J20 Plow Truck Getting Back on the Road

[JTruck-Connor]

Well I learned my lesson- Don't ever buy without a title.

My Truck is quickly becoming not mine. My garage door broke, and since I just got my truck running last week, I was happy to announce that I could park the vehicle on the street while the overhead people worked on my door. Problem is, my neighbor is running an illegal auto shop out of his garage and the city is trying hard to catch him. So they saw the jeep, plateless and naked in the street, and they towed it instantly.

I don't have a title. That is the only sheet of paper that can get it out of impound. So in 30 days, my jeep will not be my jeep, and I will be jeepless. All the time and money and emotion I spent will be for nothing. Please, please, never repeat my mistake. I don't believe any one on here would ever purchase a vehicle without a title, and now I can join their ranks, as I will never again make such a grievous error.

[SJTD]

Maybe time to get a Lawyer involved. If it's legally yours it seems you should be able to get it back.

The tow company says no Title no truck but that doesn't mean their policy is legal.

[Heavy_Metal_Thunder_81]

Something isn't right here. Just because you don't have the title doesn't mean the truck isn't yours. What if it was someone's leased vehicle or they had a lien on their vehicle or the bank owned it? Not everyone has a title in their possession. Do you have a bill of sale? That should be all they need to release your truck.
Also, what laws state that you cannot park a vehicle on the street? If they had no right to tow it in the first place I'd be getting the local Sheriff's Dept. involved.

[SJTD]

Dunno about CO but in CA if it's on the street it must have a plate and current tag.

But thinking about it an expired tag prolly isn't a towing offense but I would think no plate is.

I assume you've shown them what you have document wise. Keep track of the date so when you do get it back they don't charge you for the days after they refused to give it to you.

[JTruck-Connor]

Update and Reply

Hey guys, thanks for the possible leads on it. Yeah, I am looking into getting a release form from the city in order to get it back without a title. the tow company is being really cool about it actually- they recognize the system was never made to consider this circumstance, and while they can't give it back yet, they are sympathetic and said not to worry about fees for extra days, as I would've come for it already if I could have. They said if I can get the release from the City, I can take it home for the cost of the tow, which wasn't bad.

SJTD- Dunno about the legality of their title policy, but I have a workaround with the city release form if it pans out. I'd like to avoid involving a lawyer- I appreciate what they do, but I don't want to pay more than the value of the truck in legal fees. That said, if there is no resolution this week, I am absolutely going to a personal property lawyer. I already have a few emails out in case. The problem is, even though I paid for it, I'm not sure if the truck IS legally mine- I have a bill of sale, but it's just one the seller and I drew up, nothing notarized or witnessed. And the tow was legal because of there were no plates- the city actually has to tow if there are no plates.

Heavy_Metal_Thunder_81- yeah, that's the thing- if you've got a lien or a lease, you still have to contact the technical owner for them to get it out of impound. The tow company is covering their asses- imagine if the truck wasn't mine, or I hadn't done the VIN search before buying. I did all of these things, and the truck I bought was clear of any problems, but if that weren't the case hypothetically, I could just forge a bill of sale and take the truck. I get why it's such a headache, I'm just hoping they don't crush a J20 because of bureaucracy and legal nonsense. I sure wish I could get a hold of the title holder on the phone or something...

[rang-a-stang]

I'm just hoping they don't crush a J20 because of bureaucracy and legal nonsense. I sure wish I could get a hold of the title holder on the phone or something...

Oh my goodness, that is EXACTLY what I was thinking.

[JTruck-Connor]

Copied from the General Discussion thread:

Oh man. It's been a wild ride you guys.

Let me start by saying- the Jeep is BACK IN MY GARAGE! I got it back, and it won't see the street again until I have temporary tags to drive it to the VIN inspection. I learned my lesson somethin' fierce.

I ended up going up and down the phone/ email chain Monday morning until I finally got forwarded to the supervisor of the officer who wrote the tow slip. She said "bring me good enough proof that it's your truck and I'll write a release letter to the tow company." So I brought the old plates off the truck, the keys, the original owner's manual, my bill of sale, the countless documents I have printed in order to work on it (including some from you fine jeep owners from way back on the quadratrac stuff), all the forms needed to apply for a new title filled out as completely as possible at this point, emails, phone records, pictures, part numbers... Anything I had, it went with me to the PD. Turns out, they needed a picture of the VIN plate (since they wrote it down wrong in the first place) and a picture of it in my garage last January. They went ahead and signed the form and told me pretty much straight up that they towed it because they thought it belonged to the guy across the street running the auto shop illegally. They told me, very transparently, that they receive many complaints a day about him, and that it would be wise to avoid violating code on my street as they are desperate to catch him at anything.

They said the truck is very recognizable and gave me their office lines, I gave them my cell and they put it on file and told me they would call me if they ever put another slip down in case I missed it.

I still had to pay some of the impound and tow fees, but a little less than half of them because the tow yard was very understanding (and a little impressed I managed to get a release letter) and I went to the tow yard and, even though I just got it running two days before it got towed, it started up and drove right onto the trailer. Didn't even complain about it. So now Plain Jane, became Felony Jane, and will be affectionately referred to as Jailbird Jane until she has plates. This is why we don't name things, but my buddy that helped me get her running again is a serial project-namer.

Anyways, thanks for following the crazy drama. So far, a happy ending, but it isn't really an ending until there is a title in hand. I'm gonna focus back on the build thread and kind of let this one die unless you guys have any questions about it.

