Gvw?

[WVDarren]

I'm about to register a 2003 Bluebird TC in WV. West Virginia plates motor homes like a car or truck depending on the GVW. The vehicle is a short 30 passenger. So far I haven't gotten any weight info based on the VIN from a Bluebird dealer. They gave me the Bluebird shop number. So far, no one has returned my call.

I'm looking for suggestions on what weight to register the motor home. My first inclination is to register it at 26,000 GVW. But I'm not sure where it'll end up after the conversion.

[leadsled01]

Should be a data plate somewhere that has gvw or gvwr . Check under the hood and the door jambs maybe close to the drivers seat.

[WVDarren]

That's the problem. The bus is in Florida, the previous owner, a car dealer, is in Georgia and I'm in Pennsylvania. There's no way I can get the info off the bulkhead plate.

I'm hoping someone has a similar bus and can help me out.

Thanks for the reply.

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by WVDarren

That's the problem. The bus is in Florida, the previous owner, a car dealer, is in Georgia and I'm in Pennsylvania. There's no way I can get the info off the bulkhead plate.

I'm hoping someone has a similar bus and can help me out.

Thanks for the reply.

Tell them something like half the gross.

[WVDarren]

I have no idea what the gross would be.

It looks like this.

[DoubleO7]

Originally Posted by EastCoastCB

Tell them something like half the gross.

you could, but.......

Does WV require VIN verification by the DMV or some other entity or a LEO, etc.?

Nobody in Florida can snap a pic of the data plate for you?

[cadillackid]

what about calling bluebird on the phone.. not just talking to a dealership... if you have the VIN, the vantage online doesnt show the GVWR?
-Christopher

[WVDarren]

WV just wants the money. I've never had them check the VIN. They take the out of state title and the money for the sales tax, registration and plate. Sometimes they smile if you crack a joke.

They check your insurance info and look at the notarized bill of sale. As long as they get the bucks, they don't G.A.S. I know not to get an H plate (bus). That ropes you into a CDL.

[WVDarren]

I have a call into Bluebird. Bluebird corporate and the local dealer are useless. That's why the dealer gave me the number for the Bluebird factory. As posted before, I haven't gotten a call back.

[cadillackid]

Ohio is same way, they just want the $$.. they do check the VIN in ohio but just to make sure your title and VIN match..

my carpenter was titled as a MotorHome.. and I showed up to the DMV in a bus full of seats.. the guy just looked and said "this thing is pretty cool, you are gonna have fun!".and that was it, i paid the man and bolted the tags on..

the weight class showed uop as over 26k GVWR but since it was a Motorhome title it didnt change the class in their computers.. does WV require weight-classing even on RV's?

-Christopher

[WVDarren]

WV registers by weight with a fee schedule of increasing costs. I could register it as a motor home at 80,000 GVW or 10,000 GVW. They do not care. Chances are the state DOT cops will never stop me. If there's an accident, things will get scrutinized. If it's overweight, I'll have a problem.

[family wagon]

They ask for a registered weight, which may be anything less than or equal to the GVW, because they figure there's a relationship between their road maintenance costs and the actual weight of the vehicles driving on the road. I'm really not sure whether being found over the registered weight, but under GVW, would affect culpability, penalties, or insurance validity in an accident investigation -- it might only produce an extra tax evasion type charge. Being loaded over GVW could certainly give the insurer a free pass not to pay.

I believe that in Utah I can visit the motor vehicle office at any time to change my registered weight declaration and pay the difference in fee. I certainly know I can do it at the annual renewal; the weight isn't a one-time choice made when the title is issued. At least here it isn't. Might be worth asking how WV handles it.

I'd eyeball that bus as about 18,000 pounds empty. Choose something higher than that by a ton or two and change it later if necessary after you've done some conversion and put it on a scale.

[BigDavid]

I'm in GA.

The tag lady asked the GVWR & I honesty thought she was asking how much it weighted. I told her 18500. I had no clue. It was just a guess. The data plate says 27500.
The only reason she wanted to know was so that she could charge the appropriate road tax for a large vehicle.
So, I hope I have avoided the whole CDL BS.

[Rusty]

Originally Posted by WVDarren

I have no idea what the gross would be.

It looks like this.

Cool little bus. Looks clean.

[miltruckman]

My 11 window 1998 TC 2000, 34' long has a gvw of 30,000lbs.

Bill

[1olfart]

Will the GVWR be listed on the Gates VIN Decoder site?
Worth a try

[jctrembly]

Welcome, I'm up in snow capital of Preston Co. Who did you talk to at the WV DMV? If you are converted and WV "Blessed it" then the RV tags are a regular "A" car tag. I haven't done mine yet, but they do want photos of the holding tanks, bathroom, inside and out side photo. The "A" plate I about $36 per year, well untill they raise it.

If you are not converted then you are required to use a "B" tag that is based on weight and when you register as they all renew July 1st or they prorate it to July 1st. It really doesn't matter what weight you tell them as the title "should" have the weight listed. While my bus had the wrong weight listed on the title (to my benift), who am to argue with the DMV about that.

Not everyone at the DMV knows how to handle everything so it's best to call Charleston and speak with some of the folks who have been around for a while. This when at the local DMV you can politly suggest they check with a supervisor if they start telling you something interesting.

As a side note the regular state inspection sticker is all you need converted or not. If your tires stick out past the body of the bus you may have to add a rubber strip along the wheel well. Just go to any wv school bus and you will see it. I did remove my stop sign and letters, spray painted my front red stop lenses black and rewired my rear reds into brake lights and all my top yellows into turn signals. I have never had a Problem with that configuration in WV or all the way to Orlando and back. One alwsome plus, NO ONE rides my tail at night. I'm pretty sure I can see the drivers pimples when I'm on my brakes at night. ;)

Let me know if you have any questions!

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk

[WVDarren]

Originally Posted by Rusty

Cool little bus. Looks clean.

That's a picture of a bus I found on the internet which is like mine.

[WVDarren]

Originally Posted by 1olfart

Will the GVWR be listed on the Gates VIN Decoder site?
Worth a try

Gates has it as over 33,000.

[WVDarren]

Originally Posted by jctrembly

Welcome, I'm up in snow capital of Preston Co. Who did you talk to at the WV DMV? If you are converted and WV "Blessed it" then the RV tags are a regular "A" car tag. I haven't done mine yet, but they do want photos of the holding tanks, bathroom, inside and out side photo. The "A" plate I about $36 per year, well untill they raise it.

If you are not converted then you are required to use a "B" tag that is based on weight and when you register as they all renew July 1st or they prorate it to July 1st. It really doesn't matter what weight you tell them as the title "should" have the weight listed. While my bus had the wrong weight listed on the title (to my benift), who am to argue with the DMV about that.

Not everyone at the DMV knows how to handle everything so it's best to call Charleston and speak with some of the folks who have been around for a while. This when at the local DMV you can politly suggest they check with a supervisor if they start telling you something interesting.

As a side note the regular state inspection sticker is all you need converted or not. If your tires stick out past the body of the bus you may have to add a rubber strip along the wheel well. Just go to any wv school bus and you will see it. I did remove my stop sign and letters, spray painted my front red stop lenses black and rewired my rear reds into brake lights and all my top yellows into turn signals. I have never had a Problem with that configuration in WV or all the way to Orlando and back. One alwsome plus, NO ONE rides my tail at night. I'm pretty sure I can see the drivers pimples when I'm on my brakes at night. ;)

Let me know if you have any questions!

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk

The Georgia title doesn't list the weight. I called DMV in Charleston. They said it would be a regular plate based on weight rather than a bus H plate.