Legal 4WD Modifications - QLD & NSW

[Brett1907]

Hi everyone, there has been a lot of info on here about what you can and can't do to your 4WD. Different people have been told MANY different things by people in positions of authority.

Following what has been posted, and after a PM from Igutso, I have spoken to all the people I know who seem to know the business. The main informants are the guys from 'Stuarts Tyre Centre - Nerang' and 'Gold Coast 4x4 Accessories - ARB'. Between them they deal with all concievable requests regarding wheel/suspension/driveline modifications. Here is what they told me.

These restrictions apply to passenger and commercial vehicles.

TYRES:

You may only change the rolling DIAMETER of the wheel/tyre combo by a maximum of 15mm. That is increase or decrease!
There is no room for negotiation. If you have changed this diameter by more that 15mm your car is deemed to be UNROADWORTHY!!

SUSPENSION:

You may only increase/decrease your suspension by no more than 2in/50mm. (If decrease then lowest point must be more than 100mm from the road while vehicle is loaded.)

This measurement is supposed to coincide with a modification of no more than 1/3 of the standard bump stop height. Problem is no one knows (even the RTA/QLD Transport) exactly how to measure this.

Also, any form of lengthened or drop shackles are also outright illegal.

BODY BLOCKS:

Are ILLEGAL!!!! You may be told that you can do them, you may even get an engineer to sign off on them (about $1600 cost). You WON"T be able to get a transport inspector to put his name to it. The problem is that regardless of the vehicle being safe you are not going to find an inspector who is willing to put their rear end on the line. Cause if you end up rolling your vehicle you can sue him for allowing you to drive an unsafe/unroadworthy vehicle.


What is that you say? I live in NSW so these laws don't apply to me! I've got BAD news for you!!

NSW are about to adopt these very laws. That is if they haven't signed off already. (Was supposed to happen in January)

Now for the Uppercut.....

If you have a six inch suspension lift with 2 inch body lift and run 38in rubber, and have it approved under the old laws you are going to have to change it.

Thats right, iy doesn't matter if you have a certificate from the RTA to say your 4WD is ok, you are going to have to make it comply with the NEW laws. And you can't trick them by returning it to legal for the inspection and then putting all the good gear in later. THEY HAVE YOUR REGO NUMBER! They can call up your details and issue you with a yellow canary on the spot. Go get a trailer/tow truck to get your rig home.

If you have a competition rig you can get special permits to allow restricted access to public roads during competition.

This info has come from people who deal in tyres and modifications on a daily basis. The ARB boys have tried to get body blocks and drop shackles approved. They have got the engineering certificates but no one at QT will put their name to it so they couldn't get the modifications approved.

I am sorry if this upsets people. IT SURE AS HELL UPSETS ME!!!

I have put this on to add to the knowledge base of this site. I have learnt so much about fishing/camping/4WDing since joining I want to try and help everyone who has helped me, and those newbies who appear every other day.

Brett

[Wahoo]

damn thats not good
so what will happen with us that has spent big $$$ on mods and $$$ on getting the 4bs passed at the engineers 18months ago, will they give us our $$$$ back?


thats just like saying, yes you can spend big $$$ on a 45000l pool and then 12 months down the track they turn around and say ohh no you cant have that,


not good news thou

Daz


ohh and thanx for the heads up

[GBC]

2" body lift blocks in my hilux are legal, and did go over the pits in Brisbane, and I do have a certificate that must stay with the vehicle at all times, which is signed by a QDOT inspector.

Can they reneg?

Do they have to inform me?

[Kleyny]

GBC,
no they can't re-neg. unless they change the legislation

Brett,
if you follow the correct procedures and use the right parts they have to sign off on your body lift.
the procedure is: get a modification application, fill it out telling them exactly what you have done, send it in to the head office in Brisbane, they approve it or reject it, then book it in for an Inspector to look at it( it costs around $60), they insure the job and parts are the same as what you submitted to the head office (which was approved by their engineers).

how do i know? i had to go through it all to get my buggy approved.

Neil

[Fat Chilli]

Here's some light reading on this topic - it's from the source (QT), not ARBull Sh_t

http://www.transport.qld.gov.au/reso...on_jan05v2.pdf

and Body Lifts which are LEGAL! are covered in the below link: AIS Information Sheet 18, page 12. = 50mm with a mod cert. Suspension Mods are covered on page 16.

http://www.transport.qld.gov.au/reso...3d_feb2004.pdf

This is a TOYO tyre document, but it outlines every states Tyre and Wheel requirements. It's very informative.

http://www.toyo.com.au/TechInfoPDFs/...egulations.pdf

Happy reading.

[Brett1907]

Daz, they don't care how much you spent. It sucks!!!
For example (slightly removed from the topic though), the Australian Design Rules were changed in 1992. Doesn't sound too bad, but it meant thet the Subaru Brumby no longer complied. It wasn't worth it for Subaru to change their manufacturing process to meet the new rules, as a result no new brumbies were delivered to Australia after that.
About the pool though, they are making it hard on the Gold Coast. Still considering making full covers mandatory... Very Expensive!!

