Customs Child safety seat in a classic?

You didn't know the woman.... LOL. She'd get an idea in her mind and there was no dislodging it, even when it was demonstrated it wouldn't work. Needless to say, she became an 'ex' after too many fiascos/disasters due to her bullheadedness. She could be like a mule; sometimes you needed a 2x4 just to get her attention.... (not literally, although I was tempted more than once).

There's the issue with installing the child seat rear tether behind the seat on the floor rather than through the rear of the cab in a horizontal 'pull'. Unless you have a pretty stout latch on the seatback, the seat back and car seat simply pivots on the lap belt. I actually tried this (to placate the wife) and demonstrated that I could pull the top of the child seat forward to within 6" of the dash with not too much effort. What's going to happen in an actual accident?

As to the 'legality', where laws exist they generally merely require the use of a child seat 'used as directed by the manufacturer'. The seat we had did have pretty specific instructions for cars, but didn't address pickup trucks.

 

Yes there is an issue with the thetere going over the seatback just like there is one with harness , if it droppes vertical behind the seat, you don't get the same safety.
The rule book states a maximum angle sum on the part of the harness going back out from the drivers seat. For racing purposes.
In general when we mounted 4/5 point harnesses, for the frontseat, the perfect angle ended up in crack between the rear seat back and cusion, in other words the rear seat lower seat mount.

But that's a little harder in a truck cab. But it's possible to do a small cage behind the seat, that is triangulated, with a small "table" that goes under the seat, and bolts down to the frame.

But the question is how much you will do to make it work.

But if you are handy with a welder, a bender and is a little smart, you could make a sweet little setup with seamless tubing that can bolt in a truck cab, there might be a marked for them.
There is a lot of people out there that drives trucks, but can't/won't take there kids because of the safety issues.

But there is some HAMBers that got the skills, tools and time to make it happen.

Just saying.

 

Some people are only "married" in word my friend.

I remember once the wife and I totaling a New Yorker in a blizzard, one of the two times I ever crashed car or bike with a passenger. We were in Kansas so no one other then ourselves were responsible for our injuries, the wife suffers from a permanent shoulder injury caused by the 3 point harness. The orthopedic surgeon says that it is a common injury. Anyway we visited an attorney because we wanted to know if there was any recourse considering that if the car that we hit in the whiteout would have been pulled off the road instead of being left in the middle of the interstate we would not have hit it. he told the missus that the only recourse was for her to sue me, then out insurance would pay for her injuries. Well the law suit didn't happen, we are married after all.

But like I stated out saying some people are married in word only.

 

One more comment. Lots of us 'older' people routinely rode in vehicles with no restraint systems in them 'back in the day' and lived to tell the tale. But how many of you were actually in an accident? I was.... In 1958, my parents and I were in a '51 Ford F1 when my Dad suddenly pulled over as far off the road as he could get and stopped. He had spotted a car coming towards us driving erratically (drunk driver). This didn't help; the guy swerved and hit us head-on at roughly 35 mph. My mother attempted to hold me in (I was 8 at the time) and was only partially successful; I punched the windshield out with my head and my mother (who couldn't brace herself because she was holding me) slammed her knees into the dash and broke both kneecaps (one was shattered, and she narrowly avoided losing that leg). My Dad, who had the steering wheel to brace off of, had just bruising and a couple of cracked ribs. I lucked out and just had lacerations, no concussion (hard-headed Norwegian... LOL). I have no doubt that if we had been wearing seatbelts injuries would have been little more than bruises. If we had been still moving at the posted speed limit (35), they would have been much worse.

Again, this was a different time, and we were lucky. But we all know better now; if you personally don't want to have/use even a minimum of safety equipment for whatever reason, that's your decision and I have no problem with it. I also understand that with these old cars, you can sometimes only do so much. But as a parent, one of your duties is to safeguard the wellbeing of your children as best you can; they depend on you for 'correct' decisions. Failure to do so IMO is bordering on criminal neglect.

 

I always install lap belts in my cars even though New York State only requires whatever was legal the year the vehicle was made. Check the laws in your State to see if there are any requirements for older vehicles.
I was able to secure rear facing infant seats, regular car seats and now booster seats with the lap belts for my 3 Grandsons. They always ride in the back seat. Since they are now all booster seat or no seat size, I have on occasion had one or two of them in my 56 ElCamino.

 

Truck prospective here
from what I can tell a lap belt cannot be used with a booster seat in my state.

The center hook I installed worked great in my 50, when my son was using the car seat.

His car seat was rated for 50 lbs. He is 7 now and over 50lbs.
My options now are to get a car seat rated for a higher weight like the one mentioned earlier.
Or a harness.

again he will quickly grow out of the car seat

If I had added the shoulder belt in my truck he would of been able to use the booster seat with the shoulder belts.

