The upright Radian install trick

mom of six · Mar 20, 2012

Now it feels like we are back to square one.

How can Keeanh's install be OK and yours not be OK? The only difference I see is that the edge of Keenah's Radian (where the harness adjuster lever is) touches the seat back where as yours does not. IS THAT REALLY THE ISSUE? Contact in one place rather than in two?

Would an angle adjuster (not with the the RF feet in the *crack* but rather in the *bend*) raise the seat in a way that will make that front edge touch the seat back? Would that make the install *compatible*?

Can you post more information about Diono/Allanna's response?

Now about the NV again...cost? for the conversion or for the van itself?

An Aurora · Mar 20, 2012

The issue is that the Radian itself is not in contact with the vehicle seat back.

Starlight · Mar 20, 2012

mom of six said:
Now about the NV again...cost? for the conversion or for the van itself?

We're being told a base price of about 36k, plus the cost to convert.

An Aurora · Mar 20, 2012

Starlight said:
We're being told a base price of about 36k, plus the cost to convert.

:yeahthat: $36k base price plus the conversion is $10,500.

Keeanh · Mar 20, 2012

Anna, how close does it get with the angle adjuster? Phone Diono and ask if you can use 2 angle adjusters :whistling:

An Aurora · Mar 20, 2012

I don't have an angle adjuster. I can try one, but I don't think it's going to help matters, because with the feet wedged into the bight, the seat is kinda dangling in midair, very over-reclined and I'm not comfortable with the install. I'm afraid using the AA with this seat is going to create a false sense of a good install.

An Aurora · Mar 20, 2012

Ok here's the conversation with Allana

My original email:

Hi Allana,

I have a couple of questions about my Radian installation in my BMW X5. After following the bruhaha on the Facebook car seat group and on car-seat.org, I am not sure the Radian is compatible with my vehicle. This is what my vehicle seat looks like:

You can see here that the bump is forward of the seat bight

And when the Radian is installed with the feet crammed in that crack...

...the front of the Radian is not in contact with the vehicle seat at all.

This is with the seat very reclined, no "trick" involved to get it more upright

If I were to lift the seat up and try to cram the feet into the actual seat bight, the recline foot on the Radian would be dangling in midair, not in contact with the vehicle seat bottom at all. Also, it would be reclined well past the allowed 45* angle.

Sorry to bug you with more questions; I'm sure you've been very busy these past few days!

Thanks,

An Aurora

Her reply

On the last photo with what you are calling over reclined, are the feet wedged into the higher “crack”?

Can you send a photo of the installation and show me how the foot is dangling in mid air?

Meanwhile, I will send photo to the engineer. Thanks for sending them and you are not bothering me.

My response

The last photo with the kids was just showing what the seat looked like when installed with the feet how they were in the other picture. That one is not over-reclined; I was just saying that if I did put the feet up in the bight, it *would* be over-reclined. I will try to get some more pictures during naptime. Thank you for your help

She replied with

Believe it or not, what looks over reclined is not. We both took pics the other day in an Odyssey and Sienna because the seat bights are higher, and even when we put so much pressure on the seats like a 45lbs would, it still meets FMVSS without over rotating. Keep in mind when we crash test it is done on a flat bench. So the recline is pretty severe to begin with and during a crash test there is a minimum the seat can rotate. The Radian does not exceed the requirements.

Looks strange to you and me, but it is all based on dynamic testing with sophisticated equipment and a highly trained engineering staff.

My concern is the current pictures with the front of the Radian not touching the back of the vehicle seat, so I will forward those pics on to him.

and

Okay! Just got off the phone with the engineer. I guess your example is more in line with what I was originally concern with regarding pulling the seat away from the bight. Your installation needs to have the feet wedged into the crack since the front of the Radian is not up against the seat back. If the recline is inconvenient for front seat passengers, then the Angle Adjuster should help with bringing it more upright.

I must retract some of the information from my last email. The engineer stated the bench seat does have about a 15 degree slope so the Radian is tested at 45 degrees or even more upright.

Please feel free to call me to get a better understanding if I have totally confused you.

I said

Thank you for the info Allana! With the feet above the bump and in the actual seat bight, much of the base of the Radian is not in contact with the vehicle seat, and it is very over-reclined (well beyond the 45*). It's also super loose. I have contacted another tech friend to come play car seats with me and see if we can somehow get an acceptable install, but at this point I'm considering the vehicle incompatible with the Radian RF.

Thanks again for all your help!

mom of six · Mar 20, 2012

Thanks for posting all of that. Too bad Allanna isn't better with her wording and responses.

I still wonder what would happen if you kept the feet at the bend, like you have them (because being at the bend seems to be OK based on the response to Keenah's vehicle, then added the angle adjuster. Do you think that would lift the seat enough to make the front lip of the Radian touch the seat back?

So, to boil this incredibly long thread down to a single statement...

***To achieve a correct install, the front edge of the Radian, where the harness adjuster is located, MUST touch the vehicle seat back .***

Does that sound right?

canadiangie · Mar 20, 2012

mom of six said:
Thanks for posting all of that. Too bad Allanna isn't better with her wording and responses.

I still wonder what would happen if you kept the feet at the bend, like you have them (because being at the bend seems to be OK based on the response to Keenah's vehicle, then added the angle adjuster. Do you think that would lift the seat enough to make the front lip of the Radian touch the seat back?

So, to boil this incredibly long thread down to a single statement...

***To achieve a correct install, the front edge of the Radian, where the harness adjuster is located, MUST touch the vehicle seat back .***

Does that sound right?

Man do I ever need a summary to this thread lol!

I've kept up with each new post, but I'm not feeling very sure of things.

ElmoMinnieMunoFoofa · Mar 20, 2012

Which vehicles will encounter this issue?