Date: Thu, 7 Jan 1999 15:23:55 -0500
Reply-To: Michael Townsend <townsend@RTP.ERICSSON.SE>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Michael Townsend <townsend@RTP.ERICSSON.SE>
Subject: (long, condescending) Re: Jump Seats & Seat Belts
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Hi,
The Dealer and Yes. To be more specific, I am extremely anal-retentive when
it comes to installing children's car seats. I use those foam/rubber
toolbox liners between the childseat and vehicle seat for added friction to
prevent sideways tipping. I religiously use the locking clip for extra
security whether the seatbelt type requires it or not (VW's do). I also use
tether straps, which are relatively unknown in America. I kneel in the
carseat to compress the vehicle seat cushion when I position the locking
clip on the vehicle seatbelt so that when I get up, the carseat is held down
ridiculously tight. It usually takes me 20 minutes to get it right. My 97
Passat came with one tether strap mounting point in the middle, with the
screw bosses to add the tether strap hooks to either side, which I
immediately purchased from the dealer). My 84 accord had the screw bosses
in the frame under the cardboard parcel shelf cover (tether straps are
required everywhere except America, it seems), so a simple hole in the
cardboard and a hardened bolt was all that I needed. My 84 Oldsmobile has
lap only belts in the rear, no provisions for tether straps, and no rear
headrests. That is one reason I am selling it and it is replaced with my
Vanagon Carat. (Why are we (American auto legislation) always behind the
rest of the world in safety? Don't even get me started on mousetrap
seatbelts, door mounted seatbelts, and overpowered (200 lb. unbelted male
specified) airbags!) Anyway, I fasten the tether straps in the rear of the
Vanagon to the headrest shafts. It is not perfect, but better than nothing.
When I bought my Carat, one of the rear-facing seat belt latches was
completely destroyed. The button part is suspended on a stiff cable from
the seat box, and the whole plastic socket and button part was gone except
the cable. It cost $90 at the dealer for a new one, and I had to show the
parts guy where on the fiche it was because he kept looking in the Vanagon
GL section, where it doesn't exist. One of the rear seat belt latches had a
broken plastic case around the button, and it cost I think $26. Yes this
was expensive, but my children's (and our carpool friends' children) are
worth new replacement parts. Anyway, I do put a carseat on the driver's
side rear-facing jumpseat -- but you have use your intelligence. Obviously,
a newborn in a rear-facing infant seat needs to be placed in a standard
forward facing vehicle seat so that the infant is still rear-facing. The
rear-facing infant seats are designed to have the vehicle's seatbelts pull
toward the child's feet, so I don't see a way to securely fasten a
rear-facing infant seat there. We have a toddler, riding in a hardshell
childseat, who occasionally uses the jumpseat in our van. This carseat is
held securely by the lap-only belt (make sure the ratchet is engaged with
your weight in the seat -- then get up). Most importantly, the child's ears
are not over the top of the carseat. You have to make sure that the
rear-facing occupant won't get terrible whiplash in a standard forward
crash. For the regular forward facing seats, REMEMBER THE LOCKING CLIP!
Even our 90 Carat does not have permanently locking reels (which can be
engaged by pulling the shoulder out all the way and letting it in slowly)
like our 97 Passat and most other new cars do. Even the buckle on the
center of the bench seat is "free sliding" enough for me to warrant a
locking clip. Unfortunately, from the high vantage point of the van, I can
see more murderers driving around with their children standing on the floor
with their noses 2 inches away from the highpowered American-Spec airbags!
:-(
I can look in my van to get part numbers and take digital pictures for you
if that helps.
Michael Townsend
townsend@rtp.ericsson.se
-----Original Message-----
From: Alan Bosch <arbosch@RA.ROCKWELL.COM>
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Date: Thursday, January 07, 1999 2:20 PM
Subject: Jump Seats & Seat Belts
>Does anyone know if you can get seatbelts for the rear-facing jump seats in
>a Vanagon? Too, has anyone strapped a infant/child seat to the jump seats?
>
>Alan Bosch
>Soon to be the Driver of a '88 Wolfsburg
>With a child in a car seat, and another in the oven
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