Trailer gate....Goodbye NHRA in Ca

[George.]

Yes,sometimes ignorance is a bit spendy. I have owned many trailers and many spread axle trailers. As a general rule my closed tandem trailers have a 36" kingpin setting,but on my spread axle trailers i set the pinsetting at 24".This makes them easier to make proper weight distribution.Once they hack of the back 3' and move the axles its only a little more money to move the kingpin....what the hell....it only money...WOW.

The KP doesn't have to move.
This is not a reefer where you have pallets of heavy freight on the drives.
The only thing over the drives on a race trailer is the weight of the genset, and the lounge, which only has a couch/desk/closet amd maybe a dumper. Not much weight at all.
That's why cutting three foot off the back and moving the rear liftgat up isn't that big of a deal to do.
But probably easier said than done..

 

[Dragracer]

Well, the race is over. It will be interesting this evening and over the next couple of days what happens when all the racers start moving their rigs.

 

[Ma Green]

The crisis has been averted. There was a meeting yesterday between Cal Trans/CHP, NHRA and all the truck drivers. They have everything ironed out for them to get out of California without a problem. Have no idea the details or what will happen in February.

 

[.]

The crisis has been averted. There was a meeting yesterday between Cal Trans/CHP, NHRA and all the truck drivers. They have everything ironed out for them to get out of California without a problem. Have no idea the details or what will happen in February.

That's good to hear. Too bad they couldn't have done this 4 days earlier so Torrence could have raced.

 

[yoda]

But, on the " planning" side of CALTRANS, there is a large flatbed sitting in the parking lot of the Sheraton right now...

 

[None]

I understand that these exemptions are for transporting cargo/objects that cannot be broken down further. That is clearly not the case here.

It just depends what State your in. The entertainment industry is issued a lot of permits for oversize and king pin settings. NHRA is in the entertainment industry. California is very selective about what laws and what days they are going to enforce them.

 

[FABMAN]

We learned coming into this world by our peers that all during life we have to play by the rules set forth. Featherlite knows the rules and they build accordingly to them, 53' is the law and that's where they stop. I don't know who the manufacturers are that built to 56' but they have a few months to correct them, so I say get busy boys Feb. not far away and you can bet CHP will not give a break next time.

 

[clwill]

I heard that several of the teams left late last night and made it to Nevada without incident.

 

[Marchboom]

The CHP stops the racers who bring revenue into Calif but won't stop the illegal aliens driving unsafe trucks into Calif. Go figure.

 

[Bross Hawg]

In Graham's e-mail, he said the following:



I'm guessing that Force is one of the teams that use the 53' trailers given that his operations are split between Brownsville and Yorba Linda.....though I may be wrong. Anyone have any idea of who the other "legal" teams may be?

Force's trailers are 56' with the nitro tanks or gen sets on the front...same as most of the fuel teams'...check the pic @ this link...John Force Racing | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

 

[Bross Hawg]

First off this whole thing is Govy running amuck. Here are a few things to consider though.

First, federal highway laws are uniform nationwide and there are a lot of grey areas.

Second, why are the trailer companies building trailers that do not meet the federal gov. standards in the first place? I could never understand that.

I have been in TF trailers complete with a lounge that are the legal size.

CHP were warning racers after the nationals 2 years ago in Sonoma not to come back until they had trailers the legal size. Many of these were sportsman racers with combos of a toter and a trailer

When i was racing at Sonoma I asked a CHP officer that was there about the "not for hire" signs on my truck and he said it was a GOOD THING to have them on there.

Teams were warned at Vegas about this possible problem and almost everyone was told of a route around the banning weight station. Many that are illegal are simply driving past the scales or taking the alternative route. The Banning station is a training station i have heard.

Sadly steve was made an example of and I also heard the CHP will be watching sunday and monday.

The big expense is the tow out of state not the fines. California's political climate has been distroyed by similar stunts by environmental agencies that are on a power trip.

Rich,
the aggravating thing about all this is that they consider TOTAL length of the trailer. IMO, anything IN FRONT of the kingpin should not count. What difference does it make if your front overhang of the pin is 3 feet or 10 feet? It does not add to the total length of the vehicle. Featherlite builds trailers up to 53'. A lot of the teams have add on tanks put on the front for storing the nitro and alcohol when at the track. That puts them at 56'.

 

[Bross Hawg]

What's the height restriction, or is just so you don't take out a bridge?

Rick

Rick,
you have to be under 14'...but a truck with an oversize load permit and pilot cars can be over height, as that one obviously would be since that Featherlite is 13' 9" high. You have to go around overpasses...hence the pilot car.

 

[Deuce]

It just depends what State your in. The entertainment industry is issued a lot of permits for oversize and king pin settings. NHRA is in the entertainment industry. California is very selective about what laws and what days they are going to enforce them.

California does have a Motorsports exemption of a KPRA length of 46'.

 

[vegasnitro]

The CHP stops the racers who bring revenue into Calif but won't stop the illegal aliens driving unsafe trucks into Calif. Go figure.

Simple, illegals have no money and it costs the state money dealing with them, so they all but ignore them.

Race teams with half million dollar rigs "have money", so they know whatever recourse they take will be more than offset by the ticket/fine revenue.

 

[glofria]

The CHP stops the racers who bring revenue into Calif but won't stop the illegal aliens driving unsafe trucks into Calif. Go figure.

How do you know that illegal aliens drive unsafe trucks? I've seen on the TV show "Boarder Wars" that Customs do a great job inspecting trucks coming across the boarder.

Using your argument, Mexican Drug Cartels bring revenue into California too should they not stop by the CHP?

 

[Eracer]

I personally find it kind of ironic...These teams can engineer a 300 MPH missle within a rule book but seem to ignore the rules with a box with wheels under it.

 

[Huge]

Force's trailers are 56' with the nitro tanks or gen sets on the front...same as most of the fuel teams'...check the pic @ this link...John Force Racing | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Force has the same trailers that we have and if you would have took a pic of the ID tag at the lower left front of the trailer it should read 53'. If they measured the gen on the front then we would all be illegal.

 

[Bross Hawg]

Force has the same trailers that we have and if you would have took a pic of the ID tag at the lower left front of the trailer it should read 53'. If they measured the gen on the front then we would all be illegal.

They DO count the add ons on the front of the trailer...that is what I am saying. CA DOT measures total trailer length, not just total truck/trailer length.
Also, I drove Eric Medlen's race transporter for 3 years, I would like to think I know what I am talking about, maybe not tho...

 

[Deuce]

They DO count the add ons on the front of the trailer...that is what I am saying. CA DOT measures total trailer length, not just total truck/trailer length.
Also, I drove Eric Medlen's race transporter for 3 years, I would like to think I know what I am talking about, maybe not tho...

With the motorsports exemption you can technically have a longer trailer. It's the KPRA measurement and the overall length they're concerned with. The add ons don't add to the overall length.

 

[Huge]

They DO count the add ons on the front of the trailer...that is what I am saying. CA DOT measures total trailer length, not just total truck/trailer length.
Also, I drove Eric Medlen's race transporter for 3 years, I would like to think I know what I am talking about, maybe not tho...

I know you drove for Force, but I'm going on what I was told by Chp. There are a lot of teams that doesn't think the gen is measured, but when I get back to Ca I am going to call Cal trans and ask again. Thank's for the info.