help, please. MA - RF - 3rd row - 05 Grand Caravan

Hoping I can get some advice. I've only installed car seats in my 2005 Grand Caravan with the latch on the middle bench, never with the seatbelts in the 3rd row. Well, with baby #3 due any day, someone has to go in the back and be installed with the seatbelt. Only option is DS2 who is rearfacing in a MA. I installed the seat on the drivers side outboard with the lap/should belt that is there. I had both the carseat manual and the car manual at hand and read each one before proceeding. However, I still have a couple questions. One is about rearfacing tether. there are 3 tether points. Middle row has 2, 1 for each seat. The 3rd row has one in the middle. The middle row bench seat can be shifted to the left or the right and we have it shifted to the left. Well, I put the MA all the way to the left on the 3rd row. I can't tether to the one on that side because DS1's Frontier is tethered there. I didn't know where else to tether other than the one for the other side (which is kinda positioned in the middle of the van because it's a 2 seater bench that is not centered in the van). Does that make sense at all? SO, it's tethered off to the right side where the infant seat is (infant seat is not tether). Is it ok to tether it like that or should I move it? Would it be better to run the tether under the van seat all the way to the tether on the back of the 3rd row the seat is installed on (tether is in the middle on this bench seat)? Another tether point?

Also, question about the need for the lock off. I read the van manual and it says that the passenger seats have locking latch plates and that the use of a lock off clip is not needed. great. I read the MA manual and it says to use the lock offs. It says that the lock offs aren't needed for ALR seatbelts. It doesn't say anything about locking latch plate seatbelts. Do I use the lock off or not?

Thanks!

You can use the D-ring that came with your Britax to create your own RF tether point, or tether to the center-ish (2nd row right side) tether anchor point if it's within 20 degrees, or run the tether over the TOP of the seat, over the back, and clip onto the anchor point for the third row seat, or leave it untethered. You cannot run the tether under the third row seat to clip to the third row anchor.

You can use the lockoff, or not. Doesn't matter if the seatbelt is holding the seat tightly.

Pixels said:

You can use the D-ring that came with your Britax to create your own RF tether point, or tether to the center-ish (2nd row right side) tether anchor point if it's within 20 degrees, or run the tether over the TOP of the seat, over the back, and clip onto the anchor point for the third row seat, or leave it untethered. You cannot run the tether under the third row seat to clip to the third row anchor.

You can use the lockoff, or not. Doesn't matter if the seatbelt is holding the seat tightly.

Click to expand...

over the top of the seat while rearfacing?? like over the babies head??? seems like that would defeat the purpose of tethering and would just bring the carseat up off the van seat. Maybe I confused you? The MA is rearfacing on the 3rd row. I thought I read somewhere you can route it under the seat bench on which the carseat is installed Maybe I should take pictures. I'll do that and post within a couple of hours to better explain the situation.

Thanks!

No, I understood perfectly. There are two methods of rear face tethering. One is down and toward the front of the vehicle, which is called the Swedish method. The other is over the top of the seat and clipped onto the usual forward facing tether anchor point. This is the Australian method. Either way, you don't tighten down the tether enough to move the carseat at all. Just take out the slack.

You can't route the tether under the seat the carseat is on. That used to be allowed, but then they found that it wasn't beneficial, so they disallowed it.

ahh, ok. I knew that I heard to go under the seat before. It's been 3 years since I've had to look into rear facing tether as my son's seat hasn't been moved to any other spot. i had it tether to the bar under the passenger seat in front of his seat with the D-ring. I can't tell what the degree is where it's tethered now (middle seat off to the right), but I did take some pictures just before dark. I'll get them updloaded as soon as the kids go to bed. where else would I tether it if the angle is too much? I don't know of any spots. I don't want to go up and over because that would make getting him and out a mess. I know I don't HAVE to tether, but I'd feel better since he's 3 1/2 and weighs 31 lbs.

Yeah, I don't know anyone who actually uses the Australian method of tethering, other than Australians (legally required), because it's a pain to get the kid in and out of the seat. But it is an option, so I mentioned it.

What about wrapping the D-ring around the leg of the second row seat?