Clarifying an issue with lift and Tire size

[Bryn23]

Well I’m looking to see if I’ve interpreted the QLD transport guide correctly.

I’m looking at getting a T6 4 Motion to convert into a camper with the Bilstein 30mm lift…, as I am looking at putting in a side cassette lift (under the chassis) for wheelchair access. not ideal, but want a side lift so i can put a fixed bed in it.

I’m looking at max height for ground clearance. Will look at making up a 4mm aluminium bash plate for the lift.

Also Looking at upgrading to the 3.2 GVM model, due to the wheelchair lift weighing 140kg. due want to be over once I do a camper conversion.

Instead of the Factory 235/55/17 tires OD 690mm I was looking at a set of

235/65/17 697 Bridgestone Duelers OD 738mm 108 Load rated…. this would give me another 24mm hight, for a total of 54mm raise.

Had Bridgestone 697 on my Hilux. And on my CRV, they have never let me down. And it is a pain in the ass to change tires when your wheelchair bound.

Any issues… from what I read as a AWD I can lift max of 50mm and the tire size should be no more than 50mm than original, if I’ve read the QLD rules right.

Seikel make a oversized spare wheel carrier up to 235/65/R17, so keeping a same sized spare isn’t going to be an issue as I know from my WRX days, you can’t run different sized tires on AWD.

The Seikel Lift guide from their website, shows that the combo of the 30mm lift and the tires are just below the minor mod’s

The big question is how much power would I lose, due to the larger rolling diameter…? the 400TDi should help... your thoughts.

Jax tyre link to QLD transport rules

https://www.jaxtyres.com.au/tyres/tips/plus-one-tyre-sizing-learn-how-to-plus-size-tyres-wheels

Seikel Lift kit Guide
http://www.seikel.de/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Höherlegungswerte_T5-T6_2015-10_1221_engl.pdf


Cheers,

Bryn

[Sunny43.5]

Do you need the lift for the under floor or could you use a ramp ? we have two disabled children both in Wheelchairs and we use the ramp seen in our last vans conversion here http://www.vwwatercooled.com/forums/...t-80976-2.html They are from a supplier in Sydney and are built in the US . I used to do wheelchair conversions for Maxi Taxis on the Gold Coast and they are incredibly heavy along with awkward fitting . The ramp only weighs around 18kg depending on length , best part is they fold so easily and only have a small footprint and can be removed and transferred to a new vehicle later . I fitted one for another VW owner with a son who could drive his own powered chair the kid loved it . They can be fitted at the side door or the rear tailgate .

[Bryn23]

Do you need the lift for the under floor or could you use a ramp ? we have two disabled children both in Wheelchairs and we use the ramp seen in our last vans conversion here http://www.vwwatercooled.com/forums/...t-80976-2.html They are from a supplier in Sydney and are built in the US . I used to do wheelchair conversions for Maxi Taxis on the Gold Coast and they are incredibly heavy along with awkward fitting . The ramp only weighs around 18kg depending on length , best part is they fold so easily and only have a small footprint and can be removed and transferred to a new vehicle later . I fitted one for another VW owner with a son who could drive his own powered chair the kid loved it . They can be fitted at the side door or the rear tailgate .

Hi Sunny,

I have read you post's about the ramp, ramps work fine if an able body is putting the ramp back in place.

But as I'm a Para, with stuffed shoulders from 16 years of putting up with pulling apart and throwing my chair in the passenger seat, I'm looking to reduce the load on my shoulders.

Plus ill be doing a trip around Aussie by myself, while the wife is doing some more study.

I've back packed though the UK for 3 months by myself, i use to take my boat out by myself, until is sold it and got a SxS Can Am... I value my independence,

I just try to cover all bases so i don't come unstuck...

Hence why i'm looking at better durable tires, more lift and a bash plate for the lift... it's costs a bit more... cost a bit more, but i like to be prepared.

Cheers,

[Sunny43.5]

No problem while driving today it came into my mind that you may have been independent so the ramp would not help , good luck with your conversion .

[Guest001]

One thing you will have to take into account with a 50mm larger tyre is the fact it will alter your speedo to read slower by up to 6kph at 100kph.
My Polo is 6 k fast and I worked it out that tyres 45mm larger would bring it nearly back to correct.

Also it is illegal to have a speedo that reads LESS than actual speed

Here is an excellent calculator to work it out Will also will show different offsets etc

https://www.rimsntires.com/specspro.jsp

[Bryn23]

One thing you will have to take into account with a 50mm larger tyre is the fact it will alter your speedo to read slower by up to 6kph at 100kph.
My Polo is 6 k fast and I worked it out that tyres 45mm larger would bring it nearly back to correct.

Also it is illegal to have a speedo that reads LESS than actual speed

Here is an excellent calculator to work it out Will also will show different offsets etc

https://www.rimsntires.com/specspro.jsp

that is a handy calculator.

