heathernick06
04-25-2008, 11:17 AM
I have a Radian 65 installed in the center of my 1999 Silverado Extended cab. I had a tether anchor installed and so the Radian is tethered. The tether anchor is on the floor of the truck, directly behind the backseat. There is very little room behind the vehicle seat but I can squeeze the tether through and attach it to the anchor before I install the seat.
Here's my dilemma. After I install the seat I go under the vehicle seat and tighten the tether. But when I tighten the tether, it pulls the adjuster (the thing to loosen the tether) behind the vehicle seat and I can't get to it. So the only way to actually get the Radian out of the vehicle is to unbuckle the seat and lift it up (this is difficult because the tether is still holding it in tightly) and then I have to loosen the vehicle seat and fold it up (here is a picture of how the seat folds in case you aren't familiar with these seats http://z.about.com/d/trucks/1/0/C/l/07_ltzcrew_rearseatsup.jpg).
Now, as I'm folding the seat, I have to keep one arm on the Radian, lifting it up, and I use one arm to lift the seat up until it is locked into place. After that I have to continue to hold the Radian up and try to reach my other arm behind the seat (still only a few inches of room back there, barely enough to fit my hand) and try to loosen the tether strap which is now super tight because of the angle I'm holding the Radian at.
This entire process can take me 20-30 minutes and it is exhausting! I had my husband help me do it the other day and it still took us about 15 minutes.
My main concern is that it would be very hard to have to uninstall this seat and take it out of the vehicle if the truck broke down. I may not have someone to help me and I would not only have to go through this difficult process to get the seat out, but I would also have to keep an eye on my 3 year old.
So, my question is, can I attach the tether to the anchor, but not tighten it completely so the adjuster stays above the vehicle seat? Or am I just better of leaving the tether unattached? I'd really like to be able to use the tether because the seat is installed with just a lap belt in an older truck. Thanks for bearing with me throughout this long post!
Here's my dilemma. After I install the seat I go under the vehicle seat and tighten the tether. But when I tighten the tether, it pulls the adjuster (the thing to loosen the tether) behind the vehicle seat and I can't get to it. So the only way to actually get the Radian out of the vehicle is to unbuckle the seat and lift it up (this is difficult because the tether is still holding it in tightly) and then I have to loosen the vehicle seat and fold it up (here is a picture of how the seat folds in case you aren't familiar with these seats http://z.about.com/d/trucks/1/0/C/l/07_ltzcrew_rearseatsup.jpg).
Now, as I'm folding the seat, I have to keep one arm on the Radian, lifting it up, and I use one arm to lift the seat up until it is locked into place. After that I have to continue to hold the Radian up and try to reach my other arm behind the seat (still only a few inches of room back there, barely enough to fit my hand) and try to loosen the tether strap which is now super tight because of the angle I'm holding the Radian at.
This entire process can take me 20-30 minutes and it is exhausting! I had my husband help me do it the other day and it still took us about 15 minutes.
My main concern is that it would be very hard to have to uninstall this seat and take it out of the vehicle if the truck broke down. I may not have someone to help me and I would not only have to go through this difficult process to get the seat out, but I would also have to keep an eye on my 3 year old.
So, my question is, can I attach the tether to the anchor, but not tighten it completely so the adjuster stays above the vehicle seat? Or am I just better of leaving the tether unattached? I'd really like to be able to use the tether because the seat is installed with just a lap belt in an older truck. Thanks for bearing with me throughout this long post!