GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

This is probably going to sound very dumb, but in all the time I had my 1st gen Vibe I didn't know what those tracks in the hatch were for. I now know that they are for tie-downs but I'm wondering if anyone has a link to a video that shows how to assemble/use this (or can make one real quick)? I looked on YouTube but didn't find anything.

Thanks!

What tracks are you talking about?

kumquat wrote:What tracks are you talking about?

I'm guessing the tracks that are on the trunk panel. the one over the spare tire/tools area

In the first gen vibes, there are tracks on the hatch area deck and on the rear of the rear seat backs.

They originally came with a bag of custom retainers that fit in the slots and can be positioned as needed to provide a tie down point for securing cargo. If you bought the Vibe used, then it may or may not have come with these retainers. Originally, in the bag, there is an instruction sheet showing how to use the retainers, and I've attached a pic of that instruction sheet.

In the bag, there's 8 spring pieces, 8 nut plates, and 8 screw in loops. The instructions call these "tap plate", "retainer", and "loop tie down"., respectively

Look at the instructions, the first step is to put a nut plate on a spring thing, then slide this into the track. There are wider openings at one end of each track, as shown in steps 2 and 3. Then, screw the loop end screw thing into the nut plate, slide it to where you want it, and then tighten it.

I also attached a picture that kind of shows those steps.

If you don't have the custom hardware that came with the car, probably best to try to find a set on;line or at a junkyard instead of trying to come up with some other stuff to use in those tracks.

I've had two Vibes over the last 12.5 years, and have driven about 390K miles between the two, and don't think I have ever used those tracks/retainers. There's a thread here somewhere where a genviber made a custom dog barrier and used the tracks and the spring& nut plates to bolt it to the rear seat back

I would love to have a set of these. I do currently have a pretty nice bungie cord setup back there and I no longer even like taking the RAV or the Escape to grocery shop anymore. (I'll take the Supra, too, for a quick trip if I'm out. It works well only becuz space is limited so there's no room for things to slide around. lol)

joatmon wrote:Originally, in the bag, there is an instruction sheet showing how to use the retainers, and I've attached a pic of that instruction sheet.

Thank you! This was very helpful. And just one more thing that makes the 1st gen an awesome vehicle!!