Carrie_R
Ambassador - CPS Technician
I rearranged my car to summer setup the other day and finally let myself be bothered by something that I've wondered about for a while. It's kind of technical, but I would really appreciate some input from those who enjoy the technical aspect discussions and/or have a good grasp on those portions of FMVSS, etc.
I have a lot of kids in my car. (I know this is news, lol ) They are all restrained according to best practice and I do my very best to not sacrifice one kid's safety for another. In respect to HE room, though, I don't know what the best way to balance this is.
Obviously HE for tethered seats < boosters, and HBB > backless because they sit the kid further forward. But then, almost all of my kids fall asleep (and crash HARD) at the end of a day of playing somewhere and really, really need their HBB. The front seat is also in use, so I can't slide it all the way forward.
For the sake of this discussion, assume that any parent is ok with what I come up with and leaves CPS decisions to me. In total, I need two RF seats, one HWH, two HBB and one backless.
I have two options for my third row, but either of them requires a RF seat on the 60 portion. Putting that seat there requires me to move the second row all the way forward.
Option A is booster/RF seat driver center in both rows, leaving ok HE room in the third row but not terribly much in the second row. I'm also having a problem with the second row RF seat touching the passenger seat (it's in the center,) which previously hadn't been a problem. A reinstall may fix that.
Option B is two RF seats in the third row, with two boosters or a booster and a HWH in the second row.
Seat on the 40 in the third row is either HBB (preferred) or backless, and then a HBB or HWH in the second; the depth of the 40s adjust independent of the 60 portions but I am also trying to get the front passenger seat back from the airbag as much as possible.
With current setup, third row booster riders (HBB) have 29" HE room, measured from the seatback behind them, second row NBB has 28" (with me closer up than I would prefer, 13" sternum to airbag,) and second row HWH has 25". He is in a tethered ProSport w/lap-shoulder install so I feel like he has pretty good HE control between the tether and the LBP, but I dunno? The front seat passenger has 35" between seatback and airbag.
I'm thinking about switching back to setup B. If I have the RFers in the third row, I could put a boostered child second row center (so no seat in front to hit, although there is a console,) tether the child behind the driver (leaving the RF Radian untethered,) scoot myself back a smidge and then balance the total HE room between the passenger side riders. If I leave a bit more for the third row rider and put the backless in the second row with a bit less, that might be ok. I also could *maybe* put the youngest booster rider (6) back in a HWH (Nautilus, which I should be getting back from loan soon) if he fits and tether it, and then "steal" some of his HE room for the 3rd row booster rider.
Is there a better plan that I'm not seeing? I left out ages/weights/kids/irrelevent seats to try to simplify a bit but I can supply if needed, if that makes a difference.
Another way of doing it, maybe make it a bit less confusing -- here's a map:
Driver // Passenger
13" sternum to wheel // 35" seatback to dash
NBB // RF // HWH
28" // N/A // 25"
HBB // RF // HBB
29" // N/A // 29"
After measuring, they're actually not as bad as I thought they were. I still don't love it, though, and would appreciate any ideas to balance the HE room as best as possible.
Really hoping a few of our technical experts can weigh in on this, since it is not one of my areas of expertise and I'm concerned there are facets that I am missing. I know it's a lot of info, so thanks in advance to anyone who managed to wade through it with their brains intact.
(I know I scare people away with my complicated novel threads; even if you don't have much input I'll take whatever you have. Even a bit of brainstorming is better than me alone.)
ETA: I posted all of this and then realized that it probably should have gone in the technical forum. Sigh. I apologize to whatever mod gets stuck moving it there.
I have a lot of kids in my car. (I know this is news, lol ) They are all restrained according to best practice and I do my very best to not sacrifice one kid's safety for another. In respect to HE room, though, I don't know what the best way to balance this is.
Obviously HE for tethered seats < boosters, and HBB > backless because they sit the kid further forward. But then, almost all of my kids fall asleep (and crash HARD) at the end of a day of playing somewhere and really, really need their HBB. The front seat is also in use, so I can't slide it all the way forward.
For the sake of this discussion, assume that any parent is ok with what I come up with and leaves CPS decisions to me. In total, I need two RF seats, one HWH, two HBB and one backless.
I have two options for my third row, but either of them requires a RF seat on the 60 portion. Putting that seat there requires me to move the second row all the way forward.
Option A is booster/RF seat driver center in both rows, leaving ok HE room in the third row but not terribly much in the second row. I'm also having a problem with the second row RF seat touching the passenger seat (it's in the center,) which previously hadn't been a problem. A reinstall may fix that.
Option B is two RF seats in the third row, with two boosters or a booster and a HWH in the second row.
Seat on the 40 in the third row is either HBB (preferred) or backless, and then a HBB or HWH in the second; the depth of the 40s adjust independent of the 60 portions but I am also trying to get the front passenger seat back from the airbag as much as possible.
With current setup, third row booster riders (HBB) have 29" HE room, measured from the seatback behind them, second row NBB has 28" (with me closer up than I would prefer, 13" sternum to airbag,) and second row HWH has 25". He is in a tethered ProSport w/lap-shoulder install so I feel like he has pretty good HE control between the tether and the LBP, but I dunno? The front seat passenger has 35" between seatback and airbag.
I'm thinking about switching back to setup B. If I have the RFers in the third row, I could put a boostered child second row center (so no seat in front to hit, although there is a console,) tether the child behind the driver (leaving the RF Radian untethered,) scoot myself back a smidge and then balance the total HE room between the passenger side riders. If I leave a bit more for the third row rider and put the backless in the second row with a bit less, that might be ok. I also could *maybe* put the youngest booster rider (6) back in a HWH (Nautilus, which I should be getting back from loan soon) if he fits and tether it, and then "steal" some of his HE room for the 3rd row booster rider.
Is there a better plan that I'm not seeing? I left out ages/weights/kids/irrelevent seats to try to simplify a bit but I can supply if needed, if that makes a difference.
Another way of doing it, maybe make it a bit less confusing -- here's a map:
Driver // Passenger
13" sternum to wheel // 35" seatback to dash
NBB // RF // HWH
28" // N/A // 25"
HBB // RF // HBB
29" // N/A // 29"
After measuring, they're actually not as bad as I thought they were. I still don't love it, though, and would appreciate any ideas to balance the HE room as best as possible.
Really hoping a few of our technical experts can weigh in on this, since it is not one of my areas of expertise and I'm concerned there are facets that I am missing. I know it's a lot of info, so thanks in advance to anyone who managed to wade through it with their brains intact.
(I know I scare people away with my complicated novel threads; even if you don't have much input I'll take whatever you have. Even a bit of brainstorming is better than me alone.)
ETA: I posted all of this and then realized that it probably should have gone in the technical forum. Sigh. I apologize to whatever mod gets stuck moving it there.