Yet another RF'ing tethering thread (07 Subaru Legacy Wgn)

[Spuyten Duyvil]

Our new Marathon arrived earlier this week, and I dutifully read both the car seat and the car's owner's manuals in preparation for installing it this weekend. I referred to the car owner's manual for instructions on how to attach the "Versa Tether" to an anchor point, but found none. So I e-mailed Subaru and got an unhelpful, almost evasive response:

Subaru offers tether anchor kits on the roof of the vehicle in the rear cargo area. Subaru does not, and has never offered anchor kits that would be installed under the driver or passenger seats. I apologize, but we are not in the position to provide you with information regarding where you would be able to anchor these tethers.

This surprised me, because based on some past questions I've asked, Subaru struck me as being a company that really "got" child safety issues.

So. I thought I had a pretty good notion of how and where to affix the tether, but this e-mail has me second-guessing. Does anyone have any recommendations? I'm good as long as I'm attaching directly to a part of the seat assembly that is directly bolted to the floor, yes?

[unityco]

I'm good as long as I'm attaching directly to a part of the seat assembly that is directly bolted to the floor, yes?

Pretty much, yup! :) I don't think any vehicle manufacturers in North America are on board with RF tethering (not that they don't allow it, they just ignore it,) so I don't think they have any "approved" RF tether points.

I'm not familiar with your vehicle, so I'm afraid I can't give you any more specific advice. :o

[crunchierthanthou]

Subaru really isn't that great as far as carseat installations go. They have LATCH limits of 60 lbs, but that's about it- and even those don't help much if the seat manufacturer has a lower limit (which most do). There aren't many vehicles with rf tether anchors. I think some Volvos and a few older Fords are about the only ones with actual anchors.

Rear facing tethering isn't the same as ff. You don't need an actual anchor. That's what the D-ring (tether connector strap) is for. I think most Subarus have exposed seat rails, which are great for rf tether points. I wrap the D-ring around the seat leg/rail just in front of the bolt in my Outback. It's far enough back that it doesn't interfere with the function on the passenger side, but it can't adjust all the way back on the driver's side with the electronic seat. It's not that big of a deal since the rf MA keeps it from being able to move back all the way anyway.