Radian help, please.

[2mykids]

:crying: Has anyone installed a FF Radian on the drivers side of a Ford Freestyle / Taurus X?
DS is over the limit of LATCH but I just can't get his seat in there using the belt. No matter what I do or try. I have been trying desperately. The buckle ends up pivoting on the seat edge no matter what I do and it makes me nervous it will break in a crash. It's also not long enough to fit all the way inside the belt path.

Probably not much help but this is the only picture I have on my computer of the belt. To give you an idea, if I use the belt to install the BLVD RF, it is long enough that I need to twist it 3 times to get it out of the belt path.
http://i274.photobucket.com/albums/jj272/cgrace808/install/100_4665.jpg

I just don't know what to do. :hitselfonhead:

[ketchupqueen]

Hmmm. They don't LOOK that long... Are the seats super-squishy or something?

[2mykids]

Hmmm. They don't LOOK that long... Are the seats super-squishy or something?

I don't know. I have nothing to really compare. You can see how the BLVD practically disappears into the bite though. I would say they are moderately squishy.

[cookie123]

The buckle that's sitting against the MA looks about the same as mine, and it's difficult for me to install a Radian ff in my drivers side. I can't twist the buckle down 3 times, either because I can't twist it hard enough to make it happen. The buckle is always on the edge of the belt path. So is the latch buckle, actually. Your other 2 buckles look short and don't seem like you'd have a problem. Have you tried one of those spots?

[2mykids]

The buckle that's sitting against the MA looks about the same as mine, and it's difficult for me to install a Radian ff in my drivers side. I can't twist the buckle down 3 times, either because I can't twist it hard enough to make it happen. The buckle is always on the edge of the belt path. So is the latch buckle, actually. Your other 2 buckles look short and don't seem like you'd have a problem. Have you tried one of those spots?

I can't actually twist it 3 times either, I said that because I am fairly certain that another twist would get it out of the belt path and I just wanted to give someone a visual.

It takes me seconds to install it center or passenger side, no problems. But if the KF30 is center the only seat that fits behind the driver is a FF Radian. (The drivers side is smaller than the passengers side.)
If the Radian is center, neither the KF or BLVD will fit outboard.

[dd9736]

We had an 06 Ford Truck, with the same difference on one side vs the other. We don't have the truck anymore, but the belts were similar, so some of the sane things may help.

I never had to twist the bucklestalk much, I would put the seat in, and the buckle would go about 1/2way inside, the entire plastic part, and most of the metal. this would require about 1/4 of a turn through the bucklestalk, once the seat was in.

I also needed to pull the radian forward, while I tightened the belt, to get it tight enough, as i tightened the belt, I would turn the buckle into the beltpath, so that it was going in as straight as possible (I still have to do this in my 88 taurus, but for a different reason.)

Hope that helps, I know that different vehicles need different tricks, so it might not, but it's worth a try.

ETA, oops, i went based on where the seats were in the picture, reading again, you want it on the other side? in which case, I can't help, as I never did like putting the radian in with that belt, if I ever did manage it properly, I don't remember, it's been awhile.