Tether bolt for child car seat

[Robotnik123]

Do legnums come with preinstalled tether bolts for Australian standard child car seats which require a tether? Am thinking no. We're expecting a baby in a few months and will need a car seat. Has anyone fitted one in their legnum? It might be easier to get a European standard seat which uses safety belts alone and no tether, rather than getting a bolt drilled in the back of the legnum which could rust, leak or whatever.

This is what I am talking about by the way:
http://www.childrestraints.co.nz/tether-strap-bolt.php

[Wodjno]

UK child seats use the original seatbelts..

http://www.childcarseats.org.uk/

[Robotnik123]

UK child seats use the original seatbelts..

http://www.childcarseats.org.uk/

Yes indeed, and such car seats can be bought and used legally here in New Zealand. They are illegal in Australia though. Anyway, the Autralian seats with the tether are apparently safer and many people I've talked to advise against getting a European seat. This perception of European car seats being less safe is probably not helped by the fact that only online stores seem to sell them and they are half the price of ones complying with the Australian standard.

[mattnz]

Where do you bolt them to? Couldn't you just use the stock safety belt bolts, or maybe mock something up to straddle a couple of them?

Edit: Actually, that might be a wof issue :/

[taupodrifta]

i have mine attached to the clips just behind the rear seats but our car seat has an adjustable strap

[wintertidenz]

We have tether bolts already installed in the car - right behind the back seats in the boot. I've had a child seat in my car before and the clips there work a treat, plus they are pretty well bolted in.

Edit - apparently they are cargo hooks, but they are pretty strong and bolt right into the chassis... maybe check with the WOF place that they are okay to use as tether hooks.

[Robotnik123]

Thought I'd bump my old thread. Never did mount a tether bolt in the Legnum, bought a UK type ECE 44/04 seat instead which doesn't need it. Baby is now 2.5 and has outgrown that seat, so need to buy a booster type seat, but I am again faced with the same problem, drill the car for a tether bolt or buy another cheap ECE 44/04 seat, but it seems the commonly available UK type booster is dodgy. http://blog.childrestraints.co.nz/uk-standard-3-1-boosters-are-they-safe/#comment-6

[Nick Mann]

That seat doesn't look anything like the seats I use in my Legnum. My 2 year old sits in a seat that straps in using the legnums belt, but has it's own 5 point belts to hold her in place. Due to the ratchet system on the legnums rear belts it wouldn't move significantly in an impact. My 4 year old has a high back booster seat more like the one in your link but the legnums belt holds her into the seat. Again, the ratchet system on the belt would stop her moving significantly in an impact.
Both of the seats are made by maxi-cosi and get good safety ratings here.

[Robotnik123]

That seat doesn't look anything like the seats I use in my Legnum. My 2 year old sits in a seat that straps in using the legnums belt, but has it's own 5 point belts to hold her in place. Due to the ratchet system on the legnums rear belts it wouldn't move significantly in an impact. My 4 year old has a high back booster seat more like the one in your link but the legnums belt holds her into the seat. Again, the ratchet system on the belt would stop her moving significantly in an impact.
Both of the seats are made by maxi-cosi and get good safety ratings here.

I was meaning the UK seats that are easy to find in New Zealand might have safety issues, as per that article.

Mainly the Australian version of seats tend to be available here. Eg. the Maxi-Cosi's on sale here are all Australian compliant and need a tether. I could probably find a better UK seat though, but it will be costly to get it.

[Robotnik123]

Found this UK spec seat available locally for $399. Looks good, so might get it.
http://www.britax.co.uk/car-seats/car-seats/evolva-1-2-3-plus

[horndog]

http://www.kiddy.de/en/car-seats/9months-12years/kiddy-guardian-pro.html

I have 2 of these, one for a 2 year old and one for a 4 year old,
I know your vid was against these sort of seats, but this brand has won countless awards and independent testing for saftey. I guess there are good and bad manufacturers for everything

I find them easy and convenient to use and my kids love em pluss they are easy to swap between cars

[Subaru ETA]

I faced the same problem fitting a seat to the airtrek.

Firstly I would never use the cargo hook to mount it. They may seem strong, but have **** tensile strength. Funny enough when we went to baby factory the woman who is a LTSA certified car seat installer said to just use them. I gave her a dressing down! I attached the tether to it and yanked it. I bent the hook! Her face went red and she said she had installer hundreds of seats like that....

Anywho, I removed the cargo hook and drilled out the mounting hole. I then used a reinforcing washer underneath and bolted it up like that. Looks factory fitted.

As a side note - buying a car seat was one of the most stressful purchases I have ever made! So many options and everyone you ask has a different opinion

[Robotnik123]

I faced the same problem fitting a seat to the airtrek.

Firstly I would never use the cargo hook to mount it. They may seem strong, but have **** tensile strength. Funny enough when we went to baby factory the woman who is a LTSA certified car seat installer said to just use them. I gave her a dressing down! I attached the tether to it and yanked it. I bent the hook! Her face went red and she said she had installer hundreds of seats like that....

Anywho, I removed the cargo hook and drilled out the mounting hole. I then used a reinforcing washer underneath and bolted it up like that. Looks factory fitted.

As a side note - buying a car seat was one of the most stressful purchases I have ever made! So many options and everyone you ask has a different opinion

Odd that a late model car like the airtrek does not have tether hooks or screw mounts for them at least. Have a 2005 used import Mazda Demio that has the tether hooks and they are definitely not cargo hooks either

[Subaru ETA]

In the airtrek they were a optional extra built into the seat back. Unfortunately mine wasn't optioned with them

[kNuTz]

I have two installed, will take a photo of them today and post tonight.
Just removed the parcel clips things and bolted the tether bolts to that spot...
Will post photo tonight.

[Robotnik123]

In the airtrek they were a optional extra built into the seat back. Unfortunately mine wasn't optioned with them

Just noticed my Mazda Demio not only has tether anchors on the seat backs, but ISO-FIX anchors in the front. ISO-FIX is a fixing mechanism that lets you clip a seat in without having to use a seat belt. I would guess the airtrek tethers would be available with ISO-FIX too.

[Robotnik123]

Hi there

If you can post some pics it would be much appreciated.

Thanks.

[kNuTz]

Sorry completely forgot about this post.

Here are the two tether bolts installed:

64052 64051

And just a photo of the two placements:

64053

[Subaru ETA]

Sorry completely forgot about this post.

Here are the two tether bolts installed:

64052 64051

And just a photo of the two placements:

64053

That's exactly what I did with my airtrek