Need install help for 07 Prius

[Unregistered]

I am trying to get 3 seats installed in our 2007 Toyota Prius, and have some questions.

The seats I currently have are 2 radians, a MA and a TB. I am not opposed to buying another seat if necessary.

My children are:
10 months, so definitely rf.
3 years.
6.5 years old (needs minimum of booster, prefer Radian).

Right now the baby has been in the MA.

I haven't been able to find anything in the vehicle manual about twisting the belt stalks. To get the Radian tight in the middle position, it needs to be twisted. Is this ok?

Does a seat need to be completely tight without the top tether to be considered installed correctly?

If I install the MA driver side outboard with the seatbelt, I can get it farther from the center of the car, but it tilts toward the side. Can I use a noodle or something to level it? It's tight, just leaning and I'd like it to be flat.

I am thinking of doing Radian rf driver side, FPSVD booster center, and Radian ff pass side. This would eventually change to the one Radian being ff. Does anyone have experience with this particular install in a small sedan?

Thanks for your help, I'm going nuts trying to make this work!!

[crunchierthanthou]

If it doesn't mention twisitng, it is most likely okay. In fact, I only know of Subaru who outright prohibited it, but even they have changed their stance. Twisting the buckle stalk is fine.

Yes, you need to have less than 1" of movement in any direction at the beltpath before you attach the top tether. Do you have the recline foot down on the Radian? It also helps to push down into the seat bottom, rather than back into the seatback when installing the radian.

Seatbelts often work best for fitting three across since you can move the seat closer to the door, but the contour of the seat can sometimes make that difficult (like you said). Unfortunately, you can't put anything under the base forward facing. You can only use pool noodles or rolled towels rear facing. A slight tip is fine, as long as your child is still comfortable and you can get a tight install.

[sfeitler]

We have a 2004 Prius (I am 99% sure the back seats are the same--nearly everything else is). We have a Marathon RF driver's side, Radian FF middle, and occasional booster outboard passenger side. If you install the MA driver's side with the seatbelt, you can shove it pretty close to the door. It leans a little bit, but not a ton IMO. The Radian in the middle works best if you twist the buckle a couple of times. And it takes two of us to install it there...

Radian passenger side FF is difficult, but not impossible. We had to put the recline foot down, and twist the buckle stalk, and get it in as tight as we could then unbuckle the seatbelt, retract a click, and rebuckle. All three. It was quite a challenge. I did not try it shoved over to the door enough--when I had it outboard, there was not enough room in the middle for a seat.

I have not tried the Radian RF at all, and I haven't tried it FF on the driver's side. It's my sense that the Radian will be more affected by the seat contour because it's so narrow. But I could be wrong.

One thing about putting the booster in the middle in the arrangement you suggested, is that it's really easy to accidentally unbuckle the driver's side seat, because it will be using the buckle towards the center of the car, and the booster will be using the buckle towards the driver's side of the car. When we have a harnessed seat outboard driver's side installed with the seatbelt, we try hard to have either a harnessed seat in the middle, or nothing in the middle.

-Sarah

[smileymom]

Hi, OP here.

I was able to get the seats in like this:
Radian rf driver side, Radian ff middle (super tight!) and MA ff pass side.

I have another question though:
The rf Radian is tight at the belt path, but if I lift up on the back of the seat, I can lift/rotate it forward. Does this make sense? I am thinking it's not a good install, but would appreciate some advice! I haven't tethered it yet, so maybe that would take care of the problem?

Thanks for all the help!

p.s. Sarah--I had read your post about fitting your seats, but for the life of me I can't get the rf MA/ff Radian combo to work!

[crunchierthanthou]

Really, the back lifting isn't an issue. It's just part of how rf seats fit. It's fine as long as there is less that 1" of movement beltpath. :)

That being said, did you attach the rf tether? It's is allowed with the Radian. It's not required, but will keep the back from lifting up.

[sfeitler]

p.s. Sarah--I had read your post about fitting your seats, but for the life of me I can't get the rf MA/ff Radian combo to work!

Glad you found a combo that works!

Maybe the seat contours are a bit different between 2004 and 2007... we have the MA RF behind the driver, pushed way out towards the door. We have to install the Radian in the center first, then install the MA, and it takes DH and me together to get the seats in. I'm not thrilled with the way the MA sits next to the Radian--they don't mesh at all--but it works ok, and gives us enough room for a booster... every time I put them in again, I wish I had a couple of Radians instead!

-Sarah