Getting a troop carrier licensed for more passengers

Thanks for the reply. Yeah, I live in Perth, who did you get that quote from?

Steve Cameron <steve@wesbarvanquip.com.au
look up wesvbrvanquip and you can get contact info off the net. I think they're in Welshpool in Perth

I am in no way associated with this business but can say they were helpful when I called on several occasions.

You need to have the front seat modified so it can be folded down with a lever accessible from behind. I think for $1000 you can end up with a 5 seater and mod plate if you have the seat already. I'd be interested to hear from the experience of others about quotes and prices as Im interested to have it done at some stage. If you want more than 2 seats more the GVM upgrade will probably be needed

I got two of them installed by wesbar vanquip. You are right about the GVM. you need to allow 160kg per seat due to it being classed as a cargo carrying vehicle, which, with a tare weight of about 2.2 - 2.4 tonne and a GVM of 3.2 tonne, adds up pretty quickly. It cost me $330 for them to instal and $650 to get it signed off on by an engineer. If your looking at doing to your troopy, i would definitely instal them yourself. The job they did was very rough (bolts hanging down in the wheel arch about 2 inches which a i will have to grind off, bolting the seats in through the floor mat rather then using the factor cut holes etc) and could easily be done for about $50 in an afternoon. Also i wanted to get the two seats closest to the front installed, but apparently to do that you have to install a cargo barrier (around $800-900) where the rear seats finish in order for the vehicle to pass the inspection. Because of this i now have 2 seats down one side, which I may change when i get some time.

Mitch, do you mean your vehicle is now registered as a 7 seater? Did you provide the seats and/ or seat belts or did they supply everything? Did they do all the paperwork? How long did it take from having the work done to getting it signed off, inspected and getting the modification plate and/ or new papers?

Yeah its almost licensed for 7, i just have to wait for it all to go through the department of transport which apparently takes a few weeks. I provided the seats and seat belts, they were all second hand, but apparently thats okay. They did everything for me, I just dropped the car off with the seats one afternoon and picked it up 2 days later after they had been installed and inspected. I have to drop it back in for about an hour in a couple of weeks to get the mod plate fixed on

Wow, that's great news. So that's $1000 all up plus the seats and belts.Total time maybe 6 weeks? Do you have dual batteries, two tanks, roo bar, tow bar?

Yep $980 all up and about 3-4 weeks. I have a bullbar, two tanks a tow bar and second battery, but no water tank. There is always the option of removing the middle seatbelt on the front seat if you are going to exceede the gvm

So your front seat was modified to allow it to be operated from behind? No, I think you have to replace the front seat with a single seat, not just take off the centre seat belt. Did you have to fill your tanks for the weigt measurements? Do you know what your final weight was?

Nah strangely they didn't modify the front seat at all, which i thought had to be done, although the rear door does have a handle on the inside, so maybe thats enough.
Also, it was the people at Wesbar who suggested that I could remove the middle seatbelt on the front seat if it was going to exceed the GVM and I would assume they know what they're talking about.
Im fairly sure your tanks do need to be full for the measurement, but don't quote me on that, as mine were full when i dropped it off anyway and they didn't mention anything about it.

Also, what about insurance? What group cover you at the moment?

Im with RAC but i haven't talked to them about it yet, as I'm waiting for the papers to come through, but I'm guessing it will be fine as long as its all legal

Can you tell me the name of the guy you dealt with? The same guy who's link I initially provided- Steve? And let us know when it actually passes the DoT inspection and you get the mod plate please:-)
They gave me slightly different info- said they needed the front seat modified in case someone ran into the back door and it couldn't open. And if a seat was fitted it had to have a belt- couldn't just remove the belt...
Yours sounds too easy. Love it. That's not so expensive to increase the seating capacity to more than double the original. Multiplies it's usability , for sure.

Yeah it was Steve i spoke to, thanks for the email address by the way, and yeah ill let you know when its all finished.

Just got the papers back and the inspection done, All up it cost me just shy of a grand. I didn't get a plate, but just a set of papers which i have to keep in the vehicle. Steve was great and organised everything.
If your seats go all the way to the back then the front seats don't need modifying.
Hope this helps,
Mitch.

Sounds great. Congratulations. Sounds like a very reasonable fee frankly. I've been waiting to hear the outcome from you:-)
So from my understanding you now have a 7 seater and it took 5 weeks from start to finish. No mod plate but it will show on your registration papers next time round as a 7 seater, I gather. But your existing plate states 3 seater? Do you know your vehicle classification code?

Cheers,
Yeah took about 4-5 weeks reasonable price.
My troopy is still classed as a panel van if that's what you mean, and by papers i meant that they gave me a slip signed by the engineer saying that it has been modified. Im not sure how you will go on the weight side of things as I only just scraped through.

Well I guess I could remove my roo bar and tow bar or take out that middle belt if they'll allow it. Do you know how much your final weight was?

I converted our 11 seat Troopy into a 3 seat panel van by removing the rear seats. To register the converted vehicle required (in NSW) an engineer's certificate that cost me something less than $50. The big advantage for me was that the Troopy is no longer considered a bus and consequently doesn't require an RTA inspection every 3 months.

Suggest before you add too many seats it's worth checking that you aren't creating a bus which has more stringent requirements and inspections.

Cheers

John

I was already using the vehicle as a camper .. but the inspection requirement for a passenger vehicle drove me to formally register the conversion

I am supposed to carry the papers with me at all times .. but, like my rego papers, I keep them at home for security reasons