Emissions testing with 35" tires?
- Thread starter Hulk
- Start date
I don't think so...Pretty sure it is just certain counties around/in the metro-Denver area. I know Grand Junction doesn't require e-tests so I can't imagine Almont or Gunnison requiring them...
EDIT: should have read page 2
- so to as not make this post completely worthless here is the DMV link http://www.revenue.state.co.us/mv_dir/wrap.asp?incl=emissionsI received this from a friend...I like the analogy 
"Want to know my opinion of the emissions program in Colorado? Here's a good analogy, say we have a problem with 10% of our population driving drunk, so how do we solve it? Let's require everyone in the metro area to take Antabuse. Problem solved right? That's how our emissions program works. Less than 6% of the cars on the road today violate air quality standards, but all cars are required to be tested AND we add ethanol to our fuel which itself creates all sorts of other environmental issues and our cars are not as efficient - we use more gas. Stupid program."
treerootCO
Rising Sun Member
- Joined
- Aug 22, 2005
- Messages
- 5,422
I received this from a friend...I like the analogy
"Want to know my opinion of the emissions program in Colorado? Here's a good analogy, say we have a problem with 10% of our population driving drunk, so how do we solve it? Let's require everyone in the metro area to take Antabuse. Problem solved right? That's how our emissions program works. Less than 6% of the cars on the road today violate air quality standards, but all cars are required to be tested AND we add ethanol to our fuel which itself creates all sorts of other environmental issues and our cars are not as efficient - we use more gas. Stupid program."
Add to that analogy that velcro shoes are required before they will give you the Antabuse so you must borrow shoes first.
Hey my son has some velcro shoes if you need to borrow a pair.. though I'm not sure they'll fit but I'm sure there's a "what size shoes can I run" thread around here somewhere..
and I wrote a term paper on the effects of disulfiram in college, pretty nasty stuff. holy thread digression..
treerootCO
Rising Sun Member
- Joined
- Aug 22, 2005
- Messages
- 5,422
My stomach turns every time I think of Envirotest.
Went to the Stapleton site and I was turned away by a very unfriendly lady.
Drove to the location off of south havana and there were no questions. Passed the test.
The website says measures less than 34" and My tires are now a shade under 34", the lady at the Stapleton place says doesnt matter what they measure, only what they are stamped.
Drove to the location off of south havana and there were no questions. Passed the test.
The website says measures less than 34" and My tires are now a shade under 34", the lady at the Stapleton place says doesnt matter what they measure, only what they are stamped.
When did laziness become the American way? If this woman worked for me, I would have kicked her in the behind.
air care is such a f'n screw...
They lowered the limits in may making it harder to pass. I wonder how many will be on the verge of failing now better look at your old test and see how close you would be now.
http://www.aircarecolorado.com/passenge.htm
They lowered the limits in may making it harder to pass. I wonder how many will be on the verge of failing now
better look at your old test and see how close you would be now.http://www.aircarecolorado.com/passenge.htm
Cheeseman
Rising Sun Member
- Joined
- Mar 31, 2006
- Messages
- 637
Just got to lookin' at this thread as usual. I had to test both of my vehicles this year. My runner passed even though the engine hadn't been run basically in 3 years. But it was on old 33" tires. passed on the quick test. My 62 takes some doing. Had to put on a set of 31' tires. Lean out the airmass sensor. Kickup the shifting cable. Fresh oil and plugs. And then tell the tester to help it thru the test. I think these kids like to drive these modified rigs we bring and they have helped me every time. I go to the one west of Chatfield and Kipling. But I have gone thru the woes of not passing with the 62. That is where I learned these things.
________
Montana dispensaries
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Montana dispensaries
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Nemo
Trail Ready
I have been past the emissions roadside trucks numerous times and I have received a clean bill of health for the last 4 years with my rig. I have made a point with this and that keeps me out of the EnviroTest since 2004 with my LC and since 2002 with any of my cars otherwise.
Is there a time when they finally call you in? Or if you continue to pass the trucks at least twice a year then will you be safe?
Just read the rest of the posts. It appears that is all you have to do to avoid the enviroFun is to pass the trucks. Luckily for me there is one always parked getting onto I25 North from Park Ave DT and one coming onto I70 West bound from I25 or Park Ave. I pass them probably 30 times a year.
Another note of fun is my Porsche which taught me the benefits of those trucks. It is a Carerra 4 and it doesn't fit on the rack so it must sit for the idle test. I failed more tests than I ever wanted because you would sit and the engine would get cold while they were waiting to move you in or if they waited to long it could come out of tolerance since it warmed up too much and would blow bad gas on them. Air cooled engines don't like to sit idle for long like that.
