Series 3 Roll cage fitting / child safety?

Hey gents,

Recent convert from the old landrovernet site.
Looking for advice on any reasonable safety mods. Have a 4 yr old, and would like to take him along on runs next summer. Aside from fitting a proper car seat for him, was also thinking about fitting a roll cage over the winter. Like to go with the top off in the summer, not that it provides any real protection anyhow.

Most roll-cages I've found seem like home built affairs that only bolt to the floor of the bed - aren't rated as truly roll cages and are just there either for looks or to hold the shoulder-belt mounts.

Has anyone fitted a proper roll cage, and is it worth the bother?

Thanks in advance,
Will

I was thinking about this when I first got my series 3 after seeing a video of a series hitting a car and turning over. The roof doesn't offer a lot of protection. The trouble is a roll bar looks out of place unless you are tricking the vehicle up for heavy duty off road use. Also, to be effective it needs fixing to the chassis. If a roll over occurred this could bend the chassis and cause the landy to be written off. The other thing is the amount of space it takes up, not so bad in a lwb station wagon. In the end I gave up on the idea, I don't do long trips or high speeds in it anyway so the cost and effort couldn't really be justified.

Col

I understand your feelings on this as I put my daughters in the back (now 11 & 14 year olds). I've never considered fitting a roll cage but I ensure every other safety aspect of the vehicle is in tip top condition.... Just fitted 4 new tyres, brakes all replaced a few years ago and they are serviced by me annually, new shocks fitted and steering ball joints replaced. I recently converted to a full tilt which offers even less protection. The girls sit on side benches with lap belts (I know the potential issues). It's hard to know when and where to stop with such issues and concerns but in reality, I bought the vehicle for fun - both myself and the family and to hopefully create some fun memories to recall when we're all a lot older.

I avoid motorway journeys these dats as I become a mobile chicane - HGVs are the worst as they pull out at the last minute almost taking me out, I think they misjudge my slow speed up inclines.

I don't see these vehicles are unsafe or than I'm being reckless with young lives - it's just that vehicle safely has improved so much over the past 40 years and it highlights potential dangers more.

What a lot of people see as 'home made' and 'only bolted to the floor' might seem true, but most of those I've seen that are bolted to the floor are also fitted with plates underneath the floor, bolted through and extended to brackets tie-ing in to the chassis, or cross member etc.

And if I had a roll cage, and it rolled, I'd rather a wrote off Landrover and the occupants kept alive. Just sayin' ...

Having said that .. we travelled up and down the country with our children for years in our series, sans rollbar, with never a problem regarding safety, short of it being almost dangerously slow when towing the (Very small <1 ton) caravan up hill ..

As above, I guess it all depends on what you use your landy for and what you are willing to compromise on and your attitude to safety. I also avoid motorways due to the speed limitations of my landy, I took it on the motorway when I first bought it and the experience was terrifying, like you say huge lorries steaming up behind you before pulling into lane 2. I take my 8 year old grandson out in it occasionally but only short journeys and he is belted into the front middle seat, the back seat doesn't have seat belts. Mine is a hard top station wagon but I don't think the roof or A posts would offer much protection in a collision. I also ride motorbikes and the only protection there is what I'm wearing, so in that respect, the landy is a lot safer.

will_ said:

Hey gents,

Recent convert from the old landrovernet site.
Looking for advice on any reasonable safety mods. Have a 4 yr old, and would like to take him along on runs next summer. Aside from fitting a proper car seat for him, was also thinking about fitting a roll cage over the winter. Like to go with the top off in the summer, not that it provides any real protection anyhow.

Most roll-cages I've found seem like home built affairs that only bolt to the floor of the bed - aren't rated as truly roll cages and are just there either for looks or to hold the shoulder-belt mounts.

Has anyone fitted a proper roll cage, and is it worth the bother?

Thanks in advance,
Will

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Do you have a "normal" car? And if so if assume you have a car seat. The modern legal ones are booster seats with sides so will fit a three point harness. They will come with isofix but the weight of the child actually holds the seat in position and the three point harness provides the protection.

Fantastic - thanks all.

Also don't take it on the highways and am generally using it at low speeds on quieter local roads, but you can never account for the stupidity of others . Agree with @Pauld that I'd rather write off the truck and have everyone walk away.

Will install the car seat in the front middle and get a proper harness (only have a lap belt there at the moment), but conscious of the fact that I'm making a choice to use the vehicle wrt any dangers or safety concerns - whereas my son won't - he just wants to ride in 'Landy'. Will explore a bit more re: the option to bolt one through the floor and tie it to the chassis.

will_ said:

Fantastic - thanks all.

Also don't take it on the highways and am generally using it at low speeds on quieter local roads, but you can never account for the stupidity of others . Agree with @Pauld that I'd rather write off the truck and have everyone walk away.

Will install the car seat in the front middle and get a proper harness (only have a lap belt there at the moment), but conscious of the fact that I'm making a choice to use the vehicle wrt any dangers or safety concerns - whereas my son won't - he just wants to ride in 'Landy'. Will explore a bit more re: the option to bolt one through the floor and tie it to the chassis.

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Does your passenger seat have a 3 point belt? If so use that rather than the middle seat.

Just a thought, but what are the safety implications using a child seat with static belts? I know nothing of children or their seats but was just thinking that the seats might be designed for inertia belts rather than static ones. Mind you, I don't know how many people still use the static belts

. I have them in mine and they are horendous things. I'm 6'2" and have a 54" chest and shoulders you could land a small plane on. The belts are as long as they get and I can't breathe with them. Keep meaning to change them for inertia belts! As i mostly use the truck around the farm and in the woods/glen I usually dont wear it but its tight when on the road.

Erubus said:

Just a thought, but what are the safety implications using a child seat with static belts? I know nothing of children or their seats but was just thinking that the seats might be designed for inertia belts rather than static ones. Mind you, I don't know how many people still use the static belts

. I have them in mine and they are horendous things. I'm 6'2" and have a 54" chest and shoulders you could land a small plane on. The belts are as long as they get and I can't breathe with them. Keep meaning to change them for inertia belts! As i mostly use the truck around the farm and in the woods/glen I usually dont wear it but its tight when on the road.

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On ours, you can put the lap belt part through the base of the child seat and winch it down tight, then the child seat itself has a strap that goes over the seat-back and gets clipped on to a tie-down (common in newer cars). Not sure yet where this could attach, likely need to bolt down something secure.

Until I get this figured out over the winter, still have an eager co-pilot for the fall:



Feel the same re: the static belts - impossible to wear properly and always flop down and jam in the door.

goonarmy said:

Does your passenger seat have a 3 point belt? If so use that rather than the middle seat.

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Unfortunately not - just the two tie downs. Also the law over here that if you have a truck with a single bench then a child seat must be installed in the middle.