What makes a titled Jeep a legal Jeep?

Flivver250

Flivver250

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Here is a poser. If I have a titled Jeep with a rusted frame, I can replace the frame and it is still the same jeep. If the tub then is funky, I can replace the tub and it is still the same Jeep. If after that I decide it needs a new engine and tranny and swap it out, it is still the same Jeep? What determines the DNA of the Jeep? Assuming the DMV is ancestry.com for vehicles, what marker do they look for when they validate vehicular genealogy?
 
There’s so many loopholes. The one issue that you may face thought is having the right pcm. When you go
To do a inspection they plug into the obd2 port. Your vin will b in the computer. If that doesn’t match you won’t be able to get it through a inspection. That’s why engine swaps are difficult post 96 model year in some states.
The new loophole that people are exploiting is taking old Volkswagen Beetle body’s and putting them on top of Polaris rzr’s to make them street legal.
 
Flivver250 said:
Here is a poser. If I have a titled Jeep with a rusted frame, I can replace the frame and it is still the same jeep. If the tub then is funky, I can replace the tub and it is still the same Jeep. If after that I decide it needs a new engine and tranny and swap it out, it is still the same Jeep? What determines the DNA of the Jeep? Assuming the DMV is ancestry.com for vehicles, what marker do they look for when they validate vehicular genealogy?
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I can only speak to Arizona rules. The vin on the tub is the vehicle. It doesn't matter what else you have in it. I have heard of people useing 1966 model pickup cabs and putting them on newer frames. In Arizona no emissions required. No engine restrictions. On 1966 and older vehicles

An example of this. If you put a 97 SE tub on a 2006 Rubicon frame. Its a 97 SE.

You need to find out what your local (state) rules are.
 
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There is only 1 legal vin number and that is the one you see through the windshield, the others can identify things like stolen frames but the one on the title is the one on the dash.
 
Alabama here...post #1 described about every car in the yard for decades.
 
astjp2 said:
There is only 1 legal vin number and that is the one you see through the windshield, the others can identify things like stolen frames but the one on the title is the one on the dash.
Click to expand...

This is probably "kind of" true for some vehicles in some places (states), but Flivver250 asked about Jeeps in general and I think any vehicle would get treated the same depending on the year and where it is.

For example, I'm in Ohio and my CJ5 is titled as a 1977. When I first built it, it was probably 75% 1972(ish) but had the 1977 VIN plate screwed to the fiberglass firewall, the 1977 dashboard with the VIN sticker (never visible through the windshield) and the entire 1977 wiring harness. By the time I got it back (20 years later) that dashboard is long gone and all that's left is the VIN plate on the firewall.
 
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