I'm about 90% of the way to a VIN inspection, but I have to be able to drive two cities over for it. So suspension and brakes, then temp tags. Should be fun. I'm really, really glad I have good news for this one. Thanks for the advice and help along the way.

Cheers

(also, in CO, depends on the city but where it was impounded will not let you bond for title without VIN inspection, and will not go to site for inspection. You have to bring it in. Also, yes the legal fees would have been way more than I could throw at the truck, but luckily this time that didn't matter in the end. The truck and budget is still on the "worth it" side of things, but only barely. If I avoid another tow and get the stupid thing titled without incident, and nothing blows up, then it will still all be worth it. And even if all that doesn't happen, this has already paid off in fun days of wrenching, despite the headache.)

[JTruck-Connor]

NOW THAT THAT'S ALL OVER....

With the impound headache out of the way and the repairs to my Honda done (got rear-ended back in August) I can finally focus on the game plan moving forward.

Priority number one is running, driving, stopping, and not puking oil, just enough so that I can drive the 25 miles to the VIN verification. On the list for that (probably harrowing) journey, I MUST do front leaf springs. The investigation into the titleholder revealed it has been a plow truck since 1978, and it still has the original leaf springs and shocks. They are a little tired. So, Leafs, shocks, driveshafts, brake rotors and pads on front (calipers if I have time/ funds) and shoes and drums on the rear. I hope to get rear leafs, but man are they pricey. The rear's that it has are in okay shape, but I know the stance is going to bother me if I only replace front, since back is sagging a bit too.

I've got shocks and brakes all around already and will throw them on this weekend, and I can tell the oil leak (not awful, but bad enough at pressure that I need to look at it) is the front main seal. Any one have advice there? Am I definitely pulling the engine, or can I come out the front with the crank? Anyway, not a whole lot of interesting yet.

Future plans: I think I decided to keep this one pretty classic. If I can find a three piece from bumper for it, I may do that, or I'll fab one with a winch plate and rescue hooks. I'm definitely keeping the patina for now, as funds say no paint yet, and I am completely new to body work, and if I DID paint it, it would need a lot of body work first. I'm gonna work on repairing the glove box and finding a dash pad, but other than that (maybe a seat cover) The inside stays for a long while.

Alright, that's all for now. I'll take pictures of brakes/ suspension this weekend, but I don't expect it'll be anything too fancy. till next time.

Cheers.

[rang-a-stang]

THAT's AWESOME!!! Way to go Westminster CO PD! Apparently there are still some folks that are good hearted and understanding!!!! I had a bad day today and reading this post really lightened things up! SOOOoooo Stoked for you!

As the old saying goes, the squeaky wheel gets the grease and I think you did it respectfully so they hooked you up.

I have the brackets and 4 separate end pieces for a chrome 3 piece bumper (missing the middle chrome part) that I would ship/sell you for cheap when I get home in November. They are not perfect but they are in good shape and would match your truck well. I don't have any of the hardware, though.

[JTruck-Connor]

That would be awesome, thank you! Yeah, I may try my hand at fabricating a middle section with a winch plate, kind of combine the original with a little extra in the middle, but it has been a long time since I touched a welder. Plus, I have no idea if I could make it look any kind of good. Baring that, I could probably find the center section much more easily (and cheaper!) than a whole bumper. Saving my butt again, dude! ha until then, I think I have the old plow bracket around here somewhere... Probably good 'nough for the county so I can get the temp tags.

[Kaiserjeeps]

I had been thinking about your situation since I read about it. I hoped you would get your truck back. I am really glad to read that you did. Life sure is not fair sometimes. But it worked out.

The neat thing about the three piece chrome bumpers is leaving the center part out for a winch mount. Installing the ends on each side actually looks really good. I wish I had pictures for you. I made a tray and bolted it to the front of the frame after welding three very heavy tabs hanging down to help take the load. I took it all apart and those pictures are on a now dead computer. If I find something I will post it up. Glad the truck is home.

[JTruck-Connor]

Thanks for the thoughts. And good to know it doesn't look too goofy! I think it needs a winch there- the truck looked better with the plow mount on the front than most do with just the three piece. I hope that the end pieces will fit with how mangled the front sheet metal is- they sawzalled it to get the plow bracket in place. The end pieces should be able to cover is and put everything back where it belongs, and the winch will be a good insurance policy anyway. Let me know if you find those pictures, it sounds awesome!! I don't quite know what you mean by three heavy tabs- like you welded a cross member on front of the frame and dropped three down along the grille, or there are three running along each frame rail? Trying to picture it...

[JTruck-Connor]

Just brakes this weekend. New calipers, rotors, and pads for the front. The new hoses didn't make it from rock auto in time, so those will be soon. But it was a good weekend- never dealt with floating rotors like this, glad I bought that press a while back so I could get this done. I didn't know changing rotors on this would be such an ordeal, so passenger side took forever. Driver side only took about an hour once I knew what I was doing.



Up next week (hopefully) is shocks, fix the tcase leak and install the new brake hoses. I'll only have a few hours so nothing too crazy. Springs all around next month, but focusing mostly on the front from all the plow stress on the suspension.

Little by little.

[JTruck-Connor]

Soooo.... I got new shocks on the front. Except I sheared the stud on the passenger side (not enough fire I guess) and now it is held on with baling wire. Temporary fix, obviously. I'll either grab a bracket off the junkyard waggy I've been treating as a donor or figure out a way to press a new one in. Progress is slow, life keeps pulling me away from the build. I can't wait until I have something besides maintenance to share with you all.

[rang-a-stang]

You still alive connor? Any updates?