Rite as far as I'm aware not alot of people know about the legality of tyres and wheels sticking out side you arches, so reading today on my local car forum found this quite interesting (www.sw-cc.com)

Here is a quote from the post tat was made:

"today i got in interesting phone call from a good mate of mine who is an MOT tester and uses the new computerised system that is linked to the dvla in swansea , he was MOT'ing a corsa where the wheels were petruding the arches on the front and back as he was looking though the check list he couldnt find nothing that would fail it for its wheels sticking out passed the arches so he rang the dvla in swansea talking to one of the cheif mot people there and he told him that as long as the wheels didnt rub on the inside i.e the suspension or brake lines or anything that could cause mechanical damage and didnt rub on the arches then it cannot fail the mot for its wheels sticking out passed the arch!!!

this is 100% genuine so having your rims petruding you are arches isnt illegal as long as it isnt damaging anything"

So going by this i would say that its not illegal but nor is it legal either, however if you get a producer for it you simply get it signed by you are local MOT garage as its not a tested field

Hope this clears a few things as i know i didnt have a clue

Free plug: MY wellers are for sale see for sale section

yeh

as most of us know

wheels are allowed to stick out

tyre TREAD is NOT

Hence stretched tyres, other than them looking cool as fuck!

thats good to know mate shame thos wellas are for sale, saw your car at the South wales meet, looked mint :)

cheers, but the post read to me that both wheels and tyres can stick out

nah

somehow tyre tread is seen as being dangerous!!

Might run someone over...

Guess they have to have a rule in place though - Stop people like Phil fitting 10J rims into stock arches!!

Yeah a guy told me that he would fail me today for a list of things

1. wheels stick out at the front, so i explained stetched tyres and he didn't beleive me

2. no side repeaters, fair enough

3. only one front window wiper, what the fuck

4. no rear window wiper, what the fuck

ect, ect, ect

I've got marks on my rear tyre and it turns out its plastic thats melted from the inside of my arch when the tyre has hit it

The tyre tread has to stay within the arch as it's the tread that displaces water when it's raining and not the sidewall

yeh

as most of us know

wheels are allowed to stick out

tyre TREAD is NOT

Hence stretched tyres, other than them looking cool as fuck!

aren't strectched tyres a bit of a grey area as well? or have i got it a bit mixed up?

depends on the tester on the day to be honest

i thought that you didnt have to have side repeaters on the polo because the front indicatords also face sideways ??

the wiper thing sounds odd too... i think he was having a bad day

Yeah a guy told me that he would fail me today for a list of things

1. wheels stick out at the front, so i explained stetched tyres and he didn't beleive me

2. no side repeaters, fair enough

3. only one front window wiper, what the fuck

4. no rear window wiper, what the fuck

ect, ect, ect

I've got marks on my rear tyre and it turns out its plastic thats melted from the inside of my arch when the tyre has hit it

There is nothing in the mot testers book about wheels protruding the arches

but if there is sign that the wheels will foul the arches, that is a fail

yeah, i got pulled for my wheels sticking out, i said to him id been to a local mot garage and they said, "as long as the tread pattern in under the arch it dont matter how far the rim stick's out"

the copper said he would look in to it and took my phone number and would ring me the next day if there was anything wrong.

he never rang me

Alot of cars don't come with a rear wiper as standard. My Derby hasn't got one.

thats rubbish, my dads audi doesnt have a rear wiper, what about the single wiper... i seem to remember certain fiats had only 1 wiper as stock so hes talking crap, take it somewhee else.

mAtt

cool now i'm gonna go out and get some 100mm spacers and longer bolts

i thought that you didnt have to have side repeaters on the polo because the front indicatords also face sideways ?

On cars with 'wrap-around' indicators this is true, like the mk4, although the signal has to be seen from 100meters to the side or something...

As regards the rear wiper, apparently hatchbacks have to have a rear wiper, if u look all the cars being made without rear wipers are all salooons, cant rember where i saw this thouhg

My rims stick out about an inch, my tread does a little, if i stretch it more will i get away with it?

As regards the rear wiper, apparently hatchbacks have to have a rear wiper, if u look all the cars being made without rear wipers are all salooons, cant rember where i saw this thouhg

Nope

Base spec Fiestas (up to Mk3) didn't have them. Reliants never had them. A lot of 4x4's never had them.

The one on my old panda didn't work through 3 passed MOT's in a row. Rear wiper is not a test item.

my first corsa never had a rear wiper...

Dads an MOT tester so i asked him about this. As far as the MOT is concerned as long as it doesnt rub, it'll pass, but thats not to say its legal in the polices eyes.... Contruction and Use act says that the tread must not stick out past the arch

As regards the rear wiper, apparently hatchbacks have to have a rear wiper, if u look all the cars being made without rear wipers are all salooons, cant rember where i saw this thouhg

Nope

Base spec Fiestas (up to Mk3) didn't have them. Reliants never had them. A lot of 4x4's never had them.

The one on my old panda didn't work through 3 passed MOT's in a row. Rear wiper is not a test item.

He's half right, hatchbacks don't have to have them but most do, and generally speaking saloons don't have them at all apart from the Subaru Impreza. My guess is that they're more necessary on hatchbacks because road grime gets sucked up onto the hatch and rear window so the wiper's there to clear it.

no rear wiper isa strange one.. is the motor still fitted just without a wiper arm?

been told my mk4 will fail a mot on the wing repeaters thing as willbe listed as missing as fitted as standard. (due to age of car)

stretched tyres can fail aswell as have been told its a incorrectly fitted tyre (the way the tyre sides pull off the side of the rim)

always worth going to ure mot testing station n havin a chat b4 u go 4 a mot.

well i took mine on through an mot, passed easy, no problems, mine are sticking out

As regards the rear wiper, apparently hatchbacks have to have a rear wiper, if u look all the cars being made without rear wipers are all salooons, cant rember where i saw this thouhg

Nope

Base spec Fiestas (up to Mk3) didn't have them. Reliants never had them. A lot of 4x4's never had them.

The one on my old panda didn't work through 3 passed MOT's in a row. Rear wiper is not a test item.

He's half right, hatchbacks don't have to have them but most do, and generally speaking saloons don't have them at all apart from the Subaru Impreza. My guess is that they're more necessary on hatchbacks because road grime gets sucked up onto the hatch and rear window so the wiper's there to clear it.

Yeah, it's slipstream effect. The only saloons I can think of with a rear wiper are the scooby and the late escort saloon.

Mondeo saloons as well. Some of them anyway, probably only Ghia X's or something.

Yeah a guy told me that he would fail me today for a list of things

1. wheels stick out at the front, so i explained stetched tyres and he didn't beleive me

2. no side repeaters, fair enough

3. only one front window wiper, what the fuck

4. no rear window wiper, what the fuck

ect, ect, ect

if you have a rear wiper it has to work and if it dose not you just take the arm off and i am prity shore the mk3 dose not nead side repeaters on the wings coss the front ones can be sean from the side