please feel free to delete this thread i am a canadian importer that will be shipping a suzuki carry to my mother who lives in Wyoming. And it will be street legal! The headlight, tires and side marker lights are all DOT. It will be a street legal truck. I spent a lot of time doing the research and will be braking no laws. i hope to do this by spring.
DOT Headlights, tires and side markers do not make these trucks street legal. How do the lights on the truck make it meet emission standards? I also guess these lights will protect the passenger in case of impact, and do so to US govt. standards. As has been said on this board many many times, none of these trucks are street legal by federal law.... No if you can import a US Senator from Canada and get him to change the law here in the US.....you can have a street legal truck in Wyoming
there is one way to meet emission standards for imports. after i do it, I will lel every one know how!
I have seen several trucks imported from Canada being licensed and driven on the roads in WA. state. There are Ag. licensing uses that allow this. In both cases the state side owner was able to get the truck through customs with a 3 day provisional license. They did have to pay the GST tax but promptly got the forms and filed for the rebate from the BC government. I was amazed to learn that in BC these trucks are all post import tested, safety inspected and have to pass rigid standards to be licensed but they do! You Canadians know how to do it right...perhaps as fuel gets more expensive this will change for all the states and not just the few that seem to be able to work around the existing laws, illegally or otherwise.
There is one sure way to get minitrucks on the street in the US. Get one that is 25 years old. I saw a half dozen clean minitrucks at auction this week which fit that requirement. The old Sambars are really cool! They have suicide doors and the bed is between the rear engine and the cab. The early 80's trucks are alot like newer models just rounder cabs. The early ones have 360cc but the early 80s are 550cc. I'll post pics later if anyones interested? Derek
How much were the 550's going for? I'm looking for an '82 or older truck, just for the purpose of driving on the road. Were these ones at an auction in japan?
550's at auction in Japan are often at least 1/2 the price of 660's most of the expense of importing one is in the shipping,handling and brokerage charges. I'm surprised how many of the old ones that come up with low mileages and not beat up!
If you guys want a load of seven trucks 25 years old I can get pictures and have them shipped from japan to you.
THe 550's are someone easy to come by at auctions here in Japan, and some have more get-up-and-go than some 660 models. They do have that "retro" look about them too.
i live in BC Canada , Vancouver Island and i bought a carry recently. In BC you can register and drive these on the road like a normal car! I cruise at 80 km /hr delivering firewood and driveway gravel. I work everyday with this truck and it has almost paid for itself! ________ VOLCANO CLASSIC VAPORIZER
i have heard a lot on here about passing emissions, the guys i know that have them licensed here in arizona say they sail through the dyno emission test. they say the engine is so small by american standards and so overly regulated to meet japanese emission testing that there really is no problem. in retrospect i have to say that a couple years ago i had a daihatsu charade. a long forgotten econo-box brought to america that never really caught on. it was a 3 cyl 998cc or so. the engine was so small that it didn't even require a catalytic converter upon import, mine didn't have one and went right through emissions. just my 2 cents worth. cheers milt