Need seating position advice

Kelllilee · Mar 5, 2011

okay, so through a series of unfortunate events we are down to one car. It was our spare car for Jake to drive to and from work, and wasn't picked with the intention of putting carseats in it, but now we have no choice. It's an old chevy Blazer

Basically we have 3 spots for carseats. 1- front passenger seat (no airbags), 2 and 3 - back bench seat. No shoulder straps, no headrests, but there is a spot to attach an anchor strap. (only one spot for an adult, sucky)

we have 2 forward facing children in Radians and one rearfacing in a cocorro. Only 2 doors, so you have to fold forward the front seat to get into the back.

What would be the best seating positions? Right now I installed them with the 2 radians in the back and the cocorro in the front, since I figure the safest carseat is the rearfacing one. Is that the best option? Or would it be better to put Courtney in a booster (which I think she would be okay with - she's 5y7m 42ish lbs) or the radian in the front seat? The front seatbelt fits a little funky with the cocorro and I'm not totally happy with the install. It would probably install better in the back... The front seatbelt is weird and I'm not sure I could satisfactorily install the radian either. The lap portion and the shoulder portion lock independently of each other and I can't get the shoulder part to lock on it's own (only locks when you pull hard and fast)

PurpleLucy · Mar 5, 2011

That's a tough one. I'm not a tech, so please don't rely on my response. But IMO, if there's no airbag at all in the front passenger seat, then the RF baby should go there. I may be wrong though. I've always heard most protected child in least safe position.

Kelllilee · Mar 5, 2011

PurpleLucy said:
That's a tough one. I'm not a tech, so please don't rely on my response. But IMO, if there's no airbag at all in the front passenger seat, then the RF baby should go there. I may be wrong though. I've always heard most protected child in least safe position.

That was my thought too, which is why I put her seat there. But I'm thinking maybe a booster would be better there because of the install issues

wendytthomas · Mar 5, 2011

You don't have a center seat in the back? As I recall, Blazers sat five, not four, so you should have a center seatbelt. I'd put the Coccoro there, and the kids on either side.

If you have an 01-03 and your manual says not to put a seat there, Chevy has rescinded that, and so you can use your rear middle.

Wendy

Kelllilee · Mar 5, 2011

wendytthomas said:
You don't have a center seat in the back? As I recall, Blazers sat five, not four, so you should have a center seatbelt. I'd put the Coccoro there, and the kids on either side.

If you have an 01-03 and your manual says not to put a seat there, Chevy has rescinded that, and so you can use your rear middle.

Wendy

There are only 2 seatbelts in the back seat. This is an 86 model - really old

Kat_Momof3 · Mar 5, 2011

with no airbag in front, definitely rearfacing baby in front... without airbags, I'd view it more as comparing a 2nd row to a third row... but with the back row being a little safer because of being further from the most common impact side in this case, as well as being further from the windshield and all that.

I would see about retrofitting tether anchors, but the good news is that the Radian (SK releases their testing info and results) score REALLY REALLY well without the tether... they designed it to do so.... so I wouldn't spend tons of money doing it if they have to drill.

mylittlet · Mar 5, 2011

Is it the s10 or full size? The s10 is only a 4 seater. The full size is a 5 seater. We have owned a few of these over the years. My first car was a 1975 full size blazer.

Stefanie, cpst in iowa - mom to 4 great kids

Kelllilee · Mar 5, 2011

Kat_Momof3 said:
with no airbag in front, definitely rearfacing baby in front... without airbags, I'd view it more as comparing a 2nd row to a third row... but with the back row being a little safer because of being further from the most common impact side in this case, as well as being further from the windshield and all that.

I would see about retrofitting tether anchors, but the good news is that the Radian (SK releases their testing info and results) score REALLY REALLY well without the tether... they designed it to do so.... so I wouldn't spend tons of money doing it if they have to drill.

there is one rear anchor spot, so I have one of the radians tethered. I couldn't find any information in the manual, so I'm assuming I can only hook one tether to it. I'm not 100% sure it's intended for tethering a carseat, but it's attached to the frame of the car in the floor and the latch hook fits on it

Hopefully we can get another vehicle within 3 months so this is just a temporary situation. I may call up one of my CPST buddies locally to check out the front carseat to make sure it's okay.

pippi2077 said:
Is it the s10 or full size? The s10 is only a 4 seater. The full size is a 5 seater. We have owned a few of these over the years. My first car was a 1975 full size blazer.

Stefanie, cpst in iowa - mom to 4 great kids

it's the s10, so only 4 seats

PurpleLucy · Mar 5, 2011

I highly doubt an 86 has a tether anchor. Maybe a tech can check their manual.

Kelllilee · Mar 5, 2011

interestingly, among all the BIZARRE carseat advice in the manual it does mention using carseats with tether anchors, just doesn't specifically show a picture of where to anchor it

Carrie_R · Mar 5, 2011

Are either of the Radian kids small enough that they can RF? If so, I would put one of them RF in the front passenger seat, and the baby RF behind them, with the FFer behind you (or wherever the TA is.) There's no entry for an 86 in the LATCH manual, so I would verify with Chevy that you do indeed have a TA.

Kelllilee · Mar 5, 2011

Carrie_R said:
Are either of the Radian kids small enough that they can RF? If so, I would put one of them RF in the front passenger seat, and the baby RF behind them, with the FFer behind you (or wherever the TA is.) There's no entry for an 86 in the LATCH manual, so I would verify with Chevy that you do indeed have a TA.

My middle child is borderline with being able to rearface... I'd have to check the harness position and recheck her weight. She's 3y9m and somewhere near 40lbs, I believe she's right at the second from the top harness slot

Defrost · Mar 6, 2011

Can you take a picture of that tether anchor for us? I've seen a few retrofitted TAs in older vehicles, as have many of the other techs here, so we might be able to recognize it and maybe say "Oh gee, that does look like the hardware used by Chevy" or something along those lines. I have had vehicles come into checks where a previous owner had done the retrofit and the current owner had no idea.

If you can get a picture of the bottom of the tether anchor (underneath the vehicle) as well that would be even better.

momtotwogirls · Mar 6, 2011

you may want to check your manuals for the car seats too. Im guessing since the lap and shoulder belt lock independently of each other they have separate retractors. i know in my Frontier 85 and True fit they both state a car seat cannot be installed with those kinds of seat belts.

Defrost · Mar 6, 2011

momtotwogirls said:
you may want to check your manuals for the car seats too. Im guessing since the lap and shoulder belt lock independently of each other they have separate retractors. i know in my Frontier 85 and True fit they both state a car seat cannot be installed with those kinds of seat belts.

That's a good point. It sounds like her front seat belt is similar to the one in my Astro, though. On mine, the lap-belt locks for carseats (switchable), but the shoulder belt only locks for crashes (ELR-only). The vehicle manual for my Astro does allow for front-seat installs, which is why the lap-belt locks.

I know we've discussed this problem on the board before, and it's one of those hands-in-the-air-no-one's-really-sure problems. It seems like carseat manufacturers tend to have an across-the-board ban on these types of seat belts, because so many of them were either attached to the door instead of the vehicle frame, or didn't have locking seatbelts, or both, and it's too complicated for them to include the "well, except in these rare cases, it's okay" instructions when most of these vehicles aren't being driven anymore anyway.

Chameleon · Mar 6, 2011

Kelllilee said:
interestingly, among all the BIZARRE carseat advice in the manual it does mention using carseats with tether anchors, just doesn't specifically show a picture of where to anchor it

This is probably because some carseats back in those years DID have tethers. I remember specifically the Strollee that I rode in as a child had a tether and was used.

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