Thread: 91 Hi lux wof issue

Originally Posted by No.3

Body on a Toyota Hilux is not monocoque it's body on ladder chassis. The question then is, what are the steps welded too, body or chassis?

Includes, but not limited to, is my reading of that. Eg: Weld a towbar to something and see how you get on

Heating, drilling, welding or cutting the vehicle structure, modifying a roof bow, or modifying any part of the structure would be considered to weaken it

Originally Posted by Tommy

Includes, but not limited to, is my reading of that. Eg: Weld a towbar to something and see how you get on

Yep correct, but if you welded the steps to the tub or deck on a ute WOF man won't bat an eyelid. I don't think the original post specifies what/where they are welded (if they did I missed it). If the WOF guy is concerned that they are welded to the underside of the body - he might run into an issue over interpretation of the 'structural modification' bit, but if they are welded to the chassis or even a factory production bracket then under the new rules it needs to be approved. There are probably a few ways to attack that, but as people have said probably the easiest is avoid it by cutting the steps off and welding a bracket to the step. Then boost some new holes through the chassis and bracket and out with the black paint and the 'mud and cowcrap on a brush' trick... After the chassis has been welded to arguably the problem can't be just removed but the rules don't really reflect reality.

I had a discussion recently with a WOF man over a bracket welded onto the lower radiator support bracket of a 4x4 - he was going down the track of requiring a cert on it as a structural mod. Lower radiator support bracket isn't a structural member on that vehicle (might be on some). He reluctantly conceded the point as two 25mm long brackets to mount an electric cooling fan shroud probably won't affect the crash performance one would think. My read on it is that the WOF men are running quite scared as it would seem that any decision they make that results in an identifiable result from a prang or the like can result in them carrying the lot now.