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Tether Straps & Fitting |
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Tether Straps & Bolts
A tether strap is factory standard on most car seats. Their primary purpose is to reduce impact forces to your child's head and neck during an accident. It also stops the seat from moving too far forward in an accident.
Note: Tether straps are not required on car seats that meet the UK standard.
For information installing car seats with a tether strap click here.
- Where can I get a bolt fitted?
A tether strap is a long webbing strap often found secured to the top back of your child's car seat shell and it has a metal hook attached. The webbing can be adjusted to longer and shorter lengths to suit most cars. Some cars will require an extention strap so the tether can reach the bolt.
Its purpose is to reduce head excursion - "the distance the child's head moves during an impact".
The tether strap is part of the standards applied to your child's seat. This means that if there is one fitted it must be used. If there is not one fitted then the seat most likely will need to be installed with a full lap/sash seat belt and not the lap only portion.
Without the tether being connected your child's seat moves more than a seat installed with the tether, taking with it your child's head and neck. This movement places greater pressure onto your child's neck and spine during an accident. Injuries from this kind of force could result in long term disability and in some cases it is fatal as the spinal cord may stretch, tear or detach from the spine.
The image below shows movement differences between seats installed with and without the top tether strap fitted.
In a car accident it is normal for the body to take the brace postion, that is with the arms, knees and head pulled in towards the centre of the body, the head falls towards the chest where is it craddled by the arms to cover the face and prevent excessive stress on the back of the neck. As you can see from the image above (left side) the arms are thrown outwards, the legs are straight out in front of the crash test dummy. The image on the left is installed without the top tether and has much greater movement than the one installed on the right with the top tether.
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A tether bolt is the connector to which your tether strap connects.
Cars may come with a bolt pre-installed. This is often found on the parcel tray or in the boot sill. Modern vehicles have a small bar fitted to the back of the rear seats.
Sadly though not all cars are built equal and some top end cars will not have any bolts installed. If you purchase a new car with no bolts installed ask your dealer to install bolts for you.
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Black connector plate to which the tether strap hook connects. Bolt and nut to secure tether bolt to the car. 2 different sized spacers used when the bolt needs to sit higher up so not to sit in a recess. Bolt reinforcement plate to be used in cars that do not have pre-drilled holes. |
If your car has pre-drilled holes you can simply screw the bolt into the hole. The hole must have a thread track installed. If there is no thread track the reinforcement plate MUST be used on the underside of the bolt.
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Vehicle with modern bolt bar behind vehicle seat. |
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Older car with installed bolt in boot sill. |
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Tether bolts are cheap to purchase and install but they must be installed correctly. It is important to check before you drill the hole to make sure you are clear from petrol lines, speaker cables etc. Once the bolt is installed it does not need to be done again.
There is a list of bolt installers below, or click here.
Above image shows where to drill a hole on the parcel tray in the back window of a sedan if not pre-fitted with tether bolts and no holes have been drilled, check under rubber or plastic bungs for pre-drilled holes. Top right shows installation for cars without pre-installed bolts. It is important to ensure the washer is fitted at the bottom of the bolt as this prevents the bolt from pulling through in an accident. Opposite image shows how to install a bolt into a pre-drilled hole. The washer and nut are not required. There is a nut fitted on the underside of the hole. |
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It is vital that bolts be installed in the correct place. They must pass through the metal structure of the cars chassis. In a sedan the bolts can pass through the parcel tray, but must pass through metal as well as the wooden panel and fabric covering.
In station wagons and vans the bolts can be installed in a wider range of places this includes the floor and the roof.
Never attach your child's car seat tether to cargo hooks (below), they are not designed to hold the forces of a car crash and may detach from the vehicle in an accident.
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Make sure you do not use cargo hooks as tether bolts as they are not strong enough to hold your child and seat during an accident (above). |
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Northland
Auckland
| Auckland Seatbelts (Mobile Service) Ph: 027 273 8802 Fax: 09 529 7586 |
Metro Motor Holdings Ltd 26 Greenpark Road Penrose Ph: 09 571 2501 |
| Auckland Seatbelts (Mobile Service) Ph: 027 273 8802 Fax: 09 529 7586 |
MSS Automotive & Compliance Ltd 8 Thomson Park Road Mt Wellington Ph: 09 579 1197 |
| Auto-Belts Ltd - MTA 1 Maurice Road Penrose Auckland Ph: 09 525 3214 |
Safer Seatbelts 184 Great South Road Takanini Ph: 09 296 1144 0800 SEATBELTS (732 823) |
| Auto Lab 203 Lincon Road Henderson Ph: 09 837 0600 |
The Seatbelt Centre Mighty Garage Ltd 17 Industry Road Penrose Ph: 09 525 3627 |
| Baby Boltz 110 Lauderdale Road Birkdale North Shore City 09 483 3428 |
Seatbelt Specialists 5 Silverfield Road Glenfield 0800 GO SAFE (467 233) |
| Barry Clarke Automotive 8 Burns street Grey Lynn Ph: 09 360 8888 www.barryclarkeautomotive.net.nz |
Tetley Wheaton Automotive Ltd 159 Apirana Avenue Glen Innes Ph: 09 528 7867 |
| Fast Track Automotive Automotive compliance Centre 575 Great South Road Penrose Ph: 09 579 9352 |
Waikato
Hawkes Bay
Manawatu
Wellington
Nelson
Christchurch
Canterbury
Blenheim
Invercargill
Contact us to be added to this list if you install tether bolts.
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!!Never leave the tether strap/hook hanging freely on your child's car seat the hook could strike your child during an accident and cause major injury.
!!Always use the tether point/bolt directly behind your child's seat. Using a bolt that is not behind the seat could cause the seat to tip over during an accident or sudden stop and could injure your child.
!!When buying an extension strap for your child's seat if the tether is too short purchase a 300 mm strap first. There are very few situations when more length is needed.
!!If you own a hatch back and the centre seat has a split between the rear seats you must not place a tethered seat, or child harness in this position. Please ensure your seat and tether bolt is on the right or left hand side of the rear seat. (Behind the driver (right) is the safest position).