Why So Many 4x4s Are Getting Defected in Australia (And How to Avoid It)
Social media is full of it at the moment – four-wheel drives getting defected all over the country.
Lift kits, wheels, tint, light bars… people are getting pinged left, right and centre.
So I went down the rabbit hole to work out what’s actually going on, why it feels worse than ever, and what’s most likely to get your 4x4 defected.
Here’s what I found, in plain English.
Australia’s always been a rules factory
To understand where defect notices came from, you’ve got to zoom right out.
Everyone talks about the convicts that came out with the First Fleet on 26 January 1788. What hardly anyone mentions is the number of marine guards on those ships.
Roughly 15% of the First Fleet were law enforcement – lawmakers and people with the job of keeping everyone in line.
Compare that to today, where law enforcement is less than 1% of the population. From day one, Australia has had a pretty heavy bias toward rule-making and rule-enforcing.
Fast-forward to modern politics and it hasn’t slowed down. On average, about 108 new federal laws get introduced every year.
That’s a new law roughly every three days – and that’s just federal. On top of that, you’ve got state law and council by-laws.
So when you look at it like that, it’s not really a surprise that vehicle rules are a mess and hard to keep up with. Most of us don’t have a chance.
How defect notices started
When cars first turned up here, the rules were pretty basic: registration and some form of safety/roadworthy checks.
There weren’t many defect notices around at all. The real crack-down came later.
Rough timeline:
Early days: Basic rego, basic checks. Not much in the way of defects.
1960s: States started bringing in roadworthy certificates (or “pink slips”). Inspectors were mainly looking for obvious safety stuff.
1970s: Vehicle defect notices became more common – things like:
Bald tyres
Broken or missing lights
Dodgy or missing seatbelts
Stuff you can spot from a mile away.
2000s: Roadside inspections ramped up. Older, poorly maintained vehicles were the main target.
Around 2010 onwards: Big focus on environmental and emissions stuff:
Removed catalytic converters
Straight-through / stupidly loud exhausts
General pollution and noise issues
And this is also when they really started paying attention to modifications.
So defects started out as basic safety checks. Over time, they’ve morphed into this massive net that can catch almost anything that strays outside the rules.
What’s getting four-wheel drives defected now?
This is where it gets messy.
The list of things that can get your 4x4 defected is huge. A few big ones:
Suspension lifts and body lifts
Tyres that are too big
Wrong size wheels
Roof loads and overloading
Removing your DPF or other emissions gear
Window tint that’s too dark
Too many driving lights or the wrong colour
Light bars in the wrong spot
Mudflaps removed
Bull bar and accessories that block your vision
That’s just scratching the surface.
And then you add the fun part: we’re a massive country, and the rules are different in every state and territory.
What’s perfectly legal on a vehicle registered in Victoria might be illegal on one registered in Queensland, and vice versa. Each state has its own legislation, its own government departments, and its own interpretation of the rules.
So no wonder everyone is confused.
The state-by-state headache
You’d think, logically, that vehicle rules would be the same everywhere. Same highways, same cars, same speeds.
Nope.
Each state and territory has its own separate set of rules, written in its own way, scattered across its own websites. Some of those sites are absolutely painful to search. In a couple of cases, I found two different government pages with conflicting info.
So when you and I try to work out what’s legal, it’s already an uphill battle.
Then on top of that, the people enforcing it (police, inspectors, etc.) are also trying to keep up with this avalanche of laws. They don’t know every single detail either – and sometimes, they just plain get it wrong.
Window tint: mostly similar, but not quite
Tint is one of the easier ones to understand, because most states are pretty similar.
In general:
Front windscreen
You can’t tint it, except for a strip along the top – usually up to 10% of the height of the screen. That’s that “sunstrip” you see on lots of cars.Front side windows (driver and passenger)
Every state has a visible light transmission (VLT) limit, usually 35%. That means 35% of the light must still be able to get through.Rear side windows and back window
This is where the states start to spread out.
For example, the Northern Territory allows darker tint on the back – down around 15% VLT – which sort of makes sense because it’s stupidly hot up there.
