Thread: Possible New project vehicle...

I have a far easier solution! Get a 5 seat defender with the A frame with a horizontal bar going across behind the 2nd row(3 bolts) and buy 2 forward facing seats from one of the british suppliers that are made to have a child seat attached. I am 100% certain they have them made for the 90 by an after market supplier and they are designed to comply with the pommie laws so should meet aussie standards as well. I was looking for some to try and convince the other half to let me buy a 90 a few years ago , we got a 3rd child instead!
Defender & Series Load Area Seats

Originally Posted by frantic

they are designed to comply with the pommie laws so should meet aussie standards as well...

I'm not so sure on that - I've read many times that our design rules and laws are much stricter than theirs when it comes to child restraints. (I'd happily be proven wrong, though, as that is definitely a cheaper 'in the meantime' option.)

Also, if we decide to go for kid number six (which isn't out of the question) then I'd still be in the same situation I'm in right now, but I'd have to get a whole new vehicle and modify that one too!

(At least by number six, then number one would be beyond the 7 y.o. requirement for restraints.)

My thinking was that if I built the 12 seater then I'm not likely to be limited in how many kids we can have by the choice of available vehicles on the market. Also, I like the idea of still being able to have the full load area available to use with up to eight people in the vehicle. Not many vehicles can do that!!

Originally Posted by frantic

...with the A frame with a horizontal bar going across behind the 2nd row...

I forgot to ask, is this a LR option? Or are you simply referring to the CRAB that is mentioned in other threads on this site?

similar things have been done before.

IMHO, it'll be easier to engineer in a set of rear seats that are suitable but that doesnt solve the doors problem you'll have

Mulgo's yellow machine is built on a 130 chassis isn't it ??

There's also a company in the uk who use stretched landrovers for a funeral business, I think they look smart.

You need a 147, 2 rows of passenger seats with side doors and you still have a normal luggage area.
Ring L/R HQ, South Africa. ( tell then you have quintuplets, live in a remote area and needed a real 4wd)

3pointa

Originally Posted by cooper

So what you are really building is a Land Rover "Stretch Limo"I reckon that would look really cool... ....My vote,do it.

Yeah, I thought so too! I even considered going 'pillarless' between the second and third rows of doors and making the third row a set of 'suicide doors' - effectively meaning that the side of the wagon opens right up.

Originally Posted by Blknight.aus

...IMHO, it'll be easier to engineer in a set of rear seats that are suitable but that doesnt solve the doors problem you'll have

Also, as all child restrains must face forward by law in Australia, it limits me to only adding another two seats, still only giving seven in total. Adequate, just, for one more bub, but after that I'll hit the same wall I'm looking at now.

Originally Posted by jerryd

Mulgo's yellow machine is built on a 130 chassis isn't it ??...

I did consider using a 130 chassis to reduce the cost of engineering it, but I think that I'd have to sacrifice load bay area and fabricate a smaller middle row door plus modify the rear doors to fit the third row. Certainly possible, but maybe a bit more fiddly.

Originally Posted by 3pointa

You need a 147, 2 rows of passenger seats with side doors and you still have a normal luggage area.
Ring L/R HQ, South Africa. ( tell then you have quintuplets, live in a remote area and needed a real 4wd)

3pointa

I have seen the 147's that were made in South Africa, but unfortunately there were only ever 10 made, and one safari business still owns four of those, so I think they are going to be a little hard to get my hands on.

The 147 is essentially what I want to end up with, though.

Originally Posted by cooper

The way he is going he will need a 747 never mind a 147 to transport his offspring around.

Thanks, I needed a laugh!

(That was far funnier than most of the comments we usually get even with only four atm. Occasionally someone rolls out the line "Haven't you got a TV?" - it really stumps them when I come back with "Yeah, but what would you rather do?!? )

I agree. A 130 would be the easiest way to go. Anything longer would start to get really painful to drive around in. You could do a drop side tray triple cab set up. Because the tray is higher it allows more rear overhang without causing dramas. Also allows under tray options like fuel/water tanks/pullout draws etc.

With this set up I would take the third row of doors back to the rear wheel arch as is with a 110, have two b-pillars on each side and fabricate a door that fits btw the two b-pillars. You might be able to get away with a door on one side only. The door/s could have fixed glass or small sliding glass opening (for simplicity). A bar for anchor points could be made to fix to a fabricated under floor chassis cross member and to each b-pillar that holds the third row of doors. When the kids get bigger the second row seats could face backward so the 2nd and 3rd row face each other.