Michigan motorhome laws

[Larry Hill]

I know this was discussed a while back, but I can't remember what was said. We are planning on going to Stanton, MI in a couple of weeks for the divisional race and are wondering what the length is for motorhomes and trailers?
Thanks for any info.

[FED 387]

65 feet---go to this site ------www.towingworld.com gives ya all ya need to know about every state---hope this helps---comp

[Ed Wright]

Wow! Can't tow my 24' tag with my motor home there!

[FED 387]

My guess is that MOST motorhome/trailer combos are too long for many states---hell some states have a max length as little as 45 feet while a lot are in the 60-65 foot range so with a 36-40 foot RV and a 28 foot tag trailer your gonna be over length--- heck a 30 foot RV and a 24 foot box trailer puts ya right 58 foot---either the laws need to be tweaked some or racers better watch out for enforcement cops you're gettin by on borrowed time on many of those rigs!!!!!!!!!! ---gonna cost mucho buckos if ya do get caught

[John Kelley]

This was one thread.....
http://classracer.com/classforum/sho...light=michigan

[Ed Carpenter]

Originally Posted by Ed Wright

Wow! Can't tow my 24' tag with my motor home there!

Ed Texas is 65'. Do I need to call a coworker when you cross the border? LOL

[Ed Wright]

Originally Posted by deuces wild

Ed Texas is 65'. Do I need to call a coworker when you cross the border? LOL

Guess I should have looked into that before I bought this last one. My old gasoline rig was 34', which was just under. Just the trailer box is 24', this motor home is 40'. I see longer motor homes with longer trailers all the time. Now I'm nervous. Do you guys just pull one over that looks like it might be three feet over? Don't think you would, but how about others?

[Larry Hill]

Thanks everyone. I guess we will just do like we did when we went out west last summer and not have any advertising on the trailer and not speed. Hopefully we can just obey all the other laws and they will ignore us!

Thanks again!

[cicero819]

Larry, try to go through Michigan at night, most of the Highway Law enforcement Officer who enforce the code are on day shift(better conditions for the ones who bring in the money). Last time through Michigan one of the Officer having luch next to us explain when the best time to cross with the least hassle from his agency.Claude

[Mackie Family Racing]

Larry et al,

since I think my debacle (ticket) on the way to Stanton last year was the subject of the thread you originally referred to, let me clarify what I know, having fought the ticket in Petticoat Junction (Ithaca, MI) Court...:

- unless it has changed in the last year (Rock seemed to think it had been set at 75' when I spoke to him at Norwalk, but he wasn't dead certain...) -- you cannot tow ANYTHING behind a motorhome in Michigan, to the letter of the law. Specifically, the law states that if a "combination" is not discussed in the statute, then it is not allowed... notably, motorhomes with trailers of any kind are not discussed, and thus are technically illegal. So for all that think 65' or less is magic -- it's not. Obviously, the longer you are, the more lettering you have, etc., the more likely you are to get a visit... You'll note that the Coughlins have removed the "JEGS" from their sportsman rigs this year... they got banged (hard) on the way to Martin, MI, the wknd after I got nailed on the way to Stanton

- as I found out in Court, the Judge (and the MI State cop playing DOT man) interpret that as it is irrational to consider pulling over every single motorhome pulling a trailer, boat, horse trailer, bicycle, etc., then they arbitrarily defer to the statute for the next best thing... in Michigan, they interpret that to be the restriction for a straight truck and trailer -- which is 65 feet. As I also found out in Court, the Judge and the cop, could not provide any logical explanation why a motorhome (i.e., non-cargo carrying vehicle) shouldn't be treated like a tractor trailer (i.e., a non-cargo carrying vehicle pulling a trailer), versus a straight truck (cargo carrying) and trailer... reason why I pushed this is that the state statute for Michigan provides that a tractor trailer can be ANY length -- as long as the trailer itself is 53' or less. The Judge acknowleged at the end of the session that I had refuted all of his arguments, and he couldn't answer any of mine... but asked me to pay the fine, and file an appeal. For $240, it wasn't worth driving back up to Petticoat Junction again, particularly given the fact that the Judge could defer to the "everything behind a motorhome is illegal" interpretation. I should add that the officer that ticketed me let me go on my way (Coughlin got impounded in Jackson), and bitched only about length. I do have my CDL, which was likely helpful (and Coughlin's driver did not), although that's a whole other debate...

- to the advice from others in this thread -- we'll like it heed it ourselves this year. We got pulled over just south of Ithaca, MI, on M-127... I'm guessing Ithaca is where the state police post is.... It was 3pm on a Friday afternoon, beautiful sunny day, doing the speed limit -- and nothing on our rig other than a "Mackie Family Racing" decal above the rear door on the back of the stacker. If we go this year, we'll run at night (or Sunday), and avoid Ithaca (take M-57 west from M-127, per Rock...)

Hope this helps. As I was counciled by a bunch of professional truck drivers at a funeral shortly after my court date last year, everyone runs into the DOT at some point in time, no matter how hard you try to keep your nose clean... and every one of the drivers had a story about how the DOT guy made sure they came up with something they could write a ticket on...

srm