Installing latch system

All of the people who are questioning the strength of this set up have never held the thin little manufacturer installed loop of wire metal car seat latch point in their hand. The factory stuff is so thin remember he had to add a carabiner because the original hook wouldn't open far enough to latch that if you took the two bolts out of the factory piece you can bend the hooks with your bare hands.

I have used the same two eye hooks he used on my motorcycle trailer and they did not bend with a lb motorcycle pulling a side load during a impact. I think consumers believe the car makers use high grade titanium and carbon fiber to mount car seat latches in their vehicles. The reality is, they are doing their best to make it thin and light as possible to save weight and money.

The factory hooks can probably hold double the weight needed. The set up he has here would hold 10x what he would need. Reply 3 years ago. You're using aluminum carabiners to haul a motorcycle on a trailer? Those carbiners were unable to properly retain my gear bag on a bumpy road! They're only rated for a few hundred pounds when they're rated at all.

They're a far shot weaker than even those weak looking stamped steel hooks that come on child seats. The steel hooks on a car seat are made from heat treated steel that's designed with a 10,Lb maximum load This is really great, I love how they sit down below the seat, can passengers in the rear feel them much when sitting on them?

I found this looking for latches for my ford. I do overhead hoisting and rigging and I have several of those eyes in my tool box at work i will grab, the best part is even the True Value ones are graded so they are approved for a load such as this.

So lets say under speed that 50 becomes which is double the load of the belts the kid is in already but the belts dont take they stretch and slow the load. We can go in to some deep physics here but the point is with auto manufacturers is most of this is a "good enough" approach, do you think they really run load from each angle on each bolt in the car, they just bump it up a grade and good enough, these bolts if anything will be the only thing that hold up in an accident.

This is still better than my original solution, So according to all of the folks who think the OEM components are infallible, I say in the 60's no belts means they designed the car to be safe without them right???

I think a lot of people are forgetting that even if you installed seat belts into a classic car, your options for mounting the seat belts are about the same as what was shown here: Drill through sheet metal and hope for the best.

Having said that, I would agree with some of the concern that this isn't as safe as possible. Were it up to me, I would make three considerable modifications to this system. First, I would install a mounting plate to the underside of the vehicle. This is the same thing that they did on old cars for seats and later on, seat belts.

Get a super heavy gauge piece of steel, and weld it to the spot you're going to anchor the bolts. The piece should be as large as will fit, so that the force of an impact is distributed over a lot of space. Second, I would use larger washers made of heavier duty steel. The Home Depot specials in this instructable just seem far too small to do any real good in the event of a catastrophic crash. Lastly, I would use high grade steel eyelets with the eye welded together. This would ensure that the eyelets aren't unbent and release the car seat.

I would also be sure that my carabiner is the heavy duty climbing grade. The one used in the photos looks more like the keychain grade ones I have lying around the house.

Now, given those changes, I would be more than comfortable with having this system in my own vehicle. Because first, it's as safe as you can get in that kind of car. Even seatbelts would have to be a custom install like that. Also, if there's a wreck big enough to dismount that system and mom and dad were in the car, that kid's an orphan anyways. The cars of that era were tanks.

Sheet metal was several times thicker than what you might have on your Kia. There are no crumple zones or collapsing steering columns. My point is that in an accident, if you're hitting a newer car, they're going to take the brunt of the impact as your sturdy heavy steel on a boilerplate thick frame vehicle plows through their tissue thin steel and plastic unibody car.

Any accident resulting in enough force applied to dislodge this system had at least one fatality associated with it. I'd just about guarantee it. Over all though, this is a decent idea. With a little reworking, it could provide something that would at least allow the use of this car. I'm not saying that I'd drive the kids everywhere, every day in it, but it's a classic car. They get driven on Sunny Sundays and in parades. Reply 9 years ago on Step 5.

An interesting video of just the type of thing you mention in your post: a collision of a Chevy Bel Air into a Chevy Malibu. The only thing I can think of to reinforce the base would be to use 10G plates approx 4"x4" between the body steel and the fender washers. This will give you better spread of force on impact if you were ever in an accident. It will also distribute the load shift much better and put less stress on the body steel.

Don't forget to check the biners for wear every couple of weeks, so they are always in good repair. You could put some teflon spacers in to minimize the contact points. Thats my 2 cents. Reply 10 years ago on Introduction. Reply 13 years ago on Introduction. I did something similar to this on our Volvo 9 years ago. It came out a year or two before the latch system and I liked the idea of easy access. I attached the repair link to the two inside seatbelt attachment points and then secured the seat to the chain.

