(wife with caveman tone) Baby seat no safe in Flintstone vehicle! (1 Viewer)

[DawtSpot]

Me: '92 FJ80

1. Wife wants me to sell my LC
2. Says it's not safe with the way the baby seats have to strap in instead of clipping in.
3. I suck at welding, and my wife knows this, soooo out of the question.

Will the rear seats of a newer FJ (with baby seat clips) fit into my '92?

 

[MrMacdugal]

The need for the clip in style rear facing seat is such a brief time period, it would suck to have to sell then not need that feature in a year and a few months.
If I'm not mistaken, most can clip in or get belted as an alternative... I forget. My kid isnt even 3 yet and that feels like an eternity ago.
I sold a perfectly awesome 60 series(my only vehicle at the time) just before we had my daughter. Looking back it was totally not necessary to sell it.

 

[saucebox]

Seatbelts are rated for way more than the latch anchors are, and they're plenty safe. You'll have to RTFM on the seat you buy, but other than a little bit of extra hassle to belt it in (not a lot), it's 100% as safe as the clips. The carseat manual for whatever seat she wants will discuss what will or won't work and the proper way to do it safely, go from there.

Edit: good luck! (And don't sell the 80!)

LATCH Weight Limits

There are actually weight limits on the LATCH system. For most vehicle manufacturers that lower anchor weight limit is 65 pounds.

saferide4kids.com

 

[Rusty Marlin]

Get you one of these. It takes all the play out of the seat belt when it passes through the base of the baby seat.
They are awsome! It makes the seat one with the truck.
Amazon product ASIN B0049C3WTQ
They are available for a lot less than that price if you look around.

 

[jpoole]

You don't have to sell the 80 but you do have to put some effort into getting the car seats mounted securely. I was able to safely mount rear and forward facing seats in our 80. Fortunately we have recently graduated to boosters.

For the rear facing seats, which are relatively easy to mount, I went with a 2 part setup where the base was permanently mounted to the car and the kid carrier snapped in and out of that base. The base was secured to the car seat using the seatbelt. An important trick that works in my '97 80 and in most newer cars is that when using the seatbelt securing method you want to fully extend the seatbelt (pull it all the way out) to engage the ratcheting function as it then retracts from full extension. This feature was added to seatbelts to support mounting car seats with the seat belt and allows you to snug the seat into place with the belt and not have the kid seat flopping around when mounted due to a loose seatbelt. Your 2nd and 3rd row seat belts should have this feature.

When we moved up to forward facing seats I found that the Evenflow Tribute car seats used metal hooks that are intended to connect to the latch system. I was able to use those metal hooks to connect the evenflow seats to the 80. On the inner side of the kid seat I used the hook around the loop on the short end of the seatbelt. The female end of the seatbelt has the webbing looped and stitched over the socket/receptacle for the seatbelt and you can use the metal hook from the car seat to connect to the webbing loop on the inside edge of the kid seat, which is very secure. On the outer edge of the seat I would mount the metal hook over the bottom hinge plate. The third, top strap goes under the headrest and down to the floor anchor in the rear cargo area behind the 2nd row seat.

I should point out that with the evenflow seat metal hooks you have to put the metal hook in the correct place on the 80's seat hinge plate so that it doesn't slip off. You also need to orient the strap in the correct direction so that you can pull the tensioner and get the seat really tightly mounted. I would use my body weight to push the kid seat down into the cushion of the car/80 seat while I pulled the slack out of the lower retaining strap. Once the lower strap was tight I would add the third strap over the seat back, to the floor, and just snug it up but not make the 3rd strap too tight. From there you wiggle/shake the seat around and see if it loosens up, then repeat until it stays secure even with pulling/pushing on the seat. If you pull too tightly on the 3rd strap then you tilt the seat back and push your kids feet forward. This doesn't matter as much when they are small but is more relevant when they are taller.

