Radian Successful Install Thread

[Pixels]

2002 Honda Civic sedan
RFing center (seatbelt) - top tethered to D-ring wrapped around inner passenger's seat leg. Pop off a plastic cover.
I know I did FFing with seatbelt but don't remember which seating position(s) now.

2008 Honda Fit
FFing center (seatbelt with top tether) - recline the vehicle seat back, remove the headrest (you can put it back on backwards), twist down the little clippy thing once and the female buckle twice. Lift the seat bottom about half way to help let the buckles twist. After you tighten the belt, put the vehicle seat back up.
RFing center (seatbelt with top tether) - I twisted the little clippy thing once (though I'm not sure it was necessary, I was in a hurry) and I don't remember if I twisted the female buckle once or not at all. Overall pretty straightforward. Top tethered to D-ring on driver's seat leg. Pop off a plastic cover. The front seats needed to be moved up maybe one or two notches, not bad.

1999 Pontiac Grand Am sedan (all seatbelt)
RFing center
I know I did FFing but don't remember which seating position(s) now.

I am a tech.

 

[mommycat]

Not tech-checked.

:ROTFLMAO:
"Cute 1yo carseat, free to a good home. Has all it's stickers and has been tech-checked. Very user-friendly and LATCH trained. Great with kids."

 

[ketchupqueen]

'03 Chevy Trailblazer, FF, center, seatbelt with tether. Decent-but-not-wonderful install; fairly straightforward if you're familiar with the Radian (probably a royal pain if you're not.) Not checked.

 

[T.O. Twins]

2006 Honda CR-V

FF with LATCH in both outboard positions. Super easy to get rock solid install by reclining the car's seat a bit, installing, and then pulling the seat up.

Not tech checked

Tried to unsuccessfully to install FF in center position with the belt. The buckels on both sides of the seatbelt, which are also in front of the blight, made it impossible for me to to by myself. I may try again with help. My goal is to get one Radian in the center seat and one next to it on the passenger side. I did not try a RF install anywhere.

 

[AtTheSouthDam]

2007 Ford Freestar

Outboard third row, passenger and driver side FF and RF installed with no LATCH in these positions. Much easier rearfacing (XT w/new foot). FF requires works, RN XT must be in the recline position. With the belt locked I tightened as far as I could, then unbuckled, allow to retract four clicks then rocked the seat until I could get the buckle to click back in. With that I could not pull the base forward more thatn 1/2" with my child in it.

Center of middle bench, LATCH only, super easy and fits very nicely

Not tech checked (and won't be until I get Cert. as he is not very through.)

 

[Jeanum]

2006 Honda CRV:
RF - Center - Lower Anchors with tether to passenger side chair rail.

Just noting for the record that this isn't an allowable installation because the 2006 CRV has outboard sets of lower LATCH anchors only, and Honda does not allows "borrowing" of the the outboard lower anchors to do a center lower LATCH installation, nor does Sunshine Kids allow borrowing of outboard anchors to install the Radian with LATCH in the center.

 

[Pixels]

2008 Honda CR-V with leather
RFing center seatbelt: no-go. It's close, so it might work with cloth seats. But there was just too much movement.

FFing center seatbelt: no-go. Not even close. The FFing belt path on the RN is too low. The female belt stalk only twists down once. I couldn't even get 1.5 twists, but it needs at least two, possibly three.

RFing center LATCH: good. Not rock-the-car solid, but definitely less than one inch of movement. Didn't do the tether or even look for a location.

FFing center LATCH: excellent. Rock-the-car solid easily. I didn't do the top tether (it was just to see if it fit) but I don't expect there to be any problems with it.

It was extremely difficult to get the lower anchor attached on the driver's side. I couldn't do it at all; the car salesman was able to get it. The seat cushions were pushing the lower anchor connector down below the bar in the car. It really seemed like it was a hand strength issue.

I am a tech.

 

[christineka]

2007 toyota sienna

3rd row, middle rear-facing with seatbelt
buckle twisted one full turn, installed with the seatback down, then pulled up. No movement.

3rd row, middle, forward facing with seatbelt
This was tricky!
buckle twisted, tight lap belt before locking belt, and doing the seat back down trick

 

[monstah]

I am not a tech & these installs were not checked.

2006 Ford Freestyle
Method of install: LATCH and top anchor - also a seatbelt installation.
Direction of seat: Foward facing
Position: Outboard both sides - 2nd row.

ETA-
Method of install: LATCH
Direction of seat: Rear facing
Position: Outboard passenger side - 2nd row.

*Will not install RF center 2nd row, due to vehicle seat hinges. (Old style Radian base.)
Will not install RF third row due to lack of space front to back. The second row vehicle seats can not be "stowed" when vehicle is in motion.*

I haven't attempted FF third row. I will edit it in when I try it but if you need to know, just PM me and I will be happy to try it for you.


edited April 24/09 on request of poster:

"I posted a FF seatbelt install 2nd row drivers side, but was unable to recreate it today. I spent almost an hour trying to install it drivers side using seatbelt, but was never comfortable with the installation. I condider myself very familiar with the Radian and it's tricks but had a heck of a time today.
It installs passenger side though. (It has a different belt stalk.) "

So - FF'ing install 2nd row drivers side not compatible, but passenger outboard FF'ing with seatbelt is compatible.

