07 Ridgeline.ok to brace against front seat?

[Melanie]

I will be borrowing this vehicle tomorrow and will only have about 15 minutes to install 2 car seats (long story). I'll be using a Roundabout and Boulevard, both RF. Planning on using latch, I know there are lower anchors for all 3 seating positions in the back seat. I won't have access to the manual untill then, so I have a few questions.

1) Is is ok to brace against the back of the front seat? Vehicle has side airbags, and I thought I heard this makes a bracing problem in some vehicles.

2) Is it easy to find a place to put the D-ring for the rear teathers?

btw: I did talk to a very nice rep at Honda...he thought the bracing would be ok, but I'm not sure he fully understood my questions. He kept saying that the manual says for a toddler age 3-4 (my DD size), they need to FF. On a side note-at least he didnt say to turn at age 1 :)

[joolsplus3]

It's the advanced frontal airbags that would be the bracing problem. I would personally feel ok 'touching' to the front seatbacks, but not 'firmly bracing' (the manual in my Honda says not to cram cargo in the footwell behind the seatbacks...it pushes the seat forward, makes the sensor think the front occupant doesn't weigh much, and deploys the airbag at a slower/lower rate to prevent injuring a smaller front seat occupant...which is bad if you have a larger front occupant, of course).

Anyway, long story short, that's the reasoning behind not bracing in any given car with advanced airbags. Are there really 3 distinct sets of lower anchors? I know the center is approved, but thought there was only one other set back there? I'm sure it'll be obvious as soon as you see it.

Trucks are usually pretty simple to find a place to RF tether...generally nice big metal legs on the backs of the front seats...fingers crossed for you!

[Melanie]

Thanks for your reply....Yes, there are really 3 actual sets of latch anchors. This is my parents new truck and I checked it out when they first bought it. I was so impressed that they actually put three full sets. I don't know how well three seats at the same time would actually fit though.

[joolsplus3]

Ooh, very cool :). Well, three Regents probably won't fit, but odds are decent you can get two convertibles side by side. :thumbsup: