What have you done to your HMMWV today/lately

[Coug]

Always better to have plates, but I know of people with 5 ton trucks and deuces that have never put the plates on and never had any issues.
Of course, there are a lot of military bases in this area, so that might be a factor.

 

[Coug]

What did I do to my HMMWV today?
Installed the kascar grounding kit and cussed at it when it did not resolve my electrical issue.

Grounding kit is to supplement the original system. If it "fixed" your issues, that would just mean you need to go through and clean up your original grounds.

 

[juanprado]

Congrats. So, not even 1 year....

I've got my Montana title in hand and I have my title/registration appointment on Friday. Fingers crossed. I only ordered an SF97, but GP screwed up and did the title as well. That caused a little extra delay, but hopefully will make the titling process simpler. MIne was a september auction truck, so it will be a little over 8 months.

Once titled in TX, I'm planning to register my truck as a former military vehicle rather than normal registration. I have the option to go without any plates (as long as the original military numbers are showing) or I can get a single rear military vehicle plate. I like the idea of not having to mess with a plate (and I prefer the original look), but I'm wondering which approach would be more likely to get me pulled over by a confused or inquisitive cop. Without a plate, I could see cops pulling me over because they are just confused and may not be aware that plates aren't required under this type of registration. However, maybe a cop would leave me alone with no plates since the truck could pass for an active military vehicle. The plate would make it clear that it has a restricted registration, so maybe that would increases the chance of a cop questioning whether I'm using the truck within those restrictions.

Once I have the truck titled, I can change registration types if I want and add a plate later as well. I'm leaning toward just going with the military number markings to start and see if I have any issues. I've put about 500 miles on the truck in the last month (unregistered with no plates) and zero issues with cops (except a couple thumbs up).

in La, we have a military vin stencil law as an option. 99.99% of law enforcement has not a clue to this statue. I have asked friends in State police and different depts who had never seen the law. I carry a copy with all my paperwork. I have never need it yet, as alI I get are waves and nods as all think my trucks are the real deal even in storms here deep in the banana republic. Even had a US marshall and reserve Col called me out at a parking lot thinking my hmmwv was "abandoned" and I had to educate him. YMMV as we do not have a front plate here in La

 

[Mogman]

Yesterday I finally had my appointment at DMV and everything was going good. I had to have it inspected by a certified shop and I did it a few weeks ago. The inspection form that DMV gave me is hand filled out like for vin and model and stuff. DMV put a 0 instead of a 1 and lady said she can’t change it and it can only be changed by the DMV across town… I couldn’t believe it and I would probably have to drive it over there taking backroads and then get it inspected again. I spent 6.00 on some white out and made a color copy and fix it myself and went back this morning and I have plates now! I’m excited about being able to drive it everywhere now and not be looking over my shoulder. I purchased my M1123 on May 19th 2021 and this is how long it took to finish the process.

Having fixed your problem,, way cool, admitting to possibly committing a felony, PRICELESS!!

 

[Maxjeep1]

Having fixed your problem,, way cool, admitting to possibly committing a felony, PRICELESS!!

They made the mistake and it shouldn’t cost me hundreds of dollars and my time. I think 12 of my peers would agree. Lol
I think they committed the felony by changing my vin. I was just trying to keep them out of trouble….

 

[diesel_dave]

I think you would have a high chance of being pulled over without plates for a several reasons, First he may think he just scored a bust for a stolen military vehicle, (felony stop!!) second cops REALLY like running that dohicky that give them info on all vehicles around them by reading the chips in the plates.
Third nobody knows all the laws, there are just too many and cops are not immune from ignorance.
Forth I have had them pull me over for not having a front plate, he was sitting in a cross over in a state highway, this means you would have been stopped just for that reason, I think the lees interaction I have with the law the better.
Give me a while and I will think of more...

Utah just passed a law saying former military vehicles do not need to display any license plates or stencils. The plate must be stored somewhere inside the truck and be provided to an officer if you are stopped. Not sure if I want to try my luck with that one though. Still a big PITA to be pulled over then have to educate a cop on the state laws.

