I have two barrel chairs in my 85 Regal and am quite sure they are original equipment. They are not attached to the floor. In any kind of a crash, I'm sure they would become airborne in some direction. Is it possible they were originally fastened to the floor and one of the previous owners removed the bolts? If not, what would be the best way to make them secure? There are holes in each leg that look like they're made for some kind of a bolt. They don't have seat belts, so, if someone were sitting in them, they (the person) would become airborne, creating another interesting situation. With the way Barth's are built, the Barth would probably end up in much better condition than any of the occupants.

My tub chairs are loose, & there's no evidence they have ever been tied down. I agree they could become missiles in a crash, but if you collided with that much force, flying furniture would be the least of your problems. Odds are your cabinets & their contents would be up front with you, too.

Your Regal has survived 22 years without that happening. Mine has gone 17 years & 59000 miles. The fact that the chairs are loose is a cautionary factor in your driving. Bolting them down could lead to a false sense of security.

If an 18 wheeler comes into your lane & you go head-on, bolted down chairs won't make much difference. The key is to drive in a manner that prevents you from being the cause of a crash.

I have seen chairs held down by an inverted U-shaped steel strap with a flange drilled for a bolt through the floor. Short of bolting through all 4 legs, I doubt that anything would really help in a severe crash, & bolting the chairs down by any means will restrict your use of the living area.

I'm a belt-and-suspenders guy myself, but there are times that philosophy can be carried too far. IMHO, bolting the chairs down is in that category.

quote:

Originally posted by olroy:
I'm a belt-and-suspenders guy myself, but there are times that philosophy can be carried too far. IMHO, bolting the chairs down is in that category.

I'll see your belt and braces, and raise you a rabbit foot and a St. Christopher medal. On an SOB Class C, I installed seat belts in the dinette and ran them all the way down to the frame. I insisted the kids ride facing the rear.

Our loose Barth chairs are now in a fraternity house, and I put in a pair of swivel tub chairs on real good steel pedestals with sliding swivel mounts. Since just the two of us travel, there are no seat belts or air bags on the chairs, though.

I had a Southwind with two swivel cocktail chairs. Each had a seat belt. There was a placard on the wall by each seat, saying the seat was not to be occupied while the vehicle was moving.

Having fallen off high bar stools in low places, I really did appreciate the belts at cocktail time.

Seat belts. No pun intended

Yup. I've had 2 smaller S.O.B.s; dinettes, no sofas. Both were similarly placarded. Exploring the innards in both, I found seat belts bolted to the floor, in one case lying loose, in the other, neatly rolled & rubber-banded, in both cases dust-covered, & obviously never used.

Normal human stupidity? Product liability overkill? Who knows?