Van seatbelts - view from side
Fitting seats and seatbelts to a van requires design to meet the loading requirements in a frontal collision. The LVV Standards for seats and for seatbelt anchorages set out the different ways of meeting these requirements.
In the Hiace shown, some second-hand seats were to be fitted, these had the seatbelt anchorages in the seat frames, making them “Stressed Seats”. This is much neater than having all the seatbelts going to the floor, however it means that the seat has to be strong enough to take the seatbelt loads.
Van seatbelts - view from rear
A quick stress calculation showed that the back beams were not strong enough, and had to be strengthened by adding a 50 x 25 box beam to the original 50 x 50 box beam to make a 50 x 75 box beam.
The mounting system is the “Over-floor mounting bar” system, as in the LVV Standard.
Also visible are headrest mounts on the rear seat back, because of the closeness of the rear window.
Installation by owners Eastern Rentals 66 TeRakau Drive 09 577 0128
Design calculations and LVV Certifification by John Brett Technology Ltd. 0800 LOW VOLUME (0800 569865)
The LVV Standards are here- Seats and seat anchorages [692kB PDF] and here Seatbelts [1024kB PDF]
REAR FACING SEATS
Rear facing seats have to restrain occupants from frontal impact. This means that the seat backs have to be far stronger than normal, or a supporting structure provided.
This is a matter which is often overlooked by some commercial modifiers.
The requirements from ADR VSb 5B are:
Appendix B
Rear-Facing Seat Strength
Rear-facing seats and their anchorages must comply with the requirements of the latest edition of ADR 3/…
In addition, a rear-facing seat should withstand, without imposing any load on any other seat in the vehicle, a load equivalent to twenty times the weight of the seat and its occupants applied in the forward direction relative to the vehicle. Seats intended to accommodate more than one occupant should withstand the loads applied by all occupants simultaneously. This requirement should be demonstrated with the occupant load uniformly distributed over the backrest and head restraint of the seat.
The occupant mass to be used to determine the test loads for each category of seat must be:
Category 1 – 68 kgs
Category 2 – 38 kgs
Category 3 – 26 kgs.
Reasearch link:-
[DOC]
COMMERCIAL MANUFACTURE AND INSTALLATION OF ADDITIONAL SEATS
– 8:15am
File Format: Microsoft Word – View as HTML
Rear-Facing Seat Strength. Rear-facing seats and their anchorages must comply with the requirements of the latest edition of ADR 3/. …
www.infrastructure.gov.au/roads/vehicle…/bulletin/…/vsb_05_b.doc
hi
we got a van (pre 2000) with NO mounted seats in the back, NO seat belts, can people travel in the back legally? ive been looking all over the internet, you seem to know what your talking about.
cheers
hi i have a toyota hiace 2000.has no seats in it. would like to put 2 bench seats in it.would i have to get certification?..
You certainly do
Regards
John
Hi,
I have a ’93 Mitsubishi L300 minibus. The rear seats have been removed, and were in storage, then someone threw them away. I have not been able to get the correct seats, but have found a similar size bench, possibly of Nissan origin.
The mounts are different spacings, so would I be able to fit it with new holes, still using the original seatbelts and mounts, or would this require certification?
Thanks,
Aaron.
Of course it will need LVV Certification- it is a new Certification.
The seats and seatbelts all need to meet the required safety standards, and the LVV process ensures that they do.
Hello there, Do you know of anyone that can fit rear seats to a 2008 Hyundai H1 Van?
Thanks,
Shane
What area are you in? There are businesses such as Jacksons and Van Extras who do this work, and there are small businesses who might give it a go. You will need seatbelts- I would try a seatbelting place.
Hi John,
I’ve just bought a 2000 toyota Hiace registered as a three seater, but have the toyota folding up bench seat on the factory mounts. After reading article 4.2a of the pdf above (185-00(01)), do I need a LVV cert for this? I presume I’ll need one to fit seatbelts, but do I also need to correct the registration to a 6 seater?
Cheers
Andrew
Hi Andrew- Take it to a TSD agent such as VTNZ, VINZ, or AA, and do a “Change of details” form. They will get their inspector to look and decide mif it needs LVV for the seat. If it does, we can do it. If you want to add seatbelts, (and why wouldn’t you) it would cost NO EXTRA for the LVV Certification. If you are in Auckland I recommend Seatbelt Specialists in Glenfield, on 09 4440099. They will do the belts, and arrange the LVV Certification, on the one bill.
Hope this helps John
Hi there, I’ve just purchased an older coach 1982 to convert into a mobile home for my rapidly expanding family. The company I purchased the bus from pulled out all the seats and changed its usage to a heavy van (she’s 11.9 tons empty). They didn’t fit a seat belt for the drivers seat but it seemed to have gone through a c.o.f. fine without a belt.
I’m toying with putting some original coach seats back for passengers to provide at least 4 extra seats but maybe even 8 (so 9 seats including driver) and then fitting the rest of the bus out as a motor home. I am wondering if I need seat belts at all if I leave it as a heavy van.
If I change its use to motorhome, I believe I have to provide 1 x lap belt for every berth, but does this still apply in a heavy vehicle ?? or am I better to leave it as a heavy van, or is there no real advantage either way.
If I need to fit belts, am I better to buy some seats that have the belts incorporated and mount these into the bus. I guess this way I only need to worry about the seat anchorage complying.
I’m a fair engineer, so is there somewhere I can get some basic info on how to make these mounts compliant ??
Lastly what sort of cost am I likely to run into for a compliance certificate and will I need one ??
Thanks
Richard
(Wellington)
Hi John
I am doing up a VW 211 Van (Kombi) 1979 Brazilian.
The van originally had no windows in the rear compartment and a previous owner had installed windows a back seat with belts and turned it into a camper.
I want to fit two new seats that I have made (I have a fitting and welding advanced trade and NZCE Mechanical) the seats are all steel and also have a ply base that the foam sits on. One is a three seater 1300mm wide forward facing, it folds flat and the flat seat and the engine compartment floor makes a nice bed (this seat is sometimes referred to as a rock and roll seat).
Question One
When you replied to Jamie’s question 30 June 2010 it sounded as if a van that is decked out as a camper does not require certification on the seats and that it can legally be use to take passengers. Did I interpret that correctly?
I do want the seat to be compliant. But because I need the bed to be continuous when folded flat I need to have it almost hard up against the wall that forms the engine compartment. In this position the rear wheel arches get in the way of the rear mounts.
Question Two
The front of the seat will be conventionally mounted. Can the rear mounts be attached to the angled engine compartment wall? If you think this maybe too weak and bend can I use a transverse beam and attach the seat to that?
Question Three
Can I mount lap belts to that engine compartment wall or a transverse beam? I think this will be good as the belts will be working in a straight line of pull.
I also want to fit a rear facing two seater 1000mm wide it will be mounted directly behind the driver and the middle front seat. The van has a full width dividing wall between the front and rear compartments. Like the old split window Kombis. From what you have written previously you sound familiar with this style wall.
Question Four
Do I need to strengthen this wall to take the extra loading of the rear facing seat?
thanks
Doug
Hi there John,
we are looking at purchasing a hiace van for our big family but all have no seats in them. Approx how much all up are we looking at, in putting seats and seatbelts in one? and getting it all certified? Just so I know if we can afford to go down this road?
Cheers