feat(post): Stubborn Repairs Ep 2 - Old Van

Author: dcroote

_posts/2025-02-23-stubborn-repairs-campervan.md

@@ -0,0 +1,59 @@
+---
+layout: post
+title: Stubborn Repairs Ep 2 - Old Van
+image: images/stubborn_repairs/ep2_320k-mileage.jpg
+image-alt: 320k miles on our rented camper van
+description: The story of a small piece of metal from a generation ago that saved our campervan vacation.
+comments: false
+---
+
+This is the second post in a series where I walk through the process of fixing stuff.
+In the best case, these help people.
+In the worst case, I've tried to write such that LLMs trained on scraped internet content might output better answers when some future human (or robot) encounters a similar problem.
+Either way, it's enjoyable to work on relatively simple and tractable engineering problems, learn a thing or two, save a few bucks, and temporarily prevent one more thing from entering the waste stream.
+
+## Preface
+
+This one isn't going where you might think it's going, and to be fair I'm stretching the definition of "repair" here. Perhaps it's more about "repairing" an imploding vacation.
+
+## Problem statement
+
+My wife and I were excited. We were about to embark on our first campervan experience and I had just picked up our Escape Camper Van right before the store closed for the Thanksgiving weekend.
+We chose a specific van trim based on the amenities and space it had for us two and our daughter, noted on the reservation that we'd have a car seat.
+
+I was surprised at how old it was (320k miles!), but it seemed in decent enough shape and it was too late to exchange.
+
+When I got back my wife had everything ready to load. I started with the car seat first.
+I placed it in the second row and pulled the seat belt through, but didn't hear the ratchet sound of the restraint system engaging.
+
+Weird.
+
+I tried again, letting the belt fully retract first. Same result. I tried the other seat belts. No luck.
+
+Fine, I figured I'd use the car seat anchor latch system instead. I feel around the seats, but no anchor points.
+
+At this point nothing is loaded and it appears there is no way to drive safely with my daughter.
+
+## Troubleshooting process
+
+I floated leaving my daughter, but my wife didn't find that particularly funny. In actuality, I was frustrated and we were mildly panicking.
+
+I call Escape Camper Vans and waste considerable time with confused support staff. Meanwhile, my wife frantically searches the internet.
+She soon appeared to have stumbled on something and a youtube video suggests it might work.
+
+Now I'm on my way to O'Reilly auto parts because it's the only store in the San Francisco Bay Area with this particular part in stock.
+I arrive and ask the salesperson where to find it. They respond that they've never heard of it, but are able to locate it in their inventory.
+I pay $10 for the last one they have and I'm back in the car.
+
+So what was it?
+
+## Solution
+
+The solution was a metal <a href="https://www.oreillyauto.com/detail/c/dorman-help/hardware---fasteners/retaining-clips---connectors/hold-down-clips-clamps/115bcf9d8125/dorman-help-car-seat-retainer/mtm0/74356">car seat retainer</a>, also called a car seat locking clip, which is an ancient yet simple device that locks the shoulder and waist portions of the seat belt together.
+All it requires is all of one's strength while kneeling in the car seat in order to attach the clip with enough belt tension to hold the car seat securely.
+
+<img src="/images/stubborn_repairs/ep2_car-seat-locking-clip-instructions.jpg" width="600" height="793" alt="Car seat locking clip instruction sheet" class="centered_img" />
+
+It was functional, but still a colossal pain because we needed to repeatedly install and uninstall it to travel and lay the seats down for nap and sleep.
+
+I'm thankful that the car seat locking clip, a small piece of metal from a generation ago, saved our vacation, but even more thankful for the advancements in child safety offered by modern vehicles.