Straight-up tyre and insurance question

[Chazb]

Righto,

I have a straight up nice and easy tyre question which I want to bounce off people please:

For my pending big trip (one day left at work tomorrow, then heading off Friday next week!) I am in the market for some new AT tyres. BFG or Mickey Thompson. Now BFG do their AT 245/70/R16 and MT do a 245/75/R16 (5 rib, 70% road). My current tyres are 235/70/R16.

So far so good.

Now, when I queried what would be an "acceptable" tyre size with my insurance company they say whatever your state (Victoria is where I live now - but obviously I am driving throughout all the states in the coming months, maybe even Tassie) RTA laws are.

So, Vicroads reckon +15mm max from your OE tyres, http://www.vicroads.vic.gov.au/NR/rdonlyres/CC48FC10-4D57-4F04-82E1-3BD72EF88340/0/VSI8.pdf so one option is to fit 245/70/R16, for around 16mm increase in tyre size, slightly illegal, but not much :D or if I dont listen to Vicroads I could go 245/75/16 to be about +44mm out. Local tyre shops will fit this without much of a squirm. Otherwise I am stuck with my 235/70/16's which look a tad small now I have a 2" lift. Even NSW RTA http://www.rta.nsw.gov.au/registration/downloads/vsi/vsi09_rev4.pdf says "you should stick to what your manual/placard says".

There seems to be two national governing bodies that I can see, (links below) but who knows which states adopt which rules?

National codes/guidelines:

http://www.infrastructure.gov.au/roads/safety/bulletin/pdf/NCOP11_Section_LS_Suspension_and_steering_3Feb2006 .pdf

Tyre & Rim Association of Australia: Standards Manual (http://www.tyreandrim.org.au/manual.html) (need to pay to view the manual - I guess this is what places like Bob Janes refer to).

Is it me or is this confusing? And do I now just listen to my insurance company and only go for the 235/70/16 tyres which is what Vicroads & NSW effectively say?

[Treads]

It does say + or - 15mm on any tyre/rim combo AVAILABLE for your model of car. When I had my Subie that meant I could swap my 15" rims for 18" ones because that was an option for the top-of-the-line model. Dunno how this affects Land Rovers though ;)

[Chazb]

And if I dont intend on swapping my rims?

Sorry if this has been flogged to death before....but I'm a newbie to all things 4wd as you have probably gathered from my previous posts and I cant find a post which determines the answer to my question(s) once and for all!

I might ring Vicroads tomorrow and ask if their 2003 doc is still valid. And at the same time get a definitive answer from a few tyre shops whether they'll fit a 245/75/16 on my car or not.

[Bulldog]

I love this topic :twisted:.

Theres alot of 4x4s with MASSIVE tyres, yes.
Are they all engineered for it, no.
Does anyone care that they're illegal, no.
Why? :confused:

I've asked this before and i still don't get it.

I think the real answer is this:
If it doesn't look outragously out of place or dangerous, no-one will care.

I'm guessing this doesn't help the original question, but i had to say it... :D

[101RRS]

Does anyone care that they're illegal, no.

I think the real answer is this:
If it doesn't look outragously out of place or dangerous, no-one will care.


Until there needs to be an insurance claim and then you can be sure that it will matter as the insurance co will use every little loophole to get out of the claim.

Garry

[simonl8353]

I know you already know this, but with a D2 the placard will state specs for four wheel options -

Steel 7J x 16
Alloy 7J x 16
Alloy 8J x 16
Alloy 8J x 18

So it depends on the rim size you have.

My preference would be to stay legal, Insurers are very skilled at finding loopholes to get out of paying, and you dont want to hurt someone along the way then have to pay medical out of your own pocket.

A lot of good advice was given to me on this previous thread.
http://www.aulro.com/afvb/discovery/51342-help-needed-tyre-choice.html

Good luck, plenty to choose from.

I'd reccommend the GG AT2's since having them fitted. Size = legal.

[Bulldog]

Until there needs to be an insurance claim and then you can be sure that it will matter as the insurance co will use every little loophole to get out of the claim.

Garry

Exactly!

So why do these people kid themselves and pay their insurance every year?

Before i go overboard with my comments, i need to look into the driveway at my ILLEGAL Range Rover :eek::D:D:D

And i pay my insurance too :(:(:(

[101RRS]

With my old 1980 Subaru I had 14x6" rims with 195/75 tyres on a 2" body lift. Standard it is supposed to be something like 13x5" and 155 tyres. Your primary obligation is full disclosure to the company - I had the wheels and tyres and all the other mods listed on the policy and it was accepted (I didn't specifically highlight this to the company - just filled out the form as requested under modifications). I met my obligations - so declare and see what happens it will often get through.

Garry

[Chazb]

Alright then, thanks for the posts so far. My wheels are alloy 7Jx16.

As my insurance company have referred me to Vicroads then I am going to ring the Vicroads Manager of Vehicle Mods tomorrow and request further information - and if there is any more recent info - on their publication which talks about a +/- 15mm rule and is dated 2003. As I dont get why the infrastructure.gov.au website states 50mm variance is ok for off road vehicles and Tyre and Rim Association also allow more than what the LR placard for my exact vehicle (99, TD5 7 seater) states (according to what I saw in the book at Bob Janes anyway).

I also think the Vicroads publication is misleading as for tyre and rim combinations it directs you to the T&R Association manual, whereas the -/+ 15mm statement appears to be related to when you change rims AND tyres for your vehicle model/series. Or am I dreaming?

This is an absolute minefield! All I want are some bigger tyres for my big trip that'll do me alright on all the tarmac around Australia plus some muddy, sandy and rocky bits in between - it should be simple! :confused:

If you could post anything to clear this up, even slightly, before tomorrow morning I'd be grateful. I'm off to bed though as my head hurts from thinking about tyres so much. :p