What is legal in your state?

[muc the truck]

You'd want to check out the body lift as well - I probably wont be able to find it again, but something I read somewhere gave the impression that there was little scope in Qld for engineers certs as well

your permitted 50 mm body lift in qld certified. and 120mm al up

 

[T M Goldie]

That's better than I thought 75mm you can get away with 2" lift and up a tyre size no worries.
One that I came across recently in Qld is that if the vehicle is originally an 8 seater and you take out the Dickie seats permanently you are supposed to have the seatbelts and fastenings taken out, holes filled in the tray and pay $ 200+ for a mod plate to turn it into a 5 seater. This apparently has to be done to get a roadworthy too. I wonder how many people bother with that one. Of course it is a class 2 hooning offense to drive a modified car without a mod plate

 

[muc the truck]

That's better than I thought 75mm you can get away with 2" lift and up a tyre size no worries.
One that I came across recently in Qld is that if the vehicle is originally an 8 seater and you take out the Dickie seats permanently you are supposed to have the seatbelts and fastenings taken out, holes filled in the tray and pay $ 200+ for a mod plate to turn it into a 5 seater. This apparently has to be done to get a roadworthy too. I wonder how many people bother with that one. Of course it is a class 2 hooning offense to drive a modified car without a mod plate

its a class 2 hooning offence just to drive a vehicle with a defect, eg bald tyre or broken indicator bulb .

 

[Frankensurf]

its a class 2 hooning offence just to drive a vehicle with a defect, eg bald tyre or broken indicator bulb .

You're probably technically correct, but I think that we should have some faith in the common sense of our police officers.

Last year, my son was pulled up for speeding in his bright orange ute (very noticeable car). Being young and foolish, he showed the coppers a bit of attitude and so they took a hard look at his car. The result was 3 additional tickets for minor defects, including a worn tyre, but no mention of the 'H' word (hooning).

Members of the Ipswich Traffic Branch are well known for their... err... dedication to duty. If they don't wave the big stick at a 20 year old in a hot looking ute, I think that we 'mature' drivers in our 4wd's are pretty safe.

 

[phs]

i have been reading that body lifts are legal in vic. its funny cause when i did my suspension i phoned 3 places and they all said they will not install a body lift or any suspension kit bigger than 2" but they would do a 'big' 2" lift, further more 2 of them said you ll be hard pressed to find some one that will put one in for you they explained there reasons and i just thought they were illegal.

 

[Chatty]

As far as wheels and tyres go, I thought you were only legal with a combination included on the tyre placard - at least without an engineer's certificate.
That's what I was told by the tyre fitter here when I wanted to change the 18" wheels on the Paj for something a little more common - I went with the 17" combination on the placard.

 

[Chatty]

I've been doing a bit of study, and here in SA the rules (as given by DPTI) for wheels and tyres are:

From 1973 all cars are to be fitted with a tyre placard (usually fitted in the glove box, the engine bay or on a door pillar).
This specifies the wheel and tyre combinations recommended by the vehicle manufacturer. This placard also specifies load capacity, speed rating and the recommended tyre air pressure.

Ensure the offset of the rim is not reduced by more than 13 mm from the original rim.
The wheel track must not be increased by more than 26 mm beyond the maximum specified by the vehicle manufacturer.

The overall diameter of a wheel and tyre fitted to a vehicle must not be more than 15 mm greater than the largest tyre size listed on the tyre placard and not more than 15 mm less than the smallest tyre size listed on the placard.

The speed rating of the tyres fitted to vehicles for off-road must be of at least 140 km/h ('N') when the tyre placard requires a higher speed rating than 'N'.
The speed rating of the tyres fitted to a passenger vehicle must be at least 180 km/h ('S') when the tyre placard requires a higher speed rating than 'S', for all other vehicles a speed rating of at least 120 km/h applies ('L').

So, the tyre placard is 'recommended" rather than compulsory (except when it comes to diameter and speed rating) - but I have heard that insurance companies will disown you for a combination not on the placard.
Interesting requirements regarding speed rating - I think most 4WDs are classed as passenger vehicles.

As far as suspension goes, it gets very interesting...

The body of a vehicle can be raised by up to 50 mm by fitting spacer blocks between the vehicle chassis and body at their mounting points.
The blocks must be manufactured from metal. It is important to note that a total lift of more than 50 mm requires prior approval in the form of a Statement of Requirements and a report from a MR426 Chartered Professional Engineer.

A roadworthiness inspection will also be required.

The vehicle must not be raised by the use of extended or adjustable shackle plates.

Vehicle ride height can be increased by any combination of the following methods:
- relocating a leaf spring on the opposite of an axle to that of the vehicle manufacturer
- spacer blocks mounted above or below the coils spring or mounted between the top of the suspension strut and vehicle body
- wedges or blocks located between the coils.

So, apparently, if I want to lift the Paj, I can't do it with longer springs... I think.

 

[Patriot]

Hey Chatty, I hope we can run different sizes to those placarded. I only have two choices

 

[chris_stoffa]

Interestingly, Load Ratings are an often overlooked issue.

If the tyre placard states X size tyre @ 50psi for XX kgs load rating per tyre = Load Rating ( 109 /112 / etc ) then if you are running less pressure than that listed for the tyre used you are in effect running non- compliant load rating tyres

Just because the tyre are rated at 109/112 etc doesn't mean that they are "rated" on that alone, they need to have the correct or recommended tyre pressure to achieve the required load rating as it is a combination of BOTH the tyre pressure AND the tyre construction that achieves that load rating

Technically , if your tyres are checked and found to have insufficient air then they could be deemed "unroadworthy" - never heard of it happening BUT !!!!!

