Mazda CX7 center install?????

warnello

New member
Hi,
We are picking up our new cx7 tonight and I have some questions about car seat installs. Currently we have a chicco keyfit but within next week will be getting a britax. The car has 5 star crash tests which is why we got it but now I hear its hard to install car seat in center. I know latch is only outboard but does anyone have tips on how to do center install? This will be newest and safest car we have so I need a good install.
thanks
S
 
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CDNTech

Senior Community Member
I love the CX-7! We're actually getting the 9 next year when the lease on our van is up... can't give up that 7 passenger seating and the center tether location on the 7 drives me nuts! lol We have an '07 MazdaSpeed3... it has the same turbocharged engine as the CX-7... they're a lot of fun to drive!

With the keyfit and a britax seat... you will have no issues installing either of those seats in the center position of the CX-7. Keep in mind that when your child goes forwardfacing (a good two years away if your little one is still in the keyfit), you will probably want to move him/her to one of the outboard positions. This is because the center fowardfacing tether anchor is NOT on the back of the vehicle seat (like the outboard positions.). It is in the back, just in front of the tailgate lift and will therefore take up a lot of your cargo space in the back. You don't want anything pushing against that tether anchor back there... just something to keep in mind.

I've also had my Radian installed back there and it fits great.

I believe Mazda was one of the models that allowed you to borrow outboard anchors for a center LATCH install provided your carseat manufacturer allows it. Check your vehicle owner's manual to be sure... both Britax and Sunshine Kids Radian allow you to borrow outboard anchors for a center LATCH install PROVIDED the vehicle manufacturer allows it as well.

When you do go to install your Britax seat, be sure to take advantage of the rearfacing tether option. The seat track leg on either the driver's or passenger's side makes a great location to wrap your d-ring around, creating a rearfacing tether anchor point to attach your tether strap.
 

warnello

New member
Hi,
Thanks for the reassurance. I am embarassed to say I only recently learned about tethering. Is it hard t do? How would a seatr tether to the cargo area from center? Wouldnt that make it easy for my 8 month old to play with tether strap over his head and body? I now see its impt to tether but cant understand how it works. I will check manual to see if I can borrow latch. If I cant I hope seatbelts will work. I assume the cx has a normal center belt My other car is a 2001 camry so we do a center seatbelt install which is good for second car but the cx7 is ebtter car so will be main car. thanks so much.
w
 

CDNTech

Senior Community Member
When the seat is forward facing (ages from now since your little one is still little ;)) the tether strap comes from behind the seat and goes all the way to the back of the lift gate where it attaches to the tether anchor located there for the middle position... huge hassle so you'll probably want to move her/him to the outboard position at that time. With a Britax seat, you'll be able to rearface her/him to at least age two if not longer (many people go to age 3 or 4), so you've got a while before you need to decide on that.

For rearfacing (the stage you're at now), it's really quite simple to install using a seatbelt. LATCH is NOT safer than a seatbelt install. What's important is that you get less than 1 inch of side to side AND front to back movement AT the belt path with whichever method you use to install your carseat.

With the seatbelt and say you get a Marathon...
It is a lap/shoulder belt in the CX-7. Make sure the seat is in the recline mode. Pull the bottom of the cover and foam away from the rearfacing belt path. Open the lock-off furthest from the buckle. You will run the seatbelt under the LATCH bar through the lock-off opening and up through the RFing belt path. It goes under the cover and under the seat foam between the crotch buckle and where babies bum sits and then back down through the RFing belt path and under the LATCH bar. Buckle it up and then kneel in the seat while pulling all the slack out of the seatbelt. Position the shoulder belt in the lock-off with the lap and shoulder portions staggered of each other and close the lock-off. Check for movement by using one hand and tugging (gentle tugs, no hercules effort here. :D) the seat AT the belt path. If it moves more than an inch, then you need to pull more slack out of the seatbelt and try again.

After you've got it in nice and tight, you want to take the d-ring that comes with your seat (when you buy new it's generally attached to the end of the tether strap or in one of the pouches where the LATCH connectors are stored. The d-ring is a short piece of seatbelt webbing that has a metal D shape at one end and a seatbelt webbing loop at the other. You take your d-ring and wrap it around an immoveable object... like the seat track leg. Thread the metal end through the seatbelt end and you've just created a tether anchor point. Attach the tether anchor to the anchor point you've just created and tighten down the tether strap. This will also adjust the rearfacing angle so you don't need to worry about getting the angle right when installing the seat since the rearfacing tether will do that for you... big bonus for carseats that can be tethered rearfacing!

Okay... so those instructions sound a little complicated, but once you have the seat and have read the manual and played a little bit... it really will be easy.

So, when rearfacing the tether is going to come down the back of the seat and attach to a point somewhere near the floor to one of the front row vehicle seats. Your child will not be able to reach the tether strap to play with it at all.

Hope that made a little sense and I didn't totally scare you! It's all about trying it out and you'll do great!
 

warnello

New member
Thanks so much! Its so great to 'meet' people like you on these boards. Many of my friends just get any old seat and plop it in and don't have proper advise to give. My son was very ill at birth (fine now thankfully) and I want to do everything possible to keep him safe from injury and getting a good car and seat, baby equip etc is important to me. I really appreciate the tutoring. I will update post after we try the install.
W
 

CDNTech

Senior Community Member
No problem... let me/us know if you have any questions after you've given it a try. If you have access to a digital camera... pics are always helpful too.

Congratulations on the new CX-7! Which colour did you get?
 

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