So most of the insurance companies dosent allow wider than 7" rims on magna which also means we cant get 18" rims of our choice and 235 tyres legally on 7" Rims.

We all know this by now.

Questions are:

1) under what circumstances an Insurance company will go under a swear checkup to find the width of the rims???

2) In What types of accidents they might do so?

3) Is it going to be size of our tyres which will provoke them i.e. 235/xx ?

4) How about having 225 on a 7.5" or 8" wide Rim (its perfectly legall I Suppose).

5) We had few members with decades of driving experience under them will they like to share their experiences or it might had happend with their friends ?

4) How about having 225 on a 7.5" or 8" wide Rim (its perfectly legall I Suppose).
Legal, probably. Insurable, depends on insurer.

Legal, probably. Insurable, depends on insurer.

thats what i am saying dont tell insurer that you got 7.5" or 8" wide rims tell them its 7" wide.
Most obvious thing is the wider tyres. any thing higher than 225 on your tyrewall will make them think that you are using wider rims than 7".

If you lie you won't have insurance.

Its a tricky one. You don't have to lie, just don't tell them. If they ask you bought them second hand and you "think" they are 18x7's.

My advice would be to take the punt with wider wheels. If you do have an accident and its your fault, then tow the car back to your place and swap the wheels around THEN call your insurance company.

There ofcoarse will be rare senario where the car is so badly damaged that you will not be able to swap the wheel(s) around.

There ofcoarse will be rare senario where the car is so badly damaged that you will not be able to swap the wheel(s) around.

and ur not able to walk...................

if u cant walk u eat the evidence :nuts:

*starts knawing on rims*

STUPID STUPID STUPID...
There are insurance companies who allow wider rims...
In facrt why bother getting insurance if are gunna lie to them..?
you may as well be honest and either get insurance with someone like JustCar.. or not even bother getting insurance and save yourself $1000 a year...
Cause Either way you will end up having to pay for it out of your own pocket.
When ever Im involved in an accident I always make sure cops are called and the other car is checked out... Even if it is my fault.
I reckon the difference between normal insurance and Just car is not that much when you take into account that you are actually covered!
M2c..

Haydn

My Insurance company is AAMI, they will let me have what ever i want as long as it is legal, Im getting my wheels engineered and to get them engineered the max i can go on my 2002 VRX is 9inch, any more than that and its not legal and wont fit under the guards, i can got as big as i want in height but must calibrate speedo if i increase rolling diameter by more than 15 millimetres.

Who is your insurance company...??? :P

For The EGO : 9" is 2" wider than your original rim width i.e 7" and it will make your car unroadworthy in Victoria.(not sure about other states).


TButcher: going to Just car insurance is ok if you are a die hard Car moder e.g yourself changing almost everythig inside out. But for someone who only wants bigger rims and thats is only 0.5"-1" wider and other mods (e.g. Exhaust, lowered, etc) which are normally covered by all insurance companies going with just car might not be a good option as he might end up paying $500 - $1000 more every year just for the sake of rims.

As far calling police incase of accident is concerned.

Lets say other car

1) lowered 60mm all around but still have ground clearence more that 100mm = legall.

2) got 2" big and 1" wider rims = legall.

3) Got a non-oil pod filter = legall.

what police might be checking other car for is if the car is unroadworthy or not and thats the whole point here.

RACV and NARMA dont insure your car if it got more than 7" wide rim on your magna. but its fully legall to put 8" wide rim on your magna and police can not charge for that.

I have Racq all they said is along as they are to the transport rules. have 17's 235 45's on a 7.5. the guy at the transport said insurance are mainly focused on size of wheels/trye diametre, and the rating etc. not the width of the rim said if i wanted i could put 1.3 times the standard tyre.(265) but thats qld..

ring the transport department ask if they know any insurance company's that allow a bit larger rim etc..

I have Racq all they said is along as they are to the transport rules. have 17's 235 45's on a 7.5. the guy at the transport said insurance are mainly focused on size of wheels/trye diametre, and the rating etc. not the width of the rim said if i wanted i could put 1.3 times the standard tyre.(265) but thats qld..

ring the transport department ask if they know any insurance company's that allow a bit larger rim etc..Yep LOVE Qld...
No way my Rims would be legal in any other state :)

Haydn

I work for GIO insurance,,, we cover wider bigger rimms,,,, if you need an insurance quote PM me,,,

What I can't understand is why NRMA will insure my mates Fairlane with 7.5 inch rims yet our Magnas are way lighter. They're 18's and after market. Tyres are 235/35 oe 235/40.

