3rd Row of Seats - legal to remove?

[adrianp]

Hi,

I was wondering if it would be legal to remove the 3rd row of seats. They are foldable anyway, and just take up the space, but I don't know if this wouldn't alter the specified seating and therefore make an illegal modification. My main concern would be the insurance. I know I could talk to them, just wondering if this's already been sorted out before (I am with RACQ, if this does matter).

regards,
Adrian

[psproule]

Aparantly, technically it is not legal to alter the seating capacity of a vehicle without having an engineers certificate. This goes for both reducing and increasing the seating capacity.

But everybody does it (removes seats).

Pat

[mongoose]

what model do you have??
if its an NS they just slide out why would it be illegal to remove them??

cheers
Adrian

[RalphEdward]

Seat Removal

I just talked with a mate, a Certified Engineer, and as the third row seats are not a permanent fitting they can be removed and refitted at will without any concern to the roadworthiness of the vehicle (there's lots more to this discussion so I've given only the Readers Digest version here). Long story short, remove the third row seats whenever you want for whatever you want - just don't carry passengers in the back without the appropriately certified seats in place.

Regards
Mark

[adrianp]

I just talked with a mate, a Certified Engineer, and as the third row seats are not a permanent fitting they can be removed and refitted at will without any concern to the roadworthiness of the vehicle (there's lots more to this discussion so I've given only the Readers Digest version here). Long story short, remove the third row seats whenever you want for whatever you want - just don't carry passengers in the back without the appropriately certified seats in place.

Regards
Mark

Thanks!
It's a NH, they take up a lot of space and I never use them, just carry around with me.

[shnook]

Adrian, I removed the 3rd row about 4 years ago shortly after I bought the vehicle so I could use the underfloor storage space (very handy). I also removed the centre headrest from the 2nd row because I don't need that either and it blocks vision. Since removing those things I've had 2 rego inspections and it passed OK.

Regards,
shnook.

[Eastie]

Have a look here and perhaps Pickle can help re-establish the 4wd Victoria news article link...

http://www2.pajeroclub.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=1486

A cut from the article is as follows:

"The following comment has been provided to Four Wheel Drive Victoria by Vic Roads.

This issue has been blown out of all proportion. There is no reason seats
that are designed to be removable cannot be removed. Doing this DOES NOT
alter the seating CAPACITY of the vehicle. Seating capacity is defined by
the Australian Design Rules as the maximum number of seating positions for
which the vehicle is DESIGNED - ie not the number of seats actually fitted
at any point in time.

By inter-government agreement vehicle standards are common throughout
Australia. This means that the above advice applies in all states and
territories."