Registering in MI

Ghostknife

Goblin Guru
I had a cop buddy sign my paperwork, no issue. Cost me a case of beer lol

Edit: That was your chance to educate the police officer/s on what an assembled vehicle is vs a dune buggy. Not be a butt about it but inform them
 

Mahkoi

Well-Known Member
I had a cop buddy sign my paperwork, no issue. Cost me a case of beer lol

Edit: That was your chance to educate the police officer/s on what an assembled vehicle is vs a dune buggy. Not be a butt about it but inform them
I tried to mention it never started as an off road vehicle or dune buggy but was ignored. I'm gonna do the bumper and wipers/ washer just because 3 local officers have been up close to it now but gonna try some other avenues on the tr-54. I don't have any cop buddies and haven't had good luck in the past with offering unknown cops beer.
 

Sluggonaut

Goblin Guru
I'm not sure how you guys got your paperwork done without it built yet. Mines completely assembled. I called the Oakland County Sherriff office and got and officer who filled out section one of the tr-54 and assumed section 2 was for the state inspector. The SOS informed me today that was wrong so I called the OCS again and this time got two officers one of which specialized in vehicle inspections....it didn't go well. I got tagged one the plexi windshield, no wipers, no washers and no bumpers and got a bit of a sermon about "you guys that try to drive these off road dune buggies on the road need to learn the rules". I'm guessing i had a visable eye twitch when he called it a dune buggy for the fourth time. So........I'm making some bumpers now and have the most basic manual wiper imaginable on order. Still gotta hodge podge some kinda squirter together. Gonna try again after that and see if I get tagged on the plexi windshield again. then I get to go to the SOS again just to see if I get a picky state inspector later. Still desperately trying to get some kinda ride in this year but my hopes are down after today. Anyway, that's my rant about the state that will let you drive the most unsafe, rusted out pile of junk on the road with no problem but heaven forbid you put a perfectly safe car together on your own.
I didn't even bother with Illinois after similar stories. I had my Montana registration in a few weeks and it cost less to boot.
 

Matt C

Active Member
I had an inspector that was by the book. The local cop who signed my TR-54 didn’t really care, she just checked all the boxes. My inspector called me before and asked if I actually had the bumpers, wipers, glass windshield and bottle installed. I of course didn’t. He just wanted me to call him when I got it all installed. I made a windshield template and had a local glass guy cut me safety glass to that shape. I then made some make shift brackets to “install” the windshield. I got a manual wiper and a bottle. I zipped tied the bottle and made it look like it was installed. I was lucky enough to borrow a set of bumpers. The inspector only looked at the the car for about 3 minutes. He checked to see if I had DOT tires and that was about it. He slapped the vin on and left. Was only at my house for about 5 minutes. One he left, I took everything off.
 

jirwin

Goblin Guru
I had an inspector that was by the book. The local cop who signed my TR-54 didn’t really care, she just checked all the boxes. My inspector called me before and asked if I actually had the bumpers, wipers, glass windshield and bottle installed. I of course didn’t. He just wanted me to call him when I got it all installed. I made a windshield template and had a local glass guy cut me safety glass to that shape. I then made some make shift brackets to “install” the windshield. I got a manual wiper and a bottle. I zipped tied the bottle and made it look like it was installed. I was lucky enough to borrow a set of bumpers. The inspector only looked at the the car for about 3 minutes. He checked to see if I had DOT tires and that was about it. He slapped the vin on and left. Was only at my house for about 5 minutes. One he left, I took everything off.
Sounds like you had the same experience as me lol.
 

Mahkoi

Well-Known Member
Looks like I had a slightly different set of steps than the other Michigan builders. I had the officer fill out the tr54. In the VIN section I had the frame serial # filled in. Took my paperwork to the SOS (tr54, tr34 explanation paragraph, certificate of origin, and kit receipts). The state accepted my ser# as a vin and mailed me a title about a week later. Got insurance through state farm today and got registration and plates. No visits from the state inspector.
 

neodied

Well-Known Member
Looks like I had a slightly different set of steps than the other Michigan builders. I had the officer fill out the tr54. In the VIN section I had the frame serial # filled in. Took my paperwork to the SOS (tr54, tr34 explanation paragraph, certificate of origin, and kit receipts). The state accepted my ser# as a vin and mailed me a title about a week later. Got insurance through state farm today and got registration and plates. No visits from the state inspector.
Do you recall if under Part 1, both VIN boxes were filled out?
Left Box: "Vehicle Identification Number (if none, enter "none")"
Right box: "(Law Enforcement Only) VIN from Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Sticker"

Also, did the SOS agent mention anything about padding the VIN with zeros? I thought they had to be 17 characters by standard.
 

Mahkoi

Well-Known Member
Do you recall if under Part 1, both VIN boxes were filled out?
Left Box: "Vehicle Identification Number (if none, enter "none")"
Right box: "(Law Enforcement Only) VIN from Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Sticker"

Also, did the SOS agent mention anything about padding the VIN with zeros? I thought they had to be 17 characters by standard.
Let me check when I get home about the boxes on the tr-54. I also asked about the 17 digits when she said my serial number was going to be my vin and she said they didn't have to be 17 digits long, just unique. My title only has an 8 digit vin.
 

Mahkoi

Well-Known Member
Do you recall if under Part 1, both VIN boxes were filled out?
Left Box: "Vehicle Identification Number (if none, enter "none")"
Right box: "(Law Enforcement Only) VIN from Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Sticker"

Also, did the SOS agent mention anything about padding the VIN with zeros? I thought they had to be 17 characters by standard.
20230810_200529.jpg
 

neodied

Well-Known Member
Excellent, thank you! Trying to get the best chance at a smooth SOS process, copying your method seems smart.
 

Mahkoi

Well-Known Member
Excellent, thank you! Trying to get the best chance at a smooth SOS process, copying your method seems smart.
You're welcome. The other weird thing that came up is that they will ask for the mileage that your odometer reads. I had that information listed in my TR34 explanation form and they were good with that.
 
Top