how legal v's how low

[VN-88]

hey guys, im looking at putting ultra lows in my car, now i attract cops enough as it is so i dont wana be iligal. so in vic will ultras make me illigal or not?

[mattman]

probably will.

[Shounak]

My money's on them being illegal..

I've got super lows on my car and I clear a coke can by about an inch at the front of my car..

The law is "100mm with 5 adult passengers" apparently, so I'm sitting just on legal with Super's..

You can get away with Super's on front and Ultra's on back with the VT/VX..

I don't imagine it's that much different with the VN..

[commy92]

no the law states 100mm with only the driver. You can remove anything no fixed into the car. I know this for a fact. If the say otherwise when you get pulled over then hmm yeah.. I have superlows all way round in my vp wags. It sits REALLY high on the wheels. Doenst tuck front or rears at all. About half an inch at the front and an inch at the back. Not happy with it And thats with short shock all way round. I Prob wouldnt be able to clear a coke can though cause my zorst is a bit low. Would look awsome with a kit but.

[Shounak]

no the law states 100mm with only the driver. You can remove anything no fixed into the car. I know this for a fact. If the say otherwise when you get pulled over then hmm yeah.. I have superlows all way round in my vp wags. It sits REALLY high on the wheels. Doenst tuck front or rears at all. About half an inch at the front and an inch at the back. Not happy with it And thats with short shock all way round. I Prob wouldnt be able to clear a coke can though cause my zorst is a bit low. Would look awsome with a kit but.

I'm just quoting what a mechanic told me, reason I said "apparently"..

I heard it was fully laden, but if you say so, fair enough. Not that I really care with my car anyway.. I'm easily legal, even with fat chicks in the back..

[jack.mc]

I reckon i'm gunna get superlows for mine now (i keep changing my mind) Probably a little bit illegal, but not very. My clearance now is ~150mm, so they'll make it a bit low i reckon. But it looks so hot, and lows just arent low enough i reckon

[jack.mc]

heres what I got back from the RTA (NSW law)

You can alter the manufacturers specified ride height by up to 1/3rd,but
cannot have any less than 100mm ground clearance to any point on the
vehicle.

[hakhawk]

yep, vic's is must have 2/3rd original suspension travel and 100mm from ground and, 600mm headlight height from bottom of headlight upto 10/1990 500mm 10/1990 onwards.

my wagons sitting on ultras all round and not a peek from the cops yet, although they did give me a odd look the otherday.

[commy92]

i get odd looks all the time.. lol but thats cause my car yeah umm always covered in rubber and has diffrent colour pursuit wheels on the back. Dont get pulled over though.. unless i get caught doing naughty stuf.. lol

[90VN55]

no the law states 100mm with only the driver. You can remove anything no fixed into the car. I know this for a fact. If the say otherwise when you get pulled over then hmm yeah.. I have superlows all way round in my vp wags. It sits REALLY high on the wheels. Doenst tuck front or rears at all. About half an inch at the front and an inch at the back. Not happy with it And thats with short shock all way round. I Prob wouldnt be able to clear a coke can though cause my zorst is a bit low. Would look awsome with a kit but.

hey have u got a pic of it on superlows

[VN Commy]

Just put ultra lows on mine today. Sits about 110 - 115mm off the ground from the lowest point on the chassis with 16" rims (empty car 1/4 tank petrol). The back tyre's gone just under the arch. I was hoping it was going to go a little bit lower than it did though. I would have been dissapointed if I went with super lows. Oh and with standard bumpers getting into steep driveways doesn't seem to be an issue.

[Reaper]

no the law states 100mm with only the driver. You can remove anything no fixed into the car. I know this for a fact. If the say otherwise when you get pulled over then hmm yeah..

Check your facts mate. Ground clearance is indeed measured when the car is fully loaded. Fully loaded means just that - a tank of fuel and as many passengers that can legally be carried in your car (usually = to the number of seatbelts you have) and possibly a boot load of junk. Incase you don't believe me, check out the following right from the horses mouth:
http://www.vicroads.vic.gov.au/vrpdf/rdsafe/VSI%208.pdf page4. It states (In part): The ground clearance of a vehicle measured from a horizontal road surface to any point on the underside of the vehicle except the tyres, wheels, wheel hubs and brake backing plates shall, with the vehicle in its loaded state as specified by the manufacturer be not less than 100mm for any point in the width of the vehicle which is within 1 metre fore and aft of any axle.

Further more (and this is the bit that stuffs most people up).
Lowering or Raising of Vehicles:

A vehicle may be lowered or raised provided the clearance between a suspencion components and its associated bump stop is not altered by more than 1/3 or that specified by the manufacturer. In addition, the origional relationship between the front and rear suspension heights mus not be unduly affected.

Lotsa good information in that document and I suggest anybody wanting to modify their car in victoria should dl and print it out.

Reaper

[Reaper]

I'm just quoting what a mechanic told me, reason I said "apparently"..

I heard it was fully laden, but if you say so, fair enough. Not that I really care with my car anyway.. I'm easily legal, even with fat chicks in the back..

