Where is the FMVSS or DOT sticker/placard located?

[traveller]

Where is this sticker located in the RV? I can't find it. I'm selling my 2005 Baja from Canada to the US and my buyer says he can't import it unless he can show them the sticker. It's a manufacturer's sticker with the vehicle weight, VIN number, Serial number etc on it. If you have any Chinook post-2000 and know where your sticker is, please let me know. We have looked inside and out and can't find it.

[Manitou]

Check the forward wall in the closet.

[traveller]

Thanks Manitou. Stickers are concentrated around the driver's door frame and the front wall of the closet as far as I can see. But I can't find the final FMVSS sticker from Chinook, though I can find a Ford sticker for an incomplete vehicle and an intermediate sticker from Quigley, the 4wd installer.

[Blue~Go]

I couldn't see the attachment you posted (I guess I can't load docx?), and I wasn't sure exactly which sticker was the FMVSS. Just in case this helps anyone else to help you, I looked this up. This is from Carfax EU, to help their customers determine if a vehicle was manufactured to US standards.

There are three easy ways to find out whether or not the vehicle you would like to buy has US car specifications:

Open the door on the driver's side of the vehicle. Inside of the doorjamb, you will find the FMVSS sticker or placard. This will display several pieces of information, such as the manufacturing date, as well as a legend affirming that the vehicle complies with all applicable standards, which were in force on the date the vehicle was manufactured. Only vehicles with US car specifications will have this sticker.

Another way to find out if a vehicle has US car specifications is to inspect the vehicle’s headlights and taillights. If the vehicle hasn’t already undergone any headlight modifications (which are required in many European countries before vehicle registration can take place), you will find the three letters: “DOT,” as well as an identification number, stamped on the surface of the lighting enclosure.

Finally, you may also use the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN), which is normally located on the bottom corner of the windshield on the driver’s side, to identify if the vehicle has US car specifications. All vehicles manufactured after 1981 will have this 17-digit VIN. Getting a CARFAX Vehicle History Report will provide you with all the relevant information about the vehicle, as well as whether or not it has any potentially negative history (e.g. flood damage, an odometer rollback, or salvage title).

So if you don't have an FMVSS sticker, perhaps the VIN could help? Obviously if your rig was made at Trail Wagons in Yakima WA, it was made in the US. I don't know that Chinook ever made any vehicles specifically for export to Canada. Was your rig ever titled in the US previously? Does it have MPH as the primary numbers on the speedometer?

I am not at my rig, but I can't specifically remember an FMVSS sticker on mine either. And yet it was made in the US and I bought it from the original owner who bought and only registered it in the US. The information in the closet wasn't anything horribly official as I remember it (just a paper thing). I do have the Ford sticker on the door jamb (incomplete vehicle sticker). Just can't remember now if I have anything else. Maybe I do. But if not, maybe none of us do, since they ONLY made vehicles to US standards (presuming this is true). Maybe there is only an FMVSS sticker if the maker WAS making vehicles for export?

Does anyone else have one of these on the door jamb? If no-one does, then perhaps this is not a strike against your rig but just the way it goes if you have a US made, US RV built, for US purchase vehicle?

Edited to add: I'm with a buddy on a trip in his (huge!) other-brand RV now. Ha, I have my own room even. (But my Chinook is a lot more fun to drive ). It's similar to ours in that it is a Ford E-450 cutaway, and the RV maker is in the US, and as far as I know only makes RV's to US spec. But there IS an FMVSS sticker. It's a squarish sticker on the outside of the rig, something like 4" x 3", and has the brand name of the RV, plus "CERTIFICATION This Vehicle Conforms to all Applicable Federal Motor Vehicle safety Standards." Then an ID No., Serial No. Model no. and Year. There is a Plan Approval No blank which just has an X in it.

I also just looked at some photos I took of two non-Chinook RV (also US made) that I looked at for a potential purchase. Both same brand. One had a placard (riveted to outside of vehicle) that claimed it met all applicable Federal Vehicle Standards. Then it said "Information on this unit appears on the technical data sheet inside the unit." That would seem to be the paper closet type sticker. The other had a similar thing on the inside but it was just a sticker. However it was still separate from the bigger closet type sticker that has more details.

Also BTW, I found a photograph I took of the closet sticker in my Concourse. Nothing about Federal Vehicle Standards specifically, like the other ones I've seen (on other brand rigs).

So now it seems as though we must have one. But where? I mean, it's not like Chinook was some fly-by-night company that only operated for a year and might not have figured out what they were supposed to do. Now I wish I were at my rig! So curious.

[caconcourse]

Where is this sticker located in the RV? I can't find it. I'm selling my 2005 Baja from Canada to the US and my buyer says he can't import it unless he can show them the sticker. It's a manufacturer's sticker with the vehicle weight, VIN number, Serial number etc on it. If you have any Chinook post-2000 and know where your sticker is, please let me know. We have looked inside and out and can't find it.

There should be a Ford sticker inside the driver's door jamb with the VIN, date of manufacture, and load ratings etc. There is also a sticker under the hood in front of the battery showing engine compliance certification for the US (50 state, especially California emission compliance and OBDII). Since it is a Ford vehicle, that should be enough for your buyer to register and sell it in the US.

Clay

[Blue~Go]

I think perhaps the potential issue is that vehicles like ours (cutaway RV) come with an "incomplete vehicle" doorjamb sticker from Ford (or other brand). Therefore, there is some responsibility on the part of the "completer" (RV mfgr.) to complete the vehicle to certain standards. Hence the additional sticker or etc.

[traveller]

Hey Blue~Go! Your comments got me thinking. I was looking inside and on the doorframe because that's what's online. Outside, under the ladder on the back there's a small oval sticker which certifies compliance with the standard for recreational vehicles. It's an RVIA (Recreational Vehicle Industrial Association) sticker with an embossed number on it. I bet this does the trick! I will let you know if US Customs accepts it.

For everybody's information US customs will not allow a vehicle into the US without a manufacturer's sticker testifying to the vehicle's safety. An incomplete vehicle sticker is not enough.

This forum rocks! I've had lots of help from many people over the years.

Blue~Go, if this works a couple of families will be very grateful!

[traveller]

Bad news - the RVIA sticker cannot be substituted for the FMSS sticker. My buyer tells me that Customs tells him that the vehicle cannot be re-imported into the US without the FMSS sticker. After scouring the Baja for stickers I am very sure I do not have one. Blue~Go and anyone else, would you be willing to look for a final FMSS sticker on your RV?

[traveller]

Final FMSS Sticker - example.docx

(195.94 KiB) Downloaded 519 times

Bad news - the RVIA sticker cannot be substituted for the FMSS sticker. My buyer tells me that Customs tells him that the vehicle cannot be re-imported into the US without the FMSS sticker. After scouring the Baja for stickers I am very sure I do not have one. Blue~Go and anyone else, would you be willing to look for a final FMSS sticker on your RV?

[caconcourse]

The attachment Final FMSS Sticker - example.docx is no longer available

Bad news - the RVIA sticker cannot be substituted for the FMSS sticker. My buyer tells me that Customs tells him that the vehicle cannot be re-imported into the US without the FMSS sticker. After scouring the Baja for stickers I am very sure I do not have one. Blue~Go and anyone else, would you be willing to look for a final FMSS sticker on your RV?

Hi Traveller,

I did some searching and found our 2001 Concourse FMSS sticker you are looking for. It is on the inside edge of the driver door (not the frame). It's pretty faded like the other Trail Wagon stickers, but I think this is what you need. See picture:

Clay