I'll call VW tomorrow to see if they can Adjust the speedo, and how much it'll cost to recalibrate.

It's funny how it illegal to have a speedo that is slower, all my cars have been slower, when i compare it to GPS... although i don't mind being a little under, saves on spending tickets.

My main concern is if I've read the QLD transport reg's right about the AWD and i can run up to 50mm tires..

I'll give my local tire guy a call, he should know.

[Bryn23]

I got a quote from Trakka today for a Seikel oversized tire holder today for the T6...

$950...

in aussie, it it's for a VW, they charge like its for a Porsche.

[Sunny43.5]

You may be overthinking this issue the only way QLD transport would find out your speedo was wrong would be to spend a huge amount of time and money putting your van over a test pit and running it on a dyno thing .
I would doubt VW will be able to recalibrate the speedo as they will not leave themselves open to a claim if it ever arose . Say you got pulled over for speeding and you told the police that VW changed the speedo that would make the dealer responsible and believe me they WILL not even entertain that sort of thing . I found that out when I fitted a genuine cruise control to our van the dealer refused point blank to do the coding because they would be liable if something went wrong , luckily Jmac did the coding for me .
Tyres again it would be a rare thing to get into much trouble , lets face it any mongrel who would book a disabled driver for such a small thing should be shot !!! Yes I know all about ADR's etc I worked with Qld Transport for 20 years doing all sorts of modifications under the Authorised Officers scheme . I have been pulled over in RBTs and a couple of speeding tickets over the last ten years in my VW and guess what it has HOLDEN Commodore wheels fitted even has the Holden Lion Logo in the centre caps and not one police man has ever said a single word and they have looked !! Admits here one even asked why the Holden wheels as I explained they were off a V8 powered one tone ute so they would easily match any specs required , even my insurance company ignored the wheels when the van was in for a ten thousand dollar repair .

[Guest001]

that is a handy calculator.

I'll call VW tomorrow to see if they can Adjust the speedo, and how much it'll cost to recalibrate.

It's funny how it illegal to have a speedo that is slower, all my cars have been slower, when i compare it to GPS... although i don't mind being a little under, saves on spending tickets.

My main concern is if I've read the QLD transport reg's right about the AWD and i can run up to 50mm tires..

I'll give my local tire guy a call, he should know.

You are misinterpreting "slower"

Your speedo can read up to 10% +- 4% fast but not less than actual speed. At 100kph on my GPS and my Canbus speed on my RNS510 the speedo says 106kph which is legal. If it said 97 it would be illegal and you would be getting tickets for speeding.
Some models it can be calibrated with a VCDS I tried on both of mine and it wouldnt alter it even though it appeared to accept the alterations

I would ring QLD TMR and ask them After all they make the rules.

Look in the QLD rules for your vehicles classification Here it is


• any medium weight goods vehicle (NA2, NB ADR category).

Must not be more than 50mm larger or 26mm smaller than that of any tyre designated by the vehicle
manufacturer for that vehicle.

So what category is your vehicle

[Guest001]

You may be overthinking this issue the only way QLD transport would find out your speedo was wrong would be to spend a huge amount of time and money putting your van over a test pit and running it on a dyno thing .
I would doubt VW will be able to recalibrate the speedo as they will not leave themselves open to a claim if it ever arose . Say you got pulled over for speeding and you told the police that VW changed the speedo that would make the dealer responsible and believe me they WILL not even entertain that sort of thing . I found that out when I fitted a genuine cruise control to our van the dealer refused point blank to do the coding because they would be liable if something went wrong , luckily Jmac did the coding for me .
Tyres again it would be a rare thing to get into much trouble , lets face it any mongrel who would book a disabled driver for such a small thing should be shot !!! Yes I know all about ADR's etc I worked with Qld Transport for 20 years doing all sorts of modifications under the Authorised Officers scheme . I have been pulled over in RBTs and a couple of speeding tickets over the last ten years in my VW and guess what it has HOLDEN Commodore wheels fitted even has the Holden Lion Logo in the centre caps and not one police man has ever said a single word and they have looked !! Admits here one even asked why the Holden wheels as I explained they were off a V8 powered one tone ute so they would easily match any specs required , even my insurance company ignored the wheels when the van was in for a ten thousand dollar repair .

Its not QLD TMR that you have to worry about, Its the speed cameras with their low tolerance. If your speedo is reading 96 and you are actually doing 101 you will be in trouble if you then do 100 on the speedo and you are actually doing about 105.

Thats what I was getting at. My Landcruiser was spot on at 100 so if I put bigger tyres on I would have had to be very careful.

As far as rims and tyres are concerned as long as they meet or exceed the load and speed specs for the vehicle you wont have problems with Mr Plod. However if you stick wide rims with incorrect offset they could foul the body on turns.

