Okay, so my mom has this problem. She usually drives a Tahoe, a 5 seater version. She likes to get all the grandkids sometimes, but obviously, can't fit 4 kids 7 and under in her vehicle. This past week was her "Grandma Camp" and the either took two cars everywhere or borrowed a friend's Suburban.
For next year, she's wanting to get my dad to fix up their old VW van. Its, I think, an 85. Its been dead since around 1995. From what I recall, it has all lapbelts in the back, but I can't be sure.
We usually send the Parkway for my DS to use at her house. OF course, I could just install the Regent in the van instead, but by next year he'll be over 50 lbs and so there would be no question about it needing to be tethered.
So, I was figuring I"d need to tell her that if she really wants to do this, she needs to budget in getting new seat belts installed - and they need to be shoulder/lap. Is it even possible to retrofit different seatbelts though?
Safety wise - would 20 yr old seatbelts even be safe anymore? As a last resort, if I could just get her to get new lap belts installed and insist on getting tether anchors installed too. If she can't get either shoulder/lap belts or tether anchors, if not both, then there's not much point in her even getting it running again, because I won't put my kids in seats with lap belts other than to hold a carseat in place.
Her other idea is to plan the trip for sometime when she can borrow her church van - um, but that's is a 15 passenger with lap belts I think. I know they bought a newer one recently, it may have some shoulder belt positions.
Are there any other safety considerations for fixing up the old van? The other potential problem is that i know my dad would do all of the mechanical stuff himself - I'm afraid he'd want to cut costs and do the seat belts and tethers himself too, and since he's never done tether installations, I'm just not really comfortable with that. They're big fans of cutting corners to save costs and he would say that if he can bolt any kind of hook somewhere on the vehicle, it should work "just fine."
For next year, she's wanting to get my dad to fix up their old VW van. Its, I think, an 85. Its been dead since around 1995. From what I recall, it has all lapbelts in the back, but I can't be sure.
We usually send the Parkway for my DS to use at her house. OF course, I could just install the Regent in the van instead, but by next year he'll be over 50 lbs and so there would be no question about it needing to be tethered.
So, I was figuring I"d need to tell her that if she really wants to do this, she needs to budget in getting new seat belts installed - and they need to be shoulder/lap. Is it even possible to retrofit different seatbelts though?
Safety wise - would 20 yr old seatbelts even be safe anymore? As a last resort, if I could just get her to get new lap belts installed and insist on getting tether anchors installed too. If she can't get either shoulder/lap belts or tether anchors, if not both, then there's not much point in her even getting it running again, because I won't put my kids in seats with lap belts other than to hold a carseat in place.
Her other idea is to plan the trip for sometime when she can borrow her church van - um, but that's is a 15 passenger with lap belts I think. I know they bought a newer one recently, it may have some shoulder belt positions.
Are there any other safety considerations for fixing up the old van? The other potential problem is that i know my dad would do all of the mechanical stuff himself - I'm afraid he'd want to cut costs and do the seat belts and tethers himself too, and since he's never done tether installations, I'm just not really comfortable with that. They're big fans of cutting corners to save costs and he would say that if he can bolt any kind of hook somewhere on the vehicle, it should work "just fine."