Cargo tie-down points

Am planning the addition of a battery (probably in an ArkPak) and a fridge/freezer (probably a Waeco CF25) and as a result I've just been looking around the MY13 Forester looking for ways to secure the loads in general for some upcoming trips. I could put them in the back (behind the rear seats) and there are a few places there to secure loads to (currently I have a basic cargo net in the back to hold down shopping/etc and stop it sliding around) but I've made the mistake in the past of putting too much weight in the back.

For example I'm looking at putting the battery/ArkPak in one of the rear footwells, probably fresh water tank in the other rear footwell, and the fridge maybe on the rear seat along with plastic boxes of other stuff. With the battery+water weight down so low they're not going to slide anywhere, and using the seatbelts I can stop things on the back seat trying to slide forward. But is that enough?

Obviously there are the seat belts, the four ISOFIX bars in the base of the rear seat uprights, the child seat tether points on the backs of the rear seats, the four loops in the corners of the rear cargo area, and the "shopping bag tie down points" on each side of the cargo area. But are there others I've missed?

If you don't know about the ISOFIX points here I've pulled back two of the covers:



I'm pretty sure I could add loop points to the outer rear seat bolts of the front seats. But should I really be doing this? These would be hidden in the floor, and accessible by sliding off the plastic foot cover (I haven't worked out the voodoo to remove the plastic cover from the "inside" rear feet). These feet are usually covered by my rubber mats, but it should be workable.


Are there any other points I've missed? I've looked under the rear seat and there don't seem to be any convenient existing points to run straps to. And given that the straps would probably be going up and over loads on the rear seat they would really need to be as close to the footwell as possible. The seat base clips down with plastic clips: there are no bolts as in some earlier models.
Incidentally I have no plans for a cargo barrier at this point (although we did have one in our MY06). And even if we did that would just encourage me to put more heavy things behind or over the rear axle unless it was somehow mounted behind the front seats, which isn't going to fly in this car...

Maybe a strap between the outside bolts of the seats (or maybe just gravity alone?) will have to do to secure loads in the rear footwells, and straps/clips from that up and over the luggage/etc to the ISOFIX points will suffice for the rest?

Thoughts anyone?

Gidday Athos

Now that is interesting about the ISOFIX points. Not only does SWMBO's SH have them (with the pretty little covers ... ), but so does Roo2. In Roo2 there is a "decal" on the bottom of the back seats (4x), but one has to do a digital examination to find the actual points :lol:.

More flaming tie down points than the Karma Sutra ... :iconwink: :ebiggrin: :biggrin:.

I can understand your dilemma. Which ones do you use ... ??

Those ISOFIX points are designed for holding child seats back against the seat, but I need to hold things down on the seat.

Athos, if you attach some extra boot tie down points to the front vertical section of the back seat mount at the rear of the rear foot well, you will be able to tie stuff down on the back seat ... :iconwink:

Should be able to pick up plenty of them at the local wrecker, perhaps?

Ratbag said:

if you attach some extra boot tie down points to the front vertical section of the back seat mount at the rear of the rear foot well, you will be able to tie stuff down on the back seat ... :iconwink:

Click to expand...

"back seat mount"?
Reaching in with fingertips under the front of the rear seat base there are two plastic clips. Pull them back and they unlock the loops that hold the seat down. I have not found any mounting points in the MY13 suitable to attach straps to.
I can take more photos tomorrow.

^ I meant the steel upright part of the floor pan that supports the seat squab.

Want to be careful not to drill any holes through the fuel tanks though ...
Or leave any bolts protruding into that area that the fuel tanks could be rammed into during a rear end prang ...

Hmmm. So far I've managed to avoid drilling any holes in our shiny new car.

^ I can understand that. Feel the same way about that sort of thing myself, even though Roo2 isn't all that new anymore.

What I use is the seat floor bolt locations.

