make more sense than inspection. But that's a topic for a whole other discussion.

It would be my bet that the majority of folks on here don't quality for the Ag/Timber exemption card without lying.

I would not bet against you on that.

But those same folks are already lying on their trailer registration, so what's the difference?
It really isn't that hard to get the farm exemption if you have legitimate farm uses.
If you don't, then suck it up buttercup, and pay the $60+ regular trailer registration instead of the $5 farm trailer registration and get your trailer inspected.
The people/trailers that are going to be most affected by this are RV/travel trailers. As I commonly drive 100-300 miles a day for work, I can honestly say some of the trailers I see on the highways should never have been hooked up to a truck, much less pulled down the road.
This will help to get some of those unsafe trailers off the highways that you and your family travel on.

Most other common trailers are going to be less than 4500# GVWR and/or have farm plates. Those trailers are unaffected by this.

[tgridley]

If we're going to go this direction then bicycle insurance would make more sense than inspection. But that's a topic for a whole other discussion.


I would not bet against you on that.

But those same folks are already lying on their trailer registration, so what's the difference?
It really isn't that hard to get the farm exemption if you have legitimate farm uses.
If you don't, then suck it up buttercup, and pay the $60+ regular trailer registration instead of the $5 farm trailer registration and get your trailer inspected.
The people/trailers that are going to be most affected by this are RV/travel trailers. As I commonly drive 100-300 miles a day for work, I can honestly say some of the trailers I see on the highways should never have been hooked up to a truck, much less pulled down the road.
This will help to get some of those unsafe trailers off the highways that you and your family travel on.

Most other common trailers are going to be less than 4500# GVWR and/or have farm plates. Those trailers are unaffected by this.

I agree with you on the unsafe trailer off the highways, I have farm tags on my ranch truck, stock trailer and hay trailer, regular tags on my other truck, livingquarters horse trailer and atv trailer. I know lots of folks that have farm tags on there livingquarters horse trailers, but the fine is way more than the cost of regular tags.

[Tbar]

There have been trailers on the road for what....100 years.
There have been laws on the books regarding trailer safety for ~ 50-60 years. If your in violation of the safety standards you get a ticket.

The "safety" inspections are just a revenue steam that this state doesn't need. We have a huge surplus in the coffers. Some states don't even do safety inspections on vehicles.

Too many people line up and defend something just because "it's the law" and it's not just this law. We need to sit down and look at the broad picture about how we are being over taxed and over regulated both at the state and federal level.

WE LIVE IN AN OVER REGULATION NATION!!!

[denowt]

You guys are gonna hate this, but if it's pulled down the road it should be inspected. I don't care if it's got a gvwr of 100lbs.
It's pulled down the road at hwy speeds where my family drives...

I somewhat agree with this, and I predict that it will eventually happen.
Most things are done in small steps to allow people to get accustomed to it before expanding it.

I don't mind it because it benefits me, but I don't understand the whole farm exempt thing.
I have a 32' tandem axle, dual wheel flatbed with a GVWR of 20,000# that costs $5/year for farm trailer tags.
I have a 14' single axle, single wheel boat trailer that I use to haul 2 kayaks that costs me $56/year for trailer tags.
Which one do you think causes more damage to the roads?

Another thing that I bet a lot of guys don't know/realize.
Non-farm gooseneck trailers are required to have safety chains.
So all those folks who converted their 5th wheel camper to a gooseneck will need safety chains in order to pass inspection.
Since the trailer was not designed to be a gooseneck, where do you attach the chains on the trailer?

[tgridley]

[QUOTE=denowt;9839213]If we're going to go this direction then bicycle insurance would make more sense than inspection. But that's a topic for a whole other discussion.


Yes that is a different discussion, but I would rather the state get the money for road an bridge work than the insurance companies getting it.

[TexasCanesFan]

Someone said its what you register it as but I thought it was what the trailer was built to hold. Guess we'll see.
Why have a trailer that carries 7000+ pounds if you never need more than the 4500 pounds??

