Help with Install - Truefit Recline in 2001 Isuzu Rodeo

U

Unregistered

Guest
I'm struggling! First of all, DD is rear facing in this seat now. She's 13 months and about 25 pounds. We bought it to replace an old Triumph that she was getting too tall for. Which ironically worked out perfectly rear facing...I guess because it was shorter?? I intended to keep her rear facing longer, but in the short while we've had the True Fit we have run into a problem...

Currently it's in the rear middle seat. When DH drives and pushes the seat back to where he needs it (or even leaves it closer than what's comfortable for him) it hits the top of the seat and pushes it partially sideways. It sits on a serious lean. I'm talking 3+ inches to the side! It's got the head rest on because she's too tall to go without it. There's no way this thing would fit even behind the passenger seat scooted up. With the head rest and the size of my (tiny) back seat it's simply too tall. Then it's so tightly strapped to the seat of the vehicle that we have to practically reinstall it to get it straightened back out!

So as reluctant as I am, I think the only way to get a proper install with this seat is to use it forward facing. We could potentially put her back in the triumph, but that will be very temporary. It's an older model, that I was told on here is apparently a very short one - that explains why it lasted us like 3 months!

Ok...so short of any alternative I'm attempting a forward facing install and have run into trouble. I only have anchors for the tether strap behind the two side seats, not the middle. I only have latch hooks in the middle seat! What the heck? That just doesn't make sense? Am I missing something? Why wouldn't there be a tether anchor behind the middle seat? I don't want her in the side seats for multiple reasons...I want her in the middle! What do I do?
 
ADS

ame0312

New member
please do not turn a baby forward facing...

www.joelsjourney.org

alot of vehicles dont have center latch... you will have to use the seat belt to install... you always want to use the top tether forward facing whether you do a latch or seat belt install..

the truefit can be installed as upright as 35 degrees... pictures always help us to understand the problem you're having...
 

brookity

New member
Are you trying to install it at a 45 degree angle? The TF can go as upright as 35 degrees. I am not familiar with your vehicle so I can't help with the LATCH problem but someone should come along that has LATCH manual to help answer that question. Also if you can post a picture that always helps.
 

Jeanum

Admin - CPS Technician Emeritus
Staff member
On the LATCH and tether anchor questions, the LATCH manual indicates both outboard rear seating positions have factory equipped top tether anchors in the '01 Rodeo. The center rear position can be retrofitted with a top tether anchor using Isuzu tether anchor retrofit part number 8-97248-080-1 which costs approx. $7 to $13 for the part, and there's an 8mm weld nut in the cargo floor for retrofitting that tether anchor for the center. But the forward facing top tether anchor situation is getting a bit ahead for a child that ideally would be riding rear facing until the convertible carseat's maximum rear facing capacity is reached. The '01 Rodeo has dedicated outboard sets of lower LATCH anchors on the rear passenger side and rear driver's side only, not in the center, and Isuzu doesn't allow "borrowing" of a lower LATCH anchor from each side to do a center lower LATCH anchor installation. A seatbelt installation in the center or an outboard installation using the lower LATCH anchors or the seatbelt are the allowable installation options, provided that you can achieve a proper installation with less than 1 inch of movement at the carseat's belt path.

I don't have experience installing the TrueFit in a Rodeo but hopefully you can post some photos of your install, and others with more TF experience can likely give you pointers for achieving a more upright rear facing recline angle in your car. :)
 
U

Unregistered

Guest
I'm confused!!!

1. So there is an additional part I can buy to install a tether strap behind the middle seat? I think I saw conflicting information on that.

2. If the seat is hitting the front seat and causing it to sit side-ways on an angle, is it safe to keep her rear facing like that?

3. I don't really know how to install it at a 35 degree angle...how do I measure that? All I know is I have no noodle, no towel, nothing under the seat. It's sitting upright, not reclined at all, as upright as it could possibly be and it's still hitting the front seat. The angle indicator ball is all the way forward. I would have to tilt the seat significantly back to get it to move at all!

So with all that being said, is there any way to keep it rear facing? I just don't see it unless the determination is that it doesn't matter if the front seat pushes it on it's side.

And should I attempt to get this part (if there is one) to keep her in the middle seat and switch to forward facing? If so, where do I get this? Do all cars have anchors or is there some other way to tether besides putting her in one of the side seats??

I will go out and take some pictures and post them.
 

ame0312

New member
no, it's not safe for the front seat to change the installation... have you tried putting it behind the passenger seat? id eat the dash before i would turn a 13 mo old... yes the top tether for the center nees to be installed... you would have to contact a dealership... waiting for pix...
 
Ok here are pictures...

This is where the seats would be if I were driving. DH can conceivable sit with the front passenger seat up as far as I have my driver's seat. I'm short, so it's up pretty close.
CarSeat001-1.jpg

As you can see, even with both seats this far up, the car-seat can't fit behind either of them rear facing. It only works in the middle seat rear facing, because the car-seat head rest fits above the seat backs and between the head rests. This is my car, so typically I AM the driver, however...DH has a work truck, no back seat, no A/C and DD only rides in it when absolutely necessary and unavoidable. So there are times when he will HAVE to drive my car...like when it's just him and her.