Where I live, it also gets up close to 50 degrees in summer, but we don’t get that level of tint. A lot of this stuff just doesn’t line up neatly with reality.
The important bit: this isn’t guesswork. Police can carry tint meters, and installers use them too. If your tint is too dark, they can measure it on the spot. So that “ah, they can’t tell” attitude… yeah, they can.
Driving lights and light bars
Driving lights are one of the easiest mods to do yourself – which is why so many people get them wrong.
Most states have similar rules around how many you can run:
Maximum of four forward-facing driving lights (spotlights and light bars combined) is pretty common.
For example, on my Cruiser I’ve got two spotlights and a roof light bar – and that setup is legal where I am.
Where it gets tricky is:
Position on the vehicle
In Victoria, the rules say the lights have to be mounted on the “front half” of the vehicle.
So a light bar mounted on a rear sports bar on a dual-cab – in Vic – could get you defected.Colour
Almost every state I looked at says driving lights must be white.
I’ve seen plenty of rigs running amber as their main driving lights. That might look cool, but it may not be legal where you live.Bull bar mounts
In Western Australia it’s very clear: you can’t mount a light bar on top of the bull bar. Totally illegal.
Other states, it’s less clear, but they talk about:Not blocking your vision
Not mounting anything above the bonnet line
So that big chunky light bar perched high on a bull bar may be a problem, depending on how and where it’s mounted.
How high can you legally lift your 4x4?
This is the one that gets people fired up.
For some reason, there’s this obsession in the 4x4 world with going as high as physically possible: six-inch lifts, 37s, the whole lot… for tracks that plenty of people drive on much more sensible setups.
Ignoring engineered and certified lifts for a second, here’s the rough, no-cert limit I found when I dug into it – purely the “DIY” stuff you can do before you need an engineer’s ticket:
Victoria
Up to 75 mm total lift, combining suspension lift and tyre diameter.
Example: 50 mm (2") suspension lift + extra from bigger tyres for a total of 75 mm.
Honestly, I was surprised how generous this is, given our government loves a good overreach.New South Wales
Very similar to Victoria – up to 75 mm total from suspension + tyres.Queensland
Not written as cleanly as Vic/NSW, but once you dig deep enough, it works out to be basically in the same ballpark.ACT
50 mm max (combined suspension + tyres).Tasmania
50 mm max (combined).South Australia
50 mm total, including suspension, tyres and body lift.Western Australia
50 mm total from suspension and tyres.Northern Territory
The loosest of the lot – up to 100 mm total, via suspension, tyres, body or a mix.
On top of these, some states will still want a basic alignment report or some sort of simple sign-off. That’s usually just a trip to a wheel alignment place and getting a form stamped.
One important nuance: I’ve spoken to a few police mates in other states and asked, “If my car is legal in Victoria and I drive it into Queensland, am I going to get defected?”
Generally, the answer was no – they look at the rules of the state the vehicle is registered in.
But if you’re being a clown and attract too much attention, they’ll find something to do you for.
So yes, you’ve got to stay within your home state’s rules – but also not drive like a hero.
Why everyone is so confused
There are a few reasons this whole area is such a mess:
Every state has its own laws
Different wording, different limits, different thresholds. No one national standard.Government websites are horrible to search
Important info buried in PDFs, half-updated pages, contradicting information… it’s not user-friendly at all.The global 4x4 accessories market
This is a massive one.
We’re constantly seeing American overland rigs on YouTube, Instagram and forums. Six-inch lifts, massive tyres, huge roof racks, crazy lighting setups – and they look absolutely mint.
You can jump online and buy that same gear, or walk into a shop here in Australia and see it sitting on the shelf. It feels like: “If they can sell it here, surely it must be legal to fit?”
But that’s just not how it works.
“If I can buy it, it must be legal”… right?
Nope.
Shops can legally sell things that will absolutely make your vehicle unroadworthy once you bolt them on.