 

[glockchick]

1999 Suburban

forward facing, center seat, 3rd row, seat belt, no tether

I twisted the stalk 3 times and had the recline bar down and it installed no problem.

 

[chloebeansmom]

2005 Toyota Corolla, RF center with lap/shoulder belt (no center Latch). Tethered to bas of front pass. seat. Checked by a tech, nice tight install. Only issue is that adjusting the straps when installed RF is basically impossible. Need to unbuckle, adjust straps to kid then reinstall.

 

[mommycat]

Do you mean adjusting the slot height, or tightening the harness?

 

[chloebeansmom]

Do you mean adjusting the slot height, or tightening the harness?

Tightening the harness, You need to pull down on the strap to tighten or it doesn't work, but with the seat installed RF the bottom of the seat is pushed against the car seat back so you can't pull down. Somewhat annoying, but very workable. DD doesn't change size very quickly.

I forgot to say in my last post that I am using this for a 16 lb 27" 12 month old (10 months adjusted, she was born 2 months early)

 

[romanoma]

2006 Honda CR-V

FF with LATCH in both outboard positions. Super easy to get rock solid install by reclining the car's seat a bit, installing, and then pulling the seat up.

Not tech checked

Tried to unsuccessfully to install FF in center position with the belt. The buckels on both sides of the seatbelt, which are also in front of the blight, made it impossible for me to to by myself. I may try again with help. My goal is to get one Radian in the center seat and one next to it on the passenger side. I did not try a RF install anywhere.

2005 Honda CRV
FF center with shoulder/lap belt
twisted belt stalk one full twist, recline foot in use.
Had to installed base forward of bight to avoid buckle interference. I had to hop in the seat with my knees, really push down, and rock back and forth alittle while tightening the shoulder belt (nice visual, huh?)
Not tech checked, but I have been able to uninstall and duplicate this several times.
Just a hair shy of rock solid

 

[christineka]

1997 Ford Aerostar middle, lap only belt. Ffing with the recline thing out.
I could not at all get a decent instal with the shoulder belts.

1994 Ford Tempo middle, lap only belt with the recline thing out. Never tried the side seats. Tried rfing in the middle and that didn't work. Maybe I just need some more practice, though. No way would it fit rfing on the sides due to space.

 

[monstah]

I am not a tech & these installs were not checked.

1996 Honda Accord
Method of install: Seatbelt
Direction of seat: Foward facing
Position: Outboard both sides

Top tether was easily retrofitted and cost $10.00 - Honda usually carries them in stock.
Buckle was twisted 3 times. I didn't use the recline and had to actually climb in the seat pushing straight down against the ceiling while tightening the belt. But it worked.

 

[Pixels]

2009 Mazda5 Sport/Touring

2nd row, driver's side, FFing LATCH. I used FFing recline.
2nd row, passenger's side, RFing LATCH. A surprising amount of room left for the front seat passenger. RFing tether location - the inboard front seat leg.
2nd row, passenger's side, FFing seatbelt. Good without any special tricks. Rock-solid by reclining the seat some, tightening, then sitting it back upright. Did not use FFing recline this time.
3rd row, passenger's side, FFing seatbelt. Twist down the female buckle stalk once. I used FFing recline.
3rd row, passenger's side, RFing seatbelt. Twist down the female buckle stalk once. 2nd row seat is still usable, moved as far forward as possible. Move the front seat up just a bit and everyone has room.

Whether or not I used recline mode wasn't a reflection on needing to use it (or not) to get an acceptable install. I was only interested if it was possible to install at all in this vehicle, so once I found a way to do it, I moved on.

I am a tech.

 

[mommycat]

Tightening the harness, You need to pull down on the strap to tighten or it doesn't work, but with the seat installed RF the bottom of the seat is pushed against the car seat back so you can't pull down. Somewhat annoying, but very workable. DD doesn't change size very quickly.

You can try to push down on the splitter plate in the back to tighten while pulling on the adjuster strap - putting slack in it under the seat can help let it tighten even when pulling upward rather than down.
Sorry for the OT.

 

[Rach421]

2006 Ford Focus SES

Middle seat and outer seats. Both using the shoulder belts.

Both done by certified tech and fit great; very tight.

 

[MANDY1234]

First post...I'm new here ladies!


2005 Malibu Maxx

Not a Tech but seats were tech checked

FF center and passenger outboard seatbelt top tethers used both times

RF Center Seatbelt couldn't get a tight fit

RF Passenger Outboard Latch TIGHT fit!! Still working on a good rear tether place will get back to you kn that