Legal limits for suspension lift

[jafa.and.proud]

Howdy

I'm half way through piecing together a suspension lift kit for my Bighorn, and have a few different options for lift height

I have always been of the belief that we can't go over a 50mm lift without cert, however I can't find anything on the LVVTA website about it.

My question is, do we have a legal max lift without cert?

[imsohi]

From my and my wof guys understanding if your springs and shocks sit in the original positions it is warrentable so as long as you don't modify those you should be sweet. I would recommend talking to your local wof shop regarding this so then you are both on the same page. IMHO I think land transport have made a big mistake by taking away the 50 mm rule with springs (it still applies for lift blocks in coil over suspension) as for the likes of the 80 series landcruiser you can get a 6 inch lift which affects all kind of geometry. But my wof man will happily pass my 3" lift every 6 months. my 2c

[derk]

you'll find it hard to get the same 2 answers out of officialdom mate the lvvta docs can be hard to interpret some shit is quite clearly NO and other shit seems to be not quite as clearly interpreted as NO and then the VIRM shit for wofs is even less clear just to make it harder I'd guarantee officialdom dosent even have a documented figure for what your standard truck height is and if you throw a set of 2" lifted springs in you'd probably only bring your saggy old truck back up to its original factory height when it was a new vehicle , good luck with whatever approach you take to it mate

[stovanovich]

My mate (a leading WOF inspector in the central north island & when he earned it, the youngest person to ever achieve the ticket) has discussed this with the club and technically as mentioned above it's all dependent on whether everything fits in the factory mount locations, if it does then you're all good, if you have to modify anything then it will need a cert to get through WOF.
Obviously it is at the discretion of the inspector themselves and if it looks unsafe or unstable they will fail it (just like anything though)

[prado_boon]

There a lot of hairy fairy words used but it's all here.
Print it out and leave it in your trucks... if a cop questions it start reading it to him/her/it

http://www.lvvta.org.nz/documents/stand ... ystems.pdf

[prado_boon]

Here it is:
==========================
==========================
Coil springs fitted to low volume vehicles must not be modified for the purpose of changing the vehicle’s ride height unless

The spring is modified by a recognised spring manufacturer and the configuration of the modified spring ends match the end configuration of the original spring; or

the spring is fitted to the vehicle in its original configuration had plain unground ends; and no heat is used during the modification process.
==========================
==========================


So yip I see that as fine if it's a "recognised spring manufacturer" that is made for your vehicle.

[wjw]

It's usually tire size changes that push you to a cert

[jafa.and.proud]

Cheers guys, much appreciated

My local VTnZ changes their mind constantly every time I go in, and I have had even worse experiences with most of the local mechanics that do them.

I had 2 sets of springs to chose from, one gave my truck a 45mm lift and the other an 80mm lift. I've decided to stick with the more mild 45mm initially to keep things easy. I can't be bothered having yet another thing to argue with VTNZ about every wof...

[Mattman]

Can't lift the front of a bighorn more than about 50mm so not much point lifting the rear 80mm

[jafa.and.proud]

Can get up to 3" out of the torsion bars usually. Was looking at some aftermarket torsion bars to get up to the 80mm zone to match but it gets far too hard to keep any kind of alignment beyond 2" anyway. So yea that was one of the factors helping me decide

[Mattman]

You can lift the front 80mm but you will have no down travel.

Ifs only has so much travel. More height is less droop. Got to have some droop.

A ball joint flip will help sort camber.

[jafa.and.proud]

Yep, already done the flip this afternoon

[Suza]

Can get up to 3" out of the torsion bars usually. Was looking at some aftermarket torsion bars to get up to the 80mm zone to match but it gets far too hard to keep any kind of alignment beyond 2" anyway. So yea that was one of the factors helping me decide

biggest issue I struck in my old Bighorn with winding up the front too much was that the increased angle on the CV's coursed them to fail far too regularly and then the lift angle combined with 33's had a habit of braking hard on tie rods.
So I lowered it back to about 35-40mm lift and solved all those issues.
Then I sold it

[Mattman]

I replaced the tierods with heavy duty items to fix that breakage problem

[Mr Revhead]

You can also lower the front diff if you want a bigger job.

Re the 50mm limit. How do I put this... It's not in the current online version of the regs. Yet.
So currently you can go more than a 2" lift if you don't have to mod any mounts etc.
Also can you find anything about body lifts in the current VIRM/LVVTA writings? No, neither can my WoF agent

I would expect to again need a cert in the near future for these sorts of things.

[wjw]

http://www.nzta.govt.nz/resources/wof-n ... ue-11.html

http://www.nzta.govt.nz/resources/wof-n ... sue-11.pdf

Raised suspension
You may have noticed a growing trend to raise vehicles. This is
sometimes done by fitting a suspension or body lift kit.
These types of modifications must be LVV certified.
These modifications may affect the stability of a vehicle by changing
the centre of gravity, or they may impact on the steering system.
Steering and suspension geometry can also be adversely affected if
a vehicle is raised significantly.
Increased tyre size can also raise a vehicle. If the tyres are outside the
limits specified in the VIRM, they must be LVV certified.

http://www.lvvta.org.nz/documents/infos ... hedule.pdf

Structures and Frontal Impact:

A body lift on a body/chassis vehicle (commonly a 4x4) always requires LVV certification

[Mr Revhead]

Yes but you will note neither of those are the actual VIRM or the LVVTA threshold check sheet. Which is where 99% of inspectors and people look.
So the law is nothing over 50mm, and body lift always needs certs.
But the common resources used to check those rules are currently missing those notes.

[slide]

The ONLY resource for wof regulations quite clearly spells it out. If it differs from these regulations it either gets changed to meet these regulations, or taken for certification (or an illegal wof)

https://vehicleinspection.nzta.govt.nz/virms/in-service-wof-and-cof/general/vehicle-structure/structure-incl2.-frontal-impact

Note 7

A body lift on a body/chassis vehicle (commonly a 4x4) always requires LVV certification.

https://vehicleinspection.nzta.govt.nz/ ... on-systems

(certification is not required providing)
Table 9-1-1
the springs or shock absorbers are direct replacements, and
replacement springs are contained within unmodified OE seats throughout full suspension travel, and
replacement springs are self-retaining in their seats at full extension, without the use of non-standard devices such as wire-ties, straps, or external spring locators, and
replacement springs have not been heated or cut, and
springs and spring seats are not height adjustable by any means (unless OE), and
replacement shock absorbers, including air-adjustable units, fit unmodified OE mountings, and
suspension maintains sufficient travel for safe operation when fully laden, and
suspension components maintain sufficient clearance from unmodified bumpstops when fully laden, and
a minimum of 100mm ground clearance (unladen and without driver) exists below any part of the vehicle structure, or any steering, braking or suspension component2, and
the normal relationship between front and rear suspension height is not unduly affected.