You were right Shounak. Maybe a "No Fat Chicks" sticker might be on the shopping list????

Reaper

[mouce]

Further more (and this is the bit that stuffs most people up).
Lowering or Raising of Vehicles:

A vehicle may be lowered or raised provided the clearance between a suspencion components and its associated bump stop is not altered by more than 1/3 or that specified by the manufacturer. In addition, the origional relationship between the front and rear suspension heights mus not be unduly affected.

Would I be correct in thinking that this means that all those cars out there that have been lowered so that they sit "flat" are illegally modified? Good thing I haven't done my syspension yet.

There's a whole lot of good info in the VIS documents. Might take a while, but it's worth reading through most of them.

[FadeToBlack]

If it sits "flat" it probably has airbags.

[mouce]

Not always. It's quite common to throw super lows in the front and ultra lows in the rear. Or lows in the front and super lows in the rear.

Hell...if I had the money to do it, airbags would be great. But I can't justify spending that much money on a stock VN. LOL.

[Reaper]

Would I be correct in thinking that this means that all those cars out there that have been lowered so that they sit "flat" are illegally modified? Good thing I haven't done my syspension yet.

There's a whole lot of good info in the VIS documents. Might take a while, but it's worth reading through most of them.

What do you mean by flat??? I don't quite follow

Reaper

[90VN55]

What do you mean by flat??? I don't quite follow

Reaper

the vn's and vp's sit higher at the back so for example you put lows at the front and superlows in the rear so the rear is level with the front

[Reaper]

the vn's and vp's sit higher at the back so for example you put lows at the front and superlows in the rear so the rear is level with the front

Oh... Ok. To the letter of the law, yeah you probably can't. However I think the common sense rule applies - I think the intent of the law is to stop people chopping the guts out of the front and leaving the rear the same height (as was the fashion in the late 70's & early 80's for those that can remember that far back).

Getting the car level should be fine but make sure that the rear is not lower than the front with a boot load of stuff & 3 people in the back seat. Also in consideration for other drivers, aim your headlights correctly!!!!

Reaper

[PaRaDoX]

ok first of all, who here can honostly say they've recieved a defective sticker for a car that is too low on brought springs? (ie super lows or ultra lows)

Getting the car level should be fine but make sure that the rear is not lower than the front with a boot load of stuff & 3 people in the back seat.

first of all, the lower the spring the denser it is, the ultra lows dont compress as easily as say superlows or lows, ie they carry the same ammount of weight with less compression.. im sitting on supers at the front, and ultras at the rear, i have a few issues with scraping the exhust only in 1 place round my area (they got sick of all the ricers so they put extra high speed humps in... as in 130mm high speed humps... O_O)

anyway i dont get a second look by the cops, never been pulled over... dont give them a reason to and they wont.. personally i prefer it being low, its alot safer

[mouce]

130mm high speed humps? I'm surprised they can do that legally. Since ADR/VIS states that vehicles can be 100mm from the ground at their lowest point.

I'd be complaining about it.

[PaRaDoX]

lol, yeah its only round sound area's they're puttin in new ones tho....

anyway ive got more things to compain about... such as 2 street lamps out next to each other... i hit a speed hump doin 60 last night... scared the absolute shit out of me... didnt see it till the last second when it came in range of my headlights... im pretty sure nothings damaged but yeah.. lol

[Reaper]

ok first of all, who here can honostly say they've recieved a defective sticker for a car that is too low on brought springs? (ie super lows or ultra lows)

first of all, the lower the spring the denser it is, the ultra lows dont compress as easily as say superlows or lows, ie they carry the same ammount of weight with less compression.. im sitting on supers at the front, and ultras at the rear, i have a few issues with scraping the exhust only in 1 place round my area (they got sick of all the ricers so they put extra high speed humps in... as in 130mm high speed humps... O_O)

anyway i dont get a second look by the cops, never been pulled over... dont give them a reason to and they wont.. personally i prefer it being low, its alot safer

Many years ago in my LX SS I was defected. Since then i've got a lot older and (hopefully) wiser. I do agree that as long as you don't go stupid it's unlikely that you'll be given a second glance by the police unless you do something to deserve it.

Not sure how you can conclude that being low is necessarily safer though and judging by your other posts, you might not be the safest driver on the roads either.

Reaper

[burnz]

My money's on them being illegal..

I've got super lows on my car and I clear a coke can by about an inch at the front of my car..

The law is "100mm with 5 adult passengers" apparently, so I'm sitting just on legal with Super's..

You can get away with Super's on front and Ultra's on back with the VT/VX..

I don't imagine it's that much different with the VN..

how did ya go with tha diff
all sorted?

[PaRaDoX]

Not sure how you can conclude that being low is necessarily safer though and judging by your other posts, you might not be the safest driver on the roads either.

Reaper

im probbly not the safest driver on the road, but who the hell is at my age? but what the hell does that have to do with weather a car is safe or not, i thought we were discussing how low is too low not personally attacking people???? a lower car has a lower centre of gravity the less body roll which means better handling.....