Cargo Barrier and Baby Capsule

Happy 40th Rich! Enjoy your day/night.
Best wishes to you and family for no.3.baby too, March will come around quick! We have 3 kids, and thats it!! Wouldn't be able to put any more in the cruiser anyway with all the toys Andrew has!!

Jen

"glad that our capsule days are now over"

Fair dinkum Roachie,
and what about all the sultanas, biscuit bits and martian rocks you find under them when you take them out! Ye Gods!

Yes, I do find lots of rocks and railway track dog spikes under the seats etc after our trips. But they are usually collected by SWMBO...not the kids!!!!
An example of this was our Cape York trip in Sept/Oct. On the 1st day of a 33 day trip, Annette got me to stop beside the old Ghan line up near Leigh Creek way. She and my boys got out and spent half an hour collecting about 30 of those dog spikes! We carted the bloody things all the way to the tip of Aust and back again. We came back along that same stretch of road, so we could've stopped on the way home and picked em up. They'd have to be some of the world's most well travelled dog spikes!!!

Not sure what sort of barrier you have but I do know that Milford SPECIFICALLY state NOT to attch seat belt or baby capsule attachmenst to their barrier. Even if it isnt a Milford barrier I wouldnt rely on it to attach any part of a seat or baby capsule

Of course it says that!

1. It's against ADR.
2. Why would they want to open their selves up for liability?!

Ditto to what Kiwi Angler posted. Would hate to find out the hard way that something went wrong.

Jeff M

Your point #2 " Why would they want to open their selves up for liability?!" mistifies me.

Forget about liabilty apply some plain old common sense. Have you not seen footage of baby capsules that are incorrectly attached flying through windscreens! And these are ones that are attached (albiet incorrectly) to the chassis of the car. Surely the outcome of a similar accident with the capsule anchored to a cargo barrier is a no brainer!
Their conditions are to ensure no 'sensible' thinking person would attach to the barrier not as some 'cover my arse in case' as your point #2 implies.

As to point#1 I am not familiar with the ADR reference.

Cargo barrier. Rated to 150kg. Babey and Capsual total weight 5kgs. Do the math.
Not only that but the seatbelt is also looped through to capsual on top of that.
Cargo barier bolted to chais is several places. Sedan style baby point bolted through thin peice of metal reinforcing chipboard parcel shelf.

I know which one I would prefer.

The factory child restraint in the falcon is friggin plastic for christ sake! Not only that but it is not accessable while storage box is fitted. It is fixed to the back of the seat.
You may imply that I am not a sensible person, that's your opinion, personally I would take no risk in my childs life and feel that it is offering her as much protection as possible. There is no cargo in the behind the barrier it is installed purley as security to prevent access to the cargo from the front of the car. The Cargo is locked away in a metal storage box. If we were in an accident so severe that a 5kg baby was to pull the cargo barrier out I don't think anyone would be around to know about it.

Jeff,
I'm with you on this one.....as I said above, I attached ours to the cargo barrier, albeit also using a length of steel bar (about 30mm wide x 3mm thick x length being distance between the 2 central uprights, about 18")........(nb: sorry for mixing metric and imperial).

The weight of the potential load is spread between the 2 central uprights at around the height of the top of the back seat.

However Jeff, I would also caution you against believing the weight of your baby + capsule is only 5kg in a collision. I remember reading somewhere that the weight of a child being nursed in the front seat of a car on mum's lap is about equal to the family fridge in a sudden impact!! They were saying that in response to the belief, years ago, that a child could safely sit on mum's lap with arms securing the baby. I've never put it to the test and wouldn't want to try.

Absolutally Roachie, but that extra force (creating to effect of being heavier) has already been calculated in the 150kg rating. Otherwise you would only be able to put 15kg behind the cargo barrier rendering it pretty bloody usless! LOL

Yeah I should look at reinforcing where it is attached, but it is seldom used for the child seat, normally the kids are in the Surf, it's just the surf is on blocks at the moment while I change belts, hoses and brake pads.

Have a look here, also. $229 for a barrier in Adelaide. How much are Sunsheade asking? Just curious, I am looking for one (even 2nd hand) in Adelaide for a 60 series.

http://www.4wdsystems.com.au/gfx/specials_26_right.pdf

Cheers,
CH

CruiserHead,

I'm getting one supplied and fitted for about $500. This is a milforf cargo barrier (which as I understand it are one of the best) and includes the installation of the small plastic windows for the capsule/child restraint straps to go through.

ANother quote I got (also for a milford) from a different mob was over $600 fitted, so it would seem that prices vary fairly significantly.

There have been some pretty cheap second hand jobs floating around, however you have to find one that foits your vehicle, and it would pay to get it installed by a pro.

Good lucj and thanks for the advice.

Jono