wagonpowaa Posted October 2, 2003 Share Posted October 2, 2003 In Washington its Legal to ride in the bed of trucks or Brats. In any car, as long as all the seat belts available are used, there can be as many passengers as you can fit. In the bed, you're supposed to ride with your back to the cab, but if you can't fit everyone's back against the cab its ok to sit elsewhere in the bed. Im gonna take an educated guess and say that jump seats are perfectly legal, just as others above me have concluded. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
archemitis Posted October 2, 2003 Share Posted October 2, 2003 but what about the fact that the jumpseats, realy are jump seats, or ejector seats? i would rather ride in a trailer behind a brat than in the deadly jumpseats Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted October 2, 2003 Share Posted October 2, 2003 That's what the seatbelts and roll bars are for. In fact - it says right in the owners manual that if you plan on going anywhere but pavement, the roll bar is sugested when people are occupying the rear seats. GD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hassey Posted October 3, 2003 Share Posted October 3, 2003 Originally posted by GeneralDisorder Are we STILL talking about trucks? The Brat is NOT a truck. (Well - at least mine [85] isn't). 86 and 87 will have to refer to their title. I don't see how this law can possibly apply to a passenger car? Anyway - thanks for noting that they are grandfathered - and no law (no matter how obnoxious) will stop you from using them. The only way to stop us, would be to have the federal government declare a recal on all Brat's sold with rear seats, and make Subaru remove them. I think that the likelyhood of this happening at this late of a date is rather slim. GD Both of My 1984 Brats are titled as P/U and the plates read Truck so maybe each state is differant on how they classify the Brat but I highly dought it The Brats were Imported as Cars then sold as trucks Hassey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted October 3, 2003 Share Posted October 3, 2003 Must be state specific - apparently the feds call it a car, but some states don't..... weird. I don't suppose it really matters - all you need is documentation showing that SOME part of the government considers it a truck, and I'm sure any court in the land would drop a case about riding in the back - give you a warning maybe. You could make a case for yourself just saying the laws are too confusing, and contradictory. GD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kecksnext Posted October 3, 2003 Share Posted October 3, 2003 I know when I registered my Brat I could've chosen car or truck. They asked me what it was. These things haven't been around in soo long half the people in the tag place were like Subaru who what? It's like this kid I know who drives a 78 Trans Am but he has no idea who or what Smokey and the Bandit is. Can you believe that. " Junior, when I get home, I'm gonna sock your momma right in the mouth" -Jackie Gleason Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suwbarrux Posted December 21, 2006 Share Posted December 21, 2006 Alright I live near Chicago, Illinois and have an '87 Brat...Legal or Illegal, to have brat jumpseats installed and people ride in them? Which I will be getting friday and will soon have installed shortly after. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suwbarrux Posted December 21, 2006 Share Posted December 21, 2006 bump Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suwbarrux Posted December 22, 2006 Share Posted December 22, 2006 bump Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted December 22, 2006 Share Posted December 22, 2006 Alright I live near Chicago, Illinois and have an '87 Brat...Legal or Illegal, to have brat jumpseats installed and people ride in them? Which I will be getting friday and will soon have installed shortly after. As it has been said here many times, it is legal to carry passengers in the jump seats as long as they are wearing the seatbelts. It is illegal in most states (read the fine print) to have anyone ride in the back of a pickup truck that is not in factory jump seats (depending upon when the law was written). If the law was written when brats were being made, this exclusion will be in the law. in some states its even illegal to have a dog in the back now. On the dual exhaust issue, another problem with free flowing exhaust (for an engine not designed for it or valves with lots of miles on them) is that you might burn the exhaust valves. If the car isnt fuel injected, it is possible for the air fuel mixture to go to lean and burn the valves. http://www.uucmotorwerks.com/html_product/sue462/backpressuretorquemyth.htm nipper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suwbarrux Posted December 22, 2006 Share Posted December 22, 2006 As it has been said here many times, it is legal to carry passengers in the jump seats as long as they are