Front axle, wheel, frame modifications

[darren paget]

[No message]

 

[gene]

Did this law apply to modifying the brakes also ??

gene

>Bound to get into trouble for this one. I found out today that it is
>against the law, illegal, prohibited, frowned upon, jailable, close the
>door and throw away the key, in Alberta any way, to make any non-spec
>modifications to the front end of a vehicle. Drilling rotors or backing
>plates, shortening or lengthening axles, turning the steering shaft 180=BA
>to use the unworn side or any thing like this is strictly taboo. I don't
>know what the laws are elsewhere, but it makes me think it is not that
>different there.
>I was thinking of making the adapter from the rotor to the wheel
>shorter. Uh ooh. Not a chance. No one would touch it, because it is
>illegal to make ... You get the picture.
>For those of you who tried to tell me about the bearing loading and
>offset and other stuff, I figured it out today. Yes it definitely will
>increase the load on the bearings. For what I am doing, not a
>significant amount. I neglected to tell you that I am using an 8" wheel.
>The offset of the wheel is also 1.5" inboard. This will give me 5.5"
>inboard and 2.5" outboard. It does get the wheels more in track but
>still gives me more tire to the inside where it should be. I am still
>going to go ahead and am prepared to keep up the maintenance on the
>bearings. If I need to do them every 17 - 20 thousand miles, that's
>life. I would like to thank all of you for the time you all spent trying
>to convince me of the errors of my ways, but it did generate a lot of
>interesting discussion. The purpose of this group sometimes.
>Any one going to Idaho or Mt. Hood in September can quiz me on the
>outcome. I still really, really would like the new style NEEPER wheel I
>have been drooling over but at $450.00 a wheel it is pricey. Lets see,
>if I make 5% on my sales I can buy the NEEPERS in 2005. About the same
>time my new 9.50 x 16.5 tires wear out. Got to plan ahead.
>Keep up the good work people. Darren
>
>--
> Darren Paget
> 76 Experimental
> Another Fab Day
> http://www.TZEplus.com
>
>
>
Genef -- 77PB/ore/ca
GMC MOTORHOME INFORMATION
mr.erf
http://www.california.com/~eagle/

 

[blank]

Darren,

I don't know nuttin' about the Canadian legal system, but I'm pretty sure
it's close enough to the US system to make the following generalization.
You're confusing civil and criminal law. Criminal law is enforced by the
state and includes the "jailable, close the door and throw away the key"
type of offenses. In the US, the Bill of Rights attached to our
Constitution protects us from excesses of the state under criminal law.

Civil law is another matter entirely. This is where one party seeks the
redress of a wrong against another party. The state "referees" these
disputes and enforces the outcome. There is no protection against the
excesses of civil law.

While I'm sure it could be argued that violation of a criminal statute is
material to a civil action, the two systems are entirely separate. This is
best evidenced in the US by the high profile trial not long ago of a
celebrity athlete who was found "not guilty"(note that the verdict was not
"innocent" as was often incorrectly reported in the media - "innocence" is
not determined by the court**) of murdering his ex-wife and her boyfriend
and then found "responsible" for their "wrongful death" in the ensuing civil
action brought by their survivors. The burden of proof(and the
consequences) was very different in the two cases.

I'm not saying you can't get both tossed in jail and sued in Alberta for
making mechanical alterations to a vehicle, but I'm pretty sure it would
happen in two different courts.

Patrick

**The US criminal justice system works on the basis of a "presumption of
innocence". A verdict of "not guilty" only means that the state did not
present sufficient evidence to convict.

>
> Not sure. It depends on what you were doing. If you were
> drilling holes in rotors to mount the eight bolt wheel
> adapter, that would be illegal. All of this would only
> be a problem if you had an accident or something that
> involved third parties who could sue your a^% if they
> found out about your modification. Even if the mod. had
> nothing to do with it, the way lawyers are these days.
> Darren
>

>
> > Did this law apply to modifying the brakes also ??
> >
> > gene
> >

> > >Bound to get into trouble for this one. I found out
> > >today that it is against the law, illegal, prohibited,
> > >frowned upon, jailable, close the door and throw away
> > >the key, in Alberta any way, to make any non-spec
> > >modifications to the front end of a vehicle.