LHD Conversion

[atarijedi]

Greetings all,

I was wondering if anyone has done a LHD Conversion before? I found this company that sells the kits for $1700.

http://www.japan-partner.com/LHD-conversion.php

I don't own a delica yet, but I plan on getting one before summer, and found the idea of a LHD version to be intriguing.

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[Mr. Flibble]

As far as I am aware, everyone here sticks with RHD if their van came that way. There are a few LHD Delica's out there as well.

RHD is something you very quickly get used to (except for windshield wipers/turn signals) so spending a lot of money (unless perhaps you live in Quebec) to do it is not a prime concern.

The idea seems strange, but the reality of driving RHD is not that bad.

[glenn]

I agree with Mr. Flibble. Spend an hour in a RHD and you will quickly loose the desire to convert it. Visibility is fantastic in L300 and L400s, plus, there are at least as many advantages to your bum being on the right side as there are disadvantages. ICBC has been collecting data on us for years and they have not been able to show a statistically significant disadvantage to RHDs - in fact, they have had to retract their only negative study after their methodology was proven flawed.

Spend that $1700 on a lift, or on some nice and safe new tires, or convert it to WVO, etc. . . . .

[Dino]

I'm 22, and have been driving RHD in Ontario since I was 17. My first two were sports cars, down low and much less visibility than my Pajero or a Delica. I've never had a problem, no accidents, no fender benders, no close calls that RHD attributed to. The most problematic situation is waiting in a left turn lane with a large vehicle in the oncoming left turn lane, and at that point it all comes down to waiting until you know the coast is clear. The benifits are big, you can see street signs much more clearly (especially road names), you can see emergency vehicles or construction signs on the shoulder long before a LHD vehicle could, you can better see pedestrians and cyclists that might make a move out into the street... and I could go on.

Of course it is ultimately down to prefferance and I would never tell someone that they would be a fool to want LHD, but understand that converting is either really sketchy or really expensive.

If you are anywhere near Niagara I would gladly offer you a test drive in my Pajero to see what it's like , if not I'm sure there is someone near you who would extend that offer as well.

[atarijedi]

What about drive-thrus? Must be a problem with only one person in the vehicle?

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[Mr. Flibble]

What about drive-thrus? Must be a problem with only one person in the vehicle?

Never been a problem so far. I just lean a little and grab my order. Besides, I usually get the comment: "what the... Oh, hey, cool van!"

It is only for bank machines that I have to undo my belt and reach over.

[josh]

What about drive-thrus? Must be a problem with only one person in the vehicle?

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They have never been a problem for me... but even if they were, do you go through them enough to warrant spending $1700 on switching to LHD. Thats a lot of coffee and donuts that you could just park and walk in for ;)

josh.

[sasquatch-hunter]

I also think that LHD conversions will have to be DOT approved. Some Taiwanese LHD conversions didn't make it to here because of that reason.

[whatthejeez]

What about drive-thrus? Must be a problem with only one person in the vehicle?

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Turn around and back through...

[nxski]

What about drive-thrus? Must be a problem with only one person in the vehicle?

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Turn around and back through...

A friend of mine did that in a RHD Prelude and was given a ticket for driving the wrong way down a one way road. I still want to try it sometime though.

[thedjjack]

I thought I would convert mine than I drove it for 15 minutes and could not see a reason too

If you do it buy a US spec LHD van and swap the seats and dash over....

[konadog]

I thought I would convert mine than I drove it for 15 minutes and could not see a reason too...

What he said.

LHD conversion = wrecking a delica IMO - expensive too...

[FalcoColumbarius]

I thought I would convert mine than I drove it for 15 minutes and could not see a reason too...

What he said.

LHD conversion = wrecking a delica IMO - expensive too...

Hear, hear! If you want a left hand drive ~ get a NA model vehicle. I go through drive throughs in my Starwagon. The window controls are located on the centre console, I drop the passenger window, lean over and pass my saw buck to the girl in the window, she passes me my large double-double, then my change. We exchange pleasantries about my groovy wagon, I get some mild stretching exercising in and my coffee ~ it's a win-win event!

Falco.

[mararmeisto]

What about drive-thrus? Must be a problem with only one person in the vehicle?

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Park. Go inside.

It really doesn't take that much longer (in fact it's usually faster), and you'll burn less fuel.

Mazda was licensed to produce the Star Wagon in Korea (badged as the Bongo) and they're LHD, but the exported vehicles from that country are not in nearly as nice as shape as the RHD's coming out of Japan

[sub-arctic]

What about drive-thrus? Must be a problem with only one person in the vehicle?

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Turn around and back through...

Done it, late at night, because I was bored, I got strange looks, and was asked "is this normal?" hmm
They were even more confused when we had to go back because they forgot something