My Radian battle.

So munchkin, emandbri and myself all met up a while back to see if the Radian would install in my car. Munchkin had no problems whatsoever installing it. Then I did it too. No problem. Of course, now that I'm fendin' for myself I can't do it.

Let me explain my buckle stalks. When they were installed, they weren't installed facing the right direction. They both face the front of the car. Does that make sense? I tried to take a picture, but it was pretty hard with only two hands. Since they're installed towards the front of the car, how many times can I twist it? --- Ignore the "pretty" fingernails, that's what little girls will do to you.





Since I don't know how many times I can twist it, I end up with this problem: The buckle hits a little nubbin' on the car seat.




It took quite a bit of effort for me to get it installed RFing, whereas munchkin had that sucker in pretty fast. Forward facing wasn't as hard, but still wasn't as easy as munchkin had it.






And is this right for the Safe Stop? Yes, I know, FF only. The Radian will be installed FF the majority of the time and this one only has a 35# RF limit.

Re: Munchkin must have superpowers. AKA -- My Radian battle.

You can twist up to 3 times. I PMed you.

Yes, you can twist the buckle stalk up to 3 full twists (which, in this case might be a max of 2.5 full twists) but don't twist any more than you have to. Another option I would suggest is what I call "strategic positioning of the latchplate". Use your thumb to push the latchplate a little further back into the beltpath (and away from that protruding plastic area) while simultaneously pulling a little more slack out of the belt. That's what I have to do in our 2000 Accord. This is how it looks installed in my vehicle:
View attachment 7419

ETA: Please excuse the dirty vehicle seat. This is DH's work vehicle and well.... it looks the part.

I don't think your buckles were installed wrong. I've seen that, or variations, in many vehicles. That said, I don't exceed 3 twists, so in your scenario you'd be limited to 2.75 twists. Twist the buckle clockwise. If you twist counterclockwise, the first time the buckle is aimed right at the carseat, you're at 0.25 twists. If you twist clockwise, the first time the buckle is aimed right at the carseat, you're at 0.75, so you'll get more belt-shortening without giving up more twists. (Assuming you want the release button on the outside. If you want to bury it, twist the other direction, and end with the button on the inside.)

Ok, so I've been trying to re-attempt this.

Forward Facing-- I can get it installed, it doesn't move much. It only moves a hair and that's where the kid's knees would be, so I'm not worried. I'm fine with how I get it installed FF. The only thing that I'd be worried about is the twisting. I twisted a total of 2.5 turns. This is what it ended up looking like:






Rear Facing-- I can get it installed, but I don't think it's considered acceptable; it moves a bit too much. And I feel like it's only as stable as it is right now because of the boot. I feel like the boot being shoved into the seat bight is making it not move, therefore the seat isn't actually tightly installed, just giving the impression that it's installed tightly. Does that make sense? My seat cushions usually compress quite a bit, but they aren't with the Radian.

Pixels, isn't it you that has the same body style Grand Am as me? I have an '04.


ETA: I forgot to mention that I got a good picture of what the buckle stalks look like:




Please ignore all the nasty Goldfish and Cheerios that are stuck in between my seats. I haven't cleaned in a few weeks and I had my niece the other day... She likes to throw Goldfish when she's done. Then, of course, in between booster seats and installing car seats, things get smashed.

Yes, DH has a 99 Grand Am. Same body style, but of course no LATCH. Lap-only belt with tail center; lap-shoulder with lightweight locking latchplates outboard. His buckles are also aimed at the front of the vehicle, but the one on top is upside down.

Forward facing, I put the recline thing down and move the seat forward a bit, so the edge is close to the edge of the vehicle seat. Then I kneel in the seat, hold the buckle twisted the way I want with one hand, while pulling the tail through the slit in the cover.

Rear facing, I usually lay my chest across the seat while tightening, or else kneel or sit on the seat. The buckle ends up right near the edge, so there's no great pulling angle. Rocking side to side sometimes helps.

The toes of the boot are what has made the deepest dents in the seat. The seatbelt is pulling the seat back, and it's the boot that's resisting that motion. The seat is tight, with little to no movement.

Pixels said:

Forward facing, I put the recline thing down and move the seat forward a bit, so the edge is close to the edge of the vehicle seat. Then I kneel in the seat, hold the buckle twisted the way I want with one hand, while pulling the tail through the slit in the cover.

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I'm surprised; I found that if I had the recline down (in the center) I had a bit more movement that if the recline was up. I got it perfect FFing in all three spots-- seatbelt in center and LATCH outboard. LATCH outboard was the easiest install ever. I didn't attempt FF with seatbelt outboard.

Pixels said:

Rear facing, I usually lay my chest across the seat while tightening, or else kneel or sit on the seat. The buckle ends up right near the edge, so there's no great pulling angle. Rocking side to side sometimes helps.

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Yeah, that's my problem; I can't find a good angle to pull the tail. I tried RFing outboard with seatbelt and quickly gave up. I seemed to have the same problem. I didn't try LATCH, but seeing how great it went in FF outboard with LATCH, maybe I'll try RFing outboard with LATCH.

Pixels said:

The toes of the boot are what has made the deepest dents in the seat. The seatbelt is pulling the seat back, and it's the boot that's resisting that motion. The seat is tight, with little to no movement.

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Is this ok? In order for the passenger seat to be pushed back, I had to shove the d-ring in there and I had just enough webbing to wrap it around it, but it looks like this, instead of how they normally look.

D ring looks fine. Just be sure you don't slice the d ring when you move the seat back. BTDT.

Pixels said:

D ring looks fine. Just be sure you don't slice the sting when you move the seat back. BTDT.

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Oh, I so almost did that the other day. I took the seat out but left the D-Ring attached. When I tried to move the front seat back (a few days later), I was shoving it back thinking, "WTH? Why won't it move?!" Yeah, then I remembered...