tethers In a Sprinter, solution?

[Kabes]

Yesterday Dh and I went and test drove an 03 Dodge Sprinter. We are considering buying it but I need to figure this out first. It has NO tethers anchors. All 8 of the rear seats have lap/shoulder belts that lock after you pull them out all the way. None of the positions have latch or tethers anchors. Is it possible to have after market tethers anchors installed? Would they go an the floor or on the ceiling? Should I contact a Dodge dealer about having it done? Thanks!

I know its been posted here that Radians don't install well but I've also seen them used in a Sprinter on Jon & Kate plus 8. Am I dreaming by thinking I will be able to use them?

[Jeanum]

My LATCH manual doesn't indicate any top tether anchor retrofit options for the 2003 - 2007 Sprinter, just "None" listed in the columns for the various rear seating positions, and a note indicating the Sprinter is over the weight limit for vehicles to be required to be equipped with LATCH. :( This may have changed at some point during the 2007 model year, perhaps after the 2007 LATCH manual was printed, because I do remember an 2007 Sprinter owner posted here a while ago to say that her new van came equipped with 4 top tether anchors. It may be the case that Dodge began factory equipping Sprinters with top tethers during the '07 model year, with older ones still lacking the capability for retrofitting. I wouldn't get your hopes up too much, but you could try double checking with a Dodge dealership service department to clarify about any possibility of retrofitting top tether anchors in the '03 model.

I'm also genuinely puzzled, like you, about whether or not the Radian is truly compatible or not. We have definitely seen conflicting posts here about compatibility, with some Sprinter owners posting here to say the Radian was a no go, yet there is the Jon and Kate show with all of those Radians installed in their Sprinter. :confused:

[Kabes]

Are retrofitted anchors always installed on top or are they sometimes installed on the floor? Just curious. The Sprinters we have looked at had an AC duct/vent that covers a large portion of the ceiling. I'm pretty sure if they have to be installed on top it wouldn't work.

[Jeanum]

It really varies from vehicle to vehicle, pretty much in the same way that factory equipped top tether anchors vary in their location from vehicle to vehicle. In some SUVs/vans, tether anchors might be located on the rear of the vehicle seats, while other models have tether anchors on the vehicle's cargo floor behind the rear seat, or just inside the tailgate, and others have tether anchors located on the ceiling. It can even vary from one rear vehicle seating position to another within the same vehicle.

[Jeanum]

I did some more searching of the forum and found the previous thread about the other member's '07 Sprinter with factory equipped top tether anchors at http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=20921 Upon reading that thread again, her '07 Sprinter seems to have 3 top tether anchors rather than 4, with the fourth anchor apparently turning out to be a cargo anchor.