State Inspection vs. The Cops

[TPCDrafting]

me4osu, I read your posts quite a bit. I agree with you more than you might think. I liked your story and the fact he busted the guys arm. Some people get their feathers ruffled too easily like some powerjoke owners I know. I did sent a request to the TDR to offer my time as a moderator and got shuffled around to send an e-mail to Steve St. and got no response back. BUT it was at the time when the old server was starting to take a dump and I knew he extremely busy so I didn't pursue it. Since then I've been busy drawing house plans and haven't gotten back to him. Sounds like a whole new thread. hmmmm.

 

[Steve St.Laurent]

I have a folder in my email that I keep the emails of everyone that's volunteered to be a moderator. When we need a new moderator I go to that list. However, I don't have anything from you tpc. It might have gotten lost in the shuffle somewhere. Would you send me another email about it so I can put you in there?

 

[DRR-24V]

TcpDrafting-Are You Blind !!!

Have you not watched the abuse poured on these moderators in recent threads? And you still want to be one? You are a tougher man than I. I would rather stop a carload of Black Panthers than be a moderator on the TDR.

 

[me4osu]

I agree with DRR. I am waaaay too thin skinned to be a TDR moderator. Plus I don't have the time. Good Luck and please don't burn me when Steve makes you a target (ie. moderator).

 

[Steve St.Laurent]

Gee thanks guys ! I feel the love #ad

 

[TPCDrafting]

Actually my vision is 20/20 and my eyes haven't been bombed either. Maybe they're better, cuz everything on the TDR site just got bigger what's up with that, or is it just me? My 94 year old Grandfather could read this! I have no fear of being a moderator, I have to stand between my wife and her father all the time. :-{}

 

[Sled Puller]

Our mods fall under,



"THE RIGHT TO PURSUE HAPPINESS!!!!"





Fight everything.



99% of the laws on the books are illegal anyway.



Should be a law that if they make a new law,an old law comes off the books. Right. LOL

 

[rubberneck]

I still say if someone touches my truck without my permission, they deserved to get burned, or cut, or stomped, or run over, or jailed, or beaten, or shot, or all of the above. Why cant people keep their grubby hands off of other peoples stuff

 

[HoleshotHolset]

Great... I just installed a 5" stack... . and now I'm gonna have to tell any LE officer about how the stack *guides* the exhaust from the 3" pipe that is just hanging out at the bottom below the bed floor... .



It has been on 1. 5 days... . all I don't like is the deaf drone and the wiggle... . gotta figure out a way to hold it tighter to the bed... . and maybe decrease the dB a bit.....



On edit:

Just ordered an exhaust pipe bracket made for a Peterbilt... we'll see how that works. Also... . I have located some heatshields for 5" pipe... they're $70... . http://www.airflo.com/



HTH,



Matt

 

[Hummin Cummins]

Matt



I just ran across that site the other day. Lotsa nifty stuff. They even have the BHAF for dodge/cummins and powerflukes. (they're looking for a manufacturer/design for a mount. wink, wink, hint, hint) I had a set of brushed stainless shields bent, put a few lights in them, maybe a ram or cummins decal on the big flat part. Got one installed tonite at work I'm still not sold on them though. Maybe they'll be like fungus and grow on me. Leaning toward taking the spare tire off and running duals out the back using my stacks for tailpipes. "There, copper, hows it feel staring down those 5" chimneys"



STICK IT TO THE "MAN"



Chris

 

[Cobra]

inspection vs cops

Hummin Cummins,



I told myself not to get involved in this thread and I tried hard not to but here goes.



I'm sorry to hear that you were hasseled for your stacks. I too love all the mods we put on our trucks. Although I do not have stacks I do like the looks and the sound.



Having said that, your stacks are illegal. Section 4523c of the Pa vehicle code addresses modified exhaust and states that every vehciel must have a muffler. Your stacks are modified and I'm sure have no muffler.



Addtionally, section 4532b refers to smoking diesels.



I tell you this because it seems to me that the officer could have issued you a citation had he wanted to but elected not to, and I never heard you say thanks for that. Instead you bash the guy.

I understand that his attitude may not have been professional, but then you may have been overly critical of him because you felt that he was unjustified and you did nothing wrong. But as you can see now, that wasn't the case.

Very few police officers in Pa bother with modified exhaust but when they do they are right.

 

[Briar Hopper]

Having a few law enforcement types for friends, I'm able to differentiate between the cop, and the laws he or she has to enforce. It's the system I hate, not the good guys in blue! If I'm wrong, I know I'll have to pay the price if I get caught. But my argument is not with the cops, it's with an overly burdensome system that forces them to go out and add to the state's moneybags . (of course, you do get an occasional runt that has to prove he's bigger than you)

I have cop friends here in Kentucky, and elsewhere, that use a Valentine One radar detector on trips, they are afraid of the system too ! Some have expressed their dismay to me at how the public perceives them. It's the system , and vehicle enforcement is the one thing in America that brings such a bad attitude towards law enforcement.

We're not voting enough, or on the right things, and it's slipping away from us! Anarchy is on the horizion.....

 

[Blakers]

Originally posted by Briar Hopper

But my argument is not with the cops, it's with an overly burdensome system that forces them to go out and add to the state's moneybags .

