Vehicle Lift Regulations

Various states have been changing their vehicle lift regulation over the past few years to make them more consistent across the country. 4WD vehicle owners are expected to adhere to these regulations. Otherwise, their vehicles can be deemed illegal for on-road use. Fines will apply.

What Is Vehicle Lift?

A vehicle lift is about raising the eight of the vehicle, to give it greater clearance There are several procedures that achieve this. higher clearance offers an advantage when using the car in heavy, difficult terrain; the 4WD is less likely to hit beneath the chassis.

Larger Tyres

We can raise the 4WD clearance height by fitting larger tyres. There are limits here, obviously, we cannot fit a large tyre into a small vehicle; there will often not be enough room for the larger tyre in the wheel arch. even if there is enough room new tyres cannot be more than 25mm in radius (50mm diameter) than the tyres originally provided by the manufacturer. so tyres cannot raise the vehicle more than 25mm.

Suspension

We might be able to raise the vehicle by altering the suspension, or occasionally by raising the body of the chassis if the vehicle design allows this. But there is a legal limit here, the suspension can raise the vehicle by no more than 50mm.

Total Vehicle Lift

The most 4WDs the combined vehicle lift is no more than 75 mm. This is 50 mm in the suspension and 25 mm by the tires. A few vehicles are certified to be raised by up to twice this height. But this is uncommon, with only a few vehicles designed and manufactured for this type of modification. It may be better to simply purchase a vehicle with higher clearance.

Wheel Spacers

It is illegal to put spacers to increase the space between the tyres and the vehicle body, at least for use on the road.

Roof Racks Sydney

Regulations for roof rack limit length to 2.5 meters. And no-load may hang more than 150 mm past any side of the vehicle.

Raising the height of the vehicle will affect the centre of gravity. Adding a heavy load on the roof rack will also raise the centre of gravity for the vehicle. This makes the vehicle less stable, which can be a major safety factor on slopes and rough roads. It will certainly change the handling of the vehicle.

Be sure not to alter a 4WD beyond legal regulations. The laws are there to allow safer handling of the vehicle and should not be ignored.