Doh moment in new to me 80

[86tuning]

I've always just used one of these clips.

However, I position the clip away from all the edges that the seatbelts encounter. It usually ends up in the middle of the seat.

Preset the length to "too short to clip in" then weight the seat to force the seatbelt to click in.

Also, as mentioned, pull the belt out all the way to put it in childseat mode.

I've got two kids, and had two child seats in the middle row. Now it's one childseat and one booster on the other side.

For top anchors, if you're not running the 3rd row you can clip a forward facing seat top anchor in to the floor brace that the 3rd row clips into.

 

[gtfour43]

^^^ this is what I use as well with our Britax Marathon. Run the belt thru the seat then remove as much slack as possible(pushing down while pulling). Now grab the belt where it passes over the child seat and hold onto that. Now unlatch the seatbelt and slip on that buckle that ^^^86tuning mentioned. Go ahead and rebuckle the seat(gonna be tough so use all your weight). Once its buckled pull the belt all the way out engaging child seat mode(ratcheting). You should be good to go now unless you didnt remove enough slack before you put the clip on. Also on my cruiser the leather is very hard making it slippery. I bought one of the rubberized seat protectors from babiesRus. It helps in keeping the seat from sliding when its tightened down. HTH.

 

[Offroads4x4]

Have you looked at strapping it down by mounting eye straps secured to the floor behind the seats?
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/312cwkXaO9L._SL500_AA300_.jpg
You could run a strap under them and up to the seat to secure it.

 

[ElPolloBlanco]

Let 'em sit in the floor board. I did it and I'm still alive. Just kidding. For me I use the seat belts. Pull them all the way out to activate the ratchet lock, route and buckle. Then sit in the car seat and tighten the hell out of it. Then I took the single strap over the back of the seat and connected it to the tie down point behind the seat and tighten the hell out of it too. My car seat doesn't budge. I was thinking about doing my own latch system mock up. Something that involved maybe some seatbelt straps and some clips or some other system just for added security, but I'd still use the seat belts. A LATCH system or lack there of is no reason to sell an amazing vehicle.

 

[PACNW96]

I've always just used one of these clips.

I used the above for my two little girls and worked like a charm. The OEM seat belt width is also wider than the adjustable latch belt so I felt this was a better, more robust solution overall.

 

[Koffer]

I also have a nice Recaro brand seat that my GF uses most of the time

 

[MoGas]

I've always just used one of these clips.

However, I position the clip away from all the edges that the seatbelts encounter. It usually ends up in the middle of the seat.

Preset the length to "too short to clip in" then weight the seat to force the seatbelt to click in.

Also, as mentioned, pull the belt out all the way to put it in childseat mode.

I've got two kids, and had two child seats in the middle row. Now it's one childseat and one booster on the other side.

For top anchors, if you're not running the 3rd row you can clip a forward facing seat top anchor in to the floor brace that the 3rd row clips into.

I used this method. It took me with weight on the seat and my wife clicking the belt connectors. Kind of a pain, but once the seats were locked in (we have twins), we didn't have to drag the in-laws around any more.

 

[MoGas]

Oh, and put a sacrificial blanket on the seat as a seat cover and cut slots for the belt to go through. It helps reduce creasing of the leather and can just get tossed in the washer to clean. I did this and was very happy. The leather still creases, but not too bad. I coated it really well with saddle soap to keep it soft. The creases all came out after a day of being parked in the Summer sun.

 

[Offroads4x4]

You could always install a eye strap to the floor behind the seat and strap it down.
JM2C

 

[chukardog]

Off roads4X4 and 86 tuning have it nailed. 2 self tapping metal screws, an 1/8" drill bit for a pilot home and and eyelet, it takes less than 5 minutes. Or 86 tuning's process, I like that one. Set seat belt too short and compress seat till it locks. super tight. Done.

 

[mjcraft]

As having recently installed a second car seat in my LX (have a 1 wk old !), I'd like to just add a couple things:

I have a convertible, front-facing seat behind me for my 32 month-old. I use some cut-up pool noodle (as suggested earlier) under part of the base for positioning the base better on the seat, and drawer liner for greatly increasing the friction on the leather. The seat DOES slightly recline from the locked upright position, allowing you to put a little more tension on the belt once everything is tight and you latch the second row seat. It is a MAJOR hassle to get this tight , but once it is, the thing will not move more than a 1/4" when yanking on the thing. It leaves major indentions on the leather, though , hopefully they will come out!

To help with this install (using the belt clips and fully retracting the belt) I temporarily used the latch anchors on the seat frame and rear anchor until all was tight with the belt arrangement...then I disconnected the latch stuff. I also kneel in the seat when installing, and if you are tall and/or limber enough, you can use the ceiling to push against.

I installed a rear-facing infant seat (base) in the center position in the middle row with the lap belt. Luckily, it does not interfere with my convertible seat, but just barely. Instead of drawer liner to add more friction to the leather seat interface, I used a rubber bathtub mat that I found on sale at the local grocery store. It works awesome and is super-sticky to the base and leather! I highly recommend this stuff for your seat installs.

