Hey! This post is part of our Nationwide Street Legal UTV Guide that shows you how to make a UTV street legal from start to finish.
UTVs are just plain fun. Whether you're racing down fire roads in a Polaris RZR or working the farm in a Kawasaki Mule, side-by-sides make off-roading look like child’s play. They require half the mastery of a dirt bike and they do twice the amount of work as a four-wheeler.
They do have one limitation, though: they are rarely street legal.
While not an issue for farmers and ranchers, it can be difficult for townsfolk and city dwellers to find a safe and legal place to drive their side-by-sides. Once you find a suitable location, you still have to load the UTV on a trailer and transport it there so its wheels never touch a public road. That laborious process takes a serious chunk of time – time better spent riding – and requires a significant investment in a tow rig.
What if we told you that you can make any UTV street legal?
While you can’t just walk into the DMV and get a plate, it can be done.
It is possible to modify your UTV to make it street legal, but we’ll be upfront with you: it isn’t going to be easy unless you go through us.
Dirt Legal was founded on the principle that off-road toys should be allowed anywhere and everywhere. We take care of the DMV paperwork and red tape to get you a title, registration, and license plate for your UTV or side by side as fast as humanly possible.
Of course, you could do it without our help.
Legalizing a side-by-side is as complicated as registering a dirt bike, or even more so. To be street legal, a UTV must meet most of the same safety standards as a car, and there are several modifications that you will have to make to your stock side-by-side.
We’ll look at all these things in a moment, but first let’s answer a burning question.
Sure, your local Johnny Law might be in the habit of turning a blind eye to UTVs and side by sides. But it’s always best to ensure you’re completely legal when you’re on the road so that you’re protected in a worst-case scenario. A great resource for this topic is UTV Action Magazine’s 2019 post on the matter.
As of 2019, almost every state which allows UTVs to be driven on public roads restricts their speed to under 40 MPH. Some states like Nevada restrict your paved road usage to towns with a certain population, while others like South Dakota will only allow you to ride during certain events, like Sturgis.
If something were to happen and insurance were to get involved, you would want to be as legal as humanly possible to avoid being sued to the moon and back.
That means doing the following:
Unless your local laws say otherwise, without basic street legal parts it's not legal to drive a UTV on the road where you live.
We’ll get to those parts in a minute, but first let’s pack our bags and travel to Florida.
It behooves people considering a street-legal conversion to know the local laws where they intend to operate their side-by-side. This will be no small investment, and you shouldn’t make it lightly.
The state of Florida divides off-road vehicles into a few distinct categories. In Florida, the side-by-side vehicles we are concerned about are officially called recreational off-highway vehicles (ROV). We use the terms side-by-side, UTV, and ROV interchangeably. Four wheelers are called ATVs, while dirt bikes are called off-highway motorcycles (OHM). Other classifications exist for low-speed vehicles and golf carts.
What do Ludacris, Channing Tatum, Guy Fieri, and most retirees have in common? They all drive golf carts.
Jan 16, 2018The same issues arise when registering UTVs as any of the other groups — title issues being among the most common. Any community in Florida may have its own standards regarding the use of UTVs on public roads.
Of course, Florida has its golf course communities, its beachfront communities, its island communities, and its party towns like Ft. Myers and West Palm Beach. Each community may have its own rules and standards regarding the use of UTVs and ROVs on public roads.
And regardless of what state you’re in, chances are there’s somewhere you can ride a UTV on public roads legally. Trouble is, those places are few and far between.
Not to mention, there’s a bigger question at hand.
Before we look at the individual components your vehicle will need, and before you set out driving your UTV on the open road, we should talk about its chief limitations compared to car or truck.
Problem: You could be left stranded in stop-and-go traffic by an inadequate charging system.
Normal road-going vehicles have charging systems that put out enough amperage to power a slew of components and still charge their comparatively large batteries. Not so for the typical UTV.
That’s because a side-by-side normally has a charging system more akin to a motorcycle’s. These stator-based charging systems usually produce at most 30 amps, which is then divvied up among the accessories. The leftover amperage is all that is available to charge the battery, and that is assuming the RPM are kept high enough for the stator to produce full power— typically about 3000 RPM.
Solution: Solutions to amperage starvation include installing an alternator, adding a secondary battery, or upgrading to a higher-output stator.
It’s far better to do things right and ensure at least 60 amps of available power in your UTV. Hammering the throttle around town to keep your charge up is sure to get the wrong kind of attention from John Q. Law.
Problem: You won’t win a fight against a Silverado.
That might sound obvious, but it’s something people rarely think about once they’re on the open road.