In that case, when he drives, this is how it looks...
CarSeat002-1.jpg


This is what it looks like from the front when the driver's seat is pushed back for DH to drive...
CarSeat003-1.jpg

So here you can see the "lean" I'm talking about.

So I suppose the only option for rear facing is to keep it in the middle when I drive. I will always have to be the driver when the three of us ride together. And when DH drives he could reinstall the seat behind the passenger seat. The seat would have to be leaned forward...as in, no way to sit in it. Like you would lean a front-seat forward for someone to climb in the back of a coupe, ya know?

But that involves installing and uninstalling the seat potentially a few times per week. And in some cases, that's not an option. What do I do with DD when we're alone and I have to go outside and rearrange the car-seat?? We live in an apartment and the car isn't close to the unit, so I can't leave her inside and I can't let her crawl around in the parking lot either!

HELP!
 

wendytthomas

Admin - CPST Instructor
Staff member
You could put her in the seat and then reinstall it with her strapped in. Or put her in the front seat while you work in the back. I take Laine with me to checks all the time. It works out.

It looks like the seat can go a bit more upright if you add weight to the foot area of the seat. And then yes, I'd move it when your DH drives, or you be the sole driver. Or you could put it behind the passenger seat full time and then just you sit behind your DH if all three of you are in the car.

Wendy
 
Yeah Wendy, I thought of that after posting. Basically just put it behind the passenger seat and that seat would just be permanently useless. Sometimes that would work, but I'm just not sure how realistic that is. There have been many occasions, with family and what not that we have utilized all five seats in the car.

I guess another alternative is to keep it rear-facing in the middle primarily, and only turn it forward facing when DH drives or we need all 5 seats. That would mean that basically 85% of the time she'd be rear facing in the middle.

On another subject, which may or may not be a valid reason to turn her, I am concerned about heat and her safety. We live in Southern California where in the last few weeks it's been well over 100. I have a thermometer on the interior of my car that has read consistently 150+ degrees when we first get in. My A/C is not that great. It barely cools me off with it blowing right in my face. Poor DD gets virtually no air. I even point ALL OF THEM away from me and towards her. She is regularly drenched in sweat and red in the face when I get her out of the car. She cries and fusses when I try to put her in the seat, because that too is very hot.

I know she's safer being hot than forward-facing in a head on collision, but as a mother it's hard to discount how miserable my baby is. And quite frankly, 150 degrees is freakin' HOT!

Forward facing in summer time only?? IDK I am VERY torn! Truly, I do see very compelling safety reasons for rear-facing, I'm not ignoring that. But I still can't help but want to turn her to get cool, for a better fit, for a more realistic way to operate our family car.
 
U

Unregistered

Guest
Ok...one more potential option. What do y'all think about this?

Granted I have already mentioned DH's truck has no A/C, no back seat...rear facing is no problem in it. So on days that we can take the heat...

Her seat sits in the front middle. It's a 93 Chevy, no air bags whatsoever. Is this preferable to forward facing in the back seat of my rodeo?
 

ame0312

New member
from my understanding you cant use latch in the center... you will need to use the seat belt... the seat itself looks like it could go more upright... apply pressure where baby's feet go when installing... the driver's seat is wayy tooo reclined.. that isnt safe for your dh to drive like that... as for the heat... is it possible to start the car before leaving to allow it to cool down? if no air is getting back there, then id just use the windows... hope that helps! let us know if you need more help!
 

morninglori

New member
You mentioned that you are replacing an old Triumph that your DD is too tall for. I have both an older triumph and a triumph advance, and my average torso DS who is almost 3 still fits in both RF - he is almost outgrowing the old triumph, he has abut 1/2 inch of shell left. How is she outgrowing by height? Which triumph do you have?

I know I have to use noodles to get both the triumph and triumph advance to get a 30 degree in my car. I wonder if your triumph is installing naturally more upright?

For getting AC back to LOs in the back seat, I find that cracking a window and pointing the vents up at the celing to reflect the air down a them works great. I sometimes end up freezing my kids - as they tell me.
 
The driver's seat isn't really reclined...it slides back for leg room. He doesn't lay down to drive like it may look in the picture. If that was the case I'd tell him to sit up staight, lol!

The Triumph we have is the Triumph Advance DLX in Safari. I knew it was discontinued when I bought it, but I was lead to believe it was the pattern, not the seat that was discontinued. Someone told me on here that the ones with the yellow knobs are very "Short seats" which I would have to agree with. DD may not be TOO tall for it yet, but if not, she's very close. I'd have to put her in it and measure again and see where she's at, it's been a while.

I'm thinking of maybe trying to find a tech in our area and have them look at it and try and make it work. MAYBE, if we can somehow get it to sit very upright we could get it behind the passenger seat. But I've read the middle is safer...is that true? But actually, she would probably get more air behind the passenger seat because the vents could blow staight between the two front seats if her seat wasn't their blocking it! Which kind of takes care of both issues.