I will bet that many are "technically unroadworthy" all the time as it gives a more comfortable ride ......... AND !!! every time you "air down" your tyre load rating has just been shot to H#ll in a haybasket

And could your insurance company wipe you for non- compliance ??

What are Load & Speed Ratings?

The Load Index rating also represents the load carrying capacity of the tyres when they are inflated to maximum psi so the load carrying capacity reduces as tyre pressures are reduced.

Something to think about

 

[Chatty]

Hey Chatty, I hope we can run different sizes to those placarded. I only have two choices

Same as me - two choices only - 265/65R17 and 265/60R18 according to the placard. My local tyre bloke (well, one of them - the other dealer was useless) put a lot of effort into finding me 17" wheels and tyres and eventually came up with about 10 wheel choices.
I picked the ones I liked and then went with Cooper ST Maxx tyres - which really performed well at Bendleby at the SA gathering.

Overall wheel diameter increased a few percent, but actually has the speedo reading dead accurate now. I have a minor problem with a (very light) scrape in reverse on full right lock, but it's only a very light contact with a bit of rubber on the mudguard.

The main issue with wheels was that the 17" rims originally supplied by the distributor fouled the front brake calipers by about 3mm (the distributor is quoted as saying "I've never heard of that happening before" - yeah, right! ) so I had to get rims with an increased (30mm) offset. I may not have had the same problem with a different rim.
That then led to the problem that the spare wheel carrier made the spare protrude by the additional 30mm which meant I couldn't get the "gate" over the spare closed. Off to the wreckers, get a "new" spare carrier, take it to my mate with a steel fabrication business and have 30mm chopped out of it and re-welded. Take the original off (stored in the garage against future needs) and mount the chopped and shopped version. Problem solved!

I looked at all sorts of wheel and tyre combinations, but (apart from the placard issue) the other problem I had was that a lot of them increased the tyre diameter to the point where they simply wouldn't fit in the mudguards.

 

[Chatty]

Interestingly, Load Ratings are an often overlooked issue.

And I find it interesting that the road authorities place more emphasis on a generally ridiculous speed rating than they do on the load rating.

I mean to say, do I really need a 240 km/h (or higher) speed rating on my 4WD tyres when said vehicle will NEVER travel at anywhere near that speed? Except for when I miss that tight bend in the track and head down that near vertical drop...

Or would it be, perhaps, more important to make sure that my 4WD fully loaded for a weekend away had tyres actually capable of carrying the load?

 

[chris_stoffa]

And I find it interesting that the road authorities place more emphasis on a generally ridiculous speed rating than they do on the load rating.

I mean to say, do I really need a 240 km/h (or higher) speed rating on my 4WD tyres when said vehicle will NEVER travel at anywhere near that speed? Except for when I miss that tight bend in the track and head down that near vertical drop...

Or would it be, perhaps, more important to make sure that my 4WD fully loaded for a weekend away had tyres actually capable of carrying the load?

You've got it in one Chatty, the speed rating is deemed to be the be all and end all with many not even giving the load rating and how it is arrived at a second thought.

Yet how many 4WD's are loaded to the gunnels ("gunwales" for the purists ) with camping gear , fridges, recovery gear , roof racks not to mention people ( families) and often insanely so while the tyres that carry it all are under inflated because it rides better. And to boot the airbags are increased in pressure to level it all up.

Makes you wonder just how many 4WD "accidents" are not that but rather failure of the tyres when overloaded and under-inflated - a potentially deadly combination.

Cheers

 

[muc the truck]

And I find it interesting that the road authorities place more emphasis on a generally ridiculous speed rating than they do on the load rating.

I mean to say, do I really need a 240 km/h (or higher) speed rating on my 4WD tyres when said vehicle will NEVER travel at anywhere near that speed? Except for when I miss that tight bend in the track and head down that near vertical drop...

Or would it be, perhaps, more important to make sure that my 4WD fully loaded for a weekend away had tyres actually capable of carrying the load?

I know what you mean , I had a v8 land rover discovery . wanted to buy light truck 4x4 tyres for it in Alice springs . no one would fit them. I said MATE. I have 180 ltrs of fuel onboard I want light weight truck tyres , he said drive to Darwin and get them.

 

[Chatty]

I know what you mean , I had a v8 land rover discovery . wanted to buy light truck 4x4 tyres for it in Alice springs . no one would fit them. I said MATE. I have 180 ltrs of fuel onboard I want light weight truck tyres , he said drive to Darwin and get them.

Finding decent tyre shops is getting harder and harder - I'm lucky that I found a local who understands what 4x4 drivers need.

I sort of had the opposite problem - I couldn't get LT tyres to fit the 18" rims that came standard on the Pajero - hence the move to 17" rims.
Trying to get some of these tyre people to understand that I really wanted LT tyres because the Paj carries quite a load and, more importantly, actually goes off-road where these passenger tyres are flipping useless.

We are not being helped by the manufacturers either - they keep making their 4x4 vehicles more Toorak Tractors than serious off-roaders. My tyre dealer was telling me that the new Range Rover comes with 21" wheels - he wound up having to import rims from America to get decent off road tyres for it.