DIY Booster seat to fit the Tillets

[analog_me]

Hi,

i would like to take the kid out for a short ride in the caterham but being only 6 she is too small to safely seat in the Tillet and strap with a 4point harness.
I cannot find a booster seat in the market fitting the Tillets. (don't tell me about the Volvo child seat, it is too low)

Is it safe to make a DIY booster seat from expanding foam so to fit the tillets and raise the kid high enough to be properly strapped in with the harness?
Thanks

[griggsy2]

That's what I did. Had cushions to start but that was pretty poor so used 4 inch hard foam stuff and carved out a shape that stayed in place which the harness also fits around.

Need to make sure the harness can be fitted correctly after though i.e. if 4 pot make sure it doesn't rise up on to her stomach/chest. Also make sure the shoulders stay in place.

[analog_me]

griggsy2 said:

That's what I did. Had cushions to start but that was pretty poor so used 4 inch hard foam stuff and carved out a shape that stayed in place which the harness also fits around.

Need to make sure the harness can be fitted correctly after though i.e. if 4 pot make sure it doesn't rise up on to her stomach/chest. Also make sure the shoulders stay in place.

thanks griggsy2

[fergus]

griggsy2 said:

Need to make sure the harness can be fitted correctly after though i.e. if 4 pot make sure it doesn't rise up on to her stomach/chest. Also make sure the shoulders stay in place.

That was also my concern, i.e. ensuring that the shoulder straps are not able to slide around the outside of the shoulders. In the end I decided I couldn't come up with a safe solution. Still looking to investigate. Are you able to post any photos of what you've done? Thanks

[Smitters]

I took an extreme option, put the Caterham up for sale and bought an Elise S1. I can fit a proper kids seat with an inertia reel belt and I'm happy to take my boy out in it. Not what you want to hear, but IMHO, unless you're talking to the end of the road and back, I just wouldn't risk it with a small child in adult harnesses. The downside is just too great for me.

If you're determined, I imagine a fabric Caterham seat could be had for cheap, and an inertia reel belt fitted to the car.

ETA - just been to SELOC - see that my initial suggestion would be backtracking in car ownership!

Edited by Smitters on Thursday 2nd November 13:10

[BertBert]

I can't imagine for a moment that you can successfully make a seat arrangement in a Tillet with harnesses for a 6 year old. And how do you know what will happen in a crash? It's not very testable. Obviously, you can make a booster with expanding foam, but I wouldn't. Maybe I'm over sensitive, but my experience in a race car with a not quite properly fitting harness and expanding foam insert ending with a broken coccyx and vertebra made me so!

Bert

[jeffw]

Remember that the shoulders of the child would need to be above the anchor point of the shoulder harness otherwise the harness will not work correctly.

[fergus]

jeffw said:

Remember that the shoulders of the child would need to be above the anchor point of the shoulder harness otherwise the harness will not work correctly.

LMP1 drivers, etc, have the anchor points above their shoulders?

[Smitters]

This link might help - lots of details on harness installation, including angles. I think my perception of a read through is that harnesses are designed to work in a very specific set of circumstances - installed and worn correctly, routed over the specific and appropriate parts of the body and angled in a certain way, in conjunction with a seat of well known design parameters (back tilt vs seat tilt, etc.).

https://www.tillett.co.uk/shop/documents/downloads...

I did a google image search on LMP1 belts too - I don't think the LMP1 assertion is correct - the images I've found all show belts angling down.

https://www.google.co.uk/search?biw=1344&bih=6...

Edited by Smitters on Friday 3rd November 12:51

[Steve Campbell]

Not just height to worry about. You'll need to ensure they can be done up tight enough. If your seat can move forward, it should be ok but you might find a 6 year old so small that even done up to the stops the belts don't fit.

[analog_me]

I see...
No point even thinking of this then