You’ve thought about your touring rig’s weight, its tyre pressures, D-shackles, coupling… everything required for a safe, legal setup, you’ve covered. Right? Well, perhaps not. The appearance and position of the humble numberplate is something we so rarely think about, especially if its factory-fitted, but if you get it wrong, it could make you come unstuck.
The front numberplate requires very little consideration. There’s no requirement for a numberplate light, and most standard and aftermarket front bumpers have provision to mount the numberplate proudly and clearly visible.
But things can become more complicated with the rear numberplate. So let’s take a closer look at what the Australian Design Rules require when it comes to displaying numberplates on a 4WD, caravan, camper trailer or other vehicle.
NUMBERPLATE RELOCATION
We got chatting with Steven McNaught from Tough Toys, a supplier of aftermarket 4×4 accessories and adventure gear. As he said, when it comes to rear numberplates, adding offroad protection or mounts for accessories such as jerry cans or bikes can make it difficult to find an appropriate position for the numberplate, where it will be clearly and legally visible, with room for adequate numberplate lighting.
Steven showed us his numberplate relocation kits, which he sells at Tough Toys. This side of his business kicked off when he was confronted with a numberplate issue on the JK 2007+ Jeep Wrangler, but he soon realised the ability to simply and easily relocate a caravan’s numberplate was a problem, too.
“I took it upon myself to develop an ADR-approved relocation bracket that retains the rear camera, but I knew this wasn’t just a Jeep problem, so I also developed the Universal 4WD & Caravan Rear Number Plate Relocation Bracket,” Steve said. “It suits all of the usual 4×4 five-stud and six-stud patterns for Ford, Nissan, Toyota, Mitsubishi, Suzuki and Jeep, but caravans were a bit of a surprise market after people started asking if they’d fit. I was shocked at how many standard numberplate mounts and lights I came across on caravans that didn’t meet the ADRs!”
KEY TAKEAWAYS
The main takeaway from this article is, if you follow the two most specific numberplate mounting and lighting requirements detailed below, then your 4WD, caravan or camper trailer’s numberplates will likely meet registration requirements Australia-wide:
1. Mount your numberplates in an upright position, parallel with the axles, between 1300mm and 300mm above the ground, and visible within an arc of 45 degrees from 20m away; and
2. Fully illuminate the rear numberplate with a colourless numberplate light to maintain the visibility requirements above at night but without projecting light rearward.
Be sure to keep your number plates clean and, if you’re using numberplate covers, ensure they’re clear, untinted and flat, with no reflective or other characteristics that affect visibility.
FEDERAL LEGISLATION
At the federal level, the Australian Design Rules sets the standard in terms of numperplate positioning and visibility requirements.
‘Vehicle Standard (Australian Design Rule 61/03 – Vehicle Marking) 2020’ covers mounting requirements for all vehicle types under clause 9, stating that no part of the rear registration plate can be more than 1300mm above the ground. For motor vehicles requiring a front registration plate, the same 1300mm maximum height applies.
For rear number plates on L-Group vehicles (motorcycles) and TA category trailers (single-axle with a GTM not exceeding 750kg) with an overall width that does not exceed 980mm, the centre of each registration plate must also be not less than 300mm from the ground.
‘Vehicle Standard (Australian Design Rule 13/00 – Installation of Lighting and Light Signalling Devices on Other Than L-Group Vehicles) 2005’ dictates under clause 6.8 that a rear numberplate light is mandatory and that these should be installed in a number, arrangement and position that the site of the registration plate is illuminated.
This is supplemented by ‘Vehicle Standard (Australian Design Rule 48/00 – Devices for Illumination of Rear Registration Plates) 2006’. This requirement is very technical in terms of the “photometric requirements for devices which illuminate the rear registration plate by reflection”.
Under the general specifications of clause 5, the entire surface of the numberplate must be illuminated within a certain field of vision, while clause 6 states that the light must be sufficiently colourless so as not the change the colour of the numberplate.
STATE AND TERRITORY REQUIREMENTS
While not a national Australian Design Rule (ADR) requirement, many states and territories also mandate that front and rear numberplates must be visible from 20m away within an arc of 45 degrees from the surface of the plate, from above or to either side of the vehicle.
The Northern Territory is a touch more lenient, applying the same 45 degrees for vehicles over 4.5 tonne GVM but reducing the requirement for visibility from above to 15 degrees for vehicles that are less than 4.5 tonne GVM.
South Australia simply states that front and rear numberplates must be clearly visible from the front and rear of the vehicle so that they can be read up to 20m away, day and night, but otherwise does not reference angles of visibility.
Tasmania simply stipulates that numberplates be legible at night when viewed 20m from the rear of the vehicle, but it does not have a daytime visibility requirement above that of the ADRs.
Western Australia is the least specific, simply requiring that numberplates be “rigidly fixed in a conspicuous place in an upright position and so that the characters on the plates are clearly visible and legible, day and night” including ensuring the numberplate isn’t bent or mounted at an angle that would prevent it from being read.
PLAYING IT SAFE
The bottom line: numberplates in Australia must be rigidly fixed to the vehicle and displayed parallel to the axle. If your vehicle has numberplates of two different sizes, the larger plate must be displayed at the rear and the smaller one at the front.
As state, the ADRs require the plate to be mounted between 300mm and 1300mm from the ground, visible from 20m away through a 45-degree arc of visibility. At least one rear numberplate light must be fitted and must use a colourless light that sufficiently illuminates the plate. This light must be wired to automatically illuminate and stay illuminated when the vehicle’s parking lights, headlights or taillights are on.
Numberplate lights must not project light to the rear of vehicles, only onto the number plate for illumination through reflection.
As Steven McNaught said, “As much as overkill can be handy when it comes to lighting, keep in mind that your numberplate lights aren’t extra reversing lights and should only shine where they’re needed so as not to distract or confuse other drivers.”
KEEP LEGAL
Can’t find a suitable place for your numberplate after installing an aftermarket bumper or other accessory to your caravan or 4WD? The Tough Toys Universal 4WD & Caravan Rear Number Plate Relocation Bracket allows you to stay legal by fitting your numberplate to the rear-mounted spare wheel.
This is required when fitting an aftermarket bumper with wheel carrier arms to a range of 4WD vehicles (or any aftermarket rear bumper to a 2007-2019 Jeep Wrangler JK). However, some wiring is required to connect the included numberplate lamp to the existing wiring of your vehicle or trailer. The lamp included is 12V-only and ADR and ECE-compliant (48/00).
This product is also suitable for caravan owners and manufacturers who do not wish to drill holes in the rear wall of their caravan, or have accessories that might otherwise obscure the visibility of the numberplate.
This bracket suits spare wheels with the following stud patterns: 5×150, 5×139.7, 5×127, 5×114.3, 6×114.3, 6×127 and 6×139.7mm. It has been tested on tyres up to 35in, and the adjustability of the bracket allows for it to be fitted to large offset rims.
All hardware is included – it can even mount to any tyre carrier, including factory ones with three studs.
Note: the centre cap hole of the spare wheel must be 50mm or more in width for the bracket to protrude through. Some custom wiring may be required to relocate the numberplate wiring to the spare wheel. Price: $145.
Tough Toys also sells numberplate relocation brackets specifically for the JK and JL Jeep Wranglers, though we realise not many of our readers would tow with a Wrangler!