That includes:
Wheels and tyres that are too big
Bull bars and brush bars that don’t comply
Light bars and brackets that end up above the bonnet line
Over-the-top suspension kits
Underbody armour that changes clearance or crash behaviour
It all looks cool, it all looks “tough”, and a lot of it is fine for off-road use – but once you drive it on a public road, the road rules kick in.
So you head home, watch a couple of YouTube install videos, fit everything you just bought, and now you’ve basically built yourself a defect magnet.
Then you hit the highway, get pulled over, and suddenly you’re holding a yellow sticker and a defect sheet you’ve never seen before.
And all of that is before we even talk about insurance.
What actually happens when you get pulled over
Most of us have heard stories from mates about getting pinged – speeding, lifts, tyres, lights, whatever.
One thing I can tell you from experience: your attitude will make or break that interaction.
A few years back, I got done speeding on the highway near home. I saw the cop coming, looked down, knew straight away I was cooked. No excuses, no “but this, but that”. I was just going too fast.
When he came up to the window and asked what was going on, I owned it:
I admitted I was speeding.
I didn’t blame his speed gun.
I didn’t say I was late.
I didn’t start filming him.
I didn’t argue.
And because I wasn’t being a dick about it, he came to the party. He dropped the fine, dropped the points, and I walked away a lot lighter than I should have.
He still had to give me something – but it could have been a lot worse.
That’s my rule number one if you get pulled over:
Don’t be a dick.
If an officer wants to find something to ping you for, they will. And if you act like a smart-arse, they’ll look harder and write more lines on that defect notice.
Cops don’t know every rule either
With a new law hitting the books every few days, there is no way frontline police know every detail of every vehicle regulation. And you can’t really blame them.
I’ve seen examples where police have defected someone for something that was completely factory standard.
One I’ve seen doing the rounds: an officer wrote up a driver for a “body lift” because of a rubber body mount between the chassis and body – something that literally came from the factory like that.
In that situation, here’s what I’d do:
Calmly explain that it’s a factory mount.
Don’t get aggressive or sarcastic about it.
If they still push on and issue the defect, cop it on the chin in the moment.
The side of the road is not where you’re going to win that argument.
You’ve got the option to contest it later – either by taking it to an inspection centre or through whatever review process your state has.
In the case of that body mount example, the driver took the car to an inspection station; once they realised it was factory, they passed it and didn’t charge for the inspection. It cost him time, but not money.
On the flip side, there are people watching this who know deep down their rig is miles over what’s legal – and when they get pulled over, they walk away with two or three items on the defect sheet when there could’ve easily been 80.
Sometimes, you just have to take the win and quietly say “fair enough”.
Do you really need a six-inch lift on 37s?
If you’re the person chasing a six-inch lift on 37-inch tyres to go where everyone else is going on 33s and a two-inch lift… that’s on you.
You might say you “need” that setup for the Victorian High Country or wherever, but the reality is, people have been travelling this country for decades on much more basic vehicles.
The Len brothers wandered all over Australia with no fancy suspension lift kits. They just drove, took their time, and used skill instead of height.
So if you want the big lift and monster tyres, just be honest with yourself:
You’re doing it because you want to,
You know you’re outside the normal limits,
And you’re accepting the risk that comes with that – defects, insurance issues, and all.
So what should you actually do?
A few practical takeaways:
Know your state’s rules
Look up the current regulations for:Suspension and tyre size
Window tint
Driving lights and light bars
Bull bars and accessories
Do it before you pick up a spanner.
Don’t assume “for sale” means “legal”
Just because it’s on a shelf in an Aussie shop or looks good on a US overlanding rig doesn’t mean it’s legal on your registered daily driver.Keep your attitude in check on the roadside
Be polite, be honest, don’t be a smart-arse.
If they’re wrong, challenge it through the proper process later.Remember: skill beats height
A well-driven, sensibly-set-up rig will go a lot of places without needing to be sky-high and hanging out in defect territory.
At the end of the day, I can’t stress this enough: go and research your own vehicle. Work out what you’ve done, what’s within the rules, and what isn’t.
And if you do get pulled over?
Don’t be a dick.
The more of a dick you are, the worse that interaction is going to be for you.