 

[TOBASH]

Mogman, you and your duravee are literally the only ones of us who can be pulled over for speeding. LOL

 

[blutow]

Always better to have plates, but I know of people with 5 ton trucks and deuces that have never put the plates on and never had any issues.
Of course, there are a lot of military bases in this area, so that might be a factor.

Maybe, but by registering it as a former military vehicle and getting a plate, I still won't have a front plate and I know cops like to pull folks over for not having a front plate in Texas. Since the truck could easiliy be confused with an active military vehicle (at least to the untrained eye), I wonder if having no plate might actually be less likely to get pulled over vs. a truck with just a rear plate. It probably just comes down to the particuar cop and also who is in the truck and how they are dressed. A bunch of guys in swim suits with the doors off and coolers in the back are going to get pulled over in a heartbeat with no plate, but that's not me.

With the strange rules (and single plate) for military registration, I have higher risk of getting pulled over vs. normal registration with 2 plates, but I believe the risk is still low with our without the military registration plate. I think the most likely thing I'll get pulled over for is forgetting to turn my lights on and getting pulled over for no brake lights (yes, I've forgotten to enable the lights a few times). I've got an older porsche 911 that I've been driving around with no registration or inspection since 2015 and amazingly I have not been pulled over once. Maybe I've used all my luck on that, but it's a flashy car that attracts attention. I don't drive it that much, but I know cops have seen the 2015 window sticker and I even had one joke with me about the old registration at a car show once. I finally changed the registration to antique this year since the car just turned 25, so I'm techically legal now. If I get pulled over every once in a while for questioning, I can live with that. The Antique and Military registrations save over $50 per year and don't require inspection (another $20 or so per year). I'd rather run the risk of possibly getting pulled over once a year vs. having to get my car inspected once a year. I absolutely hate dealing with car inspections, especiatlly on a vehicle I don't feel comfortable handing the keys over to some kid. That's the reason the porsche hasn't been registered in 7 years, that's when TX changed the laws requiring inspection before you could register.

 

[Mogman]

Maybe, but by registering it as a former military vehicle and getting a plate, I still won't have a front plate and I know cops like to pull folks over for not having a front plate in Texas. Since the truck could easiliy be confused with an active military vehicle (at least to the untrained eye), I wonder if having no plate might actually be less likely to get pulled over vs. a truck with just a rear plate. It probably just comes down to the particuar cop and also who is in the truck and how they are dressed. A bunch of guys in swim suits with the doors off and coolers in the back are going to get pulled over in a heartbeat with no plate, but that's not me.

With the strange rules (and single plate) for military registration, I have higher risk of getting pulled over vs. normal registration with 2 plates, but I believe the risk is still low with our without the military registration plate. I think the most likely thing I'll get pulled over for is forgetting to turn my lights on and getting pulled over for no brake lights (yes, I've forgotten to enable the lights a few times). I've got an older porsche 911 that I've been driving around with no registration or inspection since 2015 and amazingly I have not been pulled over once. Maybe I've used all my luck on that, but it's a flashy car that attracts attention. I don't drive it that much, but I know cops have seen the 2015 window sticker and I even had one joke with me about the old registration at a car show once. I finally changed the registration to antique this year since the car just turned 25, so I'm techically legal now. If I get pulled over every once in a while for questioning, I can live with that. The Antique and Military registrations save over $50 per year and don't require inspection (another $20 or so per year). I'd rather run the risk of possibly getting pulled over once a year vs. having to get my car inspected once a year. I absolutely hate dealing with car inspections, especiatlly on a vehicle I don't feel comfortable handing the keys over to some kid. That's the reason the porsche hasn't been registered in 7 years, that's when TX changed the laws requiring inspection before you could register.

You have obviously made up your mind, so why are you soliciting opinions?

 

[blutow]

You have obviously made up your mind, so why are you soliciting opinions?

I'm definitely leaning heavily toward no plate based on the feedback. I could easily be convinced the to go with a plate if there was some data pointing me in that direction.

I was ideally hoping for feedback from anyone that has experience running without plates, particularly in TX. It sounds like a bunch of folks with thoughts of how it might play out, but no actual experience (I'm not criticizing the feedback, but it sounds like we are all speculating). Unless someone can point to real-world examples of how running without a plate would cause me a problem, I'm inclined to give it a try.

