Anyone in the Dallas area know where to get an "inspection" sticker?

[timjt]

true.. not exactly a budget-in-mind project. My suggestion is buy a pre 83 truck

[Yo!]

Guh. My plan was to get a SWB in the first place!

[timjt]

I had an 83 custom delux that I Looooved but my first love told me it was costing us too much money and i needed to spend more time on her 85, sooooo here I am with a Lwb 85 and just fond memories of the swb. The manual brakes were a pain in the ars so I don't miss it all that much.

[jorgensensc]

Hey,
I would really suggest just taking it in and trying it out. You might be supprised! Don't lean it out too much and damage your engine!! Go and drive it for awhile before you go down there, get it nice and hot before you go. I would just take it to a small shop somewhere and act like its no big deal. You might be suprised! The standards were kinda high and they don't expect them to perform like it did from the factory. I once rove an '83 truck (years ago) up to denton to get inspected when I lived in dallas. Right near the college. This old timer drove my barely runnig truck around the block, looked at me and said you need a tune up. I said yessir, then he put the sticker on my windsheild. The kicker was as he was doing this some one else came in and said" Hey there, "BOB", hows it going? he said fine, whats up? well you know that darn sticker fell off my windsheild again. He said, noproblem, I'll get you another!" My how things have changed!!

[BB72CHEVKT]

They are supposed to do a visual test for the cats. I learned this the hard way many years ago with a square body I was driving at the time. I told them I was not going to pay until I walked around the corner and ran into a trooper standing there.

[Schneids]

If you have your truck registered in Dallas County then you have to have it inspected in Dallas County. Now ask me how I know...

[Yo!]

Hahaha yep. I called a few places out in Sherman and they do safety only. But my insurance and my registration is in Dallas, so they'll probably send me away. My mechanic friend said to go to Post, TX. HA. HA. That's right outside Lubbock. I'll spend $200 collectively on the sticker and gas.

On another note, why is that 2.5" in/out cats on summit are $55, yet they're $150 from pep boys? Doesn't make sense. I found another shop that wants $75 per cat.

I called my mechanic buddy at a Dunlop Swain Texaco here in Dallas. He told me the gist about smog and how things are run nowadays. Said the owner had an old Honda that was running like crap, so they'd put another vehicle on for the sniffer every year for it's sticker.

The DPS sent them a letter and said the smog readings from that vehicle matched that of another (the dummy car used for the smog test) and to resubmit the test! SO, the DPS keeps the smog readings of every vehicle inspected, and if it cross references another vehicle they'll make you re-smog it. So, the days of buying stickers free and clear appear to be long gone. GD computers.

[shiner2001]

I keep all my "iffy" trucks titled in a non emissions county (legally, at another residence), so I haven't had to fight the smog Nazis in awhile, but I believe there is an affidavit you can sign if you get a vehicle that is registered in an emissions county inspected in a non-emissions county. I THINK this is the case, but I'm not sure. From what I remember, the affidavit says that the vehicle is driven predominantly in a non-emissions county. Of course, if that's not true, then it's just like having a fake sticker...illegal. And I could be mistaken and this is no longer the way things are done, not too sure. I do know that on my Wrangler (91), I had to install a cat even though it is titled in a non-emissions county simply because from the factory, a 91 Wrangler had a cat. The drivetrain is out of an 01 Blazer, so I thought they might let me go since I had done an engine swap, but 3 different places looked underneath immediately and said, "nope." The rule is that if it had them from the factory, they have to have them now. Even if I was running the drivetrain from a Model T, the VIN of the vehicle is all that matters. I had it inspected for several years without a cat, but all the sudden, one year, everyone was checking. Apparently the state is really cracking down on the inspection stations and it's not worth the $12 they get for an inspection to look the other way anymore. I used to go to a place that ran you through for an inspection faster than you could get a cheeseburger at the drive thru down the street, but even there they don't let anything slide anymore. In the past, I heard things like, "Well, that horn worked when you pulled in...didn't it?" "Yes sir, it sure did." And out the door with a sticker. Alas, those days are gone, so like everyone else said, it may be time to bite the bullet and fix what needs fixin'.