Recaro Vivo shoulder belt path??

sweetsound

New member
Hi there...

My 7 yr old has been riding in his vivo for awhile now, but we recently bought a 2011 pilot and now his seat belt keeps coming out of the shoulder part of the belt path. I'm assuming this is not good...;)

Is this something I should contact Recaro about?? The seat worked properly in our caravan so I'm not sure if I should bother getting them involved. Do I find him a new seat?? The probooster seems too tippy for the seat he is in. He rides in the 3rd row on the drivers side.

Uggh... the thought of booster shopping is overwhelming right now. I just bought two convertibles for the baby who is growing out of his keyfit, and that took forever. Sigh... being indecisive stinks sometimes...
 
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aeormsby

New member
Sounds like it's a vehicle compatibility thing. Can you adjust the vehicle seat at all so that the seatbelt is coming into the Vivo at a different angle? Or try it in a different position if you have room to move kids/seats around? We have a Vivo in our Truck and it works so much better than our Parkway SGL did there. I can get the Parkway to work in my SUV but it works best if I have the vehicle seat more upright and forward a little so that the angle is better (our problem isn't the seatbelt coming out, it's that it won't retract on it's own).
 

sweetsound

New member
Thank you for your input. After a day or so to really try and work with it, I'm thinking you're right... it just doesn't seem compatible with where I have him seated.

While driving him around today I asked him multiple times to check whether or not it was in the belt path. Sometimes it was, sometimes it wasn't.:( He was great about fixing the problem, but still... not good.

I do have a few more questions if that's okay...

Does it matter if the belt lays flat in the belt path (shoulder part, not the lap)?? Looking at the way the belt comes to him, I wonder if it would even be possible unless I found just the right seat.

Also, would you take a harnessed child under 40lbs and belt the seat instead of using latch?? The reason I ask is because I have 2 rear facing infants in the second row with latch (one behind driver, the other in the center), and then I have my 4 yr old in a prosport on the passenger side 3rd row, and my 7 yr old boostered on the drivers side 3rd row. I have it this way for 2 reasons. #1, the only seat that doesn't have latch is the one he is boostered in, and #2, I can reach my 4 yr old better to buckle him up into the harness.

If I end up buying a new booster, I'm looking at ones with latch. Should I switch the prosport and booster?? That way I can latch the booster? Sure I'd have to climb in a bit further to buckle the 4yr old, but do you think it would be worth it to keep the booster latched??

Sorry if this is long winded and somewhat difficult to read, it's quite past my bedtime;)
 

ketchupqueen

CPST and ketchup snob
Staff member
LATCH is no safer than seatbelt to install a harnessed seat, so no problem there.

You might want to try a booster with the guides set completely differently; I hear the Chicco Keyfit Strada works well in some tricky seatbelt situations, you might look at that...
 

aeormsby

New member
Take a look at which direction the seatbelt is coming from to go into the guide. The Vivo has guides more on the sides, I know our Parkway SGL has the guides more at the back of the headrest (more parallel with the seat back). That's what I realized I needed to look for in our truck (the guides on the side work better).

If you can figure out where the guides need to be to work better do some searches on the site here for reviews with photos. I found some great photos & comparisons that people had posted so I could get an idea of how the guides were different of different seats.

Good luck with your search.
 

sweetsound

New member
Well, I went outside to have another look and my husband had the idea of removing the vehicle's headrest. It actually seemed to work. The belt now stays in the belt path, but it isn't hooked in (does that even make sense??). The belt goes through the path, but not under the little hook.

Is this still a problem?? If so, I'll probably either get the Chicco Keyfit Strada (thanks for that suggestion), because the way the belt path is oriented on it looks like a great solution... or the oobr because that one looks like it would keep it in better as well, and he loves the prints.

If need be, I can always take a picture and show you guys what I mean. Sorry if I'm making this so complicated. I'd love to have all my seats checked, but for some reason multicare isn't doing them here anymore... :(
 

sweetsound

New member
image-3373398402.jpg

Sorry it's not a great picture. We did this before school so it was still a bit dark. Thank goodness for instagram, the original was way too dark to make anything out.

So... my main concern is that although the belt is going through the path, that little hook at the back is doing nothing to actually keep it there. Is this really a problem?? Or am I over thinking this??

Also, it is ok that we removed the vehicle headrest, right???
 

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aeormsby

New member
OK, I know why I was confused now, they opening for the belt path our our Vivo is in the bottom, apparently they've changed it.

No the belt doesn't need to be in the little hook, that's just to help keep the belt from slipping out of the belt path. And it's fine to remove the headrest on the vehicle seat (there are a few Dorel brand boosters that require a vehicle headrest because the back of the booster isn't reinforced).
 

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