It’s the same with classic cars, motorcycles, and go karts: once you’re moving, your worries tend to fade away. That’s what these vehicles are supposed to do, after all, and they do it well. And while some UTVs are truly just as fast and maneuverable as modern cars are, and some even have safe roll cages that outperform passenger cars of old, many UTVs simply pale in comparison to a modern vehicle in terms of passenger safety.
Not to mention, UTVs can roll over far more easily.
Safety is the top reason why UTVs are rarely street legal from the factory. Besides emissions, it’s a lack of occupant safety which keeps these vehicles relegated to the dirt, sand, and mud.
Solution: Install as many street safety parts as possible. Parts like horns, head restraints, lap belts, and blinkers. Beyond that, be aware of other drivers at all times and try to drive like your grandmother is in the passenger’s seat.
Problem: Some UTVs have permanently locked differentials which are difficult to drive on pavement.
A differential is a system of gears that allows the outside drive wheel to turn faster than the inside drive wheel when a vehicle is turning. Because the outside wheel has farther to travel than the inside wheel on an arc, it must turn faster to maintain stability. Without a differential, the drive wheels would always turn at the same speed, possibly resulting in a loss of traction.
Many UTVs have locking differentials, which allow the operator to “lock” the wheels together so that they may rotate at the same speed. The system works well in the dirt, as when one wheel loses traction the other can hook up and compensate. Once on pavement again, the traction issue arises.
Though the majority of UTVs have locking differentials, a few models are in a permanently locked configuration. While this is not an issue when it comes to registering a UTV to be street legal, it is a safety concern that anyone looking to operate one on the streets should consider.
Solution: The operator must unlock the differential to maintain control of the vehicle when on the road. There are also conversion kits on the aftermarket that can turn a locked differential into a limited-slip differential for a modest investment of both time and money.
If you’re still reading this article, there’s no talking you out of it. You madman!
Here are the basic parts you need to make a UTV street legal anywhere in the United States. Many of these mods will come in handy on the trails as well, so check out this list and see what parts you need to make your UTV street legal.
Most of the parts you’ll need are available in our store!
This list is not comprehensive. Check your local laws and regulations before driving a UTV on public roads.
Odds are any side-by-side will already have factory headlights installed, but those lights may not be bright enough for nighttime highway use. For example, Florida law requires your headlights to shine 150 feet down the road on low beam and 450 feet with the high beams engaged.
Installing brighter headlight options like HID lights will ensure your UTV meets your state’s requirements. These lights help you see farther down a darkened road so that you can identify hazards more quickly. Bright lights save lives in more ways than one, though.
As any motorcyclist will tell you, headlights get you noticed and prevent accidents. The two most common motorcycle accident scenarios, head on and left turns, fell precipitously in every state where the always-on headlight law went into effect. It works so well that the daytime headlight is now ubiquitous on motorcycles.
Much like a motorcycle, a UTV will be an oddity on the highway. Drivers are always scanning for common obstacles like cars, trucks and pedestrians. Oddities like motorcycles and UTVs — with their smaller profiles and generally dimmer lights — often go unnoticed. If the headlights on your side-by-side are not bright enough to command attention, consider upgrading even if they already meet the legal standards in your state.
And while headlamps themselves are a requirement, colored headlights (including blue and red) are illegal in most states even on street legal UTVs. The same goes for light bars and other extremely bright accessories. You’ll want to turn those off whenever you go on public roads.
Installing turn signals on a UTV is not as complicated as it might seem.
There is no need to run wires and crimp connections as was the case in the time of dune buggies. Today, there are turn signal kits available that contain everything you will need. Most come with a finished wiring harness as well as all the lights, indicators, fuses and relays to give the finished product a professional look.
UTV turn signal kits are usually simple to install. The wiring harness will likely follow the route of the existing harness throughout the vehicle.
Most UTVs have at least one key-on power source, such as a 12-volt accessory receptacle. Utilizing the power that goes to one of these sources makes for an easy installation while ensuring you can’t leave a signal on and drain the battery when you turn off the ignition.
The prices for UTV turn signal kits vary — from less than $50 to more than $150. The more expensive kits normally come with extras like a horn and horn button, turn signal relay and switch, and a light for the license plate. The license plate light is a requirement in many states, but remember Dirt Legal will take care of the tag!
Rear lights normally come standard on any quality UTV. However, should you need to install one, there are brake light kits you can purchase.
State laws may vary. For example, Florida law requires only one brake light on a vehicle. It must be visible from 300 feet away and it must contain a red reflector so others can see it if the bulb burns out. The state of Florida does not require reverse lights, but if they are present on your street legal UTV they can only emit white light.
It’s common practice to use LED pod lights for reverse lights. We can’t say that will be legal in every state, but it definitely helps you see where you’re going especially on a dark trail.
