Californias Steering Laws

[98XJLongBuild]

Been in the planning stages for an extreme rig. Ill be running 35" tires and up. I Will be doing 90% rock crawling up in Fordyce and Rubi. So I know that the stock steering box wont cut it. I've had a two people say that having full hydo steering is not legal in california and other people have no clue. Also is hydro assist legal or not.

I'm looking for actual hard evidence or were i can start looking for some hard evidence of this.

 

[Jeep450r]

I dont believe there is any hard evidence that full hydro is illegal. There is evidence that it may be unsafe, but nobody (to my knowledge) has found evidence that you can be cited for it.

Theres a thread on pirate with a pot of money that will go to the person who can provide evidence that it is illegal. To my knowledge, the money is still there.

I dont know enough about hydro assist, so i wont comment on that lol

 

[Alex E]

Another myth to throw out there is its illegal to run or modify your steering from tapered tie rod ends to bolts or heims. Whether its true or not, I dunno. I say as long as its safe on the road for people other then you than nobody is the wiser. Just my 2cents.

 

[blubullett]

There is nothing in the California Vehicle code about a vehicles steering systems.

http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/calawquery?codesection=veh&codebody=&hits=20

 

[blondejoncherokee]

i used to have hydro assist in my old scout 2. drove it on the street. id say if you want to be hardcore go past 35s? i run 35s with inner, outer, and across frame braces for the steering, and a track bar brace, and some HD steering.i havent seen a need for hydro on 35s....
lots of guys run hydro assist though.

 

[Phil]

Yep, California Vehicle Code. Also, I think there is some open-ended clause about if the officer feels the vehicle is unsafe.

Extreme!

 

[#S194]

No, there is nothing in there that governs steering systems. However, there is a catch-all section, 24011 CVC entitled "Federal Safety Standards." Basically, it says that any and all equipment installed on your vehicle has to conform to the federal safety standard for similar equipment. Vehicle Code section 2806 gives any peace officer the authority to inspect your vehicle if it is being operated on a public roadway. If your vehicle is involved in a collision involving serious injury and it is inspected for defects, any equipment that doesn't meet federal standards could be listed as a contributing factor to the crash.

 

[SeansXJ]

hydro just isnt advised on road...even more so at highway speeds.