pontiac grand prix

[Unregistered]

are there any models of car seats that are safer for Lap belts forward of seat crease?

i.e. my mother-in law has a pontiac grand prix, and i cannot get a graco car seat in tight enough. i think it is because the Lap belts are forward of the seat crease.

also, is it ok to twist a lap belt that is forward of the seat crease?

i've noticed that the lap belts forward of the seat crease are shorter than ones that are not.

how many twists are ok?

thank you in advance.

[Jeanum]

A rule of thumb is that a vehicle seatbelt's female buckle stalk can be twisted up to 3 whole twists to make an installation tighter with less than 1 inch of movement at the child restraint's belt path. Twisting the buckle stalk can also help in cases where the seatbelt buckle stalk is fairly long, or the child restraint's belt path is lower relative to the vehicle seat such that the vehicle seatbelt would buckle together right across the child restraint's belt path opening. It may or may not help to twist the buckle stalk if the seatbelt stalk is pretty far ahead of the vehicle seat crease (bight), and some buckle stalks are too short or too stiff to be twisted at all.

If you can't achieve a successful install in the center of the Grand Prix, perhaps installing behind the driver or front passenger seat would be more workable, or vice versa. You could also try the Safe Kids locator to see if there's a certified child passenger safety technician in your area to help you out in person with the installation: https://ssl13.cyzap.net/dzapps/dbzap.bin/apps/assess/Webmembers/tool?pToolCode=TAB9&pCategory1=TAB9_CERTSEARCH&Webid=SAFEKIDSCERTSQL