Again, I do appreciate the feedback from others, but none of it was a red flag to me for running without plate. Some people seem pretty concerned about getting pulled over, but it's not a big deal to me. That doesn't mean they are wrong, just means we have different concerns. If I start getting pulled over frequently and it becomes a hassle, I'll just switch to a plate and see if that works better.

 

[Coug]

The question is "If I get caught without a plate, what is the worst that can happen, and can I afford it?"

Most likely outcome is a warning or a ticket.

Less likely is getting impounded or arrested by a cop that wants to be a jerk.

Worst case is vehicle gets impounded while they investigate if it was stolen from the government, and you sit in jail while that happens (extremely unlikely, but not impossible)

 

[blutow]

The question is "If I get caught without a plate, what is the worst that can happen, and can I afford it?"

Just to be clear - There is nothing illegal about running without the plate with this type of registration. When I apply for my "former military" registration, I have to choose between no plate (which basically uses the original military markings as the plate number) and running a single rear "specialty" plate. Neither option is more or less legal than the other option. Standard road registration requires normal plates front and back, but I decided against doing standard registration. Clearly, you'd be less likely to get pulled over with the standard registration with the front and rear plates. For military no plate vs. rear plate, I'd bet it's more likely to get pulled over with no plate, but I still think the risk is low and that's the direction I'm leaning.

 

[Action]

I have a regular registration and a license plate. I have no military markings onmy truck.
I know many keep it original looking, but I dont want to give the impression i am trying to look like i am in the military. One member here once said that he wears a green shirt when he drives, so he looks like a member of the military.

 

[Mogman]

I am sorry I got involved with this, debate and or trouble shooting is not what this thread should be about, just SHOWING what one has done with their HMMWV.

 

[Glider]

Almost finished installing tire carrier.

 

[blutow]

With Montana title in hand, I was able to title and register my hmmwv in Texas today. It was a little painful. Only one of the 3 people in the office knew how to deal with military vehicles and I waited over an hour while he was dealing with a guy who had bought a van from 2 people who died and there were power of attorney issues, etc. When I finally got to talk to him, it still took a while, but wasn't too bad.

The only hiccup was that the former military vehicle registration uses the same process as antique vehicle registration and the system was struggling with the hmmwv being less than 25 years old. Even though there is no age restriction on former military vehicles, it sounds like most of the vehicles they deal with are older than 25 years and they don't typically run into this issue. He had to make a call to someone to figure it out, but it's all titled and registered now as a 2000 AM General.

Rather than going with the military specialty rear plate, I opted for "military vehicle stencil number" as my plate type. My plate number is listed as the USMC registration number stenciled on the back of the truck. There are no requirements to display anything else as long as the markings are clear, but I have to carry my registration sticker with me in the truck. I'm also planning to carry the TXDOT document that explains this type of registration in case I get pulled over by a confused cop. I confirmed with him that I can change the plate type any time I want and I can also switch to a regular road registration, but I'd need to get it inspected first for the regular road registration.

My biggest concern going into this was that the Montana title from GP has "OH" as the style of vehicle. I think "OH" technically stands for "off highway", but the guy doing my paperwork didn't mention it and they used "pickup truck" as the body style for my Texas title/registration.

I'm happy to finally have this done and I think (hope) my truck is pretty well sorted mechanically. I also hit 520 miles today on my odometer, so my 2009 rebuilt engine/trans are officially past their break in periods. Now I can stop babying it and start racing people from stoplights and stuff....

I really like the clean original look without any license plate or bracket in the front or back. Hopefully the lack of plates won't be a problem and I can keep it this way. We shall see.

 

[MarkM]

How did they handle short VIN/Contract number? They listed mine as a 1991 HUM

Mark

 

[blutow]

How did they handle short VIN/Contract number? They listed mine as a 1991 HUM

They just used the 6 digit serial number as the vin, didn't seem like an issue. We had a bit of discussion about the USMC Registration Number being used as the plate number, but that was about it except the year challenge. He mentioned that it was good that I had a title and that makes it easier.

 

[Coug]

Went through our town's cemetery today and put out flags for memorial day.



edit: it was our local VFW and Auxiliary.

 

[Glider]

Painted, Still need pin for handle. Next will be the spare.