Gen 3 seatbelt alternative...

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TN Mary

New member
My Caravan has the Gen 3 belts.
We also have 2 integrated car seats on our middle bench.

In the event of an accident, I know there's a slim chance that my belts will fail and release my kids car seats and all.

So my question is, should I put my 3 yr old and 6 yr old in the integrated seats - which AREN'T affected by the gen 3 problem - or would they be safer harnassed in their Britax seats with Gen 3 belts holding them in??

The integrated seats won't have any EPS foam or protective shell around them... but they'll be secured to the van if we have an accident.

We plan on replacing our van soon... but until then, I'm trying to figure out alternatives.

Thanks... :)
 
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southpawboston

New member
yeah, those are pretty much a no-no for modern cars with functional seatbelts. those are great for retrofitting older cars (classics) that pre-date retractable seatbelts or have old brittle seat belts that need replacing.
 
B

becca011906

Senior Community Member
I'm asuming that you car is older and not equiped with LATCH??? That is who i avoid it as much as i can... my '04 (made in late '03) has them in the back, i use LATCH all the time for the girls, but my ds is in a booster so we just majorly limit progectiles, i feel like since he's right next to a harness seat the chances of it opening by something hitting it isn't very likely b/c of the small space that you have to acess it... can you put the seats in side by side, with the buckles in the middle of the seats, does that make since? i woudl rather use the seats with ESP foam, then integrated seats i think IMO...
 
Kalinky

Kalinky

Senior Community Member
OK - I've got another question.....this one may seem way out there, but my creative side keeps trying to think of ways to get around being forced to use the Gen 3 seatbelts!

What about going to a salvage yard (or whatever they're called) and removing Gen 4 belts from vehicle to replace your Gen 3 belts?

Obviously the question of post accident belt integrity comes to mind. I've been in quite a few accidents in previous vehicles, belts were never replaced or even looked at for that matter (as far as stretching or tearing or anything like that). At the times I was too naive to know any better to look at them either. Shouldn't that be a routine thing to check after an accident?
 
S

southpawboston

New member
Graciesmom said:
OK - I've got another question.....this one may seem way out there, but my creative side keeps trying to think of ways to get around being forced to use the Gen 3 seatbelts!

What about going to a salvage yard (or whatever they're called) and removing Gen 4 belts from vehicle to replace your Gen 3 belts?

Obviously the question of post accident belt integrity comes to mind. I've been in quite a few accidents in previous vehicles, belts were never replaced or even looked at for that matter (as far as stretching or tearing or anything like that). At the times I was too naive to know any better to look at them either. Shouldn't that be a routine thing to check after an accident?
Click to expand...

yes, seatbelts should be inspected after an accident, and for that reason alone, i would not want to risk using gen4 belts from a salvaged vehicle. who knows how severe the crash was? there could also be undetectable damage to the belts and or retractor/tensioner mechanisms. i personally would want to replace any occupied belt after an accident, much like a carseat, if my car wasn't actually declared a total loss.

i think the best way to deal with gen3 belts is to make sure you don't have any small objects in the car that may accidentally release the belts.
 

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