22-06-2011, 05:04 PM
Previous cars I have owned had a cheap'n'cheerful dog guard fitted but they were never really successful. This time I thought I would do the job right and buy a decent one. I got a second hand Sanders off e-bay.
Although the standard of manufacture was far superior to any I had owned previously, there was still the problem of fitment.
Manufacturer's instructions suggest that the guard should be mounted vertically using the telescopic legs and suckers supplied.
How do you get suckers to adhere to a fabric coated headlining?
What happens when the guard is mounted vertically and the dogs start moving about and using this method is an encroachment on available space anyway?
I decided to mount mine sloping in line with the rear seats and went about planning how to attach it.
The first idea, which I abandoned, was to make special clamps to bolt the guard top and bottom to the seats. This would have been a bit fiddly to remove and refit and would have neccesitated drilling the seats.
KISS..... Keep It Simple Stupid... thinking along those lines, I knocked together a workmanlike idea using some scrap pieces of timber and some "J" bolts (hook bolts).
In use, the timber is shaped and cut out to fit between the bars and is drilled to accept the hook bolts.
Another piece of timber is mounted crosswise to rest against the rear seats and is held on the bars with two cross drilled central heating pipe clips.
The guard is placed into position, the hook bolts hook around the middle headrest and the wood offered up to the guard. Fit nuts and washers and away you go.
Have a look at the photos, no dimensions given as each guard will be different but it gives you the general idea and is much more secure than relying on the supplied suckers or tieing up using cable ties. Enjoy
Although the standard of manufacture was far superior to any I had owned previously, there was still the problem of fitment.
Manufacturer's instructions suggest that the guard should be mounted vertically using the telescopic legs and suckers supplied.
How do you get suckers to adhere to a fabric coated headlining?
What happens when the guard is mounted vertically and the dogs start moving about and using this method is an encroachment on available space anyway?
I decided to mount mine sloping in line with the rear seats and went about planning how to attach it.
The first idea, which I abandoned, was to make special clamps to bolt the guard top and bottom to the seats. This would have been a bit fiddly to remove and refit and would have neccesitated drilling the seats.
KISS..... Keep It Simple Stupid... thinking along those lines, I knocked together a workmanlike idea using some scrap pieces of timber and some "J" bolts (hook bolts).
In use, the timber is shaped and cut out to fit between the bars and is drilled to accept the hook bolts.
Another piece of timber is mounted crosswise to rest against the rear seats and is held on the bars with two cross drilled central heating pipe clips.
The guard is placed into position, the hook bolts hook around the middle headrest and the wood offered up to the guard. Fit nuts and washers and away you go.
Have a look at the photos, no dimensions given as each guard will be different but it gives you the general idea and is much more secure than relying on the supplied suckers or tieing up using cable ties. Enjoy
Berlingo Multispace 2.0HDI '54 reg Mediterranean Blue