Chargers, Kids and Car Seats

[chargerboy69]

I have been running my daughters car seat in a Charger since she was born.  She is now four, and ready to get into the booster seat phase.  We have just three lap belts in the back.  I strap her car seat in the middle with a lap belt and her car seat has a 4 point harness.  I prefer to keep her strapped in the middle.  For those of you with kids what kind of seat belts are you using in the back?  Do you have them in the middle or off to the side? I am the over protective parent and do not care if I have to put a racing harness back there.  Looking stock is not a concern, her safety is the number one priority.

[Marck]

I installed 3 point belts in the rear of my 68.. It was an factory option, so it's pretty much plug and play..
Here's the thread I made about it..
http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,91846.html

[chargerboy69]

Nice.  Where did you find the metal piece on the package tray the belt slides through?

Did you put three shoulder belts in back there, or just two?

[Marck]

Nice.  Where did you find the metal piece on the package tray the belt slides through?

Did you put three shoulder belts in back there, or just two?

Thanks.. 

That was, wierdly enough, the hardest part to come by.. I googled like a mad man, and bought a couple that didn't fit, so I ended up having a guy I know machine them for me out of aluminium.. It cost me a case of beer.. 

I only put in two belts, but I'm playing around with the idea of putting in a third.. Shouldn't be the biggest problem to do that..

[XH29N0G]

This thread makes me remember pulling the back seat on my 1970 back in the 1980's and finding that my dad had attached webbing to some of the hooks in the trunk to fashion kid seats for one of my sisters when he first had the car.  One was born in 70 the other 68. 

So watching out for kids in these cars has been around for quite some time.  My kids are now out os seats so I am not looking to modify, but I like to hear that others are doing just this.

[hemi68charger]

I have always had Julie in the middle-rear in either her baby seat or booster... I've used the middle seat belt without any problems.. Now when Jacob goes out with us, then naturally she's to one side and Jacob to the other...

This is when she was a little older than 2..

http://youtu.be/qqxEijQBUIc

[1969chargerrtse]

I only had my small son in my car a few times. I always had him in the front on a booster seat with the lap and shoulder belt on. We drove in these cars as kids with no seat belts so I felt he was strapped in just fine. Plus I drove at a safe speed when he was with me.

[bill440rt]

My son sits on a booster seat in the middle. 

[chargerboy69]

I have always had Julie in the middle-rear in either her baby seat or booster... I've used the middle seat belt without any problems.. Now when Jacob goes out with us, then naturally she's to one side and Jacob to the other...

This is when she was a little older than 2..

My son sits on a booster seat in the middle. 

Ok, now with the booster seats, I am finding ones with harnesses are kind of limited.  Most are just a seat which rely you to strap your child in with your cars shoulder/lap belt.

Did you guys install a center shoulder/lap belt in the middle seat or did you find a booster seat with a harness.

[resq302]

I asked the one cop who I work with about child seats with our cars since they only have lap belts.  Since there is no anchor point for the tether strap, he said that they (cars seats that use the two anchor points plus tether) would not be safe in the event of an accident, the seat could flip forward since there is nothing holding it back and the lap belt area would just act like a pivot.

Now when I brought up about the booster seat, he said that all the booster seat does (no harness, seat only) is raise the child up so the shoulder belt part of a 3 point seat belt would not go across the childs throat.  With only having a lap belt in our cars, a booster seat would not really need to be utilized which makes sense.

[c00nhunterjoe]

Both of my kids ride in the back with just lap belts, never used the boosters for the reason stated above.

[Ghoste]

And having a first gen at the time with the folding rear seats, I also never took my kids in the Charger when they were little at all.

[1969chargerrtse]

Mine was a booster seat on my right front bucket with the lap and shoulder belt. Seemed very safe and strong to me.

[hemi68charger]

At age 6 now, Julie will just sit in her booster with the lap belt. Like what was mentioned earlier, I too grew up just having my butt on the sit and strapped in.......

[chargerboy69]

At age 6 now, Julie will just sit in her booster with the lap belt. Like what was mentioned earlier, I too grew up just having my butt on the sit and strapped in.......

Thanks Troy.

