Child seat place in front or back seats?

[campervankatie]

Hi, I'm about to get a seat belt fitted to my rock and roll rear sea. (T25 high top van 1989). I've had mixed reports about whether I'm allowed to place a child seat in the front passenger seat. My van does not have air bags fitted.
I'm worried that if i use the rear seat for a child, the kiddies seat may slip away with the cushions - i've read about this happening or the rock and roll bed may open out with hard breaking. I though and adult sat in the back and the child in the front seemed the safest option.
does anyone have experience of this please.
Thanks for any help,
Katie

[plymat]

Is the foam on the bedplatform not secured down? If not then use the front seat, but it depends on what child seat you have.
We have the camper and a car so have two child seats (one child), in the camper it's a seat that can be used with either a full seat belt or lap belt. The rear of the camper only has lap belts in and they hold the seat in very well. The car one needs a full strap all the time.

The thing is safety is parmount for your child whilst travelling.

[kathyshack]

Been thinking about this myself too. We have recently purchased a bluebird rock n roll bed, as these have a metal frame which i thought would be safer than the wooden one we used to have.

Plymat, how is your foam secured down on your back seat? I was just goign to go with the velcro option, as it has the metal handle things to help keep the foam in place too.

Katie, as far as i know you can put kids seats in the front if there are no airbags. Thing is, if you buya seat from mothercare they phone the manufacturer to see if its ok in your car, but they don't have T25s listed, and prob wouldn't help either as they tend to have different seats fitted anyway with being older vehicles. I did a bit of reading and they do say kids are safer in the back of a car than the front, but its probably different in a camper.

[campervankatie]

Hi thanks for information so far - i'm very impressed at the speed of responses.
I've just been up to a local garage who advised me to fir lap belts rather than a 3 point. Is this a job that my husband can do safely? Does it require welding or can i just bolt in the lap belt?
Regards katie

[Gone-Westy]

DON'T fit lap belts in the back - they are not legal with kids booster seats, only proper baby seats which have their own harness.

Get 3 point belts if you can and get it done professionally, its too important a job to get it wrong!

There's no problem sitting a booster seat in the front as long as there's no airbag. IMHO its safer to wear a 3-point belt in the front than a lap in the rear.

[Louey]

if you need to secure the foam on your r n r bed then I've used a pair of these tie downs



make sure you get some with metal fasteners and not plastic - amazingly I got a pair for about £7 from halfords in the sections with the roof bars. As for belts, check if you have the original mountings in the back. I also would stick any little un in the front on a 3 point on a booster.

[campervankatie]

Hi me again,
re fitting seat belts to a rear rock n roll bed
I just found out that I need welding to get the lapbelts fitted to. If this is the case I may as well go for the 3 point version. Is there anyone in The Coventry area who would let my husband have a look at their fitted seat belts so he can work out if he is able to do it?
regards katie

[Louey]

you might have the mountings already there for any type of belt. The best person localy to you for any welding or jobs is the Mercdoctor

[plymat]

Plymat, how is your foam secured down on your back seat? I was just goign to go with the velcro option, as it has the metal handle things to help keep the foam in place too.

Mine is a Kameo (Autohomes) conversion so the foam is stuck down and the material stapled all the way around on the underside, I am looking at getting the rear seats re-covered and it get it done the same way.

[stainpoke]

My son has sat up front for two years know. i think he prefers this to the car because the views better for him and you point out fire engines, trains, tractors.

his mum sleeps on the back seat with a lap belt

but we have two sons now and its head scratching time

[campervankatie]

I've now decided to fit both a lap belt and 3 point in the back. I have bought the kits from just campers, now I'm waiting to hear back from a vw welder. Has anyone used voodoo or voo dub in warwickshire, they are my next port of call if the latest line of enquiry fails - it seems really difficult to get work done.
I have also found out about a child seat that works very safely with a lap belt. If anyone want the info send me an email and i will forward the link to you. i bought one off a chap on here, they also are available from a childrens website an have come up on ebay.
bye bye

[dalmationman]

Might be a daft question, but have you checked that the seatbelt mountings aren't already there ? If your van left the factory as a minibus they will be, if it left as a van they probably won't be.
The window rubbers are much wider on van conversions sort of squidgy and on both sides of the window.
If the windows are flush then it probably left as a minibus and seatbelt mounts will be on the vertical panel in frontt of the engine, in the rear panel behind the air vent, and in the side panel under the window at the side of the seat. Sometimes these are covered up with plastic bungs so after taking the trim panels off you need to poke around a bit to find them.
If they are there, just bolt straight into them.
If not, buy the captive nut renforcing plates from JK and drill a hole and tack weld them into place.
Sorry if you know it already, just fitted seatbelts in my van, so interested in the post, but I'm not an expert by any means.
Hope it goes well for you.