kids safety whilst travelling

[Tallulah43]

Right, I have put 2 posts into this one as my previous 2 posts are leading to the same thing.

Hubby is a welder and used to make lorries for BOC, travis perkins etc

we have 3 small kids, 8 months, 20 months and 5yreas...all in car seats, 2 of the car seat are Britax, made to use a lap belt only (one of these is used lap belt only in our discovery)
we have t25...
it had crappy mdf bed, we ripped it out

sooooooooo whats best.....

1) second hand westfalia 3 seater with2 x 3point belts and a lap belt
or
2)hubby to fabricate one up himself
or
3)Bluebird bed and hubby adds extra fittings to secure it more onto chasis and bulkhead and have professional to fit 3 x 3 point seatbelts
or
4)Cannons Forge bed and as above
or
5) reimo or RIB....but to be honest out of the question as can't afford it without having to sell kids to pay for it

Any opinion welcome......apart from selling the kids that is

Really getting paranoid now about kids safety and using the van...its beginning to take the edge of wanting to go out in it

cheers
Lisa

[gaz f]

As per your last thead.

Multivan rear bench with 2x3 point belts and one lap belt. The easiest option and very straightforward to fit. (I put one in mine!)

Doesn't matter how good anyones welding is, the original fit for purpose parts are always the way to go for peace of mind.

[Tallulah43]

is that the westfalia one???

[Tallulah43]

just to throw a spanner in works...
hubby saying that westfalia seats were crash tested 20 plus years ago and times have changed .....he now thinks a blue bird steel one thats anchored down correctly with him making sure its extra secure with welding, chasis and bulkhead fixings should be way to go

so sodding confused

[gaz f]

Yep it's the Westfalia one.

[CovKid]

A strongly made and securely anchored seat made by a competent welder will be light years ahead of most seats fitted in campers. After all, even the cupboards fitted in many campers (particularly DIY) are poorly secured. I remember Merc Doctor telling me of a camper that stopped suddenly and the weight of the fridge crushed and burst several tins of food after it moved forward. Good anchorages are essential. I agree with your hubby. My seat won't be going anywhere if the vehicle turned upside down.

[jamesc76]

Right not knocking you ideas but it dont matter what seat configuration you have, most common cars have the rear seats held in place with a flimsy clip and a couple of screws, whats is tested is the belts themselves not the seats! Blue bird seats are good I have one but the 2 lap belts I have are bolted to the van not (and never should be) the seats.


On an MoT the only seat that is tested for security is the drivers seat and that is to allow for safe operation of the vehicle with out it moving!


You can make a bed out of 5 inch girders if you want but the belts are the main consideration! Blue bird fitted correctly is more than safe as long as you fit the belts correctly!

Oh and the question of the wetsy seat being crash tested is a wrong assumption its the belts that were under test and the whole van was crashed, even back then to crash test a seat you use a stand alone rig just for the seat which the westy seat never has been!(very confident on that)

[Tallulah43]

yep......this is exactly what hubby is saying

put a bluebird, get it anchored securely and make sure tat the belts are anchored to the van.

have read about seatbelts needing to be at the right angle when secured in???
is it better to get them professionally put in then or is this a welder hubby job?

[jamesc76]

hubby should be able to do it fine, you can get proper spreader bars to attach the seat belt's to from Brickwerks, they are the proper job and have the correct threaded nut attached. As for angle as long as it isnt kinked or trapped there ok !

[pfield69]

I know this now probably a bit late but I used to design and test seat belts, seats and child seats for Britax.
Surprisingly the standards for restraints has actually changed little in the past 20 years although technology has moved on and modern restraint systems are far supioror to those old ones.

I have a bluebird rock n roll bed in my T25 and there is no way it will pass the crash test. For complete piece of mind you will need one of the original seats from say a Westy or go the +£1200 plus route of getting a rib seat.

For using child seats I would be tempted to use and rear facing seat as they will be stronger and shouldn't suffer any problems with submarining. If the cushons come off easily the restraint will be comprimised.

Significant strengthening will be required to the fixing points of any aftermarket seat and when fitting seat belts.

Also remember that any unsecured item behind the seats can cause a hazard.

The crash test is a realativley low impact deceleration not even close to what happens in a head on 40mph impact.

[B.A Eauty]

Anyone have a cannons forge bed fitted????