When needed I was able to mount the same forward facing car seats in the 3rd row using the same techniques (seatbelt loop inside, hinge plate outside, cargo hook behind seat).

I used a seat protector under the car seats. It helps a lot with cleaning up the mess and also will help prevent deforming the leather at the contact points from the car seat.

Most of us 80s are gear heads and you can apply similar skills/attention to keeping the kid car seats setup correctly. Shoulder strap positioning, cushion adjustments, etc. can make a big difference in kid comfort while traveling and when they are young they can't tell you if things are off, they just cry. You have to figure it all out for them as part of the efforts to travel as peacefully and safely as possible.

Good luck!

 

[AgentOrange]

Get you one of these. It takes all the play out of the seat belt when it passes through the base of the baby seat.
They are awsome! It makes the seat one with the truck.
Amazon product ASIN B0049C3WTQ
They are available for a lot less than that price if you look around.

I used this in my 87 4Runner when our oldest was born. Worked great! Traveled all over the country in that rig and that seat never moved unless I wanted it to

 

[FMC80]

Don’t sell the 80 x3. My wife and I did the car seat and the booster thing until we discovered these. Takes a little adjustment, but they’re great. Travel Car Seat | Ride Safer Travel Vest | SafeRide4Kids - https://shop.saferide4kids.com/products/ridesafer-travel-vest

 

[nickolai]

We use this seat in our 80:

Graco 4Ever DLX SnugLock - https://www.babyonthemove.co.nz/products/car-seats/toddler-car-seats/graco-4ever-dlx-snuglock/?utm_source=Google+Shopping&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Google+Shopping+Product+Feed&gclid=CjwKCAjwjMiiBhA4EiwAZe6jQ9pjpZ78erwINOZCIfMt2W5LmD-Iyi7ysdqmbeADYT8eu0oFzeY-mRoC0CoQAvD_BwE

We were recently in an accident and the little fella was totally fine. Seat didn't budge. Buy this and keep the 80.

 

[DawtSpot]

You don't have to sell the 80 but you do have to put some effort into getting the car seats mounted securely. I was able to safely mount rear and forward facing seats in our 80. Fortunately we have recently graduated to boosters.

For the rear facing seats, which are relatively easy to mount, I went with a 2 part setup where the base was permanently mounted to the car and the kid carrier snapped in and out of that base. The base was secured to the car seat using the seatbelt. An important trick that works in my '97 80 and in most newer cars is that when using the seatbelt securing method you want to fully extend the seatbelt (pull it all the way out) to engage the ratcheting function as it then retracts from full extension. This feature was added to seatbelts to support mounting car seats with the seat belt and allows you to snug the seat into place with the belt and not have the kid seat flopping around when mounted due to a loose seatbelt. Your 2nd and 3rd row seat belts should have this feature.

When we moved up to forward facing seats I found that the Evenflow Tribute car seats used metal hooks that are intended to connect to the latch system. I was able to use those metal hooks to connect the evenflow seats to the 80. On the inner side of the kid seat I used the hook around the loop on the short end of the seatbelt. The female end of the seatbelt has the webbing looped and stitched over the socket/receptacle for the seatbelt and you can use the metal hook from the car seat to connect to the webbing loop on the inside edge of the kid seat, which is very secure. On the outer edge of the seat I would mount the metal hook over the bottom hinge plate. The third, top strap goes under the headrest and down to the floor anchor in the rear cargo area behind the 2nd row seat.

I should point out that with the evenflow seat metal hooks you have to put the metal hook in the correct place on the 80's seat hinge plate so that it doesn't slip off. You also need to orient the strap in the correct direction so that you can pull the tensioner and get the seat really tightly mounted. I would use my body weight to push the kid seat down into the cushion of the car/80 seat while I pulled the slack out of the lower retaining strap. Once the lower strap was tight I would add the third strap over the seat back, to the floor, and just snug it up but not make the 3rd strap too tight. From there you wiggle/shake the seat around and see if it loosens up, then repeat until it stays secure even with pulling/pushing on the seat. If you pull too tightly on the 3rd strap then you tilt the seat back and push your kids feet forward. This doesn't matter as much when they are small but is more relevant when they are taller.

