child booster seat for cobra

khansmith · #1 (**permalink**) 10-06-2011, 09:56 AM

Hi All:
Part of the fun of having the cobra is sharing it with your kids. Problem I am having is finding a child booster seat that works/ with the configuration I have in the cobra (traditional seats and five point harness).

Has anyone successfully found a booster seat that works with the traditional seat and 5 point harness?

Thank You,
Khan

Leecbr · #2 (**permalink**) 10-06-2011, 10:52 AM

Khan,

That is so cool you want to involve your kids..

My daughter loves riding in the cobra. She is 7 and I have her in a booster seat when on the main roads. I have a car seat where the back support can be removed and the bottom portion is the booster. I have the bucket seats. So when I have her in the cobra I leave the back portion on to support her back and neck.

If it's a short ride around the neighbor hood or around the block I usually just have her in the seat with out the booster.

As for the belts I just use the lap belts. I don't dare drive on the freeway or on any busy roads with her in the cobra. I am not willing to take the risk of someone hitting us. I mainly go out for evening drives or short drives on less congested roads with her.

I think the shoulder harnesses are too heavy for them with all of that metal. Plus it doesn't fit their seats and bodies. The lap belt fits in place of where our regular car seat belts go
on her booster/car seat.

I hope this helps. It's great having your kids involved. I love having my daughter go for rides. My daughter loves helping me wash and dry it too. It's just great spending time with the little ones. Plus they say the funniest things..

Lee

khansmith · #3 (**permalink**) 10-06-2011, 02:15 PM

Thanks for the tip Lee. The NJ cops will be all over me if I also don't include some type of shoulder coverage.

Rick Parker · #4 (**permalink**) 10-06-2011, 03:23 PM

You may be best advised leaving youngsters requiring a car booster seat at home. There isn't a lot of protection, should it be necessary. Just saying....

FWB · #5 (**permalink**) 10-06-2011, 04:07 PM

i had the same problem....a booster seat put my daughters head above the windshield, i just used two pillows one for the cushion and one for her back, i could tighten the lap and shoulder harness to suit her then

86Sebring · #6 (**permalink**) 10-06-2011, 04:40 PM

you mean like this:

I used to strap my son's boosterseat down with the lap belt and another belt straight down behind and around the seat. Made sure 3 times the seat is really tight and then we would head out for a ride. My son loved it

FWB · #7 (**permalink**) 10-06-2011, 05:29 PM

hehehehe, nice picture......

now that shes older she wants to go down the dragstrip with me........
still trying to keep it secret when i go.....i think she's going to be a handful in a couple years.......

JeepSnake · #8 (**permalink**) 10-06-2011, 07:20 PM

My daughter is 3, so my setup is a full child seat, like 86sebring's.

I use just the lap belt of the harness through the bottom of the seat. On top, I went into the trunk and replaced the shoulder harness anchor bolt with a forged steel eyebolt. The child seat's top tether then hooks to this. (Note that I have to remove the top tether from the seat and feed it through the harness opening in the tub from the trunk side; the hook obviously won't fit through a webbing size slot.)

Over the winter, I am probably going to replace the two lap belt anchor bolts with forged steel eyebolts as well. This will let me dispense with the lap belt and utilize the LATCH anchor system built into the child seat. (I'm using a Dorel which has safety-locked J-hooks on the LATCH harness, so they will clip to the eyes. The fancier Britax in my wife's car has some nifty pushbutton claw-type anchors on it, but they are way too small to ever fit the eyebolt.)

And like Lee, we stick to the backroads and generally just go to local cruises. I'm sedate enough with my driving that my daughter has actually dozed off a couple of times. But, try to pry her out of the Cobra and put her in Mommy's car, and it's: "NOOOOOOO!!! I want to ride in the Cobra with Daddy!!!"

CobraDan · #9 (**permalink**) 10-07-2011, 07:12 AM

Simpson*Gavin Child Safety Seat*-*SafeRacer

khansmith · #10 (**permalink**) 10-07-2011, 07:31 AM

I tried my high-back seat again and the problem I am having is the base of the car seat fitting into the cobra seat bottom; its just too wide. That simpson looks pretty slender at the bottom and might be a contender.

DonC · #11 (**permalink**) 10-07-2011, 08:42 AM

Take a look at the first photo in this Cruise Colorado thread:
Cruise Colorado 2011 Trip Report - FFCars.com : Factory Five Racing Discussion Forum
This was a car from an Ohio couple who had their 5 year old with them. It might work for you. If you need more direct info I can probably get you the contact info.
DonC

SPF1061 · #12 (**permalink**) 10-07-2011, 09:21 AM

Be careful out there!

m5extc · #13 (**permalink**) 10-07-2011, 10:22 AM

I have the Simpson seat in mine and it works great. MY daughter is now four, so only needs a booster seat. The booster seat it too wide and has not back so she falls back into the rear gap at the seat back. So I am back to the full Simpson seat until she out grows it or I can find a suitable booster. I went to CHP and they gave me a swim noodle to cut down and put behind the booster seat to make up the gap...I think I am staying with the Simpson.

Bill Bess · #14 (**permalink**) 10-07-2011, 07:15 PM

Going around the block with your small child in a cobra is one thing, but regular crusies are something else. It's kind of like taking a small child on a motorcycle, if something goes wrong.........it can go really wrong.
Be smart, protect the children. The cobra has absolutely no protection especially for small kids.
Too bad if you don't like my opinion, I worked in the Safety Industry for years and saw many sad things cause by poor judgement and best of intentions.
Best of luck, Bill