certs/certifying trucks, costs?? opinions??

[muskie]

just going through the certification process at the moment on my safari and i think someone is taking the piss.. i went to a guy who did my last cert on my old terrano and he says he cant do anymore unless they grant him an extension and they have turned him down, so, he gave me another guys number and we are looking at close to $700 extra charge for this, extra charge for that bla bla bla, aparently extra charge for ''bump steer test'' becouse of drop boxes.
origionally i was quoted 450- 550 which is what i expected....i am hamilton area based and need to get the truck sorted but i am not being ripped off.. anyone know of a certifier that knows what they are doing and not giving random plucked out of the air prices becouse they cant afford the payment on there clubsort this month??

3'' lift efs lift, 35mm body blocks, drop boxes, extended trailing arms, tough dog panhards, barwork all round, recaro seats, 15x8 rims, to be honest nothing unusual, the norm for a safari really.

any advice etc appreciated, maybe 700 bucks is the norm these days????? let me know

[ClassicCruiserSpares]

Im not sure about safaris but ive put alot of my landcruisers and customers trucks through cert here in Christchurch and never had any problems or issues and it costed me $370 everytime doesnt matter what mods were done.
Maybe things are different in the north island, but sounds strange to me.

[tomsoffroad]

I would've though its a tad expensive. But at the end of the day you will be paying an hourly rate for the certifiers time and I know that the LVVTA keep giving them more work to do just to line their pockets. It a cruel world we live in but what do you do?

[rokhound]

Time to go looking in Aukland for a certifier then I reckon, there is nothing in the rules that states that you must use a local guy.

[mudslut]

Try Neal Miller,he certed my old samurai i found him very reasonable

Dan

[Madaz]

Neal Miller has done my hilux twice now, been $500 each time and both times theres been a lot than what you will be needing.

"Bump steer test" W.T.F. Would love to see how they do that, hes full of shit.

Funny thing is that I dont know you, but I have a pretty good idea which certifier your talking about.

He wouldnt cert the roll cages in either of my vechicles, because it wasnt going to have a motorsport auth card, and anytime you had a recheck it was a minimum $100 dollar charge.

Neal Miller can be a bit painful at times, but does seem to be slightly more in touch with the real world.

In saying that, Ive heard good things about Mark Stokes from pukekohe, But he can be hard to get hold of

[De-Ranged]

bump test is sposed to be done any time the front suspension/steering is modified .... but you know what this is ???
they cycle the suspension and make certain nothing contacts, real hard.... hook one wheel on car ramp, lift till oposite wheel looses contact, cycle steering look for anything that contacts or issue (brake lines) repeat on other side..... its not rocket science

Certifiers set there own rates, not LVVTA if you feel this is too steep let the bugger know you are going to shop around (at $700 that is too steep!) I pay $550 for custom front and rear suspension, steering, axle mods, driveshafts, brakes, wheels, motor and box... to be honest an inche off scratch built your talking bolt on stuff

[Mudde1]

You will find that all certifiers worth their salt will be very diligent in checking steering mods, including bump steer tests. Certifiers were reminded of their obligation recently in a the coroners report into the death of Joshua Peters. Unfortunately this means that certifiers need to spend more time checking vehicles, and therefore charge more. its all about ensuring the safety of vehicles. Joshua Peters didn't mod any vehicles, didn't drive the vehicle, didn't own the vehicle, but he paid with his life for someone else s lack of checking modified steering.
Tony.

[Madaz]

bump test is sposed to be done any time the front suspension/steering is modified .... but you know what this is ???
they cycle the suspension and make certain nothing contacts, real hard.... hook one wheel on car ramp, lift till oposite wheel looses contact, cycle steering look for anything that contacts or issue (brake lines) repeat on other side..... its not rocket science

Certifiers set there own rates, not LVVTA if you feel this is too steep let the bugger know you are going to shop around (at $700 that is too steep!) I pay $550 for custom front and rear suspension, steering, axle mods, driveshafts, brakes, wheels, motor and box... to be honest an inche off scratch built your talking bolt on stuff

I could be wrong, but im pretty sure that in a Trail Torque news letter recently there was a breakdown of a cert fee charged by LVVTA, pretty sure that the fee that they charge for the plate was around $180-$190 or thereabouts

You will find that all certifiers worth their salt will be very diligent in checking steering mods, including bump steer tests. Certifiers were reminded of their obligation recently in a the coroners report into the death of Joshua Peters. Unfortunately this means that certifiers need to spend more time checking vehicles, and therefore charge more. its all about ensuring the safety of vehicles. Joshua Peters didn't mod any vehicles, didn't drive the vehicle, didn't own the vehicle, but he paid with his life for someone else s lack of checking modified steering.
Tony.

I dont think anyone would disagree with that, but i think that there are a few certifiers kicking around that are basicly extorting money from their customers, they know that they have you between a rock and a hard place.
And once you have payed the inital fee, you prettymuch have to keep paying till you get a result.


Muskie, 3inch lift, dropboxes, adjustable panhard rods, extended arms, as your probaly aware you wouldnt have any bumpsteer, you need to find a certifier that understands 4wds and vechicle dynamics and doesnt just slap certs on hotrods.

[mudslut]

X2

It shouldnt be any harder than it all ready is

[gimmemud]

Have you rang John Brett Technology? He's based in Auckland but know he has travelled to hamilton for certs (Wopass?). I had a cert done by him a while back and he was $550 and that was him coming to me and re-check free. Have recently had a cert done by lance walsh in West auckland too because he had the extra class I needed and he seemed like he really knew what he was talking about. He cost $450 which was for body swap plus he basically re-did the old cert too because he was putting his name to it, which was; engine conversion, front diff moved forward, bigger tyres, springs, body lift etc.

[Hug-o]

Have you rang John Brett Technology?

[muddyhilux]

ill support both lancer and John Brett,had mates go through Brett with no issues and is a good guy,lance is great and I personally deal with him,have done on multiple trucks and he knows what he's doing i think because he not only certs but builds things as well,mainly hot rods but the fact is he gets his hands dirty and knows about design etc etc and as said will travel and charges fairly

[muskie]

thanks for the help and info, thought it was a bit steep.

[Swamped]

I'd try neal miller in hamilton too. Hes been good to deal with.

Heres a list of certifiers

http://www.lvvta.org.nz/documents/suplementary_information/CertifierList-Website.pdf

[De-Ranged]

Another good one is Mark Stokes, he is the guy I like to use, knows his stuff, if there are any problems he will suggest solutions that work, has pretty much every ticket and travels round most of the North Island, but..... he is so blody hard to tie down

[Big]

If you want to travel(South Island ) Peter Watson is a great guy to deal with, knows his stuff and is very realistic to the practical side of things (and offers suggestions to work arounds)and his cost is around the $400 mark.. Very reasonable and great to deal with.

[muskie]

booked in with neal miller,seems to be a popular choice, thanks.

[mercutio]

who is good for 4x4 certs in wellytown thinking about getting the G certed down here

[muskie]

still cost $600 for a standard cert fee plus $60 for a wheel align... so not quite $700... its almost like printing money for a living.

neal is a good guy though.

still have 3 very minor jobs too do this weekend and its then done and all legal,

one brake pipe too close to dump pipe and could boil the fluid, have to put a 3mm chamfer on the winch cradles front plate and put a solid location peg on the swing away rear wheel carrier just in case i get hit up the rear dislodging the carrier.