Sounds like a lot of people just want to get around the law.. Call for your local senator/rep to file a bill to change the law. That's what they are there for...

It was bought for the dimensions, like for 16' hog panels, Ranger with extra space for coolers etc, never purchased to haul heavy equipment.

Not trying to get around the law at all, just need to register it appropriately based on what I haul with it. It was never designed to truly haul that much due to it not having brakes on it. Plus, this is TBH, I have no reason to lie on here.

[tgridley]

I somewhat agree with this, and I predict that it will eventually happen.
Most things are done in small steps to allow people to get accustomed to it before expanding it.

I don't mind it because it benefits me, but I don't understand the whole farm exempt thing.
I have a 32' tandem axle, dual wheel flatbed with a GVWR of 20,000# that costs $5/year for farm trailer tags.
I have a 14' single axle, single wheel boat trailer that I use to haul 2 kayaks that costs me $56/year for trailer tags.
Which one do you think causes more damage to the roads?

Another thing that I bet a lot of guys don't know/realize.
Non-farm gooseneck trailers are required to have safety chains.
So all those folks who converted their 5th wheel camper to a gooseneck will need safety chains in order to pass inspection.
Since the trailer was not designed to be a gooseneck, where do you attach the chains on the trailer?

(a) An operator of a passenger car or light truck may not draw a trailer, semitrailer, house trailer, or another motor vehicle unless safety chains of a type approved by the department are attached in a manner approved by the department from the trailer, semitrailer, house trailer, or drawn motor vehicle to the drawing vehicle. This subsection does not apply to the drawing of a trailer or semitrailer used for agricultural purposes.
(b) The department shall adopt rules prescribing the type of safety chains required to be used according to the weight of the trailer, semitrailer, house trailer, or motor vehicle being drawn. The rules shall:
(1) require safety chains to be strong enough to maintain the connection between the trailer, semitrailer, house trailer, or drawn motor vehicle and the drawing vehicle; and
(2) show the proper method to attach safety chains between the trailer, semitrailer, house trailer, or drawn motor vehicle and the drawing vehicle.
(c) Subsection (b) does not apply to trailers, semitrailers, or house trailers that are equipped with safety chains installed by the original manufacturer before the effective date of the rules.
(d) This section does not apply to a trailer, semitrailer, house trailer, or drawn motor vehicle that is operated in compliance with the federal motor carrier safety regulations.
(e) In this section, "safety chains" means flexible tension members connected from the front of a drawn vehicle to the rear of the drawing vehicle to maintain connection between the vehicles if the primary connecting system fails.
- See more at: http://codes.lp.findlaw.com/txstatut....hTtrni4q.dpuf

[denowt]

[quote=tgridley;9839236]

If we're going to go this direction then bicycle insurance would make more sense than inspection. But that's a topic for a whole other discussion.


Yes that is a different discussion, but I would rather the state get the money for road an bridge work than the insurance companies getting it.

I understand and agree with your opinion on that.

[BrianL]

You guys are gonna hate this, but if it's pulled down the road it should be inspected. I don't care if it's got a gvwr of 100lbs.
It's pulled down the road at hwy speeds where my family drives...

This is the wrong way of getting bad trailers off the road. We have 6 trailers( 12',16',20',24', horse trailer, and stock trailer), with all being farm trailers. Our trailers are kept up an will/should pass any inspection. It's not easy keeping that many trailers with working lights, wiring, newer tires and brakes.

I hate that abuse of farm tags has caused such a restrictions on farm tags. I'm not going to transfer all these trailers to regular tags just in case I might carry something non farm related. If I get a ticket, I'll pay it. Still cheaper to pay a ticket once a year than register all them for regular use, even though 95% of the time they are used for farm use. I would mention how many times I've been pulled over for trailer issues, but might change my luck. Don't speed and they aren't likely to see the trailer.

Most those "bad" trailers are breaking some current traffic law now. You see some of these junker vehicles with current inspection.

