How to secure carseats in DI?

[scoloco]

I'm trying to figure out how to safely put a carseat into a '94 DI.

First off, there is no LATCH, so I'm stuck using the seat belt
Second, the seat belts do not ratchet/lock when you pull them all the way out, so I think I'm stuck with the metal clasp and relying on the lap belt only portion
Third, the seatbelt anchor point on one side is on the wheel well. Given where the seat belt should go for forward facing, this is in front of the opening on the seat belt, so the car seat is not held back tight against the seat.
Last, there is no anchor point in the back for the top anchor strap.
How do others put carseats into older DI's?

I've thought about putting in some anchors in the back and using them. But then the question arises, how big/strong do they need to be to secure the carseat in an incident?
tnx
-scott

Seach has not found anything to answer the above yet.

 

[slangel]

That's why we have all Britax car seats. The actual carseat itself has a clasp on the side to keep the seat extremely secure in all our rovers. I had a DI, but had Britax seats so I never had trouble securing it. I would say your best bet would be using the metal clasp and maybe putting anchors in the rear to secure to.

 

[pamo61]

Hey Scott,

I have a D2, but it ain't much better. We do some pretty hairy trails in our truck and have 3 kids in car seats. I was tired of them not being tight enough, so i put in all my own anchors.

I took the back seat out and took it partially apart to get to the stock seatbelt anchor. I then bought some carabineers from McMaster like these:

http://www.mcmaster.com/#carabiners/=ai36d8

I found one where the small end inner diameter was big enough for the stock seat bolt to go through, and then I poked the big end up through the seat. If you get it all in there with the right amount of tightness you can actually push the carabineer towards the seat back out of the way when you are not using it. I did this at both inner belt mounting locations.

For the outside location I drilled through the hump like you mentioned, and put one of these on each side:

http://www.mcmaster.com/#eyebolts-and-eye-nuts/=ai3crr

I used one that did not have a stud on it, it was actually threaded. That way I didn?t have a stud poking into the wheel well. Using the threaded one allowed me to use a lower profile bolt to go up through the wheel arch and into the hook.

I used a big giant washer on the underside of the wheel arch, under the bolt head. I can?t find the part # right now, but it was like a cast iron very thick washer.

So, with 4 points I can strap 3 seats in the truck. I found a nice 2 inch wide ratchet strap with latching hooks. I cut the metal hooks off of one side and threaded the remaining strap loop through the carabineer on the inside mounting points. On the other side, in order to shorten the strap to get the ratchet where I wanted it, I cut the whole extension strap off and used another screw-lock type hook on the outside to go from the ratchet through the eye nut. I basically leave the straps hooked to my new anchor points and strap the seats in as needed and it is VERY fast to get the seats in and out, which was important to me because we move seats around a lot between the different trucks and the Rhino.

Then, once the 6 year old was in a booster, I used the eye nut to clip her 5-point lap belt to. We have a cage in the truck so I bolted the shoulder harness to the rear belt bar that we installed. That way she sits high enough in the booster and the 5-point clamps her in pretty good. If I didn?t have the cage I would keep her in one of the giant boosters that has its own 5-point system.

We are kind of paranoid, but I like to have everyone where they belong and focus on the trail.

Also, a note on ?Ratings? and things: Since the belts are going to be tight against their mounting points, the amount of load the actual latch point sees in a crash is reduced significantly. I don?t recommend using balsa wood mounting points, but don?t make yourself crazy looking for titanium 5 inch bolts. Use the stock stuff as a reference point and you will be good to go.

I also put some pictures up at:

www.fusionmoto.com

I hope this helps and good luck!

-p

 

[achampagne]

I'll snap some pics of mine in the am when its light out, we are expecting our first any day now.

 

[no694terry]

after seeing the video of the D1 vs minivan i gave up on securing the seats, you're all screwed anyway. i just bought a newer car and they dont ride in disco anymore

 

[Iltis]

carseat or any seatbelt attachment point i believe has to withstand a minimum of 3000lbs force as do any of the anchor points the last time i checked.
any attachment points you put in should withstand this weight and if possible either use a very wide plate and not just a washer on the underside to distribute the load. if you look at the front seatbelt design of the rovers from under the truck you can see that they are actually tied into the frame(at least the RRC was like this).

check with your state laws before you modify anything to avoid any hassles if law enforcement pulls you over. if i used a design like pamo61 suggeted up here in canada, they would not let me drive away with that arrangement. even though it may be safer in your eyes vehicle inspectors and police do not see home made design as an acceptable way. they would not allow me to put in a custom made aluminium racing seat for my kid in place of a cheap walmart plastic car seat because it had not gone through DOT testing.

