PA State Insection FAIL Wheel Spacers

JudeinPa

Member
I just went to have my JK inspected by the dealer and was told that everything passed but the wheel spacers. According to the tech PA. law states that any wheel spacer over 1/4" is not allowed.

If anyone here from PA. that has any documentation I could print as I was told I can either provide State dicumentation or take the spacers off and have it reinspected. I know it will fail if I remove them as the swaybar brackets will rub the wheels.
*Inspection Fail Wheel Spacers
 

hinrichs

Caught the Bug
[SIZE=+1]Pa sucks for inspections[/SIZE][SIZE=+1]

§ 175.65. [/SIZE]Tires and wheels.


(a) Condition of tires and wheels. Tires and wheels shall be in safe operating condition as described in § 175.80 (relating to inspection procedure).
(b) Tire standards. A vehicle specified under this subchapter shall have tires manufactured in conformance with standards in Chapter 159 (relating to new pneumatic tires). See 75 Pa.C.S. § 4525 (relating to tire equipment and traction surfaces). Tires with equivalent metric size designations may be used.
(c) Radial ply tires. A radial ply tire may not be used on the same axle with a bias or belted tire.
(d) Different types of tires. Tires of different types, such as one snow tire and one regular tire or bias, belted or radial tire, may not be used on the same axle except in an emergency.
(e) Nonpneumatic tires. A passenger car or light truck operated on highway may not be equipped with nonpneumatic tires except an antique vehicle with nonpneumatic tires if originally equipped by the manufacturer.
(f) Ice grips or studs. A tire may not be equipped with ice grips or tire studs or wear-resisting material which have projections exceeding 2/32 inch beyond the tread of the traction surface of the tire.
(g) Tires and rims. The axles of a vehicle specified under this subchapter shall be equipped with the number and type of tires and rims with a load rating equal to or higher than those offered by the manufacturer.
(h) Spacers. Spacers or similar devices thicker than 1/4 inch may not be installed to increase wheel track.

http://www.pacode.com/secure/data/067/chapter175/subchapEtoc.html

Dealers are usually worse as well and really stick to the book. I typically try and find a good smaller local shop, or one that is suggested to go to cuz honestly most of the "codes" to follow are up to the technicians digression which is the worst part. Some places are fine with something, where another place will fail you for the same thing.
 
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JakeJK

New member
I just went to have my JK inspected by the dealer and was told that everything passed but the wheel spacers. According to the tech PA. law states that any wheel spacer over 1/4" is not allowed.

If anyone here from PA. that has any documentation I could print as I was told I can either provide State dicumentation or take the spacers off and have it reinspected. I know it will fail if I remove them as the swaybar brackets will rub the wheels.
*Inspection Fail Wheel Spacers

Want to sell them to me :D
 

Gadget

Caught the Bug
My wife's 4 door has spacers on it and never had a problem, but her tires don't stick out past the fenders. My tires stick out past the fenders a little bit with out spacers and I had to put the stock tires back on to get it thru inspection.
 

JeepJeep75

New member
I find it interesting that your state, (PA) as well as others require a vehicle inspection top to bottom. In California we only need to get the engine, and emissions systems checked. In Cali, you can literally use a piece of wood as a wheel and bailing wire as a control arm. But if you mess with the emissions system at all, you fail the test. But that's it! In Cali they don't care about anything BUT the emissions. Unsafe suspension, no problem! Missing a wheel, no problem! Only one corner of the braking system works, no problem! Change the tune in the ECU, hold on, we have a problem! It's kinda crazy what one state requires of a vehicle over another. Maybe Cali doesn't care about anything but smog since we are all creeping along in traffic everywhere we go.
 

cozdude

Guy with a Red 2-Door
Where in pa do you live? I ask cause Jeff Dambrosio in downingtown is pretty good with inspections since they work closely with Quadratec. My jeep has passed inspection with them a few times now but as Hinrich said a small local shop is more likely to pass you over a dealer.
 

Ddays

Hooked
^^^^ what the rest of the PA guys said. PA inspections are a pain in the ass. :icon_crazy:
Key is building a relationship with a local guy. They'll let stuff like this go.
I will let them do some work on my vehicles I normally would do because it's worth it in the long run when these issues come up.
Even paying $25.00 for an air filter now and again comes in handy when it comes to situations like these.
 

BumpStick

New member
Some small local shops in PA just should not be allowed to do inspections. My mother in law had a small shop that does all the work on her car passed it for state inspection. 6 wks after we come up to visit and her car is acting funny. The tech disabled the VATS (Vehicle Anti Theft System- chip in the key) on her 2005 Pontiac. He told her that was the only year that it did have them :naw: So occasionally when the ECU runs its check the car wont start and you have to wait 10 minutes for it to reset. The right front tire had a bubble in the side wall, about 5/16 high about 2" by 3.5". The left front tire had minor cracking in the tread, about 2/32 from the wear bar in the center and out side, but the inside there was no tread. The high beams on the headlights do not illuminate as much as my daughter-in laws Jeep Compass's Low Beams. The head lights are aimed down WAY too far. And I found all these things not even looking. How can a shop pass this car on inspection :thinking: Its unsafe.:eek:
 

cozdude

Guy with a Red 2-Door
Some small local shops in PA just should not be allowed to do inspections. My mother in law had a small shop that does all the work on her car passed it for state inspection. 6 wks after we come up to visit and her car is acting funny. The tech disabled the VATS (Vehicle Anti Theft System- chip in the key) on her 2005 Pontiac. He told her that was the only year that it did have them :naw: So occasionally when the ECU runs its check the car wont start and you have to wait 10 minutes for it to reset. The right front tire had a bubble in the side wall, about 5/16 high about 2" by 3.5". The left front tire had minor cracking in the tread, about 2/32 from the wear bar in the center and out side, but the inside there was no tread. The high beams on the headlights do not illuminate as much as my daughter-in laws Jeep Compass's Low Beams. The head lights are aimed down WAY too far. And I found all these things not even looking. How can a shop pass this car on inspection :thinking: Its unsafe.:eek:

