- Location
- Southern Maryland
The basic rule of MD inspection is if you have something installed then it must be safe and functional. EG if you have fog lights they have to work and not be held on with tape.
I notice fellow MD'ers on the thread. I have a 91XJ I moved here when I re-located a couple years ago. ITs time to get under the hood again, and I see lifts, etc. I've been told MD inspection is quite rigourous on mods. Anyone care to share their experiences? Advice?
Hooray. Can't wait to take my 4 rigs through this inspection. Especially my 1988 MJ that was originally equipped with a 4.0L and now has an OBDII 5.9L in it...
NJ was pretty strict on inspections a few years ago and I failed for some pretty stupid stuff, like a "loose" steering box, cracked turn signal lens that still was completely functional and a fender flare that was apparently not bolted down correctly and could fly off and kill someone in a moments notice - yea, it was loose, but that's because some idiot backed into the rear corner of my XJ and now there is a gap between the body and the flare.
Luckily for buyers of 10+ year old Jeeps like myself who know their rigs have little quirks that you just get use to, NJ decided they have no money and couldn't afford the long hours Motor Vehicle personnel were putting into doing these rigorous inspections, so they completely cut all of the safety stuff out and we're left with two tests - plug a scanner into the OBDII port and check for codes (or do a fart sniffer test if it's pre-ODBII) and check the fuel cap to see if it holds a certain pressure for a period of time. I recently took my XJ through with cracked windshield that impaired my view and there wasn't a thing they could do about it. Kind of made me feel good for all of those years of failing for stupid stuff. Unfortunately, the police officer in my town wasn't nearly as kind and issued me a $50 ticket for it![]()
one word... historic tags. no emissions, no inspection. youre welcome.
not even that. you get insurance on said vehicle (i.e. mines an 87) walk into dmv, register as historic, and boom. you got yourself a plated vehicle. none of this paying for temp tags to get it inspected, $50 to inspect and then hope they dont nit pick.
not saying you shouldnt make sure the safety equipment works... definitely a good idea, just no one besides you to check up on it.
my advice - get it inspected before lifting it if it's not already. You only have to do it once, and yes, it's an extremely intense inspection covering basically everything.
If it's already lifted, you need to make sure the ground to bottom of bumper is within spec (28" max). Also need to make sure you have fender flares covering most of the tires. I think you get about 1" leeway from the outside edge of the tread before it has to be covered.
State police roll a penny off of your fender/flare. If it hits outside of the lugs/tread pattern you are legal. If it hits lug/tread you have a ticket.
Actually it's a quarter :twak:
MD will flag that stuff too. Everything has to be functional and safe. If you can't make it do that then either fix it or remove it prior to inspection. They don't care about the backstory either--it's your pos fix it or sell itNJ was pretty strict on inspections a few years ago and I failed for some pretty stupid stuff, like a "loose" steering box, cracked turn signal lens that still was completely functional and a fender flare that was apparently not bolted down correctly and could fly off and kill someone in a moments notice - yea, it was loose, but that's because some idiot backed into the rear corner of my XJ and now there is a gap between the body and the flare.