2 Question - Tether & Locking Clip

[Unregistered]

I'm trying to install a Britax Regent in a '92 Ford Aerostar with a lap/shoulder belt. The belts don't lock up at all, so we've purchased a locking clip. When installed, the seat still isn't as snug as I'd like and the car seat also seems to tilt more to one side than the other, due to the shoulder portion of the belt pulling up a bit on the side.

Is it safe to put a locking clip on both sides of the seat? One by the latch, the other on the portion of the seatbelt that is coming out of the other side of the seat?

Also, our old van doesn't have a place to attach the top tether strap. I'm assuming this is important, but don't know what to do about it. Is it safe for my son to ride in it without the tether? (He's just 3 1/2, but he's 43" tall and weighs 48 pounds.)

Thanks so much for your help!

Kim

[Jeanum]

No, sorry, you can't use a second locking clip, and a locking clip is only intended for use adjacent to the vehicle's seatbelt buckle, and not on the side opposite the seatbelt buckle on the shoulder belt side of the child restraint installation.

You definitely would need to tether any Regent at 50 lbs. and up for any installation method, so pretty soon based on your child's stats, and it also recommended to tether a forward facing harnessed child restraint at any weight to an appropriate tether anchor in the vehicle to reduce head excursion. :) It also would be necessary to have a tether anchor retrofitted now if you're doing a short belt path installation using a lap-shoulder belt with a Regent manufactured after late June 2007 (referred to as a "post advisory Regent") which requires use of the top tether for that installation method. Rather than type up the info. from the LATCH manual for retrofitting the Aerostar directly here, I'm just going to link you to another recent thread from a few days ago, which happens to have the specific part number and Ford tether anchor retrofit program details from the LATCH manual for retrofitting the Aerostar. :)

http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=73385

According to the LATCH manual, specific details for tethering a child restraint to an unused vehicle seatbelt in a row behind the child restraint are supposed to be listed by Ford model, but I don't see specific how-to info. listed for the Aerostar, probably because it's assumed that the van would be retrofitted with a tether anchor if necessary. :o Someone else with specific experience tethering temporarily to an unused seatbelt in the Aerostar might be able to better advise you with more specifics in the meantime.

[Defrost]

Also, it doesn't sound like you've got it installed tight enough if the shoulder portion of the seat belt is pulling it up. It shouldn't be able to do that.

Try this - install the seat and buckle the seat belt. Work at getting the lap-portion of the seat belt as tight as you can by pulling on the shoulder portion from the front of the carseat (reach through the holes from the front). Then pinch the seat belt right above the latchplate (the "male" end) so that it doesn't move. Unbuckle, and put the locking clip on. Then re-buckle/re-install the carseat. It should be in quite tight.

And good for you for realizing that you'd need a locking clip! :thumbsup: I know they can be very frustrating at first but once you get the hang of it, it's not too bad.