Technically if something catastrophic were to happen and they passed you that shop becomes liable.
 

highoctane

Caught the Bug
That's what I hated about living in PA. In AZ, the owner of the vehicle would be responsible for those issues if an accident happened. Things like high beams not working correctly, damaged tires, and low tread wear are things that anyone who is licensed to operate a vehicle would know is wrong.
 
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Ddays

Hooked
Some small local shops in PA just should not be allowed to do inspections. My mother in law had a small shop that does all the work on her car passed it for state inspection. 6 wks after we come up to visit and her car is acting funny. The tech disabled the VATS (Vehicle Anti Theft System- chip in the key) on her 2005 Pontiac. He told her that was the only year that it did have them :naw: So occasionally when the ECU runs its check the car wont start and you have to wait 10 minutes for it to reset. The right front tire had a bubble in the side wall, about 5/16 high about 2" by 3.5". The left front tire had minor cracking in the tread, about 2/32 from the wear bar in the center and out side, but the inside there was no tread. The high beams on the headlights do not illuminate as much as my daughter-in laws Jeep Compass's Low Beams. The head lights are aimed down WAY too far. And I found all these things not even looking. How can a shop pass this car on inspection :thinking: Its unsafe.:eek:

^^ That's why its always good to build a relationship with the people that work on your vehicles and not just go with the cheapest guy out there. Not saying that's what happened here -
this guy sounds like the typical jackass that takes advantage of someone not knowing any better and trusting them to do good work. Also, "some local shops in PA"? :hmm: C'mon man. Bet there's some stinkers in Florida too!
 

hinrichs

Caught the Bug
^^ That's why its always good to build a relationship with the people that work on your vehicles and not just go with the cheapest guy out there. Not saying that's what happened here -
this guy sounds like the typical jackass that takes advantage of someone not knowing any better and trusting them to do good work. Also, "some local shops in PA"? :hmm: C'mon man. Bet there's some stinkers in Florida too!

Lol florida doesnt even have inspections....and you should see my sisters vehicles...they are all crap now cuz they dont even pay attention to keeping them safe or maintained cuz they dont have to have inspections. Even when they moved back to pa again they left the registration in florida cuz they knew there was no way they would pass anything.
 

Ddays

Hooked
Lol florida doesnt even have inspections....and you should see my sisters vehicles...they are all crap now cuz they dont even pay attention to keeping them safe or maintained cuz they dont have to have inspections. Even when they moved back to pa again they left the registration in florida cuz they knew there was no way they would pass anything.

LOL! I live bout 5 miles from the Ohio line and you'd swear bondo was outlawed over there! The county that borders us has some fairly low income towns there so I can understand
some people just don't have the money and all, but when I'm coming up on a truck and both front fenders are waving to me, well, I just don't get how that should be allowed. I have seen some downright scary unsafe vehicles on the road that would never in a million years pass the PA inspection.
 

hinrichs

Caught the Bug
LOL! I live bout 5 miles from the Ohio line and you'd swear bondo was outlawed over there! The county that borders us has some fairly low income towns there so I can understand
some people just don't have the money and all, but when I'm coming up on a truck and both front fenders are waving to me, well, I just don't get how that should be allowed. I have seen some downright scary unsafe vehicles on the road that would never in a million years pass the PA inspection.

You should see half of what I see everyday just going into work (I work in our smaller city)...its just pathetic what passes. (i am not trying to be racist at all...but if you are hispanic...yeah its easy). Tons of those shops have been busted recently tho which is good.
 

Ddays

Hooked
You should see half of what I see everyday just going into work (I work in our smaller city)...its just pathetic what passes. (i am not trying to be racist at all...but if you are hispanic...yeah its easy). Tons of those shops have been busted recently tho which is good.

I don't know about you but I can't believe I'm actually defending something our over-regulated state does!
Now if we could only get a 6-pack at the local convenience store!
 

Havoc40

New member
Metro Detroit? I bet you have some winners up there too!

Lol there's some interesting characters that's for sure. Fortunately, I live in a pretty nice area. The owners are talking about relocating to Texas, and I'll happily take my ass down there!!
 

JudeinPa

Member
Well taking the PA guys advice I found a local guy who inspected my JK. Whew! :thumb: Glad I didn't have to sink a few grand in new wheels & tires right now. I do plan on it but after the holidays.

Pa laws are so messed up and antiquated. That law concerning the 1/4" wheels spacers was made long before the wheel adapter was invented.

JakeJK I will let you know when I am selling my wheel spacers!:yup:
 
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