passive restraints?

[Radiant Peace]

I have a Britax Marathon that my sitter installed for my son in his 2000 Dodge Grand Caravan in the third row passenger side. I discovered this morning that seat the shoulder part of seatbelts that don't stay locked all the time. All of my vehicles always have had ALRs and I don't know what to do with one that has an ELR. What is the safe way to install a car seat here?

Thanks

[crunchierthanthou]

are you referring to a seatbelt that only locks on impact (ELR)? Are you certain that it doesn't lock at the latchplate? If it is truly an ELR, then you use the built in lock-offs on your MA. Follow your manual and you shouldn't have any problem.

[papooses]

All vehicles are required to have a manual locking mechanism since 1996 -- in addition to the Emergency Locking mechanism -- Dodge usually has Light Weight Locking buckle plates.... This is perfectly safe for installing carseats & often easier: if the LWL system does not stay in the locked position (very rare) then you would use the locking clip that comes with the carseat > http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/lockincss.aspx

This is a good time to remind everyone to always read BOTH carseat + vehicle manuals ;)

[skaterbabscpst]

Your sitter has locking latchplates. This means that the shoulder belt will lock in an emergency, but the seatbelt locks at the buckle for installing car seats. The shoulder portion of the belt is not what holds your car seat secure, that's the job of the lap portion of the belt.
The way locking latchplates work is the buckle holds the belt webbing parallel to itself, locking the lap belt in place.

[Radiant Peace]

I guess I'm just going to have to play with it. I discovered it this morning and that the seat didn't appear to be safely installed. The belt still moved freely and since I don't know if that's right or not I was late to work following my sitter back to his house with my kids in their safely installed seats in my van. I don't think they have the owner's manual for their van anymore. I guess I'll be picking one up today as well. Thanks!

[crunchierthanthou]

Was that lap portion moving freely, or just the shoulder? Are you installing ff or rf? It won't lock if the belt portions were not parallel coming out of the latchplate and sometimes that's difficult to achieve rf. You can twist the belt one half turn to help the latchplate lock. Or you can use the built in lock-offs on your MA.

ps, no fair editing after I've already hit reply. ;)

[Radiant Peace]

Sorry! :)
It is forward facing for my 45lb son. The shoulder portion moves freely into its retractor but the lap portion appears to be immovable.

[skaterbabscpst]

Your sitter has locking latchplates. This means that the shoulder belt will lock in an emergency, but the seatbelt locks at the buckle for installing car seats. The shoulder portion of the belt is not what holds your car seat secure, that's the job of the lap portion of the belt.
The way locking latchplates work is the buckle holds the belt webbing parallel to itself, locking the lap belt in place.

It's not unsafe, see my post above.

[joolsplus3]

Sorry! :)
It is forward facing for my 45lb son. The shoulder portion moves freely into its retractor but the lap portion appears to be immovable.

Yup, that's how it is, and it's fine. All you 'need' is a tight lapbelt for a proper install (and a top tether, if possible)

:)

[Radiant Peace]

Thanks for your help with this everyone. I got the seat installed correctly this morning. It only moved about an inch before and the buckle part did have a lock on it that kept the lap belt from moving. The only thing I changed was I fed the shoulder portion through the lock off opposite where it buckled. It does not move at all now.

Thanks!!