How many problems am I gonna have?

[John S-B]

OK, so got a line on a running duece at a VERY good price, of course no title. It's owned by a guy who is at least the second owner but I don't know if there's an SF-97 (?) for it yet. I'm gonna go take a look at it next week. The story is it runs good, body is decent, has a leaking master cylinder, but a new one comes with it. Has a lot of parts for a little extra. He's been using it as an ATV, but doesn't have much room for it. So it's gotta go. I guess I would have to find someone with the time and a duece with a tow bar, but I don't know the legalities of towing an unregistered duece. It's a couple of hours away from me in Ohio. So would I just getting a parts truck or is it gonna be possible to get this thing titled and licenced? The wife is already unhappy about me spending the money, so I don't have to worry about getting her ticked off about something else sitting out back by the shed.

 

[wreckerman893]

What is Ohio's policy on titling an older vehicle?

In Alabama if it is older than 1976 you can get it registered (not titled) with a Bill of Sale.

Your milage may vary.

 

[sandcobra164]

I register all of my trucks on a bill of sale or GL paperwork. I don't have titles on anything but a M105 trailer that came out of Florida and GL is required to provide the paperwork to get one in that state. I'm not much on selling green iron though so as long as I can get a tag and insurance, I'm good to go. As far as towbaring one, it depends on your insurance. Mine cover's me as long as I use a Mil Spec Hunter Medium rated at 39,000 or Oshkosh Medium rated at 83,000 as long as I use Mil Spec pins and feet behind an M936A2. Towing a Deuce behind a Deuce can raise eyebrows as the pintle hook is not rated for the load. It's rated at 6,000# from what I've read. Can it do it, I've been there with more than a Deuce load. How about a M817 off the pintle, that's a 23,500 pound truck. Will I ever do it again now that I have better equipment? NO and I only had 15 miles to go up the road. You can read pages of people who have towed many miles with a Deuce hooked to a Deuce, and once again, you're mileage may vary. In my case, I used the Wrecker the last couple of times I had to tow. It's nice having a truck that weigh's more than the truck you're trying to pull. The towed truck doesn't try to push you around at all.

 

[Loco_Hosa]

In Washington you have to have them look up the VIN, and find the last registered owner. They/you do your best to get a hold of the original owner, and get them to sign a lack of interest form or whatever its called. Then they print off a good title. If you cannot get a hold of the owner, then after a few months they decide that its yours anyway.

If its last owner is the US Army, then my guess is that either you can get a new SF-97 printed, or they will decided the army doesn't want it back and give you a title.

My guess is that you will need to be patent, things like this move at the speed of the government, and I would guess it will take up to 4 months before you can get a plate on your truck, but unless it was stolen from the US government, you will be able to get that plate.

I hope you found this somehow helpful, and congrats on the deal!

 

[AMX]

( It's rated at 6,000# from what I've read)

I have a much smaller one that os rated 15 tons.

 

[ptg530C]

Dan at Detroit Vintage Cycle.

 

[m16ty]

( It's rated at 6,000# from what I've read)

I have a much smaller one that os rated 15 tons.

Yea, I don't remember the exact rating but it's well over 6k. A medium towbar will break before the hitch does. I've seen several broken/bent towbars but I've never seen a broken hitch on a deuce.

 

[Josh]

I know I've read the deuce hitch is about the same size as a pintle hitch rated for 10k tounge weight and 50k towed load. I know Ive hooked a 60k rated snatch strap into the pintle hitch and it yanked the deuce backwards instead of poping the other truck outa the hole. Ive snapped a 30k tow strap while hooked into the pintle. It wasnt an old strap or beat up, so I can only assume the hitch is at least 30k +.

 

[AGE|kshaufl]

In Ohio you can get a title done by having the vehicle inspected (Vin checked) with a bill of sale. Some of the places are getting a little funny about it but call in your local area. I personally am funny about buying a vehicle without a title or in the case of a military vehicle an SF-97. My $.02

 

[John S-B]

Well I went and looked at it today, think I'm gonna get myself a deuce. It's got a lot of surface rust, but only a couple of spots on the bed and one fender are gonna need patched. It's got some body damage where the owners "friends" backed into a big tree. The bed and tailgate are bent between the frame rails but I think it can be straightened in a few hours of work. For some reason part of the bumper got cut off or was welded and broke, but it has the piece. Motor sounds very good, only has some minor seepage in a couple of spots. Tires are decent. The tarp is fair, a patch kit should make it good to go. The brakes are the main thing, but he has a new master cylinder to fix that. Has new batteries, but turn signals need work. I have enough land to do some test driving as I do repairs, and go a neighbor that can put it on a trailer for me. so hopefully it will be sitting out back in a week or so!

 

[MacGowan]

Congratulations - photos will be expected, of course!!

James