adventures in 3-across land

wildeyes

New member
so i'll attempt to make a long story short LOL

went to see kecia in may and figure out seats for my tiny '02 elantra. we decided on a ff radian, rf radian, harmony.
so. i bought them. installed them (in 20 degree weather at 36 weeks pregnant mind you) and went to the local firehouse (where there is a bevy of techs AND an instructor)
and the techs ripped it all apart, except for the ff radian. (which they didnt hardly look at nor uninstall to check)
they didnt read the manuals on the radians. they didnt OPEN the harmony (brand new, still in the plastic) they argued with me that i couldnt use the rf tether strap to adjust the angle of the radian, AS PER THE MANUAL.
they decided she didnt fit well in the harmony (which i do agree with) and she didnt fit in just the seatbelt (i also agreed with)
they told me the (huge) strap covers on the radian were "aftermarket" even though it came with the seat (i took them off they drove me nuts) and the belly pad as well.

they took the efta out of my moms car and put it outboard for the baby, left the ff radian for the 4 yr old, and PUT MY 10 YR OLD IN THE FRONT SEAT, in the harmony. then they put the scenera rf in moms car for the baby and made ME struggle on the floor with a 25 lb radian to put on the safe stop and adjust the harness height etc so i could use it for the 4 yr old.

during this time, the instructor walked by and observed and made comments (not helpful ones, teasing the guys about dealing with my small car)

so i pleaded with kecia to help me again, and the wonderful person that she is, met me today to fix the mess i had. and i got pics of the results. :)

we'll start with the 10 yr old and the booster debacle, which started this whole fiasco.

tiny spot i had to work with:
P1040626.jpg


harmony in spot:
P1040627.jpg


volvo in spot:
P1040628.jpg


bubble bum in spot:
P1040630.jpg


poor belt fit of no booster. pretty clearly not ready:
P1040641.jpg


another no booster:
P1040638.jpg


harmony didnt fit flush with vehicle seat, so we skipped it.

volvo belt fit. she had to limbo under the belt to get in here, and couldnt unbuckle herself:
P1040637.jpg


bubble bum belt fit:
P1040635.jpg


a 3-across shot:
P1040642.jpg


and another of all 3:
P1040644.jpg


and just cause shes cute, the 4 yr old in the radian:
P1040646.jpg


the scenera is going ff for the 4 yr old in moms car till she outgrows it, and the efta will go rf in moms car till it expires or baby outgrows it, whichever comes first. (thats the efta i bought for the 4 yr old when she was a baby.)
i am not attempting 3 across in my moms car. although i do think the ff radian, rf radian, bubble bum combo would work, with an angle adjuster for the rf seat, in her car (an '09 versa) but thats only if my car is in the shop.

so, now i can have the baby, and kecia gets to yell at the instructor at the firehouse where i went. and kecia is just the most awesome person ever. let me take home the bubble bum till mine comes (ordered it tonight) and let me borrow an infant insert for the radian till baby outgrows it and a set of normal strap covers for the babys seat. i gave her the vivo thats out of service for me now, and the two sets of HUGE strap covers that came with the radians, since i was going batty with them and took them off anyway.
 
ADS

jjordan

Moderator
That back seat looks scarily similar to mine. I'm super glad we don't need a booster, but I'm glad you found one that fits! Kecia's knowledge of seats is so helpful when trying to figure out a 3 across!
 

Kecia

Admin - CPST Instructor
Awww... thanks guys! :love: So glad we found a combination that worked! The angle of the pics don't really show it well - but the Harmony LiteRider didn't fit in that space *at all* which was disappointing. The Bubble Bum really came to the rescue here and had room to spare - amazing!

Those Radian harness strap covers... ummm... wow. I must have missed that memo because I'd never seen or heard of these gargantuan accessories. :jaw:
 

wildeyes

New member
we shoulda got a pic of those strap covers. LOL. didnt even think about it, i know that some people havent seen them yet.
 

Kecia

Admin - CPST Instructor
Next time I'm back in the storage room - I'll try to remember to snap a pic.
 

Brigala

CPST Instructor
Go Kecia!

I hate those monster Radian straps, too. I've only had to deal with them once, fortunately. We ended up removing them also.
 

Carrie_R

Ambassador - CPS Technician
They only seem to ship with a few random Radians, which is really odd.

Really glad Kecia is able to talk to the firehouse. I was all, "OMG, report them!!!" until I got to that part, lol. So sorry you had such a poor check experience!
 

cryswilkins

New member
Looks good!

The new strap covers are horrendous. I called and they sent me the smaller ones. I cna't believe how terrible they are.
 

wildeyes

New member
They only seem to ship with a few random Radians, which is really odd.

Really glad Kecia is able to talk to the firehouse. I was all, "OMG, report them!!!" until I got to that part, lol. So sorry you had such a poor check experience!

yeah, but i am glad it was *me* and not some poor unsuspecting mom who had NO idea what to do. i've got you guys and kecia and the common sense to read the manuals, not everybody is so blessed. there were very nice about the whole thing, and dove headlong into a difficult situation, but they just missed the mark, with some pretty obvious glaring faults.

the strap covers.. glad to see them go. :) i took out at LEAST 2 inches of slack off audrey when i buckled her in without them. she didnt need them anyway. :)
 

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