1990 Ford Aerostar Van

[BeachMama86]

Share |

That is the car we will be getting soon, lol. Yes, we're rockin' it.

I have not seen this car yet, but have some questions.

1. Anyone know if there are FF tethers in this van, and if not, can I use the third row seatbelts to tether to, or is that only in some cars? Can I tether to anything else? We will be using an EFTA and a TF later on.

2. What is the safest position to install a seat in a van? I'm assuming second row center?

Uhm, what else, lol, that's all I can think of ATM. Thanks!

[Jeanum]

The '90 Aerostar does not have factory equipped top tether anchors according to the LATCH manual. It has 2 drill dimples for retrofitting the front passenger seat and the second row passenger side seat with tether anchors using generic hardware and the van's owner's manual is supposed to have tether anchor hardware installation instructions. The tether anchor retrofit should be done for free through a Ford dealership service department per Ford Program R7C.

The Ford section of the LATCH manual indicates that if a specific Ford model allows tethering to an unused seatbelt, then the listing for that model will have the instructions for doing so. But the Aerostar's entry in the LATCH manual does not list instructions for tethering to a seatbelt, so the official answer seems to be no. Unofficially, you have the parental choice option to do so if you have a carseat that requires use of the top tether, prior to getting the van retrofitted.

Second row center would be technically safest, provided that you can achieve a proper installation there.

[BeachMama86]

Thanks for the info I was aware of the retrofitting program (and was planning on doing it on my Mercury, but it died). Luckily DD wil be RFing for quite a while still, so we have plenty of time to retrofit.

I have another question. I see that for seats that can be tethered RFing, they can be tethered to the seat track, can I tether a FF seat in the second row to the seat track of the third row seats? Or ANYWHERE? I have just heard getting a dealership to honor the retrofitting can be a pain and I don't like confrontation, lol.

[Jeanum]

No, sorry, you can only tether to an approved tether anchor location in the vehicle.

[BeachMama86]

Darn, lol. Confrontation, here I come!

Thanks again.

[christineka]

I had a 1997 aerostar. I was able to retrofit 4 anchors- 1 for front passenger and three for the middle row. The dealership was not so sure about that at first, so installed the front seat one and looked for places to put the other three before ordering more anchors. Your model may be different. I had no problems getting the anchors retrofitted for free on my aerostar at the local ford dealership. A year later I did have some trouble getting our Ford tempo's anchors retrofitted, but I just contacted ford for their service bulletin document and someone with a latch manual for the part number. I got my anchors for free. If you search this site you should find a link to the document or, if you email me I can send the pdf to you.

My aerostar manual allowed tethering middle row seats to the third row seatbelts. So, check your manual when you get it.

[Jeanum]

Your '97 model and the OP's '90 Aerostar do differ apparently as they have different information listed in the LATCH manual for tether anchor retrofitting. It's the '92 - '97 models that are listed as retrofittable for the front passenger seat, and the second row center, and second row outboard seating positions, while the listing for the earlier '87 - '91 models that covers the OP's model indicates they're retrofittable with up to 2 tether anchors for the front passenger seat and second row passenger side seat.

[BeachMama86]

Thanks again. I will def. PM you when we get the car, it may be a few weeks still.