Registration and insurance of offroad only vehicle

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

jtaco1

jtaco1

Joined
Dec 19, 2003
Threads
56
Messages
1,210
Location
Marysville, PA
I have a call into my insurance agent to see what it would cost to insure the 4 Runner after the engine swap and buildup for off-road use only. For you guys that have or knop others that have off-road only vehicles in PA, do you have it registered? There will be no state inspection done on the truck. Also what kind of insurance coverage should I have? Is insurance necessary for a non-street legal vehicle??
 
Well it looks like State Farm does not insure any vehicle without state inspection and registration. If I do get it inspected and registered it would only be another $22 a month though :D for liability only.

Looks like once it is up an running, I will be patching some rust in the rockers and putting different tires on it for inspection :( No biggy I guess since I was going to hack the body and keep it low, unlike the Tacoma.

I'll leave this up for other folks, or it can be deleted if need be.
 
I have tried hard over the years to make my vehicles PA legal. It is just nice to have it legal - sometimes you need to take it for a spin to test out a mod, sometimes you need to run for parts when you are working on something else.....

That, and I have never been able to afford a tow vehicle and trailer ;-)

CAZ
 
I hear you on the tow vehicle and trailer. i was hopipng to trim a good bit of wait and flat tow the runner with my Tacoma, which may still happen, but there will only be so much that I can trim and still keep it legal.

Guess for instepction I will swap tires, put doors back on and some of that stuff. It really shouldn't be too difficult to make it street legal and inspectable since all of the safety items will be the same as if it were over the road, brakes, lights and what not.
 
jtaco1 said:
Guess for instepction I will swap tires, put doors back on and some of that stuff. It really shouldn't be too difficult to make it street legal and inspectable since all of the safety items will be the same as if it were over the road, brakes, lights and what not.
Click to expand...

Yeah, keep the basic safety stuff intact like you mention and that'll help keep the law off your arse when you do have to drive it on the street.
Also, having or knowing of a 4WD friendly inspection station is also a big plus. Let me know if you run into issues with this when you get to that point...
Mike in PA
 
Last edited:
I looked into flat towing a few years back and from what I remember, if the tires of the towed vehicle are on the road (flat towed or on a tow dolly), the towed vehicle must be registered and insured. Obvously there are probably exceptions to this such as towing home a vehicle that you just purchased...
(disclaimer) The laws may have changed since I looked into this but I doubt it! :grinpimp:
Also, flat towing presents a whole 'nother set of special and safe driving requirements that I'm sure have been covered in the FAQ's. Towing isn't usuallly the problem, it the stopping part that becomes a real issue but I'm sure that's been covered in another post somewhere?
Anyway, I carry full coverage with State Farm on my 40. It even covers me in off-road accidents so long as I'm not participating in any type of competition or race. Additionally, the same insurance policy covers anything I pull behind my chebby on a trailer that is privatly owned (non-commercial) like a utility trailer or camper.
HTH.
Mike in PA
 
Since I've done a little of this maybe I should say something.

The towed vehical dosen't have to be registered to be towed, and you truck insurance should cover it as a towed unit.(like a trailer)
My wife does insurance for a living. I'll ask about some of the details.

Now the big one, flat towing sucks. If you use a pickup it will drag you around at whim. If the towed unit has lockers its worse. Even with weight in the pickup, or an suv its a pain. Hard as hell to turn around, and if its too tight, you have to unhook first. And the driveshaft, because it is a toy, that has to be unhooked, and rehooked. If you were going to tow I'd go with a dolly minimum. Than you can load it bckwards and not mess with the shaft.
 
Once we get the engine swap done this weekend, I will have a better idea of which direction to go with the build and then talk with my insurance agent a little more in depth. thanks for the insight.
 
Straydog said:
Since I've done a little of this maybe I should say something.

The towed vehical dosen't have to be registered to be towed, and you truck insurance should cover it as a towed unit.(like a trailer)
My wife does insurance for a living. I'll ask about some of the details.

Now the big one, flat towing sucks. If you use a pickup it will drag you around at whim. If the towed unit has lockers its worse. Even with weight in the pickup, or an suv its a pain. Hard as hell to turn around, and if its too tight, you have to unhook first. And the driveshaft, because it is a toy, that has to be unhooked, and rehooked. If you were going to tow I'd go with a dolly minimum. Than you can load it bckwards and not mess with the shaft.
Click to expand...

For towing backwards, wouldn't you need to lock the steering some how??? Was your 4 Runner that much of a pain in the ass towing???
 
Yeah, used to drag the chevy around trying to get through town because of the spool. Doable, but annoying. Yeah, you have to lock the steering.
 
Just from a personal liability standpoint, it would be foolish to run any vehicle anytime anywhere without insurance. My perspective would be that it just wouldn't be worth the cost savings. Crazy things can happen, ESPECIALLY on the trail. I have witnessed several serious accidents off road, and thankfully most of the people have walked away. An absolute worse case scenario would be death. You could literally pay for that the rest of your life, if you don't have a decent insurance company representing you.

I am not trying to criticize any of the points made or discussion above, but I have not seen it mentioned yet and I think it bears careful consideration as it could have a direct impact on you or your family.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

PVCsnorkel
New Offroad park in East Stroudsburg
Replies
0
Views
724
PVCsnorkel
PVCsnorkel
Stumpalama
Events/Trails Fall Crawl 2025 Registration Opens TONIGHT, 22 August at 7PM!!!
Replies
1
Views
253
Stumpalama
Stumpalama
JohnVee
Carolina Relic Run #10 Registration Now Open
Replies
6
Views
1K
JohnVee
JohnVee
tromz
Any of yinz coming? GSMTR 34
Replies
1
Views
611
jamarquardt22
jamarquardt22

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 1 (members: 0, guests: 1)

Share this page

Back
Top Bottom