Wide wheels = Engineer's certificate

[Phil]

My R33 GTS25t is on the ship from Japan at the moment, and it has some aftermarket rims that I believe are 8.5" wide on the rear. I understand that the widest available rim on a GTS25t was 6.5" at the rear.

According to VicRoads I'm only allowed to have 7.5" wide rims (as it's 1" wider than stock), so I need to get an engineer to certify that they're OK.

Has anyone done this before? Is there any chance of the tyres rubbing (255 on rear) or anything like that, which might mean the engineer won't give me a certificate?

Thanks!

[PranK]

i had 265's on the back of my skyline - had no rubbing probs.

legality wise, you will need to get it engineered, not usually a problem - but wait til you have a fair few mods on it and get them all engineered.

[Phil]

Thanks for the info. However, I have to get it engineered straight away as it will be unroadworthy otherwise, and not insured. From what I've found so far, it will only cost me a couple of hundred anyway (I hope!).

[PranK]

yeah, engineers certs are usually no more than $400.

[lou15x]

u may get away with it as on my tyre placcard, there is a 16"x7.5" wheel as well... i believe these wheels came on something to the sound of an lsd-equipped auto? someone please clarify... nonetheless, i'm seeking to get an engineers cert on my wheels, too (9" rear, no way out)... does it cost the same to engineer other stuff at the same time? i.e. exhaust and fmic?

cheers,

louis

[Duncan]

*cough* temporary stock rims for compliance *cough*

[Phil]

*cough* temporary stock rims for compliance *cough*

My problem is not compliance, it's roadworthy and insurance. If your car isn't roadworthy, it's not under insurance either. Plus I could be defected I suppose.

[Phil]

Originally posted by lou15x

u may get away with it as on my tyre placcard, there is a 16"x7.5" wheel as well... i believe these wheels came on something to the sound of an lsd-equipped auto? someone please clarify...

Interesting. Does anyone know if wider wheels are an option on the gts-t?

[dAVE]

Originally posted by Phil

Interesting.  Does anyone know if wider wheels are an option on the gts-t?

doesnt really matter, just find a sticker with the widest as 7.5" and it will be legal. When they look, they just compare to the tyre placard.

[PranK]

Originally posted by Phil

Interesting.  Does anyone know if wider wheels are an option on the gts-t?

no wheels were an option... if you didn't like the stock ones, you could get the stock ones!

[GTR King]

I do believe if u get an engineers report it is legal. Only bit of advice i can give is if u do get an engineers report approved make a photocopy of it laminate it and stick it in your glove box. Some cops will rip up anything u hand to em :]

Other than that u r screwed.

I reckon if they dont hang out the guards u shouldnt have a prob getting it engineered :]

[turbomad]

This is all news to me, I've got 17x8 and 17x9 rims that are fully insured no questions asked, just recently got the car inspected by both the police and Vic Roads and the rims were never mentioned.

[Phil]

Just because you're 'insured' doesn't mean they know about your rims being unroadworthy. That's the problem - insurance companies don't care until you have to claim.. then they REALLY care.

Ignorance is bliss I suppose. I wish I didn't know about this problem, but now that I do I can't bring myself to ignore it!

[meggala]

see which tyre placeard you get some times like on my r 32 the was the 16 X 8 for gtr the same might happen cause the r33 gtr car with 17 x8 rims which is basiaclly the same body

meggala

[Phil]

Yeah I reckon maybe you could claim the GTR width being the stock width maybe.. I'm under the impression that the tyre placard is no official source of info though as it's up to the CPA what goes on there.

[Timmy G]

is 225/265/etc the millimetre width of the ENTIRE wheel including rubber?

Likewise, is the 7.5"/8.5"/etc the entire wheel?

Cheers,

Tim

[Phil]

is 225/265/etc the millimetre width of the ENTIRE wheel including rubber?

Well the 225 etc would refer to the rubber, and the 7.5" etc refers to the rim width.

[lou15x]

the tyre placcard will save u from a defect but that's bout it... if the dimensions of ur wheels conflict the standards set out in the adr, then technically ur car is not roadworthy and any insurance company will try to make a policy void by looking out for such stuff... a mate of mine had an e36 318i with no engine mods, just bodykit, lowered and 17s... the car got vandalised on the street and when he lodged the claim, they rejected it bcos his wheels were 8" wide... even in a claim that wasn't a result from an accident was rejected bcos the was not roadworthy... duty of disclosure states that u have to mention everything to ur best knowledge, but being ignorant or feigning ignorance is not a valid excuse to insurance companies... back to the tyre placcard issue, my r33 has the orig jap placcard on the driver's side that lists the 7.5" wheel and the locally translated one in the glove box also has that so u may be able to get ur rwc...

[Phil]

back to the tyre placcard issue, my r33 has the orig jap placcard on the driver's side that lists the 7.5" wheel and the locally translated one in the glove box also has that so u may be able to get ur rwc...

Thanks for the info Lou. You say the original Jap placard listed a 7.5" wheel. Does the placard list all the stock wheels available? So if the placard has a 7.5" wheel, I assume that would mean I can fit 8.5" according to VicRoads.

I will have to find out what the japanese tyre placard states when it gets here.

[lou15x]

no worries phil

the jap one lists both the 6.5" and 7.5" wheels... the locally translated one for compliance also lists both the 6.5" and 7.5" wheels and doesn't say anything else apart from tyre pressures and tyre sizes...

cheers,

louis