[denowt]

(a) An operator of a passenger car or light truck may not draw a trailer, semitrailer, house trailer, or another motor vehicle unless safety chains of a type approved by the department are attached in a manner approved by the department from the trailer, semitrailer, house trailer, or drawn motor vehicle to the drawing vehicle. This subsection does not apply to the drawing of a trailer or semitrailer used for agricultural purposes.
(b) The department shall adopt rules prescribing the type of safety chains required to be used according to the weight of the trailer, semitrailer, house trailer, or motor vehicle being drawn. The rules shall:
(1) require safety chains to be strong enough to maintain the connection between the trailer, semitrailer, house trailer, or drawn motor vehicle and the drawing vehicle; and
(2) show the proper method to attach safety chains between the trailer, semitrailer, house trailer, or drawn motor vehicle and the drawing vehicle.
(c) Subsection (b) does not apply to trailers, semitrailers, or house trailers that are equipped with safety chains installed by the original manufacturer before the effective date of the rules.
(d) This section does not apply to a trailer, semitrailer, house trailer, or drawn motor vehicle that is operated in compliance with the federal motor carrier safety regulations.
(e) In this section, "safety chains" means flexible tension members connected from the front of a drawn vehicle to the rear of the drawing vehicle to maintain connection between the vehicles if the primary connecting system fails.
- See more at: http://codes.lp.findlaw.com/txstatut....hTtrni4q.dpuf

You edited your response before I could find the answer to your question.
I knew the law because I looked it up when we purchased our 32' gooseneck.
Since we registered it as a farm trailer, we are not required to use safety chains. We still do, it's just not legally required.
The guy we bought the trailer from, was using it for his tree trimming business, so no farm tags. He was legally required to use safety chains.
It's the same trailer in both scenarios.
Farm trailers, 5th wheels, and gooseneck semitrailers are exempt from the safety chain requirement.

Good luck to you guys with gooseneck converted 5th wheel campers.

[Quackerbox]

If we're going to go this direction then bicycle insurance would make more sense than inspection. But that's a topic for a whole other discussion.

Ain't that the truth.

A thread about cyclists on the public roadway wouldn't make 2 pages before the axe

[Keith]

I own 6 trailers, some of them haven't been moved in 20 years. Only one of the 10' trailers and my travel trailer have been on the highway in 3-4 years. Three of my trailers will require an inspection, my 18' flat bed, my travel trailer and my boat. I will have to check the weight of the boat, it will be very close to 4500 pounds.

Why do I have to keep them all registered, whether they are used or not?

[WCB]

It was bought for the dimensions, like for 16' hog panels, Ranger with extra space for coolers etc, never purchased to haul heavy equipment.

Not trying to get around the law at all, just need to register it appropriately based on what I haul with it. It was never designed to truly haul that much due to it not having brakes on it. Plus, this is TBH, I have no reason to lie on here.

I appologize if it sounded like I was calling you out. Not at all. You listed specific uses and weights and I asked why so big if you didn't need it. Not calling you a liar and again appologize if it came across that way. A few post here sure sound like some are trying to get by the law by not being truthful and my post had a double meaning. Meant for several post...
Hot panels make sense. I could use a larger trailer for physical size not weight so I may try your route when I buy another. Sometimes we don't know how much our loads weighs. How owns a scale...

[DUKFVR]

Couple of ?'s for anyone that knows.
Can you go to the tax office & have it reregistered for a lower weight? I have a single axle trailer with a 5000 lb axle. When I bought it no mention was made it had to be inspected and didn't come with an inspection sticker. I know it is my responsibility to know the laws ,but I would have thought the maker would have put one on it. I realize though the tag on the trailer will show the true info, so I guess it would have to "fall off". Potentially opening another can of worms with DPS. All I haul on it is a ranger 500. The other ? is and more than likely the route I will take is does anyone know how much it will cost to have brakes added to it or would it require a new axle? THANKS!