Illegal wheel spacers... WTF

You're right that typically subrogation claims are against a manufacturer, supplier or installer.

If you installed the prohibited parts they might just deny the claim. Read the policy.

 

True, but the prohibited part at issue would also necessarily need to be the part which failed leading to and proximately causing the injury/damage. If it was the prohibited part which lead to the damage, you would also have a cause of action against the manufacturer of the defective part.

The practical side of all this is that the various agents/attorneys representing the victim, your insurance company, the manufacturer and wholesaler/retailers of the defective part would get together and try to work it out. This is the point where most civil actions are resolved. If they cannot, it goes to trial; but the real defendant is going to be the manufacturer and those who distribute the defective part.

The pleadings are long and complex: Complaints, x-complaints and impleadings. But through it all, it's unlikely your insurance company would abandon you because it's always possible the finder of fact may determine they are legally obligated to you and therefore the victim(s) under the terms of the policy. Finally, just because a policy has clauses which state certain exclusion, exceptions, etc., doesn't mean such are set in stone. Each State has public policy, case and statutory law which may override these limiting provisions.

 

........well I live in the real ‘Nanny State’, here in sunny Victoria, Australia and we have laws upon laws to control every facet of your life as my fellow Victorian will testify to.
Although I haven’t checked I would bet my right ‘n..t’ that my wheel spacers would be considered illegal here (as is car lowering) and that my car would be unroadworthy.
How can they tell ? We have regular ‘roadworthy checks’done by our cops on the spot here all the time. No, haven’t been pulled up yet. However I was done by the EPA noise police for my tubi (tree hugging bastards !!) Put the old original system back on, got it tested…passed (just !?)… then put my tubi straight back on

 

.....your an insurance rep aren't you Come on fess up !?!?

 

Hopefully you don't get life in prison for a second EPA Noise offense! GEE WHIZ...Contrary to all the "Visit Austraila" commercials we get up here, when it comes to cars, it sounds like no fun "down under."

 

...... Naaa were a fun loving bunch and will party with the best of them but we HATE being ripped off and to read such sanctimonious dribble about insurance companies just needed a comment. I would lay money on it that these people are in the industry

 

I got the same distinct impression. Not very many willing to stand up for the insurance companies. When they do, it's not usually out of a desire to be overly fair to both sides in the discussion.

 

Reddesire - letting you know, wheel spacers are illegal in Australia. I had to get mine removed to pass a road worthy about 10years ago in QLD.

 

That's really jacked up. Spacers on 348's make the car safer!

 

This is what I heard also.

I was looking at a 1994 348 about 4 years ago at a F-Car dealership and they told me that the '94+ models came with the 1" wider rear track that made the car much safer to drive and he indicated that should I buy an earlier model 348, I would need to get high quality 12 mm spacers for each side of the rear (approx 1" overall more width).

Not my words, but the dealers.

Thanks to Big Brother, we are all safer

 

My understanding is that when the 348 first came out the rear was somewhat twitchy when breaking into corners from high speed and had a habbit of wanting to break traction and come forward through the corner.

People racing at the time found 20 - 25mm spacing at the rear all but eliminated this problem. However I don't know that you would feel this in normal driving.

Personally I have 15mm front and 25mm rear spacers (Hills Engineering) with 355 rims on my 348ts and it improves both the feel and look of the car tremendously. I found it reduced the 'road chatter' through the steering wheel and general noise you got giving the feel of a smoother ride and steering into corners at higher speeds just feels that little more stable and controlled (given we have no power steering). Not all will agree I guess but if nothing else, wheel spacers and a slight reduction in ride height gives the car a really great look.

 

+1 I agree.

 

.....hmmm all the insurance reps seem to have suddenly gone quite.... must have ducked back into the shadows

 

Hmmm I noticed that too.

 

In stead of talking 'insurance' you should be talking 'safety' here.

Spacers could kill you if misused.
Changing offset of the wheels or/and using wheel spacers could be very dangerous.
The forces rise exponential if you enlarge the distance between baseplate wheel and connection triangle to chassis.
See it as a lever: try to loosen a wheelnut with a small key or a larger one: you can use more force with larger one.
The original suspension setup on F-cars (or other sportier cars) is probably the best balanced setup possible for normal road use (which we all want - even if we are fooling around). In the racing world this setup will be completely changed because there are other goals than comfort and driving pleasure. They change it and use the BEST parts available and do so with knowledge.

Changing offset with spacers is like cutting rings from springs to lower a car: changing balance in your car. If you do so you're probably looking for some serious trouble in the form of an accident waiting to happen.

If a country forbids spacers, they are saving your a$$ - and that of others. Insurance companies also try to avoid to pay for foolishness.

my 2cts

 

Not right at all. Widening the track can make massive improvements. And very few Ferrari's even came with the right geometry settings from the factory, a fact that doesn't really inspire confidence. Cheap poorly made spacers or incorrect fitting IS dangerous. But you can say the same of virtually any component fitted to a car...

 

Wait until you have to live in a democrat narrow minded state! There are vehicle rules you've never dreamed about being enforced!

From my perspective here in the not-so-great So Cal, Utah seems like the promise land of automotive freedom!!!

 

......yes I agree with this as well. Manufacturers do not makes cars to ultimate spec, even Ferrari. Often only after many sales and many hundreds of hours of road use by customers does additional information become evident. As mentioned like any component, tyres etc if you use inferior unproven parts then the risk rises (cheaper tyres, retreads etc) I used Hill's spacers, had them installed (and torqued) by a prof Ferrari mechanic and they have been great.

 

On the earlier 348's, why would Ferrari and virtually all performance suspension shops recommend the use of high quality (Hill's and others of equal quality) spacers to make the car more stable and safe? I'll take their recommendation over the whims of a bureaucrat who acts on his/her own or beckons to politicians. The very fact that they "blanket" forbid the use of spacers clearly indicates a lack of engineering/technical prowess.

Finally, do you honestly believe that "The State" (any state or country), has even the faintest clue? I certainly haven't seen it. I stopped believing in Santa, The State Knows What's Best, and other such fairy tales years ago.

Just my opinion and $0.02 worth.