Once you ratchet the seat down, it did not move. I liked having my son in the center of the car, too. I commend the author of this subject for doing this.

Many of you are under the impression that car makers use some type of special metal in their brackets that withstand a million pounds of force. Others bash the author for putting his childs life in danger. If you have old cars then you might experience retractor fit issue.

This is the section of the buckle that holds the buckle clip to the strap. If this is not helping you then you will need a belt shortening clip. You can find it in near-by garages or contact your local technician. He will be able to provide you one. The top tether helps limit the top excursion of the head — that is to limit the movement of your head in a forward direction — during a collision or a crash.

Without a top tether the head will move 4 — 6 inches forward, and has a chance to collide with the back of the car seat of the first row — if the safety seat is in the second row resulting in severe head injuries. If the safety seat is placed in the first row — and is without a tether — than the chances of the head colliding with the interior of the car increases, which can result in traumatic brain injuries.

So it is always advisable to use a top tether, whether you are using latch system or a seat belt to install the safety seat. This is not a general solution because you can retrofit tethers and anchors in certain specific car brands and in their certain models only. Only Audi and Volkswagen allow retrofitting of lower anchors. And before you search whether it is available for your car or not — keep in your notes that both the brands charge you for doing so.

Free servicing is discontinued. Ford, Chrysler and GM generally retrofit one tether anchor in their vehicles — not having tether anchors factory installed assuming that the vehicle can be retrofitted.

And the best part is that they do this for free. If you have a or a newer model — which has tether anchors in some positions and not all positions that retrofitting in not an option for the neglected positions. If you have a — car model — then tether anchors can be added to these. Most of these vehicles come with pre drilled holes — bolted by a nut.

Tethering is simple — you just have to unbolt the nut — fit the tether the one you purchased and screw in the nut back in the hole. If your car seat is installed incorrectly, it will move around in the vehicles seat.

This will increase the risk of injury in a crash. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed. Wumblers is a participant of the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program which is designed to provide an aid for the websites in earning an advertisement fees by means of advertising and linking to Amazon products.

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Installing a car seat with a seat belt In both of the above situations — a seat belt is often the best — or only — option when installing a car seat. Put the seat belt in the automatic locking mode In order to secure a child-safety seat using a seat belt — make sure that the seat belt is in Automatic Locking mode.

You'll also need to consult the car seat owner's manual to see if the manufacturer approves of the use of their seat with non-standard spacing of lower anchors.

You may have heard that the center seat is the safest, which is true, statistically, though only slightly. A passenger can't take a direct hit in the center. Sitting in the center reduces the risk of injury from about 0. So while it is safer, it is just a tiny bit safer. But if it is easiest for you to install your baby's car seat correctly with LATCH, it is perfectly acceptable to use one of the outer seating positions to do so when LATCH is not available in the center or doesn't work well for you there.

If the vehicle manufacturer put lower anchors and tethers in the outboard spots, they clearly intended for children to ride there, and the vehicle has been tested that way. Your child's weight also affects the safety of the installation method. Car seats are labeled with a maximum weight for installation with the lower anchors. The maximum weight for a lower anchor installation may be different when the seat is used rear-facing than when it is turned forward-facing. If your child's weight exceeds the weight limit for using the lower anchors to install that particular car seat, you'll need to switch and use the seat belt to install the car seat.

Remember to continue using the tether strap on forward-facing car seats, whether you are using seat belt or lower anchors for the installation. Before you decide how to install your child's car seat, try out all of the possible seating positions with the seat belt and with lower anchors, if available.

Get guidance from the vehicle owner's manual and the car seat instruction book. Find a car seat safety event or technician in your area if you need additional help. Bottom line: The safest installation method is the one that you are able to get the tightest installation and is approved by the car seat and vehicle manufacturer.

Get it free when you sign up for our newsletter. American Academy of Pediatrics. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The Car Seat Lady. Where in my vehicle are the tether anchors? Seating patterns and corresponding risk of injury among 0- to 3-year-old children in child safety seats. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Child passenger safety. Actively scan device characteristics for identification.

Use precise geolocation data. Select personalised content. Create a personalised content profile. Measure ad performance. Select basic ads. Create a personalised ads profile. Select personalised ads. Apply market research to generate audience insights. Measure content performance. Develop and improve products. List of Partners vendors. Was this page helpful?