Is this an acceptable Radian Install?

[AllieCanada]

I decided to give the Radian a go again FF'ing in my 2000 Mazda MPV. DD usually rear faces in it and the plan is/was to buy DS a new seat and move DD into the MA making the Radian a spare for grandparents etc. The van has forward of the bight seat belts with a metal stock. The seat itself is a rock solid install even before I use the tether but it bunches up the seat belt more then I think is allowed and it sits pretty far from the seat. The gap is due to the seats slope itself and not the install because even uninstalled the Radian doesn't sit any closer to the actual seat. The car's seat belt does lay flat in the belt path but it bunches together at the buckle.

whole view of the seat
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v232/AllieCanada/007-4.jpg

close up of the left side where you can see the gap between the seat and the car seat
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v232/AllieCanada/008-6.jpg

right side of the seat
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v232/AllieCanada/001a.jpg

close up of the buckle
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v232/AllieCanada/002b-1.jpg

close up of the gap on the right side
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v232/AllieCanada/003a.jpg

[snowbird25ca]

When you go to tighten the harness, does the seat slip forward at all?

In terms of distance away from the back of the seat, I wouldn't be concerned about it, it's actually very small in terms of how the radian ends up being away in some vehicles.

I don't really like how twisted the seatbelt is, but I also don't think there's any danger in it. The seatbelt bunches when I have the radian installed in my center 2nd row in my truck, and I know that it just tends to be like that in a lot of vehicles. I wouldn't see the actual twist causing weakening to a point of risk of failure, I think it just looks bad more than anything else.

Here's a link to the Radian in my truck if it helps at all - you can see the distance between the seat back and the base, as well as how the belt bunches in the buckle.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2335/2311491685_b7a5ddc63e.jpg?v=0
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3234/2311492171_8989d82766.jpg?v=0

I have metal stalks too, but I'm lucky that they're not forward of the bite.

So if you have less than 1" front to back and side to side, then I think you're ok. I'd just make sure you check front to back as that tends to be the Radian's quirk - it can be solid side to side, but slip completely forward and then be totally loose.

[Maedze]

My radian does the same thing with the bunched seat belt at the buckle in my dodge :( I hope it's not considered an issue.

[LISmama810]

Like Trudy said, I'm not concerned at all about the gap, however, I do worry about the bunching in the latchplate. My concern is that sometimes the belt gets so bunched or folded on itself that you can't pull it any tighter. You think the belt is tight when really it's just stuck. If you can't move the seat more than an inch, so that's probably not the case here, but it still looks a little more bunched than I'd be comfortable with.

When you install it, you might want to try this: After you've buckled and locked the belt, instead of pulling the shoulder portion UP by the buckle, pull it OUT.

I also don't know if it's actually a safety concern, but there is something a little unsettling about it.

[Judi]

Is the recline foot up or down?

[AllieCanada]

When you go to tighten the harness, does the seat slip forward at all? I can pull side to side and front to back and it doesn't move at all. I had it tight where I thought it was good and then I pulled forward and the whole seat moved so I undid the seat belt and tightened to the point where the car seat doesn't move. I had the seat reclined while tightening the seat belt and then I put the seat back up. I was surprised I was even able to get it as tight as it is.

In terms of distance away from the back of the seat, I wouldn't be concerned about it, it's actually very small in terms of how the radian ends up being away in some vehicles.
I'm glad to hear that because it was one of my 'big' worries

I don't really like how twisted the seat belt is, but I also don't think there's any danger in it.
I don't really like it either which is why I was questioning the install. The seat belt bunches a bit with my MA but definitely nowhere near as bad as it does with the Radian

So if you have less than 1" front to back and side to side, then I think you're ok. I'd just make sure you check front to back as that tends to be the Radian's quirk - it can be solid side to side, but slip completely forward and then be totally loose.
There is definitely less then 1" of movement in any direction. You shake the car seat and the whole van shakes

Like Trudy said, I'm not concerned at all about the gap, however, I do worry about the bunching in the latchplate. My concern is that sometimes the belt gets so bunched or folded on itself that you can't pull it any tighter. You think the belt is tight when really it's just stuck. If you can't move the seat more than an inch, so that's probably not the case here, but it still looks a little more bunched than I'd be comfortable with.
It's really bunched up but it is tight. When I had the seat reclined in order to tighten the seat belt it wasn't as bunched up as it is in the pics now. As I sat the seat back up that is when the majorty of the bunching happened

When you install it, you might want to try this: After you've buckled and locked the belt, instead of pulling the shoulder portion UP by the buckle, pull it OUT.
When I installed it I pulled the seat belt through the front of the car seat where there is the slit in the seat cover is like you would with the LATCH straps. It was the only way I could feed the seat belt through the latch plate as straight as possible to make sure it didn't get stuck and give me a false sense of tightness. Once I knew the bottom part was straight in the belt path and the seat was as tight as possible I locked the seat belt

[AllieCanada]

Is the recline foot up or down?

The recline foot is up. If I put it down it makes the gap between the seat and the car seat bigger

[Defrost]

I just wanted to add that I can sometimes avoid the bunching at the latchplate by tightening the seat belt with it UNbuckled (and locked), then re-buckling it. It's hard to install that way, and easier if you have two people so one can compress the carseat while the other re-buckles, but it might solve the bunching problem.

I also want to say that it looks like a real bear of an install and I'm impressed you got it in tight!

[BW1426]

I'd try it with the recline foot down. I'm not really concerned about the gap at the bottom of the seat--I've found that to be pretty standard with the radian.

[raelynn]

As a fellow MPV owner, I am uber-impressed you got it installed tightly!