wearing the seatbelts. It is illegal in most states (read the fine print) to have anyone ride in the back of a pickup truck that is not in factory jump seats (depending upon when the law was written). If the law was written when brats were being made, this exclusion will be in the law. in some states its even illegal to have a dog in the back now. http://www.uucmotorwerks.com/html_product/sue462/backpressuretorquemyth.htm nipper Thanks Nipper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RdNkBrt Posted December 22, 2006 Share Posted December 22, 2006 In Hawaii you can cram people in the bed of a truck regardless of seatbelts! Anyways, i thought they WERE importated as trucks and that's why the driver door didnt have to have the steel bar reenforcement in it the way that the cars did? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
s'ko Posted December 22, 2006 Share Posted December 22, 2006 Although if you are going to put someone in the back, atleast have the forethought of getting a roll bar that is higher then their heads. MY 82 BRAT has the rear seats and the belts but when I sit in them, my head becomes the highest point on the cab. That would explain the whole getting paralyzed in a low speed roll over accident. If nothing else you could be sued for negligence. I have been the only person so far to sit in the back while the vehicle is in motion. BW Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaBrizat Posted December 22, 2006 Share Posted December 22, 2006 Alright I live near Chicago, Illinois and have an '87 Brat...Legal or Illegal, to have brat jumpseats installed and people ride in them? Which I will be getting friday and will soon have installed shortly after. Yeah, dude. What they said. When I got my '85, I called Wisco DOT and was told the whole grandpa routine. BUT I was also told a useful detail that kids have to be 16 or over to ride back there. And by that age they're too worried about their hair getting messed-up in the wind. An adults' head is up over the top of the cab, to when underway, the wind shears over the top of it and they're facing backwards. So check to see if, while legal, if there isn't any small print that The Man can come down on you for - like the ages of minors... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DPDISXR4Ti Posted December 23, 2006 Share Posted December 23, 2006 Alright I live near Chicago, Illinois and have an '87 Brat...Legal or Illegal, If you have an '87, the jump-seats must have been added and not factory original, right? I wonder if that would matter at all, strictly from a legal standpoint. Reason I ask is this... The rear portion is from a '85 Brat, so certainly the rear seats were factory original for that model year. I had been thinking I would title this as a Merkur once complete, but maybe I'm better off going with it as a Subaru. I have valid titles for both, so that's not an issue. Hmmmm.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daeron Posted December 23, 2006 Share Posted December 23, 2006 WOW, that things really coming along!!! i hate to threadjack, but could you maybe post a quick link to a progress indication or update of some sort? nothing like a beautiful, homebrew Frankensteining of a vehicle to get the blood pounding... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DPDISXR4Ti Posted December 23, 2006 Share Posted December 23, 2006 WOW, that things really coming along!!! i hate to threadjack, but could you maybe post a quick link to a progress indication or update of some sort? Just take a look at this thread. At 11 pages, it's rather lengthy, so if you want to zoom ahead to the later pages, I won't hold it against you. http://forum.merkurclub.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2639 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Durania Posted December 23, 2006 Share Posted December 23, 2006 Does the fact that on my insurance card is says that the brat is classified as a "sport wagon"? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DPDISXR4Ti Posted December 24, 2006 Share Posted December 24, 2006 Perhaps they'll create a new designation for me when I'm done.... Frankenstein class!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Durania Posted December 24, 2006 Share Posted December 24, 2006 That kind of stuff makes me nervous. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suwbarrux Posted December 24, 2006 Share Posted December 24, 2006 Thanks guys for the info and opinions. Today I asked a cop about the seats and I don't really think cops in general around here know anything about what a BRAT is. So he was pretty unsure about the riding in the bed situation. But in the future if i go like fishing or something I'll probably have someone in the back. I really doubt cops around here. They would probably pull me over every chance they would get. Take it easy everyone and Merry Christmas!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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