Homemade trailer required to have fenders in Texas??

allisonandrews · 04-07-2006, 12:09 PM

Does anyone know if a trailer is required to have fenders in Texas? My husband was told that it was the law by a friend. I am yet to find anything addressing this issue yet.

The trailer is already registered and we can order the fenders online. I just want to know if it is the law.

Thanks.

zilla · 04-07-2006, 12:30 PM

When one of mine fenders broke off I was told by a local inspection station that they were not required. I'm not 100% sure though. Call a local trailer company to make sure.

allisonandrews · 04-07-2006, 12:32 PM

Thanks.

Everything I am seeing is making me think they are not required. I can find all sort of info about mud flaps, etc. being required if there are 4 tires on the rear most axel.

I see trailers without fenders all the time, so that is what made me question my husband originally.

cleglue · 04-07-2006, 01:18 PM

You said it is register. Does that mean you were issue a license plate? I would think if you have a license plate issued you wouldn't need fenders.

My father-in-law built be a trailer a few year back and it doesn't have fenders. I had to take it to the highway patrol for inspection before I was given numbers to stamp on the tongue and axle then go to the license plate agency to get the tags. Now with all that said, I live in North Carolina.

allisonandrews · 04-07-2006, 01:20 PM

Yes, here in TX, registering it was no problem because it is under 4100 lbs. All we had to do was fill out a sheet of paper with type, trailer weight, and load weight. They told us just to estimate. 500lb trailer, 1000lbs carried. Total due was $40.25. Handed us the plates.

allisonandrews · 04-07-2006, 03:54 PM

UPDATE:

After many many calls, we finally got an answer from someone at the highway patrol. The answer is no.

So, for anyone who is building a homemade trailer in Texas, you are not required to have fenders on it.

oompappy · 04-07-2006, 06:44 PM

Fenders are a nice Option.
Lot less road-spray & an extra seat!

allisonandrews · 04-10-2006, 12:24 PM

Yes - we do plan to add them eventually. We probably will either fab our own when we are adding the wood box or buy online where the kind we want aren't $50 each.

We have an event in two weeks and we just needed to find out if we had to get something on there before then or if we could take our time and do it right.