Yea, I remember too back in the day when mom had the old Vista Cruiser wagon. My brothers and I would jump all around that thing while she was driving down the road. Now days they would haul you off to jail for something like that. 

[Plum Crazy 68]

I was four years old and standing up in the backseat of my Dad's Pontiac Bonneville 400.  He hit the brakes and I remember seeing the gas pedal last before going to the hospital for stitches.  We all survived!

[GPULLER]

I asked the one cop who I work with about child seats with our cars since they only have lap belts.  Since there is no anchor point for the tether strap, he said that they (cars seats that use the two anchor points plus tether) would not be safe in the event of an accident, the seat could flip forward since there is nothing holding it back and the lap belt area would just act like a pivot.

Now when I brought up about the booster seat, he said that all the booster seat does (no harness, seat only) is raise the child up so the shoulder belt part of a 3 point seat belt would not go across the childs throat.  With only having a lap belt in our cars, a booster seat would not really need to be utilized which makes sense.

Makes sense to me.
My 4 yr old daughter still rides in a car seat.  When I buckle it in my 1st gen with only a lap belt I wondered if it was worth it.  She'd probably be better off buckled with just the lap belt.  The car seat is kind of sloppy and not held in tight.
My 8 yr old son just uses the lap belt in the Charger but uses a booster in newer vehicles with a 3 point belt.  He still needs it to keep the belt off his neck.

[resq302]

If your car seat is loose, it is doing no good for your child should you get into an accident.  The best advice the cop I work with gave me was to when you are installing the car seat, get in there with your knee and bounce up and down while pulling the securing belt tight.  With every bounce it will get it tighter down into the seat.  The whole reason why a car seat is used is basically an adapter for the size of the child plus utilizing the 5 point harness keeps them safer.  If the child seat is moving all around, should you get into an accident or a roll over, it is only going to amplify the negative effects.

[bill440rt]

At age 6 now, Julie will just sit in her booster with the lap belt. Like what was mentioned earlier, I too grew up just having my butt on the sit and strapped in.......

Thanks Troy.

Yea, I remember too back in the day when mom had the old Vista Cruiser wagon. My brothers and I would jump all around that thing while she was driving down the road. Now days they would haul you off to jail for something like that. 

I was four years old and standing up in the backseat of my Dad's Pontiac Bonneville 400.  He hit the brakes and I remember seeing the gas pedal last before going to the hospital for stitches.  We all survived!

Hahaha!      I remember riding around in my mom's old '76 Caddy Fleetwood as a kid lying on the package tray. It was fun falling on the huge rear seat when she slammed on the brakes! It's amazing I made it past childhood sometimes. 

[resq302]

ah, yes, those were the good old days, weren't they Bill?  I too have similar stories like that with my moms old Volare station wagon.  Dad hit the brakes, I slid (back seat was folded down due to a wooden dry sink and barn board in the back of the wagon) and ended up wedged between the back of the front seat and the folded down seat back and the floor.

[elanmars]

I have my daughter in the middle, her seat is huge...lapbelt works good enough and is tight enough, her seat isn't the type that needs other belts/straps to work properly. I don't know much about car seats or anything but we did get one of the ones that had the best reviews, was pricey (which is fine, not complaining about that) and again, the middle lapbelt, as long as it's tightened well, works great.

[hatersaurusrex]

I think Simpson should make car seats.  They're missing the market obviously.

[bill440rt]

I think Simpson should make car seats.  They're missing the market obviously.

What, like these??   

http://simpsonraceproducts.com/products/index.php?cPath=341&main_page=index

[Todd Wilson]

Putting a kid on a booster seat with a lap belt is not a good thing. The booster is only used to keep them aligned proper with the shoulder belt. If you kid uses a booster and no shoulder harness is available have them sit in the seat with the lap belt and call it good. The booster is simply putting them up higher and they really need to b e as low and tight to the seat as possible.


Todd

[Ghoste]

The Simpson ones are cool, a little pricey, but cool.  They came out with them just after my kids already had seats (or at least that was the soonest I became aware of them) so we weren't getting more but I did consider it.

[1974dodgecharger]

how did kids survive in the 60s, 70s, etc...to now buy the cars they rode in as kids?  I will never understand logic......

[BananaDan]

A lot didn't, hence modern safety laws and engineering.