 

[Two Cold Soakers]

I had the same problem, and had to go with Britax seats.

 

[pamo61]

To clarify: "Washer" is 3/16 thick steel plate by 2 1/2 diameter. It is through the wheel arch which is probably the strongest point in the body (i have chopped a few trucks up, so i have seen it all)

The stock seat belts are bolted to the seat, which "clips" into the body when you fold the seat up. They are not tied to the frame, not even close.

I understand the "homemade" deal vs. DOT too, so I guess if it makes the government feel better you could still run the seat belt through and get it as tight as possible. Then use a real strap to actually do the work.

I bet there are a lot of things on our vehicles that wouldn't make the government happy...
-p

 

[cgerrells]

I don't seem to have any issues in securing car seats in the 96, the 97 I had of the 99 d1 I had. In all cases, the seat belts for the rear seats locked just fine. My big issue right now is I have to figure out a way to add a 3rd one...

So my setup will ultimately be, Booster, Car Seat, Infant carrier... Going to be a tight fit back there...

 

[brianhoberg]

If you dont have the clasps, you can get by with using a ratcheting strap and ratchet it to the bars within the seats. Use the seat belt definitely, but also use a ratchet strap to prevent it from moving and cinch the crap out of it. Run it across the back of the seat behind the pad but holding down the molded back of the car seat.

 

[no694terry]

I don't seem to have any issues in securing car seats in the 96, the 97 I had of the 99 d1 I had. In all cases, the seat belts for the rear seats locked just fine. My big issue right now is I have to figure out a way to add a 3rd one...

So my setup will ultimately be, Booster, Car Seat, Infant carrier... Going to be a tight fit back there...

Same here, I'm looking to trade my Saturn L up to a Honda odyssey

 

[slangel]

So my setup will ultimately be, Booster, Car Seat, Infant carrier... Going to be a tight fit back there...

I have three and they all fit in my DII.

 

[slangel]

I had the same problem, and had to go with Britax seats.

They rock. We wheel quite a bit here and the Britax seats do not budge no matter what.

 

[Two Cold Soakers]

They rock. We wheel quite a bit here and the Britax seats do not budge no matter what.

My youngest was three years old when we went maybe 30 degrees off camber across a sand hill, equal forces of gravity and forward motion, with a slow understeer feeling trying to fight back up the dune

She said "This is not good".
Meanwhile her 5 y.o. sister was grinning ear to ear.

 

[slangel]

My youngest was three years old when we went maybe 30 degrees off camber across a sand hill, equal forces of gravity and forward motion, with a slow understeer feeling trying to fight back up the dune

She said "This is not good".
Meanwhile her 5 y.o. sister was grinning ear to ear.

Haha, sounds like my five year old. We were going up a fairly steep incline that was basically slick as snot, lost all traction, started sliding backwards, she says " we are going to slide into the tree behind us aren't we?" I told her I was aiming for it, so we smacked into it. She grinned " Mom, crushed your tail light, better call Will T."

Sometimes she will watch a dvd on her portable player when things are going slow on a trail, and we will proceed and get a smidge off camber and she instantly puts it securely away and states " Put it away of you will get smacked with it."

 

[scoloco]

If you dont have the clasps, you can get by with using a ratcheting strap and ratchet it to the bars within the seats.

The bars in the seats are LATCH. '94 doesnt have them. :banghead:

 

[scoloco]

Hey Scott,

I have a D2, but it ain't much better. We do some pretty hairy trails in our truck and have 3 kids in car seats. I was tired of them not being tight enough, so i put in all my own anchors.

For the outside location I drilled through the hump like you mentioned, and put one of these on each side:

http://www.mcmaster.com/#eyebolts-and-eye-nuts/=ai3crr

I used one that did not have a stud on it, it was actually threaded. That way I didn?t have a stud poking into the wheel well. Using the threaded one allowed me to use a lower profile bolt to go up through the wheel arch and into the hook.

I hope this helps and good luck!

-p

I was looking at something like
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/SUM-G7969/
Wasnt sure if they were going to be rated big enough (assuming I get a good sized backing plate). Advantage is that if I put them in the right place, I can use them as rear storage anchor points also.

Thanks for your info pamo61 - helpful.

 

[scoloco]

carseat or any seatbelt attachment point i believe has to withstand a minimum of 3000lbs force as do any of the anchor points the last time i checked.

And theres the magic # I was looking for. :applause: :thumbsup: