Outer Limits 4x4 Board

I have been involved in the towing business for over 30 years, we tow hundreds of cars every month including all types of 4wds with a lot of different modifications. It is true when it is said that it must be proven that what you have changed on the vehicle caused the accident to occur. Even if a vehicle has bald tyres, insurance companys look at wether being bald contributed to the accident, was it raining etc. I havent seen an insurance company knock back a claim where a vehicle is modified with reason, and we have towed a lot of vehicles with 35's and 4 inch lifts. Its a shame people didnt worry about drink driving as much as thier modifications, we see dozens knocked back every month because of this and a lot are 4wds.

Sorry to hijack the thread but is there anyway in NSW 35's and extended shackles can be engineered in NSW? If so does anyone have a contact? PM me if you dont want to make details public.

Clayton's Racing wrote:I havent seen an insurance company knock back a claim where a vehicle is modified with reason, and we have towed a lot of vehicles with 35's and 4 inch lifts.

Are you saying that if I was to go 33" tyres and a 2" lift on a GU patrol I would be fine (insurance wise)?

mattsluxtruck wrote:Sorry to hijack the thread but is there anyway in NSW 35's and extended shackles can be engineered in NSW? If so does anyone have a contact? PM me if you dont want to make details public.

As others have said John from Consulmotive is a sticker for detail but if it can be legally done he has no problem certifying hard core mods, he won’t give you the too hard excuse.

Trolly wrote:

Clayton's Racing wrote:I havent seen an insurance company knock back a claim where a vehicle is modified with reason, and we have towed a lot of vehicles with 35's and 4 inch lifts.

Are you saying that if I was to go 33" tyres and a 2" lift on a GU patrol I would be fine (insurance wise)?

If the mods are approved where required (body lift) and you inform your insurance company then yes.

A mate of a mate fitted discs to the rear of his celica, had them approved and mod plated, then later t-boned a merc. His insurance company wouldn't pay because they had not been informed of the mod (which is a requirement on most/all policies).

so is what your saying that if you live in queensland and say have a 4" lift or above and somehow get an engineers certiffacate there is no way you can legally get it regestered. with the insurance factor why cant you just bullsh** and say that it is a 2" lift. can they prove it? just say its brand new and hasnt settled yet... surley you could do that with a 3" or 4"

If this has been answered before then i appolagize, but why are 35's banned. Have had a brief look but no real answer. (sorry for not searching better)

i always thought 2" suspension and 2" body was the maximum legal limit in qld??????

6.5 rangie wrote:If this has been answered before then i appolagize, but why are 35's banned. Have had a brief look but no real answer. (sorry for not searching better)

Registration authorities find it easier to ban modifications than manage an approvals process. (So people go ahead and perform the modifications however they see fit (booty-fab ) and the authorities have zero control over it. )

Larger tyres affect handling, braking efficiency, and speedo accuracy (don't anybody try to tell me how well your 4" lifted Cruitrol on 37's handles - compared to stock height on stock tyres, it's not as good. )

A body lift only lifts what's inside the body - the chassis and the engine/gearbox combination stays where they are with respect to the ground.

A suspension lift raises everything which is suspended - body and chassis, but not axles. This raises your centre of gravity more than a body lift will (and generally provides better clearance for off-road work.)

Larger tyres lift EVERYTHING - hubs and all, making for the largest increase in ground clearance, and also raises CoG the most.

Larger tyres also have increased angular momentum, which adds to the work your brakes must do, as well as decreasing your braking efficiency (because of the increased radius.)

Large tyres alter your scrub radius, which places increased loads on bearings and steering components, which can lead to increased wear and premature failure.

Larger tyres come closer to body, chassis and suspension components, and generally create rubbing problems under some conditions. Most people also opt for wider tyres when they increase diameter,
which makes the problem worse.

Some choose to fit their larger tyres to rims with a different offset, which can improve the scrub radius problem, but many go too far - creating massive increases in vehicle track (which can again increase loads on steering and bearings) and having their tyres protrude WAY beyond their guards, and no longer being covered by their mud flaps.

All of the above issues can be addressed by people who know what they're doing, which needs to be checked and approved to meet "standards." But somebody needs to set the standards and develop the testing procedures, and our public servants don't like to work too hard - so they simply say no.

My opinions - feel free to disregard them.

Scott

The 4wd club I'm a member of invited an Rta inspector and a rep from DOTARS who happened to be the bloke who wrote the new rules regarding modifying not only 4wds but all vehicles. I wont go into details as the rules can be found on the DOTARS web site but just because an engineer signs a cert it dosn't mean your car is legal as far as the rta is concerned. An engineers job when inspecting a modified car to make sure it still conforms to Aust Design Rules, regardless of how well the mods are done it still has to meet adr. An engineer who signs off on car that dosn't meet the rules is illegal and still can be defected.

Charlie wrote:

mattsluxtruck wrote:Sorry to hijack the thread but is there anyway in NSW 35's and extended shackles can be engineered in NSW? If so does anyone have a contact? PM me if you dont want to make details public.

As others have said John from Consulmotive is a sticker for detail but if it can be legally done he has no problem certifying hard core mods, he won’t give you the too hard excuse.

got my car engineered at consulmotive, top bloke

vSAHARAx wrote:i always thought 2" suspension and 2" body was the maximum legal limit in qld??????

2" Body lift max allowed. There is no blanket value for suspension AFAIK - only that the suspension rebound and compression values can't change by more than 33%.