GBC, Neil is right. They can't reneg unless they change legislation, which they did in July last year.

Neil, you said in your post that they will either approve or reject it, that means they don't have to approve it.

GBC & Neil, did you get the mods approved after July 2006? If so who were your inspectors????? I and a lot of people would be interested to know, including a number of 4WD sales/service centres on the Gold Coast.

Fat Chilli, easy with the put down on ARB!! I do not work for them but they did do me a great deal on what I bought. The boys down here on the coast are good guys and are willing to give you their time and benefit of their experience for no charge. They could have told me they don't know, or not told me anything when I said the info was for a forum I'm on.
They were not the only port of call for me. Over the past year I have spoken to at least 5 different 4WD places on the Gold Coast and Brisbane. I have also spoken to a number of tyres shops AND Queensland Transport. I am also a new member of the Gold Coast 4WD Club and have gotten information from people in the club, some of whom compete and own 4WD shops.
They all told me the same as what I put in my original post!
Thank you for the links, I will read them today. The olny thing is that the Queensland regulations changed in July 2006, so the dates on these links look like old regulations.

Some more info or NSW, spoke to a mate of mine south of the border this morning. He is spewing!! NSW have adopted the QLD laws!! He doesn't have a 4WD, but this means he can't mini tub his XR6 Turbo ute now. And his mate who has just got an engineer to sign off may not get the car approved by the RTA.

Brett

[Brett1907]

Fat Chilli, I just finished reading the relevant parts of the links you posted. Thank you for the information, but...

All the information I have found tells the same thing, that the laws changed in July last year. The fitting of body blocks will no longer be approved.

I and others on the site have found the Transport Departments to be full of incorrect, misleading and outdated information. This explains why they still have outdated info on their site.

I am not trying to put you down as I appreciate the time taken to do the research you have to find these sheets. If you come accross any other info please post it as I do want to modify my 'lux further and all the help I can get is appreciated.

Brett

[murf]

Hi Brett

thanks for getting this info going

yes spewing, 15mm on tyres is absurd. The standard 4wd tyres that come with most new 4WDs are cheap road tyres to move the vehicles out of the yard and my replacement tyres (and yours) are approx 40mm increase .

I guess the tyre makers will go bust as most of the tyres on the shelf can no longer be used. Or will they get rich from replacing 1000s of illegal tyres?

I have only done a 40mm lift on the Lux so I scrape in there I have 3 mates with lifting blocks, lenghtened shackles and 33s on thier Lux's they will be spewing more than me.

this is huge

Cheers Murf

[bootyinblue]

Brett,

A very informative post there, however not all of it is accurate and correct.

I believe this post stems from a discusion IGUTSO had with Queensland Transport in relation to fitting larger tyres to a vehicle and the classification of passanger v's commercial vehicles.

I posted serveral times on that thread, both conveying my knowledge as a Police Officer and also the discussions I had with Queensland Transport Inspectors, of whom I work with weekly.

Bottom line is this,

You first must differentiate between a passanger vehicle as opposed to a commercial vehicle and this is not reflected in registration status as private or business, but rather number of seats, load capacity, tare weights etc.

If you have a commercial vehicle, you can stop right about here, as you are not permitted to perform modifications to your vehicle and maintain it as being road worthy. If you have a passanger vehicle then read on....

TYRES - 15mm is the maximum you can increase your tyres diameter and 26mm is maximum you can decrease your tyres diameter as stipulated on the manufactures placard. It is diameter and measured across the tyre at the stub axle height. It is not 'rolling diamter' as this is the circumference of the tyre.

BODY LIFTS - Can be approved in QLD after making application outlining the work to be performed. Maximum height is 50mm. Vehicle must go over pits and be issued with a compliance certificate/plate after work has been performed.

LEGISLATION/RETROSPECTIVE - Legislation in respect to motor vehicles is constantly changing, however if you are currently driving a registered, roadworthy and compliant vehicle on a road then any changes will not affect you unless its a matter of a safety issue. However, if you let your registration lapse, attempt to re register an unregistered vehicle or transfer your registration from another State then you may encounter some issues as you will need to aquire a 'roadworthy' in QLD or a 'Pink Slip' in NSW.

There are still vehicles getting around town which are not fitted with seat belts as when they rolled off the production line, there were no belts fitted. Those vehicles still comply with ADR and Legislation today. The Subaru Brumby you mentioned no longer complied with ADR's. That could well be right and Subaru decided it was not going to import any more vehicles due to cost of retooling or the like, but the currently registered Subaru's getting around did comply at the time and there is retrospective legislation to order them off the road.

Jeep had a similar problem when it bought out a range that included roof racks with, for want of a better description, driving lights attached to the front. They did not meet ADR, there was a quick panic before the bulb wattage was changed so now they are know as 'load limit lights' and were passed for inport to Australia.

