Interpretation ID: aiam4164
Sr. Supervising Engineer
Oshkosh Truck Corporation
P.O. Box 2566
Oshkosh
WI 54903-2566;
Dear Mr. Thekkanath: This is in reply to your letter of May 23, 1986, asking for a waive from compliance with the headlamp mounting height requirements of Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 108 with respect to prototype and future production trucks you have developed for military application.; No Federal motor vehicle safety standard applies to a vehicl manufactured for, and sold directly to, the Armed Forces of the United States in conformity with contractual specifications (Title 49 Code of Federal Regulations Sec. 571.7(c)). This means that the headlamps on production models of your military truck may be mounted higher than 54 inches without creating a noncompliance with Standard No. 108. If the truck is also sold for commercial applications, however, it would be required to conform with the 54-inch limitation.; Although the exception quoted above applies to vehicles manufacture for sale, the agency has no objection to limited use on the public roads of nonconforming prototype vehicles that have been developed expressly for sale to the Armed Forces of the United States.; Sincerely, Erika Z. Jones, Chief Counsel