Is there a time when they finally call you in? Or if you continue to pass the trucks at least twice a year then will you be safe?
Just read the rest of the posts. It appears that is all you have to do to avoid the enviroFun is to pass the trucks. Luckily for me there is one always parked getting onto I25 North from Park Ave DT and one coming onto I70 West bound from I25 or Park Ave. I pass them probably 30 times a year.
Another note of fun is my Porsche which taught me the benefits of those trucks. It is a Carerra 4 and it doesn't fit on the rack so it must sit for the idle test. I failed more tests than I ever wanted because you would sit and the engine would get cold while they were waiting to move you in or if they waited to long it could come out of tolerance since it warmed up too much and would blow bad gas on them. Air cooled engines don't like to sit idle for long like that.
The only bad thing about the roadside test is they will flag you if you are over the limit at any time. It's there for convenience and to catch gross polluters (as they say)And it's something like 2 bad roadsides and you have to go in.. It's probably on their site somewhere.
Bikeman
Hard Core 4+
I passed today, phew! They did not question my street tires, the 295's. They measure 34" across, 32.5" loaded, vertically.
Red_Chili
Hard Core 4+
That is the line I used to get too. But per the state, the contractual requirement is measurement, not size stamped, and they are pretty irritated at the 'workaround'. Some guys got around the roadblock of ignorance and laziness by grinding off the stamped measurement, FORCING them to actually measure the tire.
P-metric sizing would flummox them I would imagine.
I think for a while their supervisory training taught them to look at the stamp (money saving? Dunno). She is probably old school. They get really nasty when you question them too. The state gets all kinds of complaints for lousy customer service but with the green organizations' support of testing, and the politicians wanting a quick and easy way to show how green they are, they can't do much about it. That is why the state contract guy wanted me to push the issue, but after having EnviroSmell call ahead to other locations to blacklist me at the third location, I went the easy path.
Then this year, I find the one in Sheridan has grown a Sensible lobe. Sheesh.
rover67
Rising Sun Member
So which location is the most "sensible"? the Sheridan one?
Air Randy
Hard Core 4+
I went to the one in Parker about 1 month ago with my brand new 35's and they did the sniffer test without question. I have a 1974 FJ40.
Also, am I the only one running collector plates on these older rigs? I had to pay for 5 years on my plates up front ($100 for all 5 years) but I am now exempt from emissions testing again.
Also, am I the only one running collector plates on these older rigs? I had to pay for 5 years on my plates up front ($100 for all 5 years) but I am now exempt from emissions testing again.
The 35" tire no-no rule is only for the dyno test. The safety rollers that are backup in case something let loose are not designed for tires that big. I have no problem throwing on e-tires myself.....I would feel horrible if it was my truck that was responsible for killing bystanders or doing property damage just because the droid doing the test ignored safety rules!
True UB, it's really a safety issue based on the design of the machinery. Technically it would be a strict measurement, too bad people are too lazy to actually measure the tires when they come in.
MtnTrucker - I and several others I know have the collector plates, but this thread is for mostly the 80s that are too pretty and new to have collector plates...
MtnTrucker - I and several others I know have the collector plates, but this thread is for mostly the 80s that are too pretty and new to have collector plates...
Well, my 80 finally passed emissions. Here's the story.
PRELUDE
After CM08, my CATs were leaking worse than ever. So I took it over to my favorite muffler shop, AA Performance on So. Broadway. They cut our my old CATs and welded in a new one. Yes, one. They assured me that a single modern CAT would do the job of my two Toyota CATs. No more exhaust leak, plus much more clearance with the CAT welded in horizontal rather than vertical. All is happy.
TEST VISIT ONE
In October, I motored over to the local testing facility on S. Colorado Blvd. They measured my tires. I was just under the size limit. When they actually put it on the rollers, however, my front tires sat right on the front rollers, which are designed to keep the tires from jumping off the whole assembly. They said that it would likely climb right off the assembly during the test, and the older Cruisers were especially prone to climbing. I agreed to come back with smaller tires. They were very nice about it.
NEXT STEP
Jeff Zettl swapped tires with me. His Toyo 285 tires are roughly 33" vs. my 315 Mickey Thompson tires which are more like 34".
TEST VISIT TWO
The next day, I visited the local testing facility on S. Colorado Blvd. again. They put it on the rollers, and it was fine to be tested. Unfortunately, it failed emissions.
NEXT STEP
My next step was to replace my O2 sensors. I had been getting a code that indicated that these were not functioning up to par. Two OEM sensors plus some bungs from Slee and I was ready for the next test.
