Western Australian police have been cracking down on modified four-wheel drives recently, according to various Facebook posts by Great Southern District – WA Police. These posts are highlighting illegal modifications made to four-wheel drives such as fitting oversized tyres that stick out from the vehicles guards.
We’d like to say it from the start, that illegally modified vehicles, be they 2WD or 4WD have no place on our roads. We also think using social media is a novel way of educating motorists to some of the unroadworthy modifications they might have genuinely not be aware of. After all, the local tyre shop is interested in selling and fitting tyres, it is your responsibility to understand what is the road legal tyre size for your vehicle. There was one social media post from Great Southern District – WA Police that caught our attention in particular and it seemed the the 4WD community was also less than impressed judging by the responses.
It’s worth noting that what the police has said is incorrect: 35″ tyres do certainly have a place on public roads (some have this tyre size from the factory), and can be easily engineered to suit the GU Patrol.This post states: “35in tyres have no place on this vehicle on our roads”, with a picture of a GU Patrol wearing 35″ mud terrains. While under the National Code of Practise, 35in tyres would be too large to be compliant for road use. However, we would like to argue that it could be done with suitable engineering consultation and resulting modification to steering, braking and suspension components. This would also involve emergency swerve testing (and the costs associated), but we have seen Patrols engineered for 35in tyres in the past, that operated in a safe manner. This begs the question however, should 35in tyres be banned from our roads (and tracks) all together?
Do you think 35″ tyres should be banned? Let us know in the comments below.
Another massive issue among four-wheel drivers, not just in W.A but Australia wide, is the mounting of LED light bars. While in some States (South Australia and Queensland) it is considered roadworthy to mount an LED light bar to the roof of a vehicle, it isn’t considered a roadworthy modification in other States such as NSW. So does this mean that if you own a vehicle registered in South Australia, with a roof mounted LED light bar, and drive through NSW you could be issued with a defect notice? Seems kind of silly, and it really does further prove the need for a National Code Of Practise Australia wide to standardise these vehicle modifications.
