MRWOO Posted June 26, 2008 Share Posted June 26, 2008 I have an 07 defender that does not have a centre seat, I dont think think Land Rover have been putting centre seats in for some time now. I am guessing that they dont fit them anymore becuase they either want to sell the seat as an option or a nice cubby box instead of the centre tray. Currently I have a nice cubby box that I dont really want to take out but I have a need quite often to transport 5 passengers, the wife and 3 kids. It would be nice if we could all fit in the Land Rover. Does anybody know if there are any law implications with me fitting a centre seat (plenty on ebay from the cubby box converters)? I also plan to fit a decent 3 point harness seat belt for the centre seat that I'll have to some strong fixing points fabricated for. Thanks Rich... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Rogers Posted June 26, 2008 Share Posted June 26, 2008 I don't think you can fit a middle seat to 07 defenders due to the Hi/Low lever, as Landrover no longer offer it as an option. I'm still yet to work out how on earth you can seat someone in a middle seat, unless they have no legs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BogMonster Posted June 26, 2008 Share Posted June 26, 2008 I am pretty sure it won't fit and as said you need to have no legs to get in the middle of the new ones anyway. I doubt it would meet type approval for an 07MY and if there was an accident I would think the insurers would wash their hands of it. It certainly isn't available as a factory item on the new model. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJIbex Posted June 26, 2008 Share Posted June 26, 2008 I don't see why you could not actually fit the seat, however from an insurance/legality point of view a bit of a major risk. Centre seats are no longer fitted or even an option for the same reason that the rear seats are now forwards facing; this is because EU legislation states that all new cars built must be fitted with 3 point seat belts for all the occupants. A 3 point belt is useless for a sideways facing seat (hence the rear seats now face forwards), and I guess LR did not want to get into the realms of redisgn for front seat centre seat belts. Mark. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimmy_neutron Posted June 26, 2008 Share Posted June 26, 2008 I have an 07 defender that does not have a centre seat, I dont think think Land Rover have been putting centre seats in for some time now. I am guessing that they dont fit them anymore becuase they either want to sell the seat as an option or a nice cubby box instead of the centre tray.Currently I have a nice cubby box that I dont really want to take out but I have a need quite often to transport 5 passengers, the wife and 3 kids. It would be nice if we could all fit in the Land Rover. Does anybody know if there are any law implications with me fitting a centre seat (plenty on ebay from the cubby box converters)? I also plan to fit a decent 3 point harness seat belt for the centre seat that I'll have to some strong fixing points fabricated for. Thanks Rich... I presume you remember us talking about similar things here ... http://forums.lr4x4.com/index.php?showtopi...rt=#entry234185 I took your advice when fitting all my seats etc and went down to my MOT place who also does kit car test etc. He told me something about it being over a certain age which i think was 10 years. Meaning if its newer than 10 years and you put seats in the back then you need the SVA test. Not sure if this applys to the front though. Our front centre seat works really well. Baby in front passenger, mrs in the middle, me driving obviously, and older 2 kids in the back. And everyone is happy which is the main thing. Insurance company didn't give a monkeys so long as i didn't end up with more than 5 seats. If it was me doing the same again, I would talk to the same 2 places. MOT/ SVA station and insurance company. The other thing is ... Ya gotta live. I'm sure you bought your defender to enjoy it. If it was me, and it needed a centre seat then it would be getting a centre seat. 1 concern that has just dawned on me ... Doesn't the gear lever on the new defenders bend back further. Thinking about, if in an accident in 2nd or 4th gear, where the lever is going. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest diesel_jim Posted June 26, 2008 Share Posted June 26, 2008 I am pretty sure it won't fit and as said you need to have no legs to get in the middle of the new ones anyway. I doubt it would meet type approval for an 07MY and if there was an accident I would think the insurers would wash their hands of it. I think you'd have to wash the gearsticks as well! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve King Posted June 26, 2008 Share Posted June 26, 2008 I think you'd have to wash the gearsticks as well! Even with a tdi or td5 you have to be on first name terms with the centre seat passenger to get the transfer box into low + difflock! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muddy Posted June 27, 2008 Share Posted June 27, 2008 Always good if you have a fit bird in though, often manage to find a shortcut over a greenlane in these situations Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Three Blades Posted June 27, 2008 Share Posted June 27, 2008 I put in a centre seat to my Td5. I use it for transporting a 5 year old ad it is certainly not the place for an adult. For whiplash prevention you will need the one with the headrest (available from Exmoor Trim) so check what the ebayers are selling first as most centre seats are without headrest. Then fit a 4 point harness (also from Exmoor). These are cheaper then the inertia reel 3 points and much more fun for kids (and I recon safer). I bolted the harness into the old belt mounts and into the bulkhead and the MOTr man was perfectly happy. No clue on Pumas - sorry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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