Legal Suspension Lifts [VIC]

[evillius]

So here is a question I came up with at 4am while feeding bub..

What is the maximum legal suspension lift that can be put in a Patrol without an engineers cert?

I thought that the biggest was 50mm (2") combined suspension & body lift and 50mm bigger tyres.
Giving a Total Lift of 75mm (or 3") because only half the tyre increase raises the vehicle.

When I was looking around on the internet I came across Guide to Modifications for Motor Vehicles (http://www.vicroads.vic.gov.au/NR/rdonlyres/9B3A858D-15A0-4572-90BF-3D08214BF7BE/0/VSInumber8Guidetomodificationsformotorvehicles.pdf ) from VicRoads. In it, it says there is 2 options for raising a 4wd.

Option 1 is as I said above
"This option allows for a combination of suspension lift and fitting of larger diameter tyres that results in a total lift of up to 75mm without the need for certification normally required by VSB14 for lifts above 50mm provided the following requirements are met.

The vehicles suspension may be raised by up to 50mm, provided that at least two thirds of the original suspension travel in either direction is retained

Only commercially available suspension kits may be used."

Option 2 is new to me. It says:
A vehicle may be raised by modifying it's suspension provided the available suspension travel in either direction is not altered by more than 1/3 of that specified by the manufacturer. In addition, the original relationship between the front and rear suspension heights must not be unduly affected. Brake line lenght must be adequate for for the range of suspension movement at the revised ride height. The vehicle must not be raised by the use of extended or adjustable shackle plates.


So what is the "available suspension travel" of a patrol as specified by Nissan? If it is greater than 150mm (50mm = 1/3 of 150mm), does that mean that we can legally use lifts bigger than 2". Does this say that if a patrol has a standard suspension travel of 225mm, we can legally use a 3" suspension lift? Does this in

Can someone tell me what the "standard suspension travel" of a Nissan Patrol is? (I assume it is different from 1 model to the next).

[Morton]

VIC is the same as NSW on this point, option 2 is looking at smaller vehicles like normal street cars sedans, utes, wagons coupe etc & they usually lower the vehicle not lift them, small 4wd's as well as they have less travel as standard, VSB14 also affects cars being lowered, with bigger 4WD's you are allowed a 50mm/2" lift on suspension only, body lifts are illegal, end of story, you will struggle to get an Engineer to ok a body lift but it has been done, you are allowed to go up one size in tyre, GU standard is a 32" tyre, hence you can go to 33's, in addition to that you are also allowed to widen your wheel track by 25mm in total, this is a - or minus rim, usually a -13mm is as far as you can go on a rim, extended shackles are illegal to fit, I dont know the ruling on spring spacers that come in 25-50mm but I have been told they are illegal, it is not illegal to sell any of these products but often illegal to fit them, also take into account how your insurance company is going to look at it in a accident, minor one may not & often dont get noticed because the car is in the shop for minor panel damage, larger accidents usually have a closer inspection done on both cars to see if it was a mechanical issue that contributed to an accident, it is not uncommon for an Insurance company to throw the old 'Null & Void' due to illegal modifications which means you are not covered if your found at fault in an accident, hence all the damage to your vehicle & other vehicles you are found to have damaged will be at your cost to repair

[threedogs]

Theres a sticky on this somewhere

[Morton]

anything above or below these measurements requires certification, this goes for seats & steering wheel changes, any additional child restrain points not engineered into the vehicle already, mudflaps have to stay at the same height, reverse lights can only go so high, in some vehicles the reverse light is illegal once the car is lifted 50mm & requires a dedicated reverse light that is designed as a reverse light (not just any light) to be fitted, your speedo is supposed to be calibrated with bigger tyres, 25mm tyre difference changes your speedo reading, all of these things are issues to be addressed & have been all along but they are not policed by the RTA/RMS thus accepted as ok not to do, in fact most dont know