In the mean time, I'll leave it in the middle and try to avoid DH driving as much as possible until we find another solution. As easy as it would be to turn her around, I just can't stop thinking that I'd NEVER forgive myself if she got hurt as a result of us not trying everything to keep her rear-facing.

One more thing though...what's the verdict on her rear-facing in the front seat of the truck?

As for the latch, I have them in the middle. It's the tether I don't have in the middle.
 

An Aurora

Senior Community Member
You don't have LATCH in the center. If you did, you would have a tether ;) LATCH stands for Lower Anchors and Tethers for CHildren, so it's a complete unit. You'll need to install with the seatbelt to use the center.

I will take try out the install in DH's Rodeo and report back in a bit.
 

aeormsby

New member
I don't have a good side view picture but I have installed my Marathon RF in my sister's '01 Rodeo.

I agree with the others - you CANNOT use latch in the center position - you can install with the seatbelt (and you can cut the little plastic part that holds the tail of the seatbelt to the lap portion so it's easier to pull tight).

There is an angle indicator on your Truefit at the front by the adjuster, aim for having it in the most upright acceptable position.

Center is only safer if you can get a good installation - if you can get a better installation outboard than that is safer.

If your truck doesn't have any airbags then RF in the front seat is perfectly safe.

If all else fails, put the seat on the passenger side with the front seat forward and when 3 of you need to be in the Rodeo the 2nd adult sits in back behind the driver.
 
The only thing I'm still not clear on is that a few of you are saying if I had LATCH in the middle I'd have a tether. But I do have it. The car seat is not installed with a seat belt, there are lower anchors that the LATCH belt is fastened to.

I do NOT however, have lower anchors on either of the side seats, but they do have tether anchors. This makes no sense to me???

Thanks for all the other advice. I'm going to go home, get out the manual and try and get it behind the passenger seat. Wish me luck! I'll post a pic either way so I can get a thumbs up.

So just to be clear, I can pretty much sit the seat as up right as it takes to make it fit? The ball indicator is already in the most upright "color" if that makes sense.
 

wendytthomas

Admin - CPST Instructor
Staff member
No, what we're saying is that you cannot use those lower anchors in the center. Your car doesn't allow it, nor does your carseat. You have your carseat currently attached to the car, NOT installed. There could be a different of nothing, there could be a fatal difference. We don't know. But Isuzu says you cannot use LATCH in the center of your car, so if you put it in the center you MUST use the seatbelt.

However, if your car has lower anchors, then it does have top tethers. The top tethers were phased in first, then the lower anchors. You should have one for all three seating positions back there.

Rear facing you do a seatbelt in the middle. Forward facing in the middle you'd do a seatbelt and top tether. Outboard rear facing you can do either lower anchors or the seatbelt (never both). Outboard forward facing you can either do lower anchors and the tether, or the seatbelt and the tether.

You can go as upright as 35 degrees rear facing.

Wendy
 

Jeanum

Admin - CPS Technician Emeritus
Staff member
The tether anchor retrofit part number I posted above earlier is the specific retrofit part number for installing a center top tether anchor in your Rodeo which you would use to top tether a forward facing harnessed carseat installed with the seatbelt in the center when you eventually switch to forward facing. You should be able to obtain the tether anchor retrofit part from an Isuzu part source/service. Although Isuzu phased out its passenger vehicle product line in the U.S. several years ago, there is a link on the Isuzu website for searching for a service outlet near you: http://www.isuzu.com/home.jsp Even if you continue to rear face for the long haul, you could pursue obtaining the part to retrofit the center position with a tether anchor now if you plan to keep the Rodeo longer. With the fluctuations and tough times in the auto industry, I'd hate for the Isuzu service outlets to become scarcer and possibly cause the retrofit part to become harder to obtain or unavailable later on. :twocents:

While it's not as safe as a properly done rear facing installation due to the physics of rear facing (more details about the benefits of extended rear facing are presented in this excellent carseatblog.com entry at http://carseatblog.com/?p=5168), top tethering a forward facing harnessed carseat is always recommended. This is because top tethering plays an important role in reducing head excursion, the amount a child's head moves forward/beyond the carseat's protective shell during a crash.

Most passenger vehicles sold in the U.S. have been required to have 3 factory equipped tether anchors since approx. the 2000/2001 model year. Your '01 Rodeo is a bit unusual in that it has 2 factory equipped tether anchors with the capability of having 1 more tether anchor retrofitted - most vehicles with any factory equipped top tether anchors cannot have any additional top tether anchors retrofitted at all, so you're lucky in that regard. :)
 

An Aurora

Senior Community Member
I spent a few minutes and found that the TrueFit installs very easily very upright in the Rodeo. Please ignore the mess; it's been sitting in the driveway for 6 months undergoing an engine rebuild and it's full of DH's crap :eek:

Jeanum, while you have your LATCH manual out, can you check about TA's in a 2000 Rodeo? I didn't see any and it will soon be DH's main ride.

rodeo001.jpg


rodeo002.jpg


And outboard, it installed upright and allowed the driver's seat to be all the way back--my 5'10" hubby had to move the seat forward a couple inches to drive.
rodeo003.jpg
 

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