Legal Steering Wheel Size?

[011]

Hi gang,

I'm currently a little confused about what is the legal steering wheel size, in regards to the minimum diameter of the wheel.

Despite what is said in the NCOP thread listed in this room, Tech and Conversions, I have a mate that insists that the legal size is, in fact, 360mm. Not 330mm, as stated in the NCOP.

I'm interested in buying a used wheel that is 330mm with a 50mm offset toward the driver. However, the interest in buying stems from the fact that I thought it was a legal size.

Said mate, who bought a 360mm Nardi wheel not too long ago, is adamant that anything below 360mm is illegal (size wise). The basis of his claims comes from the fact he allegedly called an engineer before making the purchase.

Is my mate right or wrong? He's not stupid, and he seems so confident that it's hard not to believe him. I suspect he is wrong, but I just need clarification from a few boffins here.

This is just a question about legal size, not what qualifies a 100 percent legal wheel.

Thankyou!
Dylan

[BeRad]

from what ive seen the cops say, not that they are 100% on the knowledge they tend not to care about size, they pay attention to the wheel not being made of timber of some sought so in an accident it wont break and stab you. the rules that transport qld,nsw etc etc are worded to be interpruted different ways, depending on what the engineer takes that meaning to be will be what he tells you, 10 different engineers may tell you 10 different things.

[Billzilla]

I think it's 330mm, not 100% sure though sorry.
But the good news is that I have a 300mm one on my Fraser, and that's legal as it was the 'factory' one supplied by the car builder ....... me!

[o_man_ra23]

330mm is legal, as my 320mm wheel has been noted on RWC's as being "10mm undersize"

I believe there may even be a clause in there that states it should not vary by too much of a percentage on the original size... meaning you cant replace a truck wheel with a sportscar wheel (for the sake of being able to turn in carparks I guess)

Cheers, Owen

[Merudo]

I think it's 330mm, not 100% sure though sorry.
But the good news is that I have a 300mm one on my Fraser, and that's legal as it was the 'factory' one supplied by the car builder ....... me!

Show off.

[TA-022]

NCOP means nothing in NSW.

go off the VIS bulletins on the RTA website.

NCOP in NSW ....pipe dream

[roadsailing]

i think it is actually 333mm or something wierd, i did a calculation a while back and it was basically 13 inches in mm.

330 should be OK, most are 350 or so.

[Spindevil]

Nardi typically make 14' steering wheels which is the same size as most stockies. they just look much more stylish. if you really want to find out the legal size limit for a steering wheel just have a read through the ADR

if it doesnt specify then all you need is an engineer to say that it will perform as intended without posing a danger to yourself or other road users.

as a rule of thumb if u can buy it retail in AU it's likely to be legal size

[infotechplus]

CrUZida posted this information in a thread some time ago, and I've quoted it in my thread on Emissions and Noise Testing.

330mm is the legal limit.

http://www.toymods.net/forums/showthread.php?t=7230

Cheers,

Peter

[o_man_ra23]

as a rule of thumb if u can buy it retail in AU it's likely to be legal size

Sorry mate, but thats a pretty terrible rule of thumb. Most retail shops like Supercrap and Autobarn have signs up that say something like

Some aftermarket products sold here may make your car unroadworthy and illegal to drive on the streets

As an example, my steeringwheel (previously mentioned to be undersize) was sold to me by Supercrap as an off the shelf aftermarket wheel. But hey, never had a cop notice it (or the un-complied drivers side bucket seat when I had that)

Cheers, Owen

[011]

So it seems that 330mm should be okay. I searched the VSIs on the RTA website and also the relevant ADRs (which was ADR 10 pertaining to the steering column) and I couldn't find anything stipulating the minimum legal wheel diameter.

The bottom line is, it's not something that an insurance company wouldn't pay up because of and most cops aren't educated enough to spot it if it is illegal.

Rep for all.

[lojik]

If it looks aftermarket a cop may just ask you to show them the horn works.
So make sure yours does, or you may end up with a yellow even if you picked a legal wheel.

[o_man_ra23]

If it looks aftermarket a cop may just ask you to show them the horn works.
So make sure yours does, or you may end up with a yellow even if you picked a legal wheel.

HAHA, funny you should mention that... back in the olden days of my first RA40, the only time my horn worked was when I was pulled over for a random roadworthy!!! Darn thing had a problem with the sliding contact not being adjusted properly... I was packing thinking I was going to cop an $80 fine. Mind you, Im glad the cop was still looking at the front lights when he told me to honk it... cause it was on the third hit that it worked +rep for the memories!!

Cheers, Owen

[TA-022]

no minimum size found yet ... but i did read a minimum force required to turn the wheel ....trying to find that again.

Mean while here is ADR 10/00 and 10/01 pertaining to the steering colum.

So far from these all i can see being a problem is the travel towards the driver can not exceed 127mm from the shaft end.

so if you std wheel moves towards you 120mm in an acco ... and your new wheel sits 10mm closer to you then it will travel in theory 130mm and hence fail ADR 10/01.

http://users.tpg.com.au/nbdean/ADR%2...%2BFRLI%5D.pdf

http://users.tpg.com.au/nbdean/ADR1000FINALFRLI.pdf

[011]

"You have given out too much Reputation in the last 24 hours, try again later."

Fuggin' bugger off!