I hope this helps clear some confusion about things, and as IGUTSO did, if you have a specific query then email me and I will get to the bottom of it. Oohh and yes, rod racks tubes which extend past the natural profile of your bullbar when not carrying rods are illegal too..... be warned....LOL

[murf]

So I have been driving non road worthy vehicles for 23 years. oops

15mm up or down for tyres in NSW? Booty you must have to do a lot of paperwork with this rule

Cheers Murf

[Brett1907]

Thanks bootyinblue, yes this does stem from IGUTSO's original post.

Can you confirm whether or not the regulations were changed last year as my 4WD club were notified?

Sorry about the slip up with tyres, I did mean the diamater. What I meant by 'Rolling Diameter' was the diameter of the tyre when on road inflated to manufacturers speceifications. Not the diameter of the tyre if it is lying its side. Is this the way they are supposed to be measured?

Yes, if a car is imported and meets the ADRs of that time it may remain on the road after the ADRs change. However I have seen modified vehicles, with prior approvals, defected because the regulations relating to those particular mods had changed. These were on vehicles that were carefully maintained and the owners went to great lengths to ensure their vehicles were legal. And my wife has been defected for things by a police officer, and when we took the car to a QT inspection station (without changing anything!!) they said there was nothing wrong with the car and she shouldn't have been defected.

With regard to Body Blocks, who can I speak to about getting these approved? Every enquiry I have made at 4WD shops and QT have given the same answers as I have posted above.

On another topic bootyinblue, what is the QT and Police stance on aftermarket superchargers on vehicles in QLD? I am looking into the Bullet Supercars kit for my 'lux.

On the point of Rod Bars, you're right! But they are completely illegal in NSW, rods or no rods.

Can you help out with clearing the rest up as it is still confusing to me when being told different things by different people who are all involved in the modifying/inspecting system. Thanks for your info so far.

Brett

[bootyinblue]

Aftermarket superchargers can be fitted to vehicles so long as they comply with the regulations. This is where the installer has the onus to install the equipment in such a way as to ensure it will pass inspection. At the completion either the installer, if he is accredited with QT or QT themselves will inspect the modification and in the case of a supercharger attach a plate to the engine bay with the code LA3. If the installer does not install the equipment in such a way as it passes inspection with QT then you always have redress under the Sale Of Goods Act. PM me if you require help with that, but I covered it previously in threads where boats havent performed as expected and more recently with the 3? tonne trailer that should have been 4? tonne.

Body lifts - You need to complete a modification application form and have it approved prior to undertaking the work. Or you can contact
Queensland Transport
Policy Advice
PO Box 673
Fortitude Valley QLD 400

Would be interested to know more about the vehicles you are aware of that have been defected due to regulation changes? Perhaps they did not pass 'another' test.

What items was your wife was defected on and what type of defect was issued (minor, major etc).

[Brett1907]

Thanks bootyinblue.

So I should check with Bullet Supercars to ensure their kit complies, and make sure the mechanic doing the install is aware of the requirements.

I will pass the body block info onto the people who will be very interested. I know ARB boys will be very interested as they have had so many dramas (even when signed off by an engineer) that they don't do the body lifts anymore.

A question... I you get approval prior to beginning the work and follow ALL of the regulations/requirements are you guaranteed to get it passed. I ask this because that has been when lifts have been knocked back.

I honestly don't recall what the defects were, it was quite a while ago. I do know that the vehicles had previously been inspected by QT (Bundall depot from memory) and passed.

My wife was defected for window tint (police said it was too dark) and unroadworthy pedals (aftermarket sport pedals). The police didn't have a light metre and didn't even ask her to get out of the car. They defected the pedals with just a look through the drivers window.
The QT light meter showed that the windows were on the limit but legal and that the pedals were installed correctly and complied. The reason we didn't fight the tickets was we couldn't 'prove' that we didn't change the car between the defect notices and the QT inspection.

By the way, PLEASE don't look too closely to some of the 4WDs at the next M&G. Hopefully you will be off duty anyway. LOL

[GBC]

You can download the mod application off the net.

I stated that the lift blocks were a "proprietary" item with crush tubes inserted, and the reason I needed them was to install a long range tank - in my case it was bona fide (some tanks require a body lift)

They will check the bolts (hi tens) and torque, but cannot check for tubes - there are two schools of thought about tubes (good vs not so good). Different assessors will want crush tubes and others don't ask.

Just bear in mind that your vehicle had better be roadworthy in every other respect when going over the pits, as it will get a full going over all the machinery tests.

Mine was done at the Logan branch and it was very thorough.

Having said that I can now comfortably run 33's offroad in an ifs lux.

[Kleyny]

the legislation changes in july had nothing to do with the Vehcile Safety Standards legislation) which all the mods come under. (IN QLD)
only the legislation for loads, weights, widths and lenghts ect. changed.

neil