Passat Wagon Dog Grates?

$400 that's silly!!! I'd phone around to the pet stores in your area to find a universal one that fits.

"Leigh Kendall" wrote in news:N9rYb.11004$ snipped-for-privacy@newssvr31.news.prodigy.com:

A 48" wire closet shelf, with the corners slightly bent ($4, I think -- white plastic coated steel from Home Depot), fits nicely, and snugly between the rear seat headrests and the window and the C posts and the roof in our 99 Passat Wagon.

Easy to install, easy to remove, and does the job. I've got an 85 pound Lab/Rot mix and a 40# collie mix.

It actually touches the roof and the glass, so you might get a tiny bit of wear and tear, but I haven't noticed any the several times we've used it.

Bob

Thanks for the suggestion. However, the thing I began to get concerned about though with all these "homegrown" solutions, including even the $40 universal units you can buy from pet stores, is how well will they hold up when the sh*t hits the fan. In other words, if we're in a high impact accident, I don't want anything, luggage, dog etc coming through that gate as a projectile into the rest of the car. Been thinking about this even more since we have our first child coming in April.

With that in mind, I've started to think that maybe shelling out $329 for the grate on 1stvwparts.com is not that bad after all considering it's securely fastened in.

Leigh

Fastened or not, you have to wonder if that grate is really up to the task of stopping a 50# luggage piece or dog from coming through to the passengers. My guess is that they are not built to withstand the forces that would be applied in your "high impact" scenario.

"Leigh Kendall" wrote in news:SyIYb.23228$ snipped-for-privacy@newssvr16.news.prodigy.com:

Having been in a sorta high impact collision (I ran a red light at 45mph and hit a vehicle turning into me), I agree that safety is important.

Consider your dogs. Mine are pretty much on the floor, curled up in little balls after 10 minutes. As long as the car doesn't roll, the only thing they're going to hit is the back of the seat.

If you're really concerned (i.e. paranoid) you can harness the dogs in the cargo area.

How secure are VW headrests for impacts from dogs from behind? I don't really know. But I do know that if the car impacts something while upside down, I'm probably going to be a lot more concerned with what I've just hit, than what's behind my head.

Bob

Jim B.

snipped-for-privacy@doesthisblockporkmindspring.com wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

Through the headrest? How fast and what did he hit?

Very true. A 100# dog at 100mph can hit hard. Especially if the car rolls before impact.

Our trips are 6 and 18 hours. Usually when we take the dogs, we take the truck, with the dogs in the back under the cap.

In the case of the Passat Wagon though, if you had a heavy metal grate behind the (extended) headrests of the rear seat and behind the C pillar [which is what I was talking about], they (dogs) wouldn't be very likely to come forward through the back of the front seat. Not in any sort of accident one would survive anyway.

Bob