3rd Row Install

My wife and I have a 2004 Ford Explorer. We have twin boys that are almost three and a second set of twins coming this week. We'd like to put our three year olds car seats in the third row. The angle of the rear seat is about 100 degrees, the angle of the back of the car seat (we've tried two different brands) is slightly less. The miss match in angles is enough to not allow the child seat to fit snugly against both the bottom and back of the seat. Any suggestions?


Thanks, Clint

[bensmom]

Congrats!

Which seats have you tried? Were you just having a hard time getting the belt tight enough?

I have a 2002 Mountaineer, which I believe is a similar third row. I just tried a Cosco Regal Ride and a Britax Roundabout back there (I assume you're trying to get them forward facing). The bottom of the carseat was flat on the bottom of the car's seat and a portion of the back is in contact with the back of the seat. There's definitely a gap at the top and the bottom of the back of the carseat.

It took me a few tries to get them tight enough so that they didn't slide around, especially because of the amount of space between the side of the car (where the seatbelt is mounted) and the buckle. What worked for me was to buckle the belt and lock the shoulder strap. Then I kneeled in the carseat, unbuckled the belt, let it retract a tiny bit, then sort of rocked in the seat to rebuckle it.

Let me know if you are having a different problem.

HTH!

[papooses]

Hello Clint (cool name, BTW)

Did you check the vehicle manual for carseat installation info?

Knowing your 3 year olds' actual weight, height & current carseats will help us help you

Hopefully we can help you out, but feel free to use the technician finder in my signature to look for CPSTs local to you....