Installing FF in Intrepid

[mara232]

I'm trying to install either a Radian or Nautilus FF in an Intrepid. Using the belt. Car manual says 'no locking clips' yet the car seat says 'use a locking clip'. I get the seat installed what seems pretty tight and then I rock it back and forth and it's not as tight as I'd like it. I tried the trick of twisting the female part of the belt 1-2 turns and it's still not tight enough.

Is there a trick to install in an Intrepid? I plan to go to a car seat clinic May 30th with both seats but is there a way I can do something int eh meantime. It's not the main car we use but it's nice to have a seat in that car. I have no problem installing either seat in my Caliber using UAS.

[Mommy0608]

What year is the Intrepid? What position are you using in the car (center or outboard)? Is the belt a lap-only or lap-shoulder? How does it lock, at the retractor or at the latchplate?

Sorry so many questions. ;) Cars made after 1996 are required to have locking seatbelts, so you should not need a locking clip. You said the car seat says use a locking clip - a locking clip is only needed if the vehicle seatbelt doesn't lock.

If you have a lap-shoulder belt, you can test how it locks by pulling the shoulder belt all the way out of the retractor slowly, then feeding it back in. If this does not lock it, then your seatbelt likely locks at the latchplate. If it has locking latchplates, you simply install the car seat and pull the seatbelt to tighten. If it tends to slip, you can flip the male end of the buckle 180 degrees so that it essentially is buckled backward.

If you are using a lap-only belt, it locks at the latchplate. Locking clips are never to be used with a lap-only belt.

If the problem is that the buckle and latchplate are in the belt path, you can shorten the female end of the buckle by twisting up to 3 full twists.

Sorry, I'm not familiar with an Intrepid, so I don't know off-hand how your belts lock.

Edited to add: You said "rock it back and forth" - when checking for tightness, you want to give it a tug at the belt path, but not a hard shove. Use your non-dominant hand. Make sure there is less than 1" of movement in any direction at the belt path (where the seatbelt passes through the car seat).

[sunnyflower417]

I have a 2001 intrepid and I hate those lightweight latchplates. I have to use a locking clip because the latchplates don't work. The raidan is a real PITA to install, RFing is just about impossible, FF not much better. The GN I ok, I just use the locking clip. The seat belts don't lock, I wish they did. My next car will have locking seatbelts!

[Maedze]

Sunny, your seatbelts DO lock...at the latchplate ;) (I just don't want a reader to be confused).


Have you tried flipping the latchplate? That's preferable to using a clip.