Where to tether RF Marathon

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DietCokeHead

Guest

• May 23, 2006

• #1

I cannot find a spot to tether my RF Marathon in my 2002 Chevy van. I did tenther it under the seat it is on but just read in another thread that that's not good. I cannot find anyplace to thread a d-ring or clip the tether to under either of the front seats. I have her seat on a captains chair, 2nd row right now. I thought I had found someplace under the drivers seat but my dh informed me that it was a moveable part when he checked it. HELP! I need to tether it to get the right angle for my 7 month old.

 

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LEAW

New member

• May 23, 2006

• #2

Not a tech, just offering parental opinion.. we tether to the seat that dd is on. Not to the anchor on the back of the seat, but to a nonmoving bar under the front edge of the seat. Britax used to be ok with this, and they keep changing their minds about many things, not just how to tether.

SO I made a judgement call and tethered to the seat she is on. Also, feel around under the seat, is there a track that the seat slides on? A punch-out in the floor under the carpet, or anything?

 

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DietCokeHead

Guest

• May 23, 2006

• #3

That is where we have it now as well, there is a nonmoving bar under the seat she is in. I just cant find anyplace to do it correctly under either of the front seats! I have pushed around on the carpet and cant find anyplace.

 

U

Unregistered

Guest

• May 23, 2006

• #4

Is it a Venture/Montana? You can get the d-ring around any of the front seat legs by working the d-ring under the side panels. I found that it works better if you start at the middle of the panel. Push the carpet down and thread the fabric side of the d-ring through the tiny hole you've created. Slide the d-ring forward or back to the leg you'd like to use. Thread the metal part of the d-ring through the loop and attach the tether.

HTH

 

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DietCokeHead

Guest

• May 23, 2006

• #5

What do you mean by side panels? Thanks!

 

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LEAW

New member

• May 23, 2006

• #6

I'll go poke around under my driver seat, I suspect the seats are probably the same in all Chevy, Dodge, Chrysler, etc. and we have Dodge here.. dd is on the passenger side and I'm sure I could find a spot under that seat to use. We can't put her behind the driver because dh can't drive with his seat that far forward.

 

U

Unregistered

Guest

• May 23, 2006

• #7

Ah, by panels I mean the solid plastic covering that's on the bottom sides of the front seats. They cover the legs and tracks and make it look like you can't wrap the d-ring around anything.

If you try to feed the d-ring under the panel close to the legs, it catches on things and you won't be able to fish it through. But if you use the middle of the panel, the d-ring will have a clear path.

 

griffinmom

Moderator - CPST Instructor

• May 23, 2006

• #8

Please check with Britax. They have explicitly stated NOT to tether underneath the seat is installed. They crash tested it. It FAILED. Please don't do this.

 

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DietcokeHead

Guest

• May 23, 2006

• #9

THANKS! It totally worked. I thought the legs were all connected together but I managed to get it around the back leg by using that side panel trick. Genious!

 

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DietCokeHead

Guest

• May 23, 2006

• #10

I meant to add.. is it any wonder that the majority of people have seats installed incorrectly? You can tether it under the seat, then you can't, rolled up towels are ok in some situations but not others, Latch is ok but only up to a certain weight, ... I understand the reasons for all the different situations but geez, it's confusing. Even to someone like me who is actually trying to get everything right! I guess there's no way to make it more simple though.

 

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RaeBob13

Guest

• May 24, 2006

• #11

CPS technician

I am very concerned about seats being tethered to things that aren't tether anchors. If it becomes disconnected the tether and metal hook on the end of it will be flying around the car inpacting EVERYthing! It will be like a whip with metal on the end.

PLEASE talk to the manufacterers of the vehicles.

If someone else knows how to do this properly and has more information please share it with us. I don't have enough experience to be giving out advice about this other than I would never tether to anything that the vehicle manufacturer doesn't endorse.

 

skaterbabs

Well-known member

• May 24, 2006

• #12

RaeBob, are you referring to RF or FF tethers?

RF tethers can be attached to any NONMOVING metal part that is bolted to the car. FF tethers can only be attached to an approved tether anchor.

 

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RaeBob

Guest

• May 24, 2006

• #13

You are correct, of course. I've never gotten the chance to use it and was going by my classroom experience and just remembered most USA vehicles don't have the anchor for rf tethering.

I looked it up... "Swedish Method" of tethering it is. My hugest apologies and thanks for the concrete info. Learning experience for me!

 

skaterbabs

Well-known member

• May 24, 2006

• #14

No worries. We were all "newbies" once.