I live in CA where I believe 40 feet is the maximum length for a person with a normal drivers license. Anything over 40 feet requires some other kind of license that most people don't have.

So if you wanted a conversion that your friend, girlfriend, wife...could drive so you could take a break from driving because your tired, sick...it would have to be under 40 feet because most people have standard drivers licenses.

As I search RacingJunk.com, Ebay...I'm seeing many conversions that are typically over 40 feet in length which renders them unusable for my needs.

What are people thinking as they order, build these long conversions...?

AS someone who has a 46ft conversion, I guess I can partially answer your question. We spec'd ours out and designed the floor plan to meet our needs at the time. We are in Virginia and do not see us ever driving to Ca. My wife never liked driving our previous bus style motor homes but once she got behind our truck conversion she actually enjoyed driving it. It handled high winds and all the truck traffic wonderfully. Stopping it with our 32ft tag trailer was no problem either. We needed the extra length to accommodate our kids and our needs as we used it allot. We as a family would travel all over the country from Texas to North Dakota to all points North East to Florida and back to Virginia. When the family was not with me I traveled with two helpers and we liked to sleep in separate beds. I was gone about 32 weekends a year (from Wednesday thru Monday). Having the extra room and the space for all my equipment. So in short it comes down to desire and need. I agree some go over the top with length. I have seen some in the 50+ ft range that I thought was ridiculous.

I can't under stand the whole CDL mess! I know that the states have their own input; but the rules vary so much from state to state its difficult to understand the reasoning behind it all. It really varies as to what can or can not be driven as an RV using a state's nonCDL license. I know men who are in their 70's and really aren't able to drive; but haven't been able to figure that out yet. I know others that still drive 18 wheelers with 53 foot trailers for a living; and I wouldn't mind sleeping in the sleeper cab while they are driving down the road.

BravestDog, I did some research on the California DMV at www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs. I found the definition for commercial vehicle under section 15210. Section 15210(b)(2)states that a recreational vehicle as defined by section 18010 of the California Health and Safety Code is not a commercial vehicle. So, I went over to the Health and Safety Code. Section 18010(a)states it must be built on a single chassis,self propelled,truck-mounted or towable without a permit. There are two square feet tests it must pass: (a) less than 320 square feet of living room area and (b) 400 square feet or less of gross area measured at maximum horizontal projections. Most truck conversions I've seen are a maximum width of 102 inches or 8.5 feet; and the length of the average truck conversion I see is 45 feet(bumper to bumper). Most class 8 truck cabs are at least 10 feet(120 bbc). We could add a 35 foot conversion to that and still be at 45 feet. We would pass the 400 gross square foot test at 382.5 square feet(45 X 8.5). We should be able to pass the 320 square foot test since the 35 foot truck-mounted conversion using exterior dimensions measures 297.5 square feet(35 X 8.5). The cab shouldn't be counted since it was there before the conversion was mounted. Cabover bunks might count since they are part of the conversion. Slides shouldn't count since no one(I hope)drives down the road with them out. The bottom line is you probably could drive a forty five foot truck conversion legally in California without a commercial license. I hope this doesn't bore you; I have 31 years with the U.S. government, and boring is what government workers do best!

According to the link below, does it say with a standard Class C license, the type most people have, that you have to be 40' and under? This is for CA.

"any house car 40 feet and under, in length"

and if you have a non commercial Class B, you can drive a 40-45'?

"a housecar over 40 feet but not over 45 feet, with endorsement"

http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/dl648/dl648pt2.htm

Anyone know what the penalty/fine is if you have a Class C license and you are caught driving a RV over 40'?

This message has been edited. Last edited by: BravestDog,

....Kalifornia is a different situation completely-since they have started their own ''nation''-seems that everything is not legal or one must get a special permit or something that costs money to go there......but when they come east we are expected to bend over for them....I had a "drive-in" that expected for me to drop everything and make a roof repair-because it ''MIGHT'' rain....."well no chit it will rain!-do you have a canvas or do you want to go to Harbor Freight and get a canvas?"...."well, at least you could look at it and decide if you want to fix it or not"....."No- I don't want to fix it just right now-I'll get to it next week when the injection in my spine wears off and I can climb a ladder...."....it got ugly from there on....they were from San Fran-two guys and really demanding....but I don't work except now and then when I feel like it....they don't understand-I do a lot of repairs when I feel good and don't do chit when I feel bad....it's an age/body thing...geofkaye

I see what you mean now! Did I mention government workers are also good at creating confusion? Geofkaye is right; government's #1 function is to get as much of your money as possible.

The scarry part is that after reading the specs in the CA DMV book, I'm NOT sure if I've read it correctly or if it's correct, outdated, misprint... There could be some clause somewhere that says "but/if/however..."

You can't call them either because the operator may not know how to read or interpret the data. If you go in person, they can't help you either. I've gone through this in the past. It's baffling. It's like they are all too loaded on Prozac or some kind of legal anti depressant drug to care or be of assistance. And too afraid to complain to their supervisors because they are fearful of being reprimanded...

What a mess. Why can't things be standardized or made uniform? Seems like it would solve a lot of problems with matters like this?

And this must be insignificant compared to more important or more detailed matters in the trucking world.

Makes you want to move to an isolated island somewhere in the Pacific where there are only trails to walk on and canoes to paddle in.

....writing a letter to the State Department of whatever does make a difference some of the time....I ask for a "simplification" and usually they wright back that simplification....sometimes they say I should seek the advice of an attorney so I call the Attorney General of the State of Ohio and ask for a simplification and that whatever department wouldn't give it to me-also a copy to the Inspector General's office will get the juices flowing.....I mention that I have been a resident of the State all my life and need their assistance.......geofkaye