It seems that most of the cops looking to fill the moneybags are in the wealthy towns that have almost no crime, so their cops don't have anything to do but set up speed traps and molest citizens. This could all be solved by changing the way motor vehicle fines are collected. If all fines in a state went to a central fund and not to each township or municipality, most all the speed traps and money-making schemes would suddenly end. They would become money-wasters, instead of money-makers.



As far as vehicle equipment laws, some of them are very achaic and should be repealed. I think some states are actually proud of their stupid laws and protect them with everything they have. Perhaps the best action would be to write to your state representatives and explain to them how some of the laws are not needed and only burden law enforcement that could be out chasing bad guys. Perhaps suggest alternatives. Maybe no one ever questioned these laws and they can be ammended.



I do respect the law and most of those who enforce it. A friend of mine is applying for a law-enforcement job now and he has to be annylized by several psychologists, etc. I'm sure most departments are trying to weed out the ego-motivated cops that give the good ones a bad name.



Blake

 

[Hummin Cummins]

Cobra

I tell you this because it seems to me that the officer could have issued you a citation had he wanted to but elected not to, and I never heard you say thanks for that. Instead you bash the guy.

1 Officer never asked for drivers liscense and registration

2 Officer never looked at inspection sticker

3 Officer COULD NOT tell me exactly what I had to construct to qualify as a heat shiled.

4 I would have gladly taken a 5 day repair slip like is often given or even a citation.



If the officer is going to make a point of coming into a convenience store parking lot to give me hell about my stacks, maybe a little professionalism would go a long way toward not getting verbal bashings.



I was polite to him and told him I would get it taken care of. I am a volunteer firefighter of 16 years and have the utmost respect for law enforcement, but to be respected, you must know your job and preform it well.



There are kids in this town stealing anhydrous ammonia from tanks where I work to make crystal meth, 2 years going and they havent caught 'em yet. But I feel so much safer now knowing that these wacked out crackhead kids wont burn themselves on my stacks when they steal my truck.



edit:

Just to clarify this was not PSP. Had this been a PSP officer, more than likely this would never have happened. This was a town clown part time cop who more than likely works at McDonalds full time. I have never had any bad dealings with the State Troopers, and after driving truck for 12 years, we have crossed paths many times.

 

[HoleshotHolset]

Catching these kids seems like it should be higher on the "to-do" list than harassing motorists for petty equipment violations... .



I have also experienced LE personnel that had to "make a name for themself"... . so that they could be promoted/etc. If they're not considered a hardball... . they might be passed up on the promotion list for someone who is a real stickler...



My $. 04 worth...



Matt

 

[Scot]

Re: inspection vs cops

Originally posted by Cobra

Hummin Cummins,



Having said that, your stacks are illegal. Section 4523c of the Pa vehicle code addresses modified exhaust and states that every vehciel must have a muffler. Your stacks are modified and I'm sure have no muffler.

FWIW Texas says that the turbo is considered a muffler because it breakes up the sound pulses. Does PA recognize this?

 

[Bigsaint]

Originally posted by HoleshotHolset





I have also experienced LE personnel that had to "make a name for themself"... . so that they could be promoted/etc. If they're not considered a hardball... . they might be passed up on the promotion list for someone who is a real stickler...



My $. 04 worth...



Matt

Actually, in my experience the biggest a$$ kissers seem to get promoted the quickest, at least in my PD . We have a couple of real good supervisors and many that shouldn't have never been Patrolmen, less than supervisors of Patrolmen. Unfortunately, a$$ kissing and writing a lot of BS MV summons seem to go hand in hand. Needless to say, I'm still a Patrolman, but I sleep very well at night and have ther respect of my peers for speaking my mind when I don't agree with the brass.

Catching these kids seems like it should be higher on the "to-do" list than harassing motorists for petty equipment violations... .

Truer words could not be spoken. Problem is that it's just easier for the a$$ kissers to write helpless motorists than to do some real police work and catch the real criminals of society.



Scott W.

 

[DRR-24V]

BigSaint-Your Dep't Sounds Like the CHP

In the CHP if we had a guy screwup bad enough and he wasn't fired they would usually Promote him so he would transfer somewhere else. The problem never went away, he just kept making rank. I bet the Female CHP that shot those 6 cows last week will be fired or she will make Sgt.

 

[Shovelhead]

Re: BigSaint-Your Dep't Sounds Like the CHP

Originally posted by DRR-24V

In the CHP if we had a guy screwup bad enough and he wasn't fired they would usually Promote him so he would transfer somewhere else. The problem never went away, he just kept making rank.

DRR, That mentality is not limited to the LE community.

The local phone company operates the same way.

If the tech is usless, can't do the job..... promote 'em, make 'em a supervisor, and free up a slot for a NEW tech.

23 years as a Tech.

 

[Hummin Cummins]

I'm still a Patrolman, but I sleep very well at night and have ther respect of my peers for speaking my mind when I don't agree with the brass.

YOU GO DUDE!! I'm glad to see I'm not the only one willing to make waves when something isn't right. Too bad people who stick up for themselves usually get labeled "troublemakers" or "bad attitudes"



Chris