A twist on car seats

[jx2mad]

I know that there are a number of threads on car seats in Defenders and that an engineered bar is necessary.... however...I have just used a 9 seater ToyotaTarago, and where do I find the top anchor point, or should I say three top anchor points. In the floor behind the middle and rear seats. This is below the level of the seat so where is the problem with the Defender???? I anchor the top strap to an engineered seat belt anchor point in the floor behind the seat. Can someone point out the legal difference? Jim

[Blknight.aus]

assuming you are talking about installing baby seatsits to do with the angle of the dangle of the strap that secures the top of the baby seat.

[BilboBoggles]

I think these rules must depend on which state you are in, In Victoria I have 2 * 110 defenders with three fully engineered eyelet type child seat restraints mounted in the floor and wheel arches. The PUMA is easier because most of the wheel arch is steel. But the TD5 now has some large steel plates. These were installed and approved by a large well known specialist engineering firm who does seat modifications and general automotive engineering, and only cost something like $100 a mount.

[abaddonxi]

AFAIK the manufacturer can put their anchors wherever they like as long as they do the destructive testing.

I think the problem with floor mounting/mounting below a certain point for aftermarket installations (in a vehicle not made for child restraints) is that in a crash the seat back will be holding up the anchor strap and there's no way of knowing whether the seat back is up to that force concentrated over the width of a strap.

The automotive engineers that I spoke to when I looked into this, all talked enthusiastically about destructive testing, and it came across that the solutions they came up with had to be so brutal that destructive testing would be obviously unnecessary.

Maybe they just didn't like Land Rovers.