With GIO/suncorp we will insure rims etc, but you must tell us, if you have an accident and its because of the wider rims and you havent told us we may not pay a claim

What I can't understand is why NRMA will insure my mates Fairlane with 7.5 inch rims yet our Magnas are way lighter. They're 18's and after market. Tyres are 235/35 oe 235/40.

I think Fords and holdens come with 7.5" - 8" width as factory std. (no flames) Thats the reason why narma have no problem. whereas for magnas the biggest wheels available as factory std are 17" x7" i.e. for VRX and Ralliart so that is the limit i suppose.

Jay: I checked with GIO earlier this month and their quote was $500.00 more than what i am paying to RACV now and only different thing was bigger rims (18" x 8"). if the difference is minimum ays around $50 - $100 it is justifieable but $500 difference is a big no no.

Generally Ins Comps don't tell u what is legal etc. They only say that vehicle must be "road worthy" as per each State.
Not advising IC of mods serves no good - at the time of claim they eagerly void the policy if there are any discrepancies. They run a business too, u see.
Honesty is the only way to go. Check all mods b4 u do them to keep probs minimum - cos there always can and will be some.

But - so far nobody has really answered the initial question.

Who has had a claim refused due to mods?
I made a claim with JustCar in June due to break in and 3 G worth of damage. If they wanted to get picky, they could have. No prob with 234/45/17 on 7" rims. But - that doesn't mean it's not gonna happen next time, if it is a driving related claim.....

Generally Ins Comps don't tell u what is legal etc. They only say that vehicle must be "road worthy" as per each State.
Not advising IC of mods serves no good - at the time of claim they eagerly void the policy if there are any discrepancies. They run a business too, u see.
Honesty is the only way to go. Check all mods b4 u do them to keep probs minimum - cos there always can and will be some.

But - so far nobody has really answered the initial question.

Who has had a claim refused due to mods?
I made a claim with JustCar in June due to break in and 3 G worth of damage. If they wanted to get picky, they could have. No prob with 234/45/17 on 7" rims. But - that doesn't mean it's not gonna happen next time, if it is a driving related claim.....

thats the biggest contradiction i have ever heard. "Honesty is the only way to go" yet u havent been honest with your tyres and i bet u were worried when u made your claim

i have 235/45/R17's on 8 inch wide rims but i am with JustCar now. I bought the rims 2nd hand and didnt research it enough to know the problem they might cause when i bought them.
JustCar say i can do anything as long as its legal. I am still not 100% sure if 8 inch wide rims on a magna is legal in QLD

thats the biggest contradiction i have ever heard. "Honesty is the only way to go" yet u havent been honest with your tyres and i bet u were worried when u made your claim

Seems like u haven't heard much then.

7" wide rims are legal in NSW for this Magna
17" diameter wheels are legal in NSW for this Magna
235 mm wide tyres are legal in NSW for this Magna
Tyre size of 235/45/17 97 is legal in NSW for this Magna
The only question mark is how "illegal" is it to fit 235 on 7" rim. See, NSW RTA doesn't really have a reg on it - only recommendations. We call this grey area.

Shocking.

grey area = unsure = possibly could cost you big big $$

the point is for someone who is all for honesty with the insurance company (or else there is no point having insurance), then being 99% honest, telling them 99% about everything done to your car, then it seems a bit strange taking that small risk

Seems like u haven't heard much then.

The only question mark is how "illegal" is it to fit 235 on 7" rim. See, NSW RTA doesn't really have a reg on it - only recommendations. We call this grey area.

There is no "grey area" to speak of.

The Tyre and Rim Association of Australia (TRAA) set the guidelines. They apply Australia wide, no matter what state or territory you live in. Most transport authorities will refer to these guidelines.

The TRAA guideline states that the smallest rim a 235 tyre can legally be fitted to, is 7.5"

That means the largest tyre you can legally fit on a 7" rim is a 225.

