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Emission laws in Texas ?

801 views 9 replies 7 participants last post by  75' Forty 
#1 ·
I am from Az and dont have to worry about any smog crap, but may be moving to the Dallas/fortworth area in a few months, how strict are the smog laws for offroad and on road vehicles? Im wondering if i should register my 89 xj buggy for 5 years before i move so i dont have to deal with it, it will be towed to the trail so im not worried so much on road, but my wife does have a 95 suburban that might have trouble passing smog, so we might have to sell that before leaving and get her something newer. Any tx residents please chime in with your insight on potential problems or just give me a general run down of the smog process there. Thanks.
 
#2 ·
Its just a plug in check for obdII and the tailpipe sniffer for anything else. As long as your vehicles have been properly maintained you'll pass. There is a good shop if you are in the hurst area that can throw a cat on for a good price. Mine ran ~$150 installed.

Sent from the road while ignoring traffic
 
#3 ·
Is the Sub OBDI or OBDII??

'95 was a changeover year, so it can go either way. If it is OBDI it will need to go on the rollers and do a sniffer from the tailpipe. Not a big deal: If you are worried, drop in some fresh plugs, run the piss out of it down the freeway and then take in once it is good and hot.

If it is OBDII, they will plug into the DLC and check for codes and various systems being in the "ready" state. basically, if there is no check engine light and you haven't dissconnected the battery in a while, you will be fine.

The '89 XJ will go under the OBDI rules and would normally go on the rollers (dyno), BUT it is 4wd, so it will only get the 2 speed sniff test, not the various speed roller test. A little easier of a test. Oh, if the Sub is 4wd, same thing with the dyno.

No matter what, make sure all lights work, you have your insurance card, make sure all emission equiptment is in place including cat, tires are good and brakes work. Fairly simple overall.
 
#7 · (Edited)
I'll be honest, I like our inspections for the most part. Hell, once a year is all most people ever get their vehicles looked at anyways. At least the lights will work for a little bit after the inspection. :shaking:

As far as the emissions; I don't think Texas is real hard on vehicles, it could be worse. I only feel bad for those '80s to early 90s vehicles that were not that good when they came off the showroom, much less 20+ years later.


surban is odb1 and only has 135k, i can put a new cat on it and do a tune up. Jeep has an 90 yj 4.2 with the 89 4.0 head and renix injections setup with no cat and a cherry bomb it runs great but i dont know if it will pass, and as for the saftey inspection, the xj has been cut in half behind front doors, back halfed with tubing, has 1 tons and h1s recentered and is 86 and 1/2 in wide with no mud flaps or flairs over the wheels, no working speedo, no doors, so i dont see them passing it. But in Arizona i can get it registered here for 5 years and it will only be driven on trails in texas, in less than 5 years i will probably strip it and build a tj,cj,or yj with my running gear that will be easier to get thru inspection. Thanks for info, glad to hear its not a strict process like california. Any good wheeling (rock crawling) in the dallas area im not much into mudding, mainly rocks, im looking at palces in denton, little elm, mckinney, frisco areas.
A new cat and a tune up, you should be good to go on the Sub. It sounds like too much to do to the XJ to make it pass given it's only going to really be trail use.

Barnwell Mountains is where you will want to go. :smokin: Barnwell Mountain Recreation Area
 
#6 ·
surban is odb1 and only has 135k, i can put a new cat on it and do a tune up. Jeep has an 90 yj 4.2 with the 89 4.0 head and renix injections setup with no cat and a cherry bomb it runs great but i dont know if it will pass, and as for the saftey inspection, the xj has been cut in half behind front doors, back halfed with tubing, has 1 tons and h1s recentered and is 86 and 1/2 in wide with no mud flaps or flairs over the wheels, no working speedo, no doors, so i dont see them passing it. But in Arizona i can get it registered here for 5 years and it will only be driven on trails in texas, in less than 5 years i will probably strip it and build a tj,cj,or yj with my running gear that will be easier to get thru inspection. Thanks for info, glad to hear its not a strict process like california. Any good wheeling (rock crawling) in the dallas area im not much into mudding, mainly rocks, im looking at palces in denton, little elm, mckinney, frisco areas.
 
#9 ·
AFAIK that smog bullshit only applies to the major metro areas but it's not as bad as Kaliphornya. I've always had my stuff registered in rural counties and my old Ford has a catalyst exempt sticker anyways. :grinpimp:
 
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