Australian 4WD Action – July 2019

4WD ILLEGAL

IS^ YOUR

WITHOUT

YOU^ KNOW

ING^ IT

Chances are, if you’re playing strictly by the book, the answer is yes. Yikes...

Hands up if, like most of us,

you’ve got a suspension lift, a

bigger set of tyres and an LED

lightbar on your rig. Yep, that

means you’re like 99% of us – and

scarily, that means you may well

be driving an illegally-modified

vehicle. The really scary thing is

that, like with all facets of the

law, ignorance is no defence,

especially when you’re on the

pointy end of a copper having a

bad day who’s got the measuring

tape out and is going over your

vehicle with the proverbial

fine-toothed comb. Best case

scenario? Minor roadworthy

infringments with the associated

fines and demerit points. Worst

case? You’re calling for a

tow-truck because the coppers

have taken the plates...

We all love modifying our rigs

to work better off-road.

Typically, that means lifting it for

better ground clearance, putting

bigger tyres under for further

increased clearance and better

traction, and functional

accessories like UHF aerials and

LED lights. Unfortunately, the

powers that be would much

rather we stuck to factory-

standard vehicles that we turned

over every three years, but it’s a

sad fact that those who write the

laws, typically never venture

away from High Street – and

certainly rarely wander out into

the bush.

We’ve all heard the horror

stories – of 4WDers finding

themselves on the wrong side of

the law, of denied insurance

claims in the case of an accident

and in the absolute worst-case

scenario, being criminally liable

for injury or death to persons or

property. And on the other

hand, we’ve personally seen

what the positive effects of

passing the ‘attitude test’ are

with most coppers – i.e., don’t

act like an arrogant twat, take

your medicine and accept the

fine for 10km/h over the speed

limit and don’t draw attention to

the tyres hanging three inches

out of the guards – but you’re

dancing with danger.

So where’s the middle

ground? How do you modify

your vehicle to make it better

offroad, without falling foul of

the law? Knowledge is key – so

let’s look at the most common

misconceptions surrounding

the topic.

New vehicles are even harder to

keep legal than older 4WDs

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