TRANSPORTING A USED TRUCK

Go to your homw town DMV and ask for a temp plate for transport. They will ask for a vin and proof of insurance. You will need bobtail. You can get it thru progressive.
Signs will say if you need to stop at scales. It will say anything over 20k lbs must stop or ALL COMMERCIAL trucks...etc.
Just read the signs.
Each state is different.

As for the think in engine it can be one million and one things.
Asking on a forum what the tickin is would be equal to throwin a rock in a lake and hoping it hits a fish before it hits bottom.

I personally would pay someone money to inspect it. Google a local truck shop and ask for a basic drivablity inspection....or what ever kind of inspection you want. Personally I would get the full dyno, road test, shake down test, motor accessory check, battery check, suspension, rear ends, trans, cooling system, electrical, and oil and water analysis inspection.

That's just me.

Then change every filter and fluid in that truck. Engine water, engine oil and oil filter, water filter, rear end fluids, trans fluids, and THEN see if you still have a tick or have at least noticed something during your inspection that will lead you to the actual problem.

You have a few hundred pieces that move in and around that motor that can cause noise and still be drivable and you have some parts that if they make noise its cause they are about to break and if they break they can cause major problems....

So JUST PAY someone to inspect it and service it.

 

I got a ticket and OOS in Iowa driving a new glider truck home to IL. The cop claimed I should have had my company name and DOT# on the door or at least on a piece of paper taped to the window he could read.

I had an IN TRANSIT permit from IA, and insurance on the truck.

What I found out from this experience is the law is vague. FMCSA wording on what is considered a commercial vehicle says, "used in interstate commerce for the transportation of passengers or property". My opinion is that my truck was not a commercial vehicle as it had not been used to transport passengers or property. And it only becomes a commercial vehicle when you license it, pay 2290, put your lettering on, hook to a trailer and haul a load. However, it goes to show a cop can give you a very bad day and you would have to go to court far from home perhaps several times to defend your innocence. So all you can do is either completely make that truck legal for hire, with lettering, highway tax paid, UCR, 2290, IFTA and stickers, IRP, etc... before moving it. Or run outlaw, dodging scales. My case was dismissed, but not for merits, because it was continued and they didn't notify me. It's annoying, this question comes up all the time and there is a ton of misinformation out there. Everyone who got their truck home okay thinks they did it right. No, you just didn't run into an A hole cop.

 

each state is different.
sounds like you found and az hat of a trooper.

 

Dealer can provide an "In Transit" window sticker.

 

There's a few apps for smart phones that will tell you based on other drivers input if a scale is open or not. I've got one on my iPhone and it hasn't let me down yet. (we are e-logs and have a CVSA sticker from last quarter, so it isn't to dodge or duck the scales) It's more reliable than the ch 19.