December 2022 Queensland GCM law update form Power Curve Automotive. Power Curve Automotive is the Sunshine Coast, Nambour local installer and supplier of lovells GVM and GCM vehicle upgrades. For some time there has been significant discussion around a change of law with the Queensland law regarding a 4wd GCM. December 2022 Queensland GCM law update is there is no update. Queensland GCM upgrades on registered vehicles is still not legal in the state of Queensland.
Recap GCM, what is GCM?
To recap a GCM, Gross Combined Mass is the definition of a GCM. The GCM comes in to play for most touring or commercial 4wd owners in Australia. The reason you may wish to increase your GCM is when you have increased your GVM (Gross vehicle mass) reducing the towing amount. 4wd owners often increase the GCM so they can put their touring accessories or tradie mates in the vehicle as well as two a caravan and or trade trailer.
Each state has a different law that they abide by. Power Curve Automotive is a Queensland GVM/GCM installer for lovells. We offer two tow services for our community. The first and most often confused is the GVM and GCM upgrade pre-registration. This is offered on Lovells certified vehicles that have passed compliance. Australia has federal law that governs modifications, changes as well as specifications a vehicle must pass to be sold to the Australian consumer. These are federal laws. The Australian federal law allows pre-approved vehicles to change their Vehicles GCM.
Queensland GCM law update
The Queensland state law for some time has been discussing and has filed a draft that should allow us to modify a vehicles GCM in the future. To this date this law has never been passed in Queensland. State laws in each state of Australia are different. Once a vehicle is registered in a state you must comply by the state laws. A federally approved vehicle does not revert to state law as it has higher federal pre registration changes that are called an SSM or second stage manufacturing. A similar modification would be with some of the new Dodge Rams and Silverado’s that come into the country where they are modified form left hand to right hand drive prior to registration, changing the legality for them to be driven on our roads.
As of December 2022 the update is that no one in Queensland can carry out a GCM upgrade on a Queensland registered vehicle. You can not change your registration to another state and then re register the vehicle in Queensland. The Queensland law is Queensland law. You can drive a vehicle from another state that has complied under their state legislation it is registered in, and have a GCM compliance vehicle on a Queensland road. The vehicle is legal in Queensland for its visit here. There are common sense laws such as if a sign says you can do 100km/hr and a similar state you could do 130km/hr, you have to follow the road rules in front of you.
As a Queensland-based office, we work on federal and Queensland-registered vehicles and follow these rules. We do not offer upgrades for vehicles of other states. If you are looking for assistance with a vehicle in your perspective state the Lovells website has all of the dealers in your state listed. If you are unsure or not confident with the information provided by your local installer the team at Lovells head office are very helpful in confirming the correct course of action for you.