A while back I saw a link on here about retro-fitting a lap belt. I've searched but can't find it now. It was used to replace a lap-only belt. It had two shoulder harnesses that came over the back of the seat. It looks like a 5 point harness with the buckles, just no crotch strap. Does anyone know what I'm talking about?
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4-point harness retrofit for lapbelt??
- Thread starter Melanie
- Start date
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I found it!
http://gotbelts.com/4popacarsebe.html
Now, what about the safety of this thing? It would replace the lap belt in the middle of the 3rd row seat. 04 Kia Sedona.
It says : "These 4 point belts should be floor mounted only". My middle seat belt is actually attached to the seats (50/50 split). I can easily get to the big bolts the current seat belt attaches to and it seems like the same set up that you'd have if it mounted to the floor.
What do you think? Would it work? and more importantly, would it be safe?
IF it works, this would make my 7 passenger van be able to actually hold 7 passengers.
http://gotbelts.com/4popacarsebe.html
Now, what about the safety of this thing? It would replace the lap belt in the middle of the 3rd row seat. 04 Kia Sedona.
It says : "These 4 point belts should be floor mounted only". My middle seat belt is actually attached to the seats (50/50 split). I can easily get to the big bolts the current seat belt attaches to and it seems like the same set up that you'd have if it mounted to the floor.
What do you think? Would it work? and more importantly, would it be safe?
IF it works, this would make my 7 passenger van be able to actually hold 7 passengers.
snowbird25ca
Moderator - CPST Instructor
Retrofitting 4pt belts was talked about a bit in this thread:
http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=19814
My :twocents: :
It's not a good idea. The car hasn't been crash tested with that kind of restraint system, there aren't premounted points for the belt to be anchored... it's just not a good idea to me.
Do you have a car seat that you could just use that in the middle position? Lap belts are 100% safe and perfectly fine for installing a car seat. :thumbsup:
eta: You could always ask the dealership if they're able to install a 3pt belt in that position. I'm just not comfortable with changing parts out of a car for non-factory parts - especially considering this is the only thing holding you in if you were in a collision. For older kids there are options that would make the lap belt safe to use - I believe the 86Y harness is one of them. Those kinds of things are much different than just changing out the vehicle belt system IMO because they're designed to work with the vehicle belt system and don't modify it either.
http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=19814
My :twocents: :
It's not a good idea. The car hasn't been crash tested with that kind of restraint system, there aren't premounted points for the belt to be anchored... it's just not a good idea to me.
Do you have a car seat that you could just use that in the middle position? Lap belts are 100% safe and perfectly fine for installing a car seat. :thumbsup:
eta: You could always ask the dealership if they're able to install a 3pt belt in that position. I'm just not comfortable with changing parts out of a car for non-factory parts - especially considering this is the only thing holding you in if you were in a collision. For older kids there are options that would make the lap belt safe to use - I believe the 86Y harness is one of them. Those kinds of things are much different than just changing out the vehicle belt system IMO because they're designed to work with the vehicle belt system and don't modify it either.
snowbird25ca
Moderator - CPST Instructor
One other thing I just thought of - if you were injured in a collision while restrained in one of these harnesses, you might have difficulty getting insurance to cover your injuries. One of the questions insurers ask when underwriting a policy is if there are any customizations or modifications to the vehicle. When I underwrote insurance, if someone had told me they'd replaced the belt systems for a 4pt system I would have had to refer it to risk management, and in all likelihood we wouldn't have even issued a policy for a vehicle with modifications like that. :twocents:
Thanks for the info...I hadn't even considered the 86Y thing. Looks like it might be the best option.
I've checked with the dealership...for liability reasons they won't do any modifications to seat belts.
I'd only ocassionally need to use the middle seat. Now that we have 3 kiddos, we'd use it to take grandparents or if my oldest wants to bring along 2 friends. I have 2 in RF car seats and 1 in seatbelt (almost 12, 5'3" and 120 lbs). I would for safety reasons, but I just can't imagine moving a car seat back there for short trips. The person going to the inside seat would have to crawl over the car seat too.
I've checked with the dealership...for liability reasons they won't do any modifications to seat belts.
I'd only ocassionally need to use the middle seat. Now that we have 3 kiddos, we'd use it to take grandparents or if my oldest wants to bring along 2 friends. I have 2 in RF car seats and 1 in seatbelt (almost 12, 5'3" and 120 lbs). I would for safety reasons, but I just can't imagine moving a car seat back there for short trips. The person going to the inside seat would have to crawl over the car seat too.
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