[Sunny43.5]

I rarely rely on my speedo as stated under ADR's they can be plus or minus by a margin , I have three different readings in my work van Speedo reading 100kmh GPS telling me its 96kmh or so . Then using an ODB reader which gives my speed on a HUD on the windscreen it gives around 98/99 kmh so it is all over the shop . Best bet is to use GPS over a set distance and compare the readout . The only times I have been done for speeding is when I was asleep at the wheel so to speak just plain forgot to have look when in a 60 zone , three tickets over ten year period and around 500000 kms in two vans so not too bad methinks . These days I have changed the tolerance in the GPS so I get warnings when approaching +5% of the posted limit so at 61 kmh a 60 symbol turns red on the GPS when 63 I get a nagging woman telling me I "Your over the speed limit " so I trust the GPS because the speedo just clams up ! The HUD is great at night as I turn down all the instrument lights and have the speed / tacho right in front of me saves from having to keep looking down at the dash . Note here for Qld there is still a tolerance with the various types of speed detection devices but it has been lowered recently so you need to be careful . NSW now that's a whole different ball game , I work in the Northern Rivers area from time to time and stick right on the limit EXACTLY and I use the cruise control every where .

[Guest001]

I rarely rely on my speedo as stated under ADR's they can be plus or minus by a margin , I have three different readings in my work van Speedo reading 100kmh GPS telling me its 96kmh or so . Then using an ODB reader which gives my speed on a HUD on the windscreen it gives around 98/99 kmh so it is all over the shop . Best bet is to use GPS over a set distance and compare the readout . The only times I have been done for speeding is when I was asleep at the wheel so to speak just plain forgot to have look when in a 60 zone , three tickets over ten year period and around 500000 kms in two vans so not too bad methinks . These days I have changed the tolerance in the GPS so I get warnings when approaching +5% of the posted limit so at 61 kmh a 60 symbol turns red on the GPS when 63 I get a nagging woman telling me I "Your over the speed limit " so I trust the GPS because the speedo just clams up ! The HUD is great at night as I turn down all the instrument lights and have the speed / tacho right in front of me saves from having to keep looking down at the dash . Note here for Qld there is still a tolerance with the various types of speed detection devices but it has been lowered recently so you need to be careful . NSW now that's a whole different ball game , I work in the Northern Rivers area from time to time and stick right on the limit EXACTLY and I use the cruise control every where .

I also have a HUD and its set 1k above Canbus speed to be really safe.
QLD tolerance is pretty low as I got a ticket for 4 k over in a 60 zone. I swear it was the car outside me that was passing me but just paid up anyway.

Cruise is at speedo speed unless adjusted to compensate for incorrect readout. At 110 true I run on 116 and HUD reads 111 to keep the narks away. ( So Far)

[Sunny43.5]

Exactly the same as me , my last infringement was a dubious one as the photo showed two cars side by side but I got the ticket . Again only a few kays over but life goes on , interesting thing and I am not making an excuse here . I drove through the same place on the Gold Coast at Broadbeach yesterday , yes there were sign warning of the camera but in that area there also multiple other signs along the road plus the light rail in the middle of the road with all of its warning signs and turn signals . By the time you have finished focussing on the light rail and also needing to find where I was going to turn in a strange area those warning signs were just more background clutter .

[Murphenzo]

First question, don't worry about losing any power with the larger wheels and tires. It really doesn't make the much of a different. Noticeable....yes. But it's not much.

On tire sizing, it's not because it's an AWD that you can go larger on the tires, it's the vehicle class under the ADRs. If I recall correctly the transporters are NC2 and they are allowed a 50mm increase in tire diameter, same as a 4WD (whatever their ADR class is). Thought it worth mentioning that in case you ever get questioned.

I didn't bother recalibrating the speedo on mine. I just know that the speedo reads about 1.5% low (factory it reads 5% high). It's no big deal. I've never been questioned on the tire size by the police.

Last but not least, you can get a 738mm tire into the standard spare tire holder, it's just not easy. It needs to be deflated and you need to jack it into place.

If you'd like to see a T5 with the suspension and wheel setup you're talking about, I fly back into Brisbane tomorrow and will be around until the following weekend. Happy to give you a look.

[Bryn23]

Hi Murphenzo,

From reading the ADR's it looked like it was fine for the 50mm increase. i just want to make sure that i read it correctly..

I did come across a few slightly smaller tires such as 225/65/R17 724.3mm OD and 235/60/R17 714mm OD all with the Correct Load Rating, that could work without the spare tire deflation issue or having to spend big $$ on the Oversized tire mount.

Although even those sizes may hit the inner guard without the offset change on standard rims.

I'm free all week, so send me a PM with contact details and ill come out to you, whenever you are free and when its not a hassle, I live in the CBD, so it not far out to East Brisbane.

Cheers and thanks for the offer.