[Andygoodbloke]

Hi all
My project SJ50 is coming along nicely and I am running through the wiring and getting everything going.
Still plenty to go, still have fuel level, temp, speedo to sort out. and have completed the screen washer and electric fan, dash lights so far.
Once these gremlins have been relocated it will almost be time to get the thing road legal. Here in New Zealand I am going to have to get the vehicle re-certified - I think

There are small modifications you can make without needing to be certified as modified. For example raising the vehicle is easy with leaf springs and this has been done, but I do not know how much lift the vehicle has had as I have not seen a standard unmodified SJ50 to compare the vehicle to. You can raise it 50mm without needing certified modifications. The lift is not in the shackles it is in the springs

What is the standard unmodified height of the vehicle and where do you measure it? Eg ground to roof gutter, or ground to wheel arch?

Other areas of concern are the front bull bar as the front bumper is removed and indicators and park lights moved to the headlight and outer side of the headlights, but they advise it has to be safe for a people with no sharp edges or corners to catch - fair enough - this seems strange as it has a bull bar designed to protect the vehicle from hitting objects then hitting people is going to hurt them, I am not going to Mad Max the thing with spikes and poison tipped spears sticking out, it is a bull bar on a moving vehicle it will hurt if you get hit by it. My concern is I have rock slider bars which connect to the outer edge of the bull bar and it basically has a tube sticking out backwards - it makes a great handle when getting up, but will it need cutting off?

The seat. The SJ50 has had replacement seats put in - no idea what they are out of. The person who installed them has built a new frame for the seat to sit on as it looks to be too different to the standard mounting points. If these need certifying then I maybe better to replace them with something which mounts to the standard bolt holes - which front seats do people go for to fit onto the standard mounting points?

Not long until the vehicle is ready to go

Thanks Andy

[Andygoodbloke]

I called one of the Certifiers here in Christchurch, he advised to take it for a Warrant of Fitness (WOF ) the NZ safety check) and see what fails

He did advise the seats will need to be redone and all the additional framing removed or certified ($1000nz) so the next question which I have looked on this forum for is

Which seats will bolt straight into the standard mounting points in a SJ50?

Thanks Andy

[Gwagensteve]

SJ50 and sj70 seats will bolt to the standard mounts. Nothing else.

[Andygoodbloke]

Hi Steve
I have managed to find a few seat options and looking on the UK Suzuki club forum, they had some one ask the same question with the answer being

Early Vitara and Grand Vitara's which is pre 1994 with fit into the SJ50's, and so will most early Suzuki cars including Swifts and other models and found a pair of seats out of a Suzuki Alto first generation which I will check condition on and measure the bolts patterns on the runners to see if they line up, or can be made to fit
Interesting you are saying no and the British are saying yes, must be an Ashes thing.

Failing that with the measurements the local breaker/ wrecker will be visited and many cars looked at.
Just like the replacement window seal around the drivers door is meant to be a suzuki only one but the replacement came out of a Nissan Cefiro, just by looking at the shape and then cutting to length.

I have heard of people putting seats in out of Honda CRX's, Ford Pumas, BMW 3 series, so will measure and see what fits hopefully the Alto seats as the colour would look good and saves buying seat covers

[Jezzer]

I fell the difference in answer is in the question

Seats that will fit in a sj50 (make/modify)
And seats that bolt in without any modifications.

Some seats might bolt on if you use the factory rails. But you might need to modify the rails to suit the chosen seat.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Andygoodbloke]

Hi Jezzer
The less modification the better, but if it is a matter of bending a bracket on the runners I am sure I will have no issues (famous last words)
I would rather spend $50 on a new set of seats and tinker a little than $1000 on certifying a mod I have never been happy with, installed by some one else which is as ugly as sin.

Yes I agree Steve maybe correct nothing will fit without modification, but how much modifying remains to be seen

It was interesting I felt the attitude of the certifier seemed to be to try and avoid using them and if you run the plate number and it still comes up in the computer systems then just get a wof and new reg. - this made me happy

Cheers Andy

[Gwagensteve]

You’re asking two different things and even then I don’t know how to answer the question more accurately because you haven’t told me what you’re dealing with.

If you have the stock runners in place hundreds of seats can be made to fit. The stock runners mount the seats with four bolts up into the seat from the underside. Many factory seats mount like this so you can generally make an adapter plate to adjust the bolt pattern readily.

If you don’t have the stock slides you’ll need some or you’re going to have to do a lot of fabrication which brings me back to the question of how much modification the WOF will allow.

No other seat will bolt in without modification. How much modification is permissible under the WOF rules? I have no idea.

Do you have stock runners?

[Blkfxx]

Measurements from old NSW documents for a WT, depending on what NZ authorities have, your experience may differ

[Gwagensteve]

Link no worky.

I'd work on about 50mm from front axle to bumpstop and about 75mm from rear axle to bumpstop as close to stock when new. They did tend to sag a bit with time.

[Blkfxx]

You can right-click>open in new tab, not showing on the forum side for whatever reason.

[UBZ]

Did you take it in for a wof ? I have been running non standard seats and rails in a zuk for years and my local wof guy never blinks an eye .

With regards to lift , they won’t care about a 50mm spring lift or slight shackle lift . But if it looks like a roller skate jacked up on 31s they will ask questions.
Remember generally you only lift to clear bigger tyres , any stiffer / higher springs are going to make it perform worse off road . Especially if you mess up the shackle angle .

[Andygoodbloke]

n conclusion.
Yes 2 different issues raised, but these are the matters which run circuits in my mind and come out as jibberish.

The seats the Suzuki was purchased with out of a Suzuki swift I think have been put back in after purchasing 4 old seats out of a SJ413 or similar. The seats were kept outside for too long and even the frames were rusty and all the spring supports rusted through. The runners/mounts were fine or salvageable so got a wire brush cleanup and a repaint black.

Of course the bolt holes didn't line up on anything so the inside of both the drivers and passengers seats (the side closer to the handbrake) were lined up and mounted with m8 bolts. The outside by the door mounts got a bracket made out of 5mm plate steel and cut into a square, approx 80mm x 80mm this was enough to line up the wider seat to the standard holes on the factory runners and M8 bolts added to hold in place.

To avoid being stung with a modification cert cost this should pass as no welding has been done and it is a standard seat with a rating onto factory standard mountings.

The certification paper work and standard states there are 2 types of seat. One is stressed and the other unstressed. Stressed seats have the seat belt mount on the seat itself and these cannot be modified in any way shape or form as they are built to a standard and are strong enough to withstand crashes. The unstressed seats must use standard mounting points on the vehicle being in the B pillar and at the bottom of the drive train tunnel where the floor and side to the drive train tunnel come together, this has been repaired and is now used.

In looking into ride heights and certification, it come down to a formula.
For Static Stability factor the formula is T/2H with T being the measurement centre to centre on the tyres and H being the centre height of the crank bolt to the ground
the ratio has to be 1.1 or more(1.2, 1.3)otherwise in depth calculations on weight and weight placement has to be done but usually if a 50mm suspension raise and or a 50mm body raise is done you should be fine unless you do both.