3rd Seat Belt in 2-seater Rear Bench/Bed in California Ocean

[Matt Shearlock]

Hi - I spoke to a seat belt fitting specialist in London about adding a 3rd seat belt to my California Ocean rear seat which currently has 2 seat belts. He suggested I find out the total weight rating for the seat to ensure that it is strong enough (the assumption he and I made is that it must currently be rated for 2 reasonably heavy adults, which would likely exceed the weight of my 3 children).

If it is strong enough, he believes he can fit a removable (attached by latches) 3 point seat belt (without inertia reel, but adjustable to be a tight fit for occasional use). To make space in the middle, he would replace the current fixings (attached by a plastic covered cable) with new ones attached via webbing, set away from the middle of the seat.

When I check my V5C document from DVLA, it does say that the vehicle is a 5 seater!

My questions to the forum are:

1. Does anyone know how much weight the 2 seater rear bench/bed is rated for on a California Ocean? And is this information available for reference in a publicly available document?
2. What do people think of the idea proposed above by the specialist I spoke to?

Thanks, Matt.

 

[Max-Felix]

1. I doubt very much you will find an 'official' answer on this.
2. Main thing that is essential before doing anything is to speak to your insurance company and tell them of the proposal - they may be OK with it but more likely you could open a can of worms!

IMHO it sounds a bad ideal in many ways.

Fitting a proper factory (and insurance) approved fifth seat is by far the best solution.

 

[Digger]

I would think the first contact would be your insurance company. Modifications can be a nightmare and invalidate your insurance.

 

[Properjob]

I’d be really interested in the answer too. For occasional use it would be great to be able to fit another child in and there are similar sized sliding seats used by some of the converters which are designed for 3. We have the 5th seat and it’s pretty good but does massively affect the way you can use the space.

 

[andyinluton]

How young is the smallest? I seem to remember someone said that a forward facing isofix seat can be installed in the middle of the back seat using one fixing from each rear seat position.
It would hinder access to the seat belt buckles but if your man can put them on webbing rather than stalks that would solve that.

 

[leejolleycamper]

Hi - I spoke to a seat belt fitting specialist in London about adding a 3rd seat belt to my California Ocean rear seat which currently has 2 seat belts. He suggested I find out the total weight rating for the seat to ensure that it is strong enough (the assumption he and I made is that it must currently be rated for 2 reasonably heavy adults, which would likely exceed the weight of my 3 children).

If it is strong enough, he believes he can fit a removable (attached by latches) 3 point seat belt (without inertia reel, but adjustable to be a tight fit for occasional use). To make space in the middle, he would replace the current fixings (attached by a plastic covered cable) with new ones attached via webbing, set away from the middle of the seat.

When I check my V5C document from DVLA, it does say that the vehicle is a 5 seater!

My questions to the forum are:

1. Does anyone know how much weight the 2 seater rear bench/bed is rated for on a California Ocean? And is this information available for reference in a publicly available document?
2. What do people think of the idea proposed above by the specialist I spoke to?

Thanks, Matt.

Hi Matt, how did you get on with this this? It’s a sound idea the van is indeed a 5 seater and are regularly modified to 6 with 3 upfront and 3 at the back.