Burtner Camper- non compliant for NZ

The Low Volume Vehicle Technical Association has decided that seat structures made of wood or fibreglass DO NOT MEET THE LOW VOLUME VEHICLE STANDARD 185-00.
Even if the vehicle has been approved for use in Great Britain or other EU Country, it may not meet the requirments for New Zealand.

If the vehicle is a HEAVY VEHICLE, (over 3500kg GVM) this ruling does not apply.
If the vehicle has a “Whole of Vehicle” Compliance document or plate, this ruling will be avoided, since the Low Volume Vehicle process is avoided.

Here are examples of Camper Van seat construction:

This is the seat structure in a Burtner Motorhome, the MDF seat structure is sunstantial, and fixed to the steel Seat Belt Anchorage frame. The water-tank is also mounted into this structure.

This is a side-berth in a Toyota Hiace Camper Van. The weakness of this is obvious- the frame is only fixed down with small woodscrews to the false floor. This is NOT SUITABLE for a seat, a seat-belt SHOULD NOT be fitted in this vehicle.

If a Camper Van or Motor Home has to go through the New Zealand Low Volume Vehicle system, it will need :

1 A Seating position with a seatbelt for each sleeping berth- (e.g. If 4 berth, this means two seats ADDITIONAL to the two front row seats.)

2 Evidence that the Seat-Belt Anchorages have been tested to the required standards.

3 Seats made from wood, plywood, MDF, Fibreglass etc REPLACED OR FRAMED OUT in steel.

Low Volume Vehicle Seatbelt Anchorage Standard
Low Volume Vehicle Seat Standard

Hypercars DSN390

Hypercars NZ’s DSN390 offers all the adrenalin rush of a sports motorbike but with your passenger beside you. For track or road, custom built to your specifications

This incredible vehicle is being built right here in New Zealand, and will be Certified as a Low Volume Vehicle

Hypercars

Disability Seat

Sometimes the problem is simply access to the vehicle. Adaptations are available which :

1. Let the seat swivel to the side, to make access easier.
2. Let the seat swivel to the side, and then extend and lower out of the vehicle.
3. Let the seat swivel to the side, extend and lower out of the vehicle, then extend wheels and detach, making a little wheel chair.

The issues for Certification involve- security of the seat when driving, security of the seatbelt anchorage, if it is on the seat, and interior impact, especially for the occupants of the seat behind. In the picture, the removable seat has projecting handles which would be dangerous to a person nin the seat behind. In this case, the handles fold down, and have padded covers.

Certified by John Brett Technology Ltd. 0800LOWVOLUME (0800 569865)

hand control

Many disabled people are perfectly capable of driving, but need to be assessed by an Occupational Therapist. Other disabled people may not drive, but require a modified vehicle to provide access, either in a wheelchair, or just with the aid of a seat which swivels, or extends out of the vehicle, or even becomes a detachable wheelchair.
The Vehicle Modifications require Certification to ensure that the safety of the vehicle occupants, and the safety of other road users is ensured.

Docking Stations

Wheelchair Hoist

The vehicle shown as an example is based on a a Volkswagen Caravelle, constructed by Van Extras in Auckland.

Certification by John Brett Technology Ltd. 0800 LOWVOLUME (0800 569865)

Hi-top Caravan

Most motor caravans and motorhomes need LVV Certification, or Heavy Vehicle Certification if the GVM is over 3500kg.

The Toyota Hiace pictured needs certification because it has had a roof-chop, and a fibreglass hi-top fitted. The Certifying Engineer has to be satisfied that the structural integrity of the vehicle is not compromised by the modification.

Caravan Seatbelt Anchorage

Seats and seatbelts- There needs to be a seat, and seatbelt for every sleeping berth in a motor-home. A typical Van chassis might have 4 berths, but only two front seasts. This means that two additional seating positions will have to be provided.

Side-facing lap-belts are legal, but not a good option, because of the poor protection that they provide. The picture above shows a typical Seatbelt Anchorage frame for two occupants with 3 point lap and diagonal belts. This structure is concealed by the caravan furnishings.

Note that rear facing seats also need to be able to restrain occupants in a frontal collision, so a suitable back and headrest is required.

Caravans heavier than 3500kg require Certification by a HV Engineer, and we can provide that Certification also.

By John Brett Technology Ltd ph 0800 LOWVOLUME (0800 569865)

Nissan RB25DET

Nissan SR20DET

There are the six cylinder cars- Skyline, Laurel and Cefiro, and the four cylinder cars – Sylvia, 200SX, 180 SX, all available with and without turbo.
The sixes (the RB’s) come on 2 litre 2.5 litre, 2.6 litre (the Godzilla) and 3 litre (Aussie Nissans and Holdens) It is possible to build a RB30DET by taking an aussie 3 litre block and fitting an RB25DET head. It is common to fir bigger turbos, and some phenomenal power outputs can be achieved.
The fours (SR’s) are no slouches either- conversions of a DE to a DET by fitting a turbo are common, as is fitting bigger turbos.

The suspensions on all of these cars is basically sound from the get-go, and respond well to fitment of adjustable platform struts (coil-overs), adjustable camber arms, caster bars, etc.

The braking systems can generally be interchanged- the bigger brakes come with 5 stud hubs.

Front Intercoolers are commonly fitted, and often holes cut in the inner guards for Intercooler ducts.
There is a problem with later, “frontal impact” cars- no LVV Certifier can test the crash performance of a car, so cannot approve anything that affects frontal impact. We heard of a man who bought an intercooler kit from Japan, and followed the instructions to modify the front siderails to make it fit. He ended up having to have the whole front of his car re-built with new side-rails. If your car is fitted with airbags, or is later than about 1997, check FIRST with your LVV Certifier

John Brett Technology Ltd. Ph 0800 LOWVOLUME (0800 569865)

RAV4 EV under construction

We have Certified a number of Electric Vehicles. The vehicle shown runs on an AC motor, with lithium Ion batteries. Other vehicles run on DC motors and lead Acid Batteries.

When Lead Acid batteries are used, ventilation is required to ensure that the hydrogen gas given off cannot be ignited, or fill the inside of the car. Litjium Ion batteries do not have this problem.

Weight is a major consideration, the LTSA will not allow electric vehicles to exceed the GVM of the standard vehicle by more that about 10%, which can limit the number of batteries used, or require seating positions to be removed. A good vehicle to convert is a commercial vehicle which will have a much higher GVM for load carrying, ths will allow a greater weight of batteries to be carried.

Vacuum brakes pose a challenge- one solution is to fit an electric vacuum pump.

Power Steering is another challenge- there are electric steering systems in some vehicles, and there are electric power steering pumps also.

Good news is that Electric Vehicles are exemted from Road User charges, which makes a huge saving in runing costs, (along with the saving in fuel of course)

To ensure that you avoid any LVV Certification problems, talk to John at an early stage

John Brett Technology Ltd. 0800 LOW VOLUME (0800 569865)

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

Aaron's Holden Ute

Why would you change a perfectly good Ute? What’s wrong with the way GM Holden build them?

If you want your Ute to be different- if you want a really sporty look, if you want a performance car ride and handling – that’s why you would change it.

Aaron owns JP Tyres in Glenfield, and fitted his ute with Tein Adjustable platform suspension, 22×8 1/2 rims, with 245/30ZR22 Tyres.
The Ute handles like a dream, and the looks say it all.

Built by Aaron, JP Tyres 80 Porana Rd Glenfield, 09 4431699
Certified by John Brett 0800 LOWVOLUME (O800 569865) or