When needed I was able to mount the same forward facing car seats in the 3rd row using the same techniques (seatbelt loop inside, hinge plate outside, cargo hook behind seat).

I used a seat protector under the car seats. It helps a lot with cleaning up the mess and also will help prevent deforming the leather at the contact points from the car seat.

Most of us 80s are gear heads and you can apply similar skills/attention to keeping the kid car seats setup correctly. Shoulder strap positioning, cushion adjustments, etc. can make a big difference in kid comfort while traveling and when they are young they can't tell you if things are off, they just cry. You have to figure it all out for them as part of the efforts to travel as peacefully and safely as possible.

Good luck!

Thanks so much for your response! That was very helpful.

 

[CharlieS]

It's too bad you need to let the wife go. Oh well, at least you have an 80!

 

[PIP]

80's are an awesome family vehicle. What other vehicle comfortably holds 7 plus gear to go skiing, remote camping or just take it downtown and easily parallel park it in a tight spot.

Plus they're a tank. You're kid is safer in an 80 than just about anything else.

 

[devo]

Honestly, maybe you’re ready for a 200?

 

[nickolai]

Honestly, maybe you’re ready for a 200?

Or a 300

 

[97 FZJ80]

Me: '92 FJ80

1. Wife wants me to sell my LC
2. Says it's not safe with the way the baby seats have to strap in instead of clipping in.
3. I suck at welding, and my wife knows this, soooo out of the question.

Will the rear seats of a newer FJ (with baby seat clips) fit into my '92?

My kids came home on their first ride in the 97 LX450. I researched LATCH solutions and ended ordering the tether anchor adaptor that was sold by Canadian Honda. It was just a cargo hook that hooks into the seat latch post in the floor to form a tether point. I used this in conjunction with the Might Tite to mount the forward facing seats.

If your wife insist on the official tether part, I still have this tether hook that I pay some serious $$$ and shipped in from Canada. Drop my your mailing address and I'll send it to you.

My kids are grown now and they now fight to drive the 80

 

[KYLXFJ]

I would be mindful of the fact almost all LATCH systems I have seen are not applicable to the center seats. The center seats safety benefits of being much farther distanced from the exterior of the vehicle far outweighs any purported benefits of using the latch anchors as opposed to center belt, in my opinion. Of our four vehicles, the 80 series is the one he gets driven in if going anywhere more trafficked than B roads. For what its worth, we have the Nuna Pipa lite system with a drop down leg and it works wonderful.

 

[BILT4ME]

Stop at your local fire department and ask for assistance to install the seat. They can show you how and even do it for you.

 

[iptman]

Me: '92 FJ80

1. Wife wants me to sell my LC
2. Says it's not safe with the way the baby seats have to strap in instead of clipping in.
3. I suck at welding, and my wife knows this, soooo out of the question.

Will the rear seats of a newer FJ (with baby seat clips) fit into my '92?

Are you talking about only 1 car seat? If so then the middle seat position with just the lap belt is where you want to install it. You can get that belt super tight on a car seat, you just have to get in there with your knee on it and put all your weight on it, shilt around a bit while tightening the belt. That sucker will be secure plus that's the safeist spot in any car.

 

[thatcabledude]

Lol.. New parents. The kid will be fine. Put the seat in the middle, put your knee in it with your body weight, and tighten seat belt. It’s not going anywhere.

 

[ajordan1975]

First time parents are the best!
You'll be fine!
Go to the fire department if you're second guessing yourself when putting the carrier in.

 

[jonheld]

My 91 FJ80 was my wife's daily for the first 6 years or so. Took both kids home from the hospital in it. Learn how to use an infant seat properly. There was never even a thought for a different vehicle.