While most 235 tyres will physically fit on a 7" rim, unfortunately they are not legal anywhere in Australia.

Before we all get so very excited about this matter - send us some documented info on this matter. RTA didn't have any when I inquired. Those regs might be from tyre manufacturers... to cover warranty issues?

Well - since you guys are so clever, tell me how come my claim was accepted if I have "illegal" tyres. Lucky? Dodgy assessor? Irrelevant to the matter? Yes? I'm waiting. Impatiently.

I had a claim accepted with 94 load rated tyres, and mine should be 95 ... doesn't mean it will happen with no problems next time :)

Hi, I have a friend with a VS Commodore running 19s. She was with NRMA and they wouldn't allow the rims, so she left them for AAMI who gave the thumbs up. I don't know what AAMI exact specs are, but she got the cover.
When I put 17x7s on my TF, NRMA told me 7s are the widest allowed (as you would all know), so if you won't 18s - which I'm considering in future - my advice would be to change insurer rather than stay and lie to the one you now have; it'd be horrible if that deception came back to bite you one day!

i just had a very long and very rudiculious conversation with my insurance company(nrma), they won't insure anything wider than 7" as we all know, because they do their own inhouse testing of each model every year and decide what the maximum width is they can go to without being unsafe(sounds like an old rule that needs to be updated to me!). my arguement to them was that if you allow me to go to a 7.5" rim i am able to put a 235 tyre on which will improve braking distance,handling and traction. i also said evrything i want to do is legal and if you did allow that magical extra .5" you would have a lot more buisness. but they wouldn't budge!!! so i said i would send them a written complain and change insurance companies. the only reason i'm kicking up a stink is because i'm paying $370/yr full comp which is awesome, and no other company can come close.

*continues search for some nice 18x7's. I WILL FIND SOME DAMMIT :bowrofl:

my arguement to them was that if you allow me to go to a 7.5" rim i am able to put a 235 tyre on which will improve braking distance,handling and traction.
In the dry yes, in the wet, it's a different story. The wet is the worst case scenario and what it's probably based.

I'm a little confused. My understanding was that tyre width made no difference to braking ability whatsoever. It only improved handling.
What is the reasoning behind the concieved increase in braking ability?

I'm a little confused. My understanding was that tyre width made no difference to braking ability whatsoever. It only improved handling.
What is the reasoning behind the concieved increase in braking ability?
In the wet, wider tyres suffer from two things. a decrease in surface area per mass and it's a longer distance to remove bulk water from most of the area of contact. Both reduce the level of grip and decrease aquaplaning speeds. Increased tyre pressure increases aquaplaning speeds.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but – isn’t the rim width in Sports/VRX etc 7”? So, 8” rim would be all legal (in NSW). And to my understanding the chassis and suspension (the only relevant matters in cases like this – bulging fender is cosmetic matter) are all same in these cars (except AWD of course),
So, how come it is “unsafe” in one car and ok in another. I don’t know, but I really don’t believe Magna has designed totally different suspension for Executive and Sports/VRX et al apart from possible springs and shocks – which again has nothing to do with the reasoning what Ins Companies tell us.
In other words, we are just victims of illogical bureaucratic regulations – or n other words BS.
We should rebel! :rant:

I had my TE Advance stolen and my insurance company (AAMI - bastards - long story) was about to deny my claim for the fact that I had 17x8's on it. I never told them this, the investigator took his fat @$$ to Bob Jayne and hunted out my wheels and found they are not manufactured any narrower than 8".
Moral to the story, if you are going to do it, do it ALL the right way (engineering etc) and check with your insurance company, if they wont have you then find another insurance compnay that will.
If you dont, all i can say is that it'll end in tears.

I had my TE Advance stolen and my insurance company (AAMI - bastards - long story) was about to deny my claim for the fact that I had 17x8's on it. I never told them this, the investigator took his fat @$$ to Bob Jayne and hunted out my wheels and found they are not manufactured any narrower than 8".
Moral to the story, if you are going to do it, do it ALL the right way (engineering etc) and check with your insurance company, if they wont have you then find another insurance compnay that will.
If you dont, all i can say is that it'll end in tears.

