Question 2010 Caravan & Nautlius Install issue

My daycare mom just bought her DD a nautlius for her car & for the life of me I couldnt seem to get it tight at the belt path with the Seatbelt

I could move it at least 2" at the belt path with the seatbelt , as tight as I could humanly get it , and I did manage to get it tight with LATCH ( less than 1") but it wasnt as tight as I would normally like

I think its an issue with her seatbelt and how far down the buckle stalk is and it doesnt seem to angle upwards so it was to be belted at a weird angle , I tried locking the retractor 1st to get a nice tight install , but still to much room at the belt path

I didnt have time to keep attempting a seatbelt install, so I installed it with LATCH since it was an acceptable install, but im going to borrow her van on Saturday & i'd like to figure out a way to get it not only tighter with LATCH but a seatbelt install as well

We were trying to install in on the drivers side captains , and I suggested trying the back seat but she only has 2 kids so she uses it for cargo space and doesnt want a seat back there

I have it installed in my 09' Sportage and it took a few times with the seatbelt but I got and got it tight by locking the retractor 1st and LATCH was a piece of cake , got a rock solid install in seconds

What year is her Caravan? Made afte 2008?

canadiangie said:

What year is her Caravan? Made afte 2008?

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It's a 2010 according to the thread title. OP, I understand exactly the issue you're having. I've had the same problem with a couple seats at checks in the newest generation Caravans. It's like the stalk is fixed at the wrong angle to allow for a tight install. One in particular that was very difficult was a FF Scenera. I was almost considering it an incompatibility but with another tech's help was able to get it in acceptably. In that case, the child was well under the UAS limit but parents had removed the UAS belt from the seat. I showed mom the issue and advised her to obtain a new UAS from the manufacturer and install that way instead. As I mentioned, the install took two of us. One put weight in the seat while the other tightened the lap portion of the belt leaning in over the opposite side captain's chair. We basically had to try to work with the weird angle of the stalk and got it as tight as we could. I was not confident that the mom could replicate the install, though, which is why I advised her to use the UAS instead.

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amyd said:

It's a 2010 according to the thread title. OP, I understand exactly the issue you're having. I've had the same problem with a couple seats at checks in the newest generation Caravans. It's like the stalk is fixed at the wrong angle to allow for a tight install. One in particular that was very difficult was a FF Scenera. I was almost considering it an incompatibility but with another tech's help was able to get it in acceptably. In that case, the child was well under the UAS limit but parents had removed the UAS belt from the seat. I showed mom the issue and advised her to obtain a new UAS from the manufacturer and install that way instead. As I mentioned, the install took two of us. One put weight in the seat while the other tightened the lap portion of the belt leaning in over the opposite side captain's chair. We basically had to try to work with the weird angle of the stalk and got it as tight as we could. I was not confident that the mom could replicate the install, though, which is why I advised her to use the UAS instead.

Sent from my iPhone using Car-Seat.Org

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Thank-You! I feel better knowing im not the only one with an issue with this weird buckle stalk , it faces down rather than upward which is just crazy , I did check her 3rd row and those are all normal so not sure why they had to make the captains so odd

Whats funny is she had a scenera in there before the Nauti , installed with a seatbelt as she too cut off the LATCH , and I had mentioned many times before I would check her seat , but never got to as she was always "busy" or didnt have her seat in the van etc , and I am 100% sure it wasnt installed correctly , I have issues getting a Scenera belt install in my 09" sportage so I cant imagine its easy at all with the Scenera and the odd buckle stalk

I suppose LATCH is going to be the only way to put the Nauti in the captains seat in her van and im going to have to work really hard to teach her to put it back in with LATCH properly everytime - it definelty takes 2 people even using LATCH , I had her using her knee to push the Nauti as far back onto the seat while I pulled the LATCH adjuster and it took us a good 5 minutes

I was really happy to see the Nauti had no overhang on her seat at all , where as the Scenera was terrible