Just something for the truck guys to consider.

 

Those youngsters should be held in by more than just simple lap belts.
A serious accident could leave one or more of them in a wheelchair or worse.
Especially now that modern technology allows for so much better.
Take a look at the 90's GM cars, especially Chevs and Pontiacs.
They have rear seat shoulder belts that have a mechanism that mounts to the rear window deck and are easy to install in most old cars.
Heck the snap in plastic molding "hump" that the belt comes out of on the rear window deck can even be used in your old car.
You could easily install 3 of them in the rear and it would look great and work even better.

 

problem i've been having in looking at 3 point seat belts are the retractors.. for a car seat to be held in the belt has to be locked and pulled tight.. the elr retractors only lock in a case of collision or "emergency" and are other wise loose. There are a type of retractor that click locks much like a ratchet strap ... but so far I haven't found one from a seatbelt vendor. Most vehicles have these nowadays in the rear for car seats.. I suppose I could find one in a yard.. but so far I haven't found a vehicle where it isn't buried in plastic or inside of a interior panel. Im currently talking to seatbelts plus... they have a couple types I maybe interested in.. one is a cinch style 3 point harness.. this looks promising... https://www.seatbeltplanet.com/seatbelts-and-accessories/ The guy is going to look into some details for me on the ALR retractor system to see what can be done. that 4 point harness is looking pretty good too. how that would work with a car seat I dunno. but im betting it would be good with a booster.

 

I grew up in one of those pickups, I never even saw a seatbelt until i was probably 10 or so, shit i still dont use them.... Btw i was born in '85 but we didnt own a 70's or newer car until i was well into in my teens

 

When I asked the state trooper about what I was doing he also noted in my truck the back of the seat tilts forward. He told me if I was to tether the booster seat over the seat back all of the force of the seat would be transferred to the strap and most likely brake the car-seat in a collision. He recommended the lap belt through the car seat and let the seat hold the child in the car and the belt do its job holding the car seat in the car. Not the best situation to be in but best possible scenario when he was looking at my truck with lap belts. If your child is to large for a car seat this https://www.seatbeltplanet.com/seatbelts-and-accessories/4-point-harnesses/ is the best option if in a seat that does not tilt. I have these in my off road truck and they have held my kids without moving when we have been on our side. Not on the lid yet but I have full trust in them....

 

It is a game of risk, old cars are not as save as new stuff. Do the best you can or sell the old stuff and buy a new VOLVO.

 

Stop ditching volvo's and stop deminish safety.
Time has changed! And the issue ain't crashing at 30mph is still as dangerous as it was back then. It is are you willing to risk you children's live with drunk drivers, teenagers in love, drivers texting and people speeding.

But take a step back, take a deep breath!
No offense, but why do you open a thread just to make fun about people who care.

 

I'm confused, the car seat that I'm using has specific instructions on how to use with just a lap belt. And if you have a 3 point, it routes the shoulder strap down low through the same mount as the lap belt anyways.

When we switch the seat over to my wife's OT car it only uses those 2 ring attachments at the bottom of the seat even though it has 3 points in it.

Everybody is saying that you need 3 points, but the directions don't say this. Or is it just because I'm using a rear facing seat?

 

Different seats have different requirements for safe use. The rear-facing seats are generally considered the safest and generally only need a simple lap belt, it's the 'booster' seat types (facing forward/raising the child high enough to see out the windows in any car) that need really good anchoring to be safe.

 

I open it because I have 2 kids and a fleet of old cars. I have been in the same situation as the OP and am trying to help. When my oldest was a infant I consulted a state troper to get his help/opinion. There is some good info here and a few who have no idea what they are talking about...... Times have changed but the cars we choose to drive have not they are not as safe as a new VOLVO for us or our children. That is the risk we take when getting in any car. Higher risk in anything old do the best you can...

 

Sorry, I might have missread your post. I thought you was complaining about the OP wish to be safer. My bad, I'm sorry.

It's always a matter of how much you want do/give/pay. I want to drive my vintage tin, with out risking my daughters life.
Other then that, I don't want more.

If I wanted a new Volvo, I would have gotten me one.

But I keep improve on the ride, the mill and the safety. Keep rodding it up.

Sorry again for misreading.

 

No worries we have the exact same priorities.

 

I was curious about how this engineering project was going. The hook and over the seat back deal, that belt would stop the seat back from going forward. One of your racing buddies knows someone with an out-of-date racing harness, right? Wider belts, solid latches, double shoulder harness over the seat, installed right it should be safer than that OEM stuff and perhaps easier to wrap into the child seat, maybe?

 

FOR GOD SAKE, DON'T USE A RATCHET STRAP TO HOLD A CAR SEAT IN!!!