?Did you end up getting the claim through?
JustCar is under AAMI......

but if u ring up AAMI and mention anything about wide wheels they say "go ring JustCar". So i would be rather pissed off if JustCar refused a claim if mine cos of my 17x8" wheels

?Did you end up getting the claim through?
JustCar is under AAMI......

Eventually, 5 months to the day i did get my claim through. As i have said before in this very thread


I had my TE Advance stolen and my insurance company (AAMI - bastards - long story)

AAMI was about to deny my claim for the fact

Well, I only wanted to know what occurred after you lodged the claim. Lodging and dealing with a claim doesn't mean that it was succesful.
How ever, I'm glad to see that you finally managed to "prove your innocence". Good to hear.

Folks

I have a tj advance, and want to fit 17 x 7 VRX TJ alloys. When ordering from the dealer they have told me that they may foul as vrx have 'special' suspension. They also want a vin or chassis no before the order can proceed.

As far as I'm concerned I was sure they would fit, and cannot see why they wouldn't. Are they just trying to disuade me from fitting these wheels on a 'non vrx' for some reason. Is there anyone who has these wheels on their car - not being a vrx?

I would be fitting a 225/50 17 standard tyre and maybe kings lowered springs. Any thoughts?

Are they just trying to disuade me from fitting these wheels on a 'non vrx' for some reason.


Yes. :D


What load rating do you have on your tyre placard?

If it says "95", you may have problems finding 225/50 17 - 95 tyres.

A VRX has a tyre placard with a 94 rating, so tyre selection is easier, but still limited....

From memory the load rating is 94, but I'm not 100% on that. Was looking at Bridgestone GIII tyres in 225-50.

Anyone with a TJ VRX care to let me know their VIN / chassis no - the buggers
want one before they will order the 17 x 7 vrx alloys for me.

Perhaps someone might have a second hand set they may wish to sell?

On My TJ sports i was up for new tyres and had come across the load rating issue. I simply went and ordered a VRX tyre placard from dealer for abot 56 cents i think. Ripped the old one off and put the new one on. Problem solved.

Am going to do the same thing with my Pajero to put 20 inch rims on now that the latest model has 17 inch as standard. Just order a tyre placard, somone here will have a VRX and be able to give you the part number.

For under $1 it is pretty cheep insurance.

From memory the load rating is 94, but I'm not 100% on that. Was looking at Bridgestone GIII tyres in 225-50.

Anyone with a TJ VRX care to let me know their VIN / chassis no - the buggers
want one before they will order the 17 x 7 vrx alloys for me.

Perhaps someone might have a second hand set they may wish to sell?

Where do you live? You should try Ryde Mitsubishi in NSW, heard they are pretty good with things like that. There is also a member or two here that works in a Mitsubishi parts dept. If you could find him: problem solved.

Thanks Flava for the advice.

Unfortunately I live in SE Qld, but I have found a TJ VRX vin off the internet from checking used car advertisements. I will try ordering these wheels again - just a bit nervy having been told that they would not fit. Having seen some of the very large aftermarket wheels on some of the members cars though, I am positive that they will be fine.

for QLDers, i just read THIS (http://www.transport.qld.gov.au/qt/driver.nsf/files/images/$file/Vehicle-Modifications.pdf)

and was pleased to read on page 16, "the maximum tyre width must not be more than 1.3 times wider than the vehicle manufacturer's widest optional tyre".

Stock magnas have 6.5 inch rims yes? 1.3 x 6.5 = 8.45 inch. Therefore 8 inch wide rims are legal.

Also it states that "the rim diameter may be varied from the standard size but the overall diameter of the tyre must not vary by more than +15mm or -26mm".

Using a tyre calculator i worked out that 205/65/R15's are 647.5mm in diameter, and 235/45/R17's are 643.3mm in diameter, a difference of only -4.2mm, and therefore, legal again :D

That's great news for all you Banana Benders, however, please always be aware that what is 'legal' and what your insurance company terms as 'acceptable' are often two very different things. An example being that i can place wheels outside of legal on my car and have them enginered (therefore legal) but that doesn't mean my insurance company will cover me. I don't want or mean to rain on anyone's parade but i'd rather share what i know and my experience so it doesnt all end in tears later on. :D

People have to stop getting confused between tyres and wheels/rims, as they are two different things and are subject to different limitations.