TEST VISIT THREE
Failed again. The NOx went down, but the CO went up. Crap.
NEXT STEP
Got my Cruiser checked out by Toy Car Care, who have worked some emissions magic for me in the past on my 40. Their diagnosis: replace the single CAT with the OEM dual CATs. A quick call to Cruiser Dan confirmed that there was no way I was going to purchase OEM CATs. Retail price = $2,000. CDan price = $1500. But that's still a lot of coin.
NEXT STEP
Back to AA. They weld in a second CAT behind the first. Scott at AA tests the functioning of the CATs with a heat gun. The first CAT increases the exhaust temp by 50° and the second CAT increases it by another 100°, for a total of 150°. He seems confident that my problems will be solved.
TEST VISIT FOUR
First, I drove hard and fast to Castle Pines and back to get everything heated up to full temps. Then, back to the local testing facility on S. Colorado Blvd. At this point, I have a personal relationship with the guy who is driving my vehicle for the test. In fact, when a young guy whipped out his yard stick to measure Jeff's tires on my 80, the driver walked over and said, "This one's OK." The big yellow hook on the end of my winch rope has become my personal visual signature to the testing crew, apparently.
The test took forever, and I was sure I had failed. But... SUCCESS! My 80 passed with flying colors! The driver actually hugged me. Seriously, he did. I think he kind of identified with me (and he seemed to know a few things about Cruisers). After all of this, I was going to fail the gas cap test, but they faked that when I promised to immediately go buy a new one.
MORAL OF THE STORY
The 80 needs two CATs. At least, mine does.
Only another 12 years until my 80 qualifies for historical plates, right?
PRELUDE
After CM08, my CATs were leaking worse than ever. So I took it over to my favorite muffler shop, AA Performance on So. Broadway. They cut our my old CATs and welded in a new one. Yes, one. They assured me that a single modern CAT would do the job of my two Toyota CATs. No more exhaust leak, plus much more clearance with the CAT welded in horizontal rather than vertical. All is happy.
TEST VISIT ONE
In October, I motored over to the local testing facility on S. Colorado Blvd. They measured my tires. I was just under the size limit. When they actually put it on the rollers, however, my front tires sat right on the front rollers, which are designed to keep the tires from jumping off the whole assembly. They said that it would likely climb right off the assembly during the test, and the older Cruisers were especially prone to climbing. I agreed to come back with smaller tires. They were very nice about it.
NEXT STEP
Jeff Zettl swapped tires with me. His Toyo 285 tires are roughly 33" vs. my 315 Mickey Thompson tires which are more like 34".
TEST VISIT TWO
The next day, I visited the local testing facility on S. Colorado Blvd. again. They put it on the rollers, and it was fine to be tested. Unfortunately, it failed emissions.
NEXT STEP
My next step was to replace my O2 sensors. I had been getting a code that indicated that these were not functioning up to par. Two OEM sensors plus some bungs from Slee and I was ready for the next test.
TEST VISIT THREE
Failed again. The NOx went down, but the CO went up. Crap.
NEXT STEP
Got my Cruiser checked out by Toy Car Care, who have worked some emissions magic for me in the past on my 40. Their diagnosis: replace the single CAT with the OEM dual CATs. A quick call to Cruiser Dan confirmed that there was no way I was going to purchase OEM CATs. Retail price = $2,000. CDan price = $1500. But that's still a lot of coin.
NEXT STEP
Back to AA. They weld in a second CAT behind the first. Scott at AA tests the functioning of the CATs with a heat gun. The first CAT increases the exhaust temp by 50° and the second CAT increases it by another 100°, for a total of 150°. He seems confident that my problems will be solved.
TEST VISIT FOUR
First, I drove hard and fast to Castle Pines and back to get everything heated up to full temps. Then, back to the local testing facility on S. Colorado Blvd. At this point, I have a personal relationship with the guy who is driving my vehicle for the test. In fact, when a young guy whipped out his yard stick to measure Jeff's tires on my 80, the driver walked over and said, "This one's OK." The big yellow hook on the end of my winch rope has become my personal visual signature to the testing crew, apparently.
The test took forever, and I was sure I had failed. But... SUCCESS! My 80 passed with flying colors! The driver actually hugged me. Seriously, he did. I think he kind of identified with me (and he seemed to know a few things about Cruisers). After all of this, I was going to fail the gas cap test, but they faked that when I promised to immediately go buy a new one.
MORAL OF THE STORY
The 80 needs two CATs. At least, mine does.
Only another 12 years until my 80 qualifies for historical plates, right?
Bikeman
Hard Core 4+
My NOx is slowly creeping up. That's valuable info since Scott does all my work at A&A.