Child Seat anchor points in a T5 Crewvan ?

[Zaskar]

Thanks for alerting me to the 'D' loop. I did some investigation at VW. The loops, while not specifically intended to be load bearing (as opposed to load securing) do have a rating of 25kN. I'm a rock climber and most of my anchoring gear is rated to 23kN. This would be absolutely sufficient in a big lead climbing fall, where I would imagine the load to be greater than that of a child & child seat in a collision

Please please do correct me if I'm wrong.

[Sunny43.5]

All I can tell you is that under test the load placed on any anchor point is twenty times the weight in a 50 km crash you are right according to the test requirements the load tested should on the anchor bolt not be less than 3.4 kn but you Do need to read the rules as the bolt on the floor is probably okay but its the back of the seat at the top which takes the largest part of the load . As some one else mentioned the seat belts are mounted in the seat back so the top of the seat probably is okay . BUT and I repeat BUT in the event of an accident any insurance claim for injury death responsibility falls on the person who has done the install . So unless the anchor points are approved under ADR rules and all the other components fittings etc are also compliant of the ADR,s then it is wide open . Please check with a relevant authorized person in your state who can issue a certificate of compliance . Here in Qld there was a system of authorized officers who were trained to do the work and certify their work . In some cases qualified engineers had to be paid to check all custom installations which were not already approved . Its a legal minefield to do this sort of work and to be quite honest since I gave up my Authorised Officers certificate I can say I have not had any headaches to deal with . Here is a link to the most current regulations and after you read them you will know what I used to go through . You can scroll down the centre section it goes on forever !!! http://www.comlaw.gov.au/Details/F2012L00703

[dubstyle]

Just seen the new Caddy Crewvan. It also doesnt have child restraints. Strange a MY13 car not to have them. I know the name "crewvan" sugests its for carrying around the lads on site, but I'm sure many people get them for carrying children.

[Skoda VW]

Our MY13 Caddy Maxi Life only has 3 child restraint points in a seven seater. There is a sticker on the back rear window stating that child seats are not to be installed on the back seat. The middle seat is the only one intended for child seats. 2 fittings in the middle seat back and one in the roof way up the back. Seems to be an oversight from VW because the main reason you would buy one is to haul kids around. Reading the owners manual Oz supplement it seems to be an ADR thing about the points as in Europe the recommendation in the owners manual is to use the luggage hooks for the rear seat.

The whole thing defeats the point because if you are lucky enough to get 3 kid seats across the middle row, you can't fold a seat to get access to the back row. You might as well save the $$ and buy a SWB 5 seat caddy by that logic.

[Sunny43.5]

ADR requirements only call for up to 3 anchor points for the rear of any vehicle , there are occasions that some manufacturers will put in more but its rare . As for the Caddy Life and Crewman if you study the ADR,s you will find that each of these vehicles are classed differently under ADRS , one may be classed as a passenger carrying vehicle and the other may be a Goods carrying . What I found out many years ago was that with each model that is imported they have to submit each one for testing which is expensive . Then sometimes there are restrictions on how many of certain models are allowed into Australia so to get around that the Manufacturers- Importers will bring in an identical bodied car with different specs so they can get around ADRS this is why some will have child points and others will not .