EFTA installation in Honda Odyssey

[jess71903]

I posted a while back about a mom I met who is not from the US (or Canada). Her infant seat was horribly installed and I helped her get it in correctly. That was easy. On my suggestion, she bought her son an EFTA and installed it herself. It was too loose and it was "tethered" to the seat in front of it, and the seat it was in was all the way reclined, but at least she used the actual LATCH anchors this time, so we're getting somewhere. She did not have the manual with her today, and I've never read one and can't find one online, but I went ahead and helped her re-install with LATCH today. The seat was in recline mode already, and the LATCH strap was routed through the RF belt path. I put the vehicle seat back upright after we got it in and it now moves less than 1" at the belt path. I showed mom how to kneel in the seat while she tightened, how to get the LATCH clips on correctly (they were upside down) and how to check for tightness, but having never read the manual, I want to be sure I didn't miss something. Any tips?

[Mommy0608]

It's RF, right? Just want to clarify. ;)

You said she had it tethered... I assume you untethered it? This seat doesn't allow top tethering while RF (you probably knew that, just want to clarify for anyone else who may be reading).

Sounds like you've got it, it's a pretty easy seat to install, in my opinion. Wow, you got a knee in there while installing RF? I haven't tried that, but I haven't had to use that much weight to get it tight.

There is a spot on the back of the seat to store the manual. If she lost it, she can get another one from Evenflo.

[jess71903]

Yes, thanks. It is RF.

Oh, yes, I use the word "tether" very loosely. She had the strap tied to the handle on the back of the passenger seat. I definitely untied it and told her that it was only for use FF. It seemed pretty straight forward to me. I had to put a knee in because she has leather seats and it was just easier to get it tight enough that way. I was on the outside of the van and she was on the other side watching me. I bet if I had been standing on the other side I could have just put my hand down in it and tightened it easier.

I just wanted to make sure I didn't miss something that an owner would know :). Thanks for the reply!

[Mommy0608]

Sounds like you've got it installed well. :thumbsup:

There's a spot on the back of the seat to attach the tether hook to when it's not in use, not sure if you found that or not. ;)

You said you installed it yourself... did you teach the mom how to install it? I know you said she watched, but did she try to do it (after you told her the proper way to do it - no tether, etc.)? Hopefully she is confident in the process herself, just incase she ever needs to reinstall the seat.

Kudos to you for helping her out. :)

[jess71903]

Yep, I found the tether hook storage thing.

I showed her how to do it step by step and she helped me get the LATCH hooks attached. It was COLD and we had to get back in to our babies, so I didn't uninstall it and watch her do it again. I would have if we had more time. I also reitterated the importance of making sure the harness was tight enough and how to check for that. In the Discovery the harness was ALL the way out when I first got to it.

Thanks! I am just so glad she let me help instead of driving around with it installed poorly. She has been so sweet about it and hugged me both times I've helped (with the Discovery and now the EFTA). Some people aren't so open to help.