Stock magnas have 6.5 inch rims yes? 1.3 x 6.5 = 8.45 inch. Therefore 8 inch wide rims are legal.

Magna STD rims are 6" wide, so that would be then max 7.8" Do they round it up or down in QLD I wouldn't know, but u guys are better off than us in NSW - we can go up one inch, to 7" only.
Rims vs Tyres - yep, cannot "fit " 255 on a 5" rim. So check those matters too.
Generally insurance companies require your car to be "Road Worthy" as per State Traffic Regs etc. Don't know if they have their own specific regs re wheels as such, which differ from State Regs. And if you call and ask them 6 times, you get 6 different answers. That's called "Sercice by the Australian Way"! :rant:
I know - did that with NRMA in the beginning......

That's great news for all you Banana Benders, however, please always be aware that what is 'legal' and what your insurance company terms as 'acceptable' are often two very different things. An example being that i can place wheels outside of legal on my car and have them enginered (therefore legal) but that doesn't mean my insurance company will cover me. I don't want or mean to rain on anyone's parade but i'd rather share what i know and my experience so it doesnt all end in tears later on. :D

im with JustCar, and was told that as long as the wheel combination was legal, then i could do it. Hence me doing a bit of research to find out whats legal and whats not
:)


Magna STD rims are 6" wide, so that would be then max 7.8" Do they round it up or down in QLD I wouldn't know

ahh damn! i just assumed they would be 6.5 inch on stock 205 tyres :cry: however reading this again:
"the maximum tyre width must not be more than 1.3 times wider than the vehicle manufacturer's widest optional tyre".

widest optional tyre? does that mean you can go 1.3 times wider than the 16's on a TH sports?

Boys, boys, boys, and girls!

The QLD width regs apply to the TYRE!. Not the rim.

If you have 205 tyre you can go up to 265 tyre. The width of the rim is determined by what the Tyre and Rim Association says is allowed in that width tyre.

The only other ways of falling foul with QLD Transport is the whole combo fouling body or suspension, sticking out of the arches or being too big or small in diameter.

Oh...I nearly forgot track width which means an ET of between +33 and +46.

So basically go as wide as you like so long as nothing fouls, the offset is OK and the whole package is the almost the same diameter as original.

NSW remains stuck at 7" width rim with no arguing and no engineers cert either.

widest optional tyre? does that mean you can go 1.3 times wider than the 16's on a TH sports?

"Widest optional" means that some cars come Standard (STD) with say 6" and then the same car's "luxury" option would be 7". So u could then go up to 8" as a replacement wheel/rim.
All those sizes are stipulated in the tyre placard, changing of which is not a matter of buying new sticker and whamming it on, no, that's not legal. Road Authorities know this and can check the real data as per VIN. So, no use to try to fool them....

~Tyre and Rim Association~
NSW remains stuck at 7" width rim with no arguing and no engineers cert either.

Any docs on that one to display? Michelin recommends some 235's to be installed to min 7" rim, but most manufacturers recommend rim sixe 7.5 or 8 as min for 235s.

Yeah, we are stuck with 7", no matter what. Unless one has Ralliart or similar with 7" as STD rim.... Same chassis and suspension isn't it! Unfair!

Any docs on that one to display? Michelin recommends some 235's to be installed to min 7" rim, but most manufacturers recommend rim sixe 7.5 or 8 as min for 235s.


If your tyre man doesn't have the Tyre Rim book go else where. Some of them don't know it exists or else pretend just to make a sale.

If your tyre man doesn't have the Tyre Rim book go else where. Some of them don't know it exists or else pretend just to make a sale.

It has often been brought up on AMC Forum, that the min rim size for 235/45/17 tyre would be 7.5" as per those above mentioned Regs.
Seems like Michelin hasn't been reading this Forum and is stating illegal parameters. Shame on them! Check this URL.

http://www.michelin.com.au/tyres/passengerCar_pilotPreceda.asp

I have an opportunity to buy some mags, just needed some advice to see if they would be suitable. They are BSA 304 17x8's Pirelli Vizzola 245/45's. Ive got a feeling they might be a bit big......

I have 17x8 ... just depends on the offset.