On Wed, 01 Feb 2006 14:24:29 GMT, Ignoramus1729
wrote:

I bought this pickup last fall, from a nearby municipality, it has
only 35k miles on it despite baing 15 years old. They did not use it
much.

http://igor.chudov.com/tmp/Dodge350.jpg

1) about yellow strobe lights. Is it legal for a regular person to
have these lights (when they are turned off)? What about driving with
them turned on? I would presume that it is illegal. I am in IL.

Red or Blue lights would be a problem, because they are almost
universally reserved for police and fire use only - even possessing
the red or blue domes for those rotary beacons could be turned into an
'impersonating an officer' beef if they wanted to stretch it.

Amber lights are no problem if used properly - when the vehicle is
used in emergency, construction or maintenance work, and they often
stop in the middle of the road.

Go poke around at http://www.dot.state.il.us/ and see what the rules
are. I'd say if you are worried get two flour sacks and cover up the
beacons for now, or you can sew up two nice light covers in heavy
canvas or Naugahyde with a draw-string bottom for permanent use.

I would have found it fast if they had the Illinois state site
organized halfway decently... One nice thing about home, it's all
easy to find online and cross referenced forty-seven ways.

http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/vctop/vc/vc_index_l.htm

Here's our law, look under "Lights and Lighting" for all the
categories that are specifically allowed to have amber beacons -
Disaster service workers, and a whole batch of various construction
and maintenance vehicles.

But this is an important distinction - note that nowhere in the
California codes is there anything that says you CAN'T have them if
you don't fall under one of the permissive categories, just lots of
categories that explicitly allow them. I can't see yours being that
different, but you never know.

It all boils down to having a legitimate reason for /using/ them
while on a public street or highway, like stopping behind an accident
and providing assistance to the people involved.

IMHO I'd patch the paint but leave the orange stripes on the truck
so the cop can see it's and ex-State vehicle, and the legality of the
lights will never be an issue - unless you're dealing with a total
asshat like Sheriff Buford T. Justice. And if the officer is out to
hassle you and is looking for any chickens**t reason to give you a
ticket, let it be the amber warning lights. That's an easy one to get
a judge to dismiss.

2) It is a 1 ton truck and it bounces a lot, like on speedbumps and
such. Is it simply due to having strong suspension (it is a 1 ton
model), or is something wrong with it?

If you want it to ride really nice, put a ton of dead weight in the
bed. It'll smooth it right out... Yup, heavy rating, stiff springs.

Probably why it never got driven - it was issued to a department
that never carried anything heavy (like the architects or engineers)
and they never drove it because it rides like a buckboard when empty.
Given a choice, they'd grab the keys to the sedan.

-- Bruce --

--
Bruce L. Bergman, Woodland Hills (Los Angeles) CA - Desktop
Electrician for Westend Electric - CA726700
5737 Kanan Rd. #359, Agoura CA 91301 (818) 889-9545
Spamtrapped address: Remove the python and the invalid, and use a net.