I have used a few of these to give me extra tie-down locations off the existing floor bolt points.




Heaps more ideas here..

https://www.expeditionexchange.com/macscustomtiedowns/

PigSti said:

What I use is the seat floor bolt locations.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the vote.
I'll have another go at accessing the "inside" bolts (there'll just be a hidden clip under the plastic cover I haven't worked out yet) which will double the number of points I have.

I have used a few of these to give me extra tie-down locations off the existing floor bolt points.

Click to expand...

Where did you get them from? Somewhere local?

The rear seat bolts are recessed in the floor in the MY13 so I may have some more choices in parts. I'll swing past some hardware suppliers today and see what I can find. But those tie-down points from the Disco2 do look nice. I might drop by Ritter (in Burwood) and see if they have them, or I guess I head to some scrap yards and see if they have any Disco2s...

Heaps more ideas here..

Click to expand...

Hmmm, those collapsible wheel chocks from the Disco3 do look interesting...

Athos said:

Where did you get them from? Somewhere local?

Click to expand...

+1, I might get some too :iconwink:

Hopefully I'll have my hands on some of those Disco tie-down points Friday (otherwise it'll be a week later). Once I've got my hands on them and clarified that yes I did actually order the right thing I'll share the details with you.

And I did finally work out where to shove a screwdriver to pop off the "inside" feet covers on the MY13. When I put those brackets on the bolts they'll probably want to rattle around against the bodywork when not in use, but a bit of padding will fix that.

Athos said:

When I put those brackets on the bolts they'll probably want to rattle around against the bodywork when not in use, but a bit of padding will fix that.

Click to expand...

A couple of these wankers will eliminate any rattles!



:ebiggrin:

So, the LandRover brackets came in:

These cost me AU$8.60 each through Ritter Australia (in Burwood).

However the hole for the bolt is a couple of mil too small for the seat bolts in the MY13 Forester, but this is easily enlarged:

I have four of these although as it happens I haven't actually installed any yet. I did install two tie-down points salvaged from the back of a 2001 Forrie... I did have to enlarge the holes on those also.


Earlier I showed a photo of the plastic foot cover removed from the "outer" foot:

I've fitted tie-down points to these feet, and so far have left the "inner" feet alone as it's a bit messier.

With the driver's seat pushed all the way forward, here's what the rear footwell looks like:

Yes that's a brush and pan under the driver's seat: I learnt years ago on Landcruisers to clean around the rear gate before opening it to avoid sucking a ton more red dust into the vehicle...
The floor mat is an SCA special, trimmed to size. As you can see I've left the outer plastic cover off, and the hole in the floor that it was covering is covered by the corner of the mat.

Here it is with the mat lifted. You can see the bracket attached to the bolt and folded down: fits quite neatly.


When the bracket is flipped up and the mat put back into place, it protrudes just above the mat allowing a tie-down strap to be attached. I have 3m straps which each go over to one of the ISOFIX points at the back of the seat and back again.


Very happy so far. I may extend in the future and use some of the LR brackets elsewhere. In the meantime if you want one or two drop me a line: I might not actually need 4...

Gidday Athos

You have a PM ...

I used two up on the roof where the kiddie seat attaches. So instead of having a metal mesh separating the rear load area, I have a strong net that attaches from those high roof points and then continues down and under the rear load area so if I hit something hard the entire load is restrained by the net from coming forward.

Like this:

That is a great idea PigSti. I was considering getting the metal barrier for cargo but was thinking I don't want to keep it on at all times, and the shed is already pretty full... might have to do the same as you! Much easier to store.

This is the net (webbing) style I have. Strong but see through!

It has to be long enough to connect the bottom hooks to the front attachment points on the floor and to the rear roof bolts of the cargo area. So it cradles the entire load and holds it down and in the cargo area. Because it's webbing it is completely silent unlike the rattle banging of most metal cages!



Rolls up neatly and stores in the wheel well.