Tyres outside the arch...the Law???

Tyres outside the arch...the Law???

Author
Discussion

UNCLE SILVIA

Original Poster:

317 posts

217 months

Tuesday 11th March 2008
quotequote all
Ive just bought some wide deep dish wheels for my corolla and the arches need to be rolled to fit them! I was wondering what the law is concerning how much of the wheel/tyre is allowed to be outside the arch (if any) so I know how far I have to go?

Ill be running stretched Tyres so the tread will be well in the arch.

I went to a VW show yesterday and a lot of the cars had wide wheels with stretch tyres with the rim well outside the arch!
My MOT guy thinks your allowed some outside but was looking into how much exactly. He also says its mostly down to tyre tread as to reduce water spray!!

Does anyone know? confused

Cheers!

Altrezia

8,612 posts

218 months

Tuesday 11th March 2008
quotequote all
its the tread that matters.

arryb

10,671 posts

209 months

Tuesday 11th March 2008
quotequote all
I was pretty sure it was no tyre/rim outside the line of the wheelarch but I stand to be corrected....

kambites

68,432 posts

228 months

Tuesday 11th March 2008
quotequote all
The tread (and thus the contact patch) has to be entirely within the arch. Any other part of the wheel/tyre can extend beyond the arch as long as it has no sharp edges.

DBSV8

5,958 posts

245 months

Tuesday 11th March 2008
quotequote all
I believe the rule is that when viewed from directly above the wheel the tread of the tyre should not be visible it's for the central 80%, front to rear not side to side, of the wheel Visible sidewall and rim is acceptable. Overstretched tyres may be failed.

http://www.motester.co.uk/cog.html


richyb

4,615 posts

217 months

Tuesday 11th March 2008
quotequote all
A friend had a mini which had the plastic wheel arch break off revealing part of the tyre and he got pulled over by the police and told it was illegal and had to be rectified within 7 days or so. I'd say its a no no.

UNCLE SILVIA

Original Poster:

317 posts

217 months

Tuesday 11th March 2008
quotequote all
Has anyone seen any official paperwork that proves any of this??

The police must have some official guidelines to follow if they are gonna prosecute drivers, surely??


thirteen-o-two

434 posts

202 months

Tuesday 11th March 2008
quotequote all
My son runs stretched tyres legally - been stopped and a neighbour policeman has seen the wheels. As long as the tread is inside the wheel arch you are ok. Ironically the wheels rim CAN sit outside that...

Oh by the way he works at an MOT garage wink

Chris_R

164 posts

203 months

Tuesday 11th March 2008
quotequote all
I was under the impression from my tester that tyre/wheel protrusion had been omitted since last year? Only if the wheels/tyres foul the bodywork is it a fail nowadays.



sniff petrol

13,112 posts

219 months

Tuesday 11th March 2008
quotequote all
It may be something to do with spray being kicked up on a wet motorway.

sjn2004

4,051 posts

244 months

Tuesday 11th March 2008
quotequote all
sniff petrol said:
It may be something to do with spray being kicked up on a wet motorway.
No it actually because of the horrific injuries that were caused in the day before we had fairings around the wheels. Basically if you clip somebody even slightly(even at 5 mph), the tyre digs/catches into the flesh of the leg, as the wheel rotates it strips the skin and muscle off the bone until the tyre disengages through rotation. Obviously its very difficult to reconstruct this blunt damage and often the pedestrian would lose their leg.

UNCLE SILVIA

Original Poster:

317 posts

217 months

Wednesday 12th March 2008
quotequote all
Still a lot of mixed views but nothing on paper from any forum ive posted this on!?!?!?!?
There must be something somewhere!!

To be honest I dont think it will be that bad on my car when Ive done it but Im just interested in how the Law looks at these things and how they dont seem to have anything official to throw at us?????

Simes205

4,659 posts

235 months

Wednesday 12th March 2008
quotequote all
UNCLE SILVIA said:
Still a lot of mixed views but nothing on paper from any forum ive posted this on!?!?!?!?
There must be something somewhere!!

To be honest I dont think it will be that bad on my car when Ive done it but Im just interested in how the Law looks at these things and how they dont seem to have anything official to throw at us?????
Try on http://retrorides.proboards86.com - they like a bit of tyre stretching.

hman

7,487 posts

201 months

Wednesday 12th March 2008
quotequote all
anyway tyre stretching looks crap.

normalbloke

7,707 posts

226 months

Wednesday 12th March 2008
quotequote all
How does the law stand with regards to tyre manufacturers recommended rim widths being dis-regarded?I guess we're waiting for the first crash/test-case/non-payout??!!


Maybe.

Corpulent Tosser

5,468 posts

252 months

Wednesday 12th March 2008
quotequote all
I definitive answer to this would be good, my sprint/hillclimb car gets MOT'd with narrow wheels/tyres fitted, they are my wets, but with the dry tyres on the tyre wall sticks out proud of the arches, but the tread is within the arches. I know one day a scrutineer is going to comment on this and something to back up the legality of this would be good.

m4tthew

8,916 posts

209 months

Wednesday 12th March 2008
quotequote all
I have always been told that only the tread blocks of the tyre have to covered by the wheel arch. The wheel rim and sidewall can potrude from the arch, hence why so many people stretch tyres to fit the tread under the arch.

pugwash4x4

7,558 posts

228 months

Wednesday 12th March 2008
quotequote all
protruding Tyre's are covered under the Road vehicles (construction and Use) Regulations 1986 part 11 subsection 20 to 28

If you wish to see in writing the exact wording of the regulation you can buy a copy of the regs from http://www.opsi.gov.uk/

Basically when looking down the side of the vehicle from above no TREAD must be visible pst the bodywork. You are liable to pulled otherwise. There are also regs on how much of an arc the mud flap needs to cover of the tyre if you have exposed wheels (a la caterham)

OwenK

3,472 posts

202 months

Wednesday 12th March 2008
quotequote all
sjn2004 said:
sniff petrol said:
It may be something to do with spray being kicked up on a wet motorway.
No it actually because of the horrific injuries that were caused in the day before we had fairings around the wheels. Basically if you clip somebody even slightly(even at 5 mph), the tyre digs/catches into the flesh of the leg, as the wheel rotates it strips the skin and muscle off the bone until the tyre disengages through rotation. Obviously its very difficult to reconstruct this blunt damage and often the pedestrian would lose their leg.
Sounds good in theory but then how does this end up allowing open-wheel vehicles like Sevens and Ariels? confused

crofty1984

16,243 posts

211 months

Wednesday 12th March 2008
quotequote all
OwenK said:
sjn2004 said:
sniff petrol said:
It may be something to do with spray being kicked up on a wet motorway.
No it actually because of the horrific injuries that were caused in the day before we had fairings around the wheels. Basically if you clip somebody even slightly(even at 5 mph), the tyre digs/catches into the flesh of the leg, as the wheel rotates it strips the skin and muscle off the bone until the tyre disengages through rotation. Obviously its very difficult to reconstruct this blunt damage and often the pedestrian would lose their leg.
Sounds good in theory but then how does this end up allowing open-wheel vehicles like Sevens and Ariels? confused
They have mudguards over the wheel, so they're not open-wheel.
To my knowledge, aside from some vintage cars, to have a truly "open wheel" is illegal.