Most states will require some form of a horn.
The state of Florida requires that motor vehicles operated on highways be equipped with a horn that can be heard at a distance of 200 feet. Obviously, this rule is impossible to enforce as written, but it does mean the horn on a street legal UTV must be loud.
Aftermarket motorcycle parts stores are a great place to find horn kits that plug directly into your vehicle’s battery or charging system, but horns often come with UTV turn signal kits as well. Meeting your state’s horn requirement should be one of the simplest mods on your to-do list.
Most state laws require that motor vehicles operated on public highways be equipped with a laminated-glass windshield that is DOT approved.
The UTV aftermarket is thin when it comes to DOT-approved glass windshields, but they are out there. There is also an exemption to the windshield law in states like Florida which allows “implements of husbandry” to operate without a glass windshield, but arguing that a UTV meets this definition is iffy at best.
Even still, a glass windshield will provide better protection from the elements and from debris, so it is a wise investment for your street legal UTV. There may be alternatives to a glass windshield, just be sure that whatever you choose is approved by the department of transportation.
An eagle-eyed reader of our blog once pointed out that in some states like Florida, the law requires use of eye protection on any open-cockpit vehicle that wasn’t originally licensed as a road-going vehicle. That commenter probably has his eagle vision because he wears eye protection.
Your state may require a helmet and/or eye protection as well.
Often overlooked when converting a UTV to street legal are the tires.
Most off-road vehicles don't come stock with street legal DOT tires, therefore you will need to install DOT (Department of Transportation) approved tires to become road legal. Fortunately, they are easy to find online in many different sizes for your UTV and there are even some fairly aggressive off-road tires that are still street legal.
One way to tell if your tires are street legal is to look for a marking on the tires with the letters "DOT" meaning it has been certified by the DOT to be used on the streets. Using DOT tires will be much safer, won’t harm your off-road performance, and will prevent you from getting a ticket for illegal tires.
Once you get your new license plate through Dirt Legal, you’ll need to display it properly.
State laws often stipulate that a license plate can be no lower than 12 inches and no higher than 60 inches above the ground. It also must be situated no more than 24 inches to either side of the vehicle’s centerline and it may not swivel or move; it must be fixed.
There are many UTV license plate mounts and brackets on the internet. Just be sure the one you get puts your plate front and center and that nothing on the vehicle blocks any letter or number.
If the turn signal kit you chose did not include a license plate light, you will have to install one. These tiny lights produce only a small electrical draw, and installation is a breeze.
In states like Florida, residents legalizing a UTV for street use have it easy when it comes to mirrors.
Under Florida law, motor vehicles need have only one mirror. This mirror must reflect the road 200 feet behind the vehicle to the driver. Other states are more strict and may require the use of two or even three mirrors (one inside the cockpit).
There are aftermarket mirrors available that clamp onto the frame of a UTV, giving the driver a side-view mirror. These mirrors do create a blind spot directly behind the vehicle, so it is still smart to install a rear-view mirror inside the cabin.
Most UTVs come standard with a minimum of one lap belt for both driver and passenger. These seatbelts meet the minimum requirement of law for some states, but the openness of a UTV passenger compartment makes using a full-fledged safety harness is a better option.
Many of these racing-style harnesses will require a seat upgrade as well, but they are well worth the investment. UTVs are extremely light compared to most vehicles on the road, and they are already prone to roll-over collisions. A five-point harness gives you the best chance to remain inside the roll cage in the event of an accident.
Some states readily allow side-by-sides on their highways, and the aftermarket has grown to fill the niches this little market has created. Many states do not make it easy to register a UTV, but converting a UTV for street legal use is a relatively simple task.
Most of the modifications you’ll have to make are available in kit form, and the work can be done without tearing your UTV down to the frame.
The hardest part is on us.
Dirt Legal provides you with a title, license plate, and registration to help make your UTV street legal in any state. We require only some basic information from you to make this happen. It’ll still be on you to make sure your UTV meets all local laws and regulations about blinkers and so forth, but that’s a lot easier than dealing with the DMV. Trust us.
Sure, you could do it yourself. You could spend hours and hours poring over your state’s rules about making UTVs street legal, which will often change at the drop of a hat. You could cross your fingers that all your paperwork is correct the first time, because if it isn’t, you’ll be paying for it in cash and wasted time. And after all that, it could still go wrong.
Instead, give Dirt Legal a call when you’re ready to get on the road. We’ve been doing this for a long time and our process is the quickest and most painless way to make a UTV street legal. That’s backed by our 100% Money Back Guarantee – if we can’t make your UTV street legal, you get a full refund.
The open road awaits, and there’s some serious fun right around the corner.
