Right hand drive to left hand drive conversion

[lm723]

Guys,

may article ba kayong alam about right hand drive to left hand drive conversion? Gusto ko kse malaman ang mga problems sa ganun. Isa din kse option ko sa van/car is ung mga converted na cars (import).

Hope you can point me to the right direction and give me info on it.

Why is it not good? , etc.

[niky]

For one, safety. There are some competent conversions out there using OEM parts, but many converters use surplus or merely re-weld parts.

Cosmetically, this means your dashboard may look slightly wrong.

Value-wise, you will never know if the instrument panel used in the conversion is the original. Original mileage and condition are very difficult to assess due to this.

Safety-wise, poorly welded conversions are outright dangerous due to the possibility of snapped linkages. For conversions done with surplus parts, the condition of the parts themselves might not be very good. Also, a fair amount of welding and re-mounting is also needed for these conversions, and workmanship may vary.

Also, JDM vehicles have headlights that are aimed wrong. The left lights are adjusted higher than the right ones, to highlight pedestrians on the left of the vehicle. In the Philippines, this means you are pointing your headlights straight into the eyes of oncoming motorists. JDM vehicles also have the smaller mirror on the right (a problem, as this makes the blind spot on the right side even larger) and passenger doors on the left (a safety hazard for your passengers, especially if you want to use the van as a commuter shuttle).

In the end, if you've taken care of all of these problems by getting a conversion from the most reliable shop you can find, and with original equipment, the last drawback is that you're killing local manufacturers and retailers. The local auto industry is worth about 1.4 billion pesos (unsure, but it's around there) and employs many Filipinos. By supporting imported secondhands, you're weakening an already poor local industrial base for carmakers.

This is the reason Toyota is already pulling out much of its capacity from the Philippines. Nissan's industrial presence here is small, and not growing. Thank god we're the local assemblers of their most popular product (the X-Trail) so they're not suffering much.

If you need to buy secondhand, buy local. It's less hassle. :D

[alwayz_yummy]

yah lalo na kung drive-and ride ka lang....

[lm723]

niky,

thanks for the information. kaya pala ganun ung ibang comments nila.

alwayz_yummy,

ano ung JDM car/van nikuwa mo? pano mo sya pina convert? or u got it converted na?

[Alpha_One]

I'd like to add that there will certainly be fanatics claiming that Subic vehicles should be right to kill the 'evil' local industry because they 'overprice' cars.

Take note that the reason why Subic SUVs are cheap is because they're USED! Not only are they used, they don't even have a service history so you don't even have a chance to know in advance what's wrong with them. Don't forget depreciation, these things are impossible to sell. Heck if you factor in depreciation the local used cars might actually start to become bargains. Local used cars lose little value when you need to sell them.

[alwayz_yummy]

i HAD a 1989 Mits Delica starwagon exceed 4WD since 2000, ok pa noon, parang ako lang meron nun, e ngayon, di na..., may pics ako nun sa gallery..pero had it sol because of economic sense..mahal diesel and parts(pajero underchasis iyon)...aquired namin ng father ko from AIA, fully restored (including a 2-inch lift and audio upgrade)to its tip-top condition last 2003 until i got it sold last june 2005.

now i have a 1991(jdm)/1996(phdm) toyota liteace fxv 4wd...i may say ok lang namang mas mura ng bahagya sa parts, pero malaki difference sa diesel consumption, at sa performance, di ganun nagkakalayo sa delica ko.space wise,

i prefer 4wd vans for 1 reason: its underchasis are much bigger and sturdier than any local van of the same unit. and this is the real reason why i opted for jdm: the local vans here dont have 4wd, e di ko naman feel ang SUV, parang kotse din...iba and space ng van. maganda pa ang tayo ng JDMs than its local counterparts.

vehicle buff din ako, kaya marunong din ako tumingin ng maganda at maayos, which is 1 of my advantage in acquiring a good-best jdm import.

kaya kung may pera ko, i will definately get a 1996-1998 JDm Delica spacegear 4wd superexceed, freshly imported and supervise its conversion personally by me..

di naman ako particular sa interior gadgets, pero masmalaman, mas ok, pero ang habol ko talaga sa jdm its engine and underchasis parts..

[finchy18]

naka test drive na ako ng 2door ek3 civic (converted here from japan) hindi maayos pag ka convert kaya Tok-Tok sound coming from the engine to underchassis especially when maneuvering.

[alwayz_yummy]

yup that one prob talaga..dyan ako natagalan sa delica ko noon..kasi ang nearest cheapest rack i could find noon is the steering rack of a hyundai grace(20,000 ang orig for l3,15,000 surplus, 12,000 ang refurbished hyundai grace rack)...but the problem was its tie-bars are longer than the van really needs, machine shopped the parts, then when the time i had to replace the rack bar, i found a european replacement that has the right length..

un din pala, since hardware business kami, we have our own garage, kaya it saves me some on maintenance and restoration costs...

[banaweonline]

guys,
SUVic cars has been an age old debate whether it's good or bad. Different owners have different stories. Some bought a lemon while others bought gold.

I myself had a 1990 JDM Gen1 Pajero. had it for 4 years before i sold it. spent on basic PMS and that's it. nothing major.

Others fear that the conversion is dangerous. Please don't forget that the jeeps, buses, fuel tankers, etc. are also converted. especially the jeepneys. they are converted from the front to the back and from ground up. so i think that may be more dangerous than subic converted ones (steering wheel only).

I say that the JDM vehicles are more up to specs than the local vehicles in terms of engine power, drivetrain, gearing, and asthetics because. a local Gen2.5 pajero (4M40TDIC, 2.8L) all stock cannot outrun my Subic Gen1 pajero (4D56TDIC, 2.5L).

If budget is your concern and you really want to buy a subic converted, make sure that you tag along a mechanic, someone who has experience in these type of vehicle.

subic vs. local= there are advantages and disadvantages too

[OTEP]

Could not find articles on RHD to LHD conversion. Pero madami akong nahanap about LEFT HD to RIGHT HD conversions.

http://www.intercep.co.uk/LHDRHDConversion.htm - USDM SUV conversions
http://caddyclub.tripod.com/rhd.htm - Classic Cadillac conversion
http://cool59.tripod.com/rhd.htm - alternate link for above
http://www.renault4.co.uk/tech-headlamp-conversion.htm - converting LHD headlamps to RHD
http://www.sportsluxurycars.com.au/c...conversion.htm - Mustang GT

http://www.japan-partner.com/faq.php

Q: Can you change steering conversion from right to left or find parts for this conversion?
We neither make steering conversion nor supply parts for conversion to left hand drive steering. The main reason is that we simply do not have such parts in Japan because we use here RHD vehicles. Our customers from LHD-countries find these parts by themselves in their local markets and do conversions on their own. We recommend you either to check our RHD stock list and consider further conversion to LHD on your own in your country or check our LHD stock list. Unfortunately our LHD stock list is updated not as frequently as RHD-stock and does not contain vehicles of Japanese origin.