Oh, thanks for the link to the Chicago Tribune article...puts things in perspective for sure! I may not use that car seat base after all!

-M

 

[Ebag333]

Oh, thanks for the link to the Chicago Tribune article...puts things in perspective for sure! I may not use that car seat base after all!

No problem.

Keep in mind it's a few years old, so some of the manufacturers have changed their seats because of it. OTOH some have basically shrugged their shoulders and ignored it.

One thing I did take away from reading it, was of all the convertible seats they almost all failed. We actually had the only brand that didn't come off it's base (at least partially), not by intent but by happy accident. I was still very glad to get rid of it when my son outgrew it, and now he's in the non-removable kind all the time.

If you look at the construction of any removable seat, the way that the seat latches into the base is not impressive. Most are held on by two little plastic little tabs. There's a reason that they're only good up to 30 lbs (at most, a lot of them aren't even that high), the tabs won't take a lot of force on them. It's no surprise to me that nearly all of the removable seats failed.

From now on I won't be using any removable seats for my kids (this one or any down the road). The wanted to use them for the convenience, but that's not a good enough reason for me to sacrifice safety.

 

[Mfav20]

Get yourself one of these ratcheting tighteners per car seat and you will be able to get those whippersnapper seats nice and snug. I'm guessing that with the kids the 2nd row will be reserved for kids' seating for quite a while, and thus it's easier to strap those seats in and leave them there. You can also run a strap back to the D-rings behind the middle row seats. I bought my 80 when wifey was preggers with #1 10 years ago. When #2 came along 27 months later, #1 would pop the seatbelt loose on #2's seat just to be a sneaky monkey, so I ran straps back to the D-rings and kept them tight, and those seats were not going anywhere. I also added anchor points to the metal frame feet of the 2nd row seats in order to strap down the rear-facing seat base (it was the click and carry type of seat). It might take some creative thinking, but I'd feel safer with my kids, or anyone else's kids, in my 80 than in just about any other vehicle. Are your kids rear-facing, forward facing, or in boosters...what's the combo?

Yes i am thinking about purchasing a 97 LC, i have an infant that is in a rear facing seat with the base. Is there a way to safely latch the base down?? Thank you!

 

[M1C4H]

I’ve had a Britax Boulevard in my 80 for a year or so, my son was in a Graco infant seat system prior. He’s rear facing and I have a rated carabeaner for a few T I clip to the seat mounting bracket (front passenger) and use the provided strap system (comes out from behind a plastic door) to further anchor the seat down. As long as you compensate for this when you’re leveling the seat for where it needs to be it makes that seat unmoveable, even with the seatbelt as a primary tie down.

 

[Mfav20]

I’ve had a Britax Boulevard in my 80 for a year or so, my son was in a Graco infant seat system prior. He’s rear facing and I have a rated carabeaner for a few T I clip to the seat mounting bracket (front passenger) and use the provided strap system (comes out from behind a plastic door) to further anchor the seat down. As long as you compensate for this when you’re leveling the seat for where it needs to be it makes that seat unmoveable, even with the seatbelt as a primary tie down.

Would you mind posting a pic?

 

[M1C4H]

Not at all, can do first thing in the a.m., got a year a half old and a week old newborn sleeping. It’s nothing glamorous but for a piece of mind it’s nothing but solid.

Our ‘18 4Runner has the Latch system and our brandy new Britax base for the removeable infant seat has hella play in the end opposing the latch system, more towards the front passenger. That’s just how it is because of how it anchors. NOW if that base had an additional system for something like I’ve done with the Boule, we’d be cooking with gas. Just for a piece of mind, not everything new will work with everything. And yes, I reefed the everloving hell out of that base, 260 pounds of man on that thing, I’ll need new leather when we’re done with that base haha

 

[M1C4H]

 

[Ruggedly]

I’ve set my toddler’s seat up similar to @M1C4H. About to move my little dude up to the permanent style seat as well. With those floor anchors, I feel really good about their safety.

While this was an old thread, I’m really surprised nobody hounded on what I would consider one of the most important aspects of child car seat safety: KEEP YOUR KID REAR-FACING FOR AS LONG AS POSSIBLE. I can’t believe how little regulation and testing is done in the US for child car seats compared to Sweden, etc. However, there is a big consensus that whiplash is much more prone to occur in a small child because their heads are a much bigger percentage of their body weight when small (something like 25% as a baby). Their necks just aren’t strong enough to support those sort of forces. My kid is over 3 and he will be rear-facing for a while still. He also doesn’t complain or protest because that’s just how it is.

 

[ab0tj]

When my kiddo was still in a carseat I always used LATCH and ran the seatbelt through for good measure. The LATCH stuff just didn't seem all that solid compared to the beefy strap used for a seatbelt.

 

[bencallaway]

Great info in this thread. Makes me happy to have joined. The VW board I came from would roast someone for posting this much detail about car seat mounting. Hell my VW’s have only have waist belts in the back.

Also, I don’t have kids. I don’t even like kids.