Getting a troop carrier licensed for more passengers
Submitted: Friday, Oct 07, 2011 at 11:35
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Mitchs
Hi all,
I have a troop carrier which is licensed for 3 people, and also have some rear seats available. I was also wondering if anyone has had any experience in getting it signed off on by an engineer so that everything is legal and insured etc. Just wondering how much its going to cost.
Cheers
Mitch.
Reply By: rainbowprof - Friday, Oct 07, 2011 at 15:07
Friday, Oct 07, 2011 at 15:07
What state are you in? I was quoted $1200 (I think) if I supplied the side facing seats. That was in
Perth for 4 more seats- one row of two pairs down one side- but it looked like I'd need to upgrade the gvm to really be confident it would pass as I have a
water tank, dual tanks, dual batteries etc. Two more seats would have been okay without gvm upgrade (another leaf on springs needed).
AnswerID:
467009
Follow Up By: Mitchs - Friday, Oct 07, 2011 at 15:42
Friday, Oct 07, 2011 at 15:42
Thanks for the reply. Yeah, I live in
Perth, who did you get that quote from?
FollowupID:
741125
Follow Up By: rainbowprof - Friday, Oct 07, 2011 at 17:49
Friday, Oct 07, 2011 at 17:49
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
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Follow Up By: Mitchs - Sunday, Oct 23, 2011 at 23:26
Sunday, Oct 23, 2011 at 23:26
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.
FollowupID:
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Follow Up By: rainbowprof - Monday, Oct 24, 2011 at 00:47
Monday, Oct 24, 2011 at 00:47
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?
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Follow Up By: Mitchs - Monday, Oct 24, 2011 at 09:40
Monday, Oct 24, 2011 at 09:40
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
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Follow Up By: rainbowprof - Monday, Oct 24, 2011 at 11:40
Monday, Oct 24, 2011 at 11:40
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?
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Follow Up By: Mitchs - Monday, Oct 24, 2011 at 11:58
Monday, Oct 24, 2011 at 11:58
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
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742706
Follow Up By: rainbowprof - Monday, Oct 24, 2011 at 12:05
Monday, Oct 24, 2011 at 12:05
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?
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Follow Up By: Mitchs - Monday, Oct 24, 2011 at 13:21
Monday, Oct 24, 2011 at 13:21
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.
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Follow Up By: rainbowprof - Monday, Oct 24, 2011 at 13:24
Monday, Oct 24, 2011 at 13:24
Also, what about insurance? What group cover you at the moment?
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Follow Up By: Mitchs - Monday, Oct 24, 2011 at 13:31
Monday, Oct 24, 2011 at 13:31
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
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Follow Up By: rainbowprof - Monday, Oct 24, 2011 at 13:33
Monday, Oct 24, 2011 at 13:33
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.
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Follow Up By: Mitchs - Monday, Oct 24, 2011 at 13:39
Monday, Oct 24, 2011 at 13:39
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.
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Follow Up By: Mitchs - Tuesday, Nov 15, 2011 at 14:39
Tuesday, Nov 15, 2011 at 14:39
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.
FollowupID:
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Follow Up By: rainbowprof - Wednesday, Nov 16, 2011 at 00:37
Wednesday, Nov 16, 2011 at 00:37
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?
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Follow Up By: Mitchs - Wednesday, Nov 16, 2011 at 00:51
Wednesday, Nov 16, 2011 at 00:51
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.
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Follow Up By: rainbowprof - Wednesday, Nov 16, 2011 at 01:04
Wednesday, Nov 16, 2011 at 01:04
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?
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Reply By: traveloz - Sunday, Oct 16, 2011 at 15:39
Sunday, Oct 16, 2011 at 15:39
I went the other way .. from 11 seater Troopy (side seats) to using the back as a camper
cost be $ 475 to get an engineer's certificate to unbolt the seats from their standard fittings ... no modifications whatever other than unbolting
damned rip-off !
AnswerID:
467770
Follow Up By: Member - John and Val - Monday, Oct 17, 2011 at 08:06
Monday, Oct 17, 2011 at 08:06
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 | J and V
"Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted."
- Albert Einstein
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Follow Up By: traveloz - Tuesday, Oct 18, 2011 at 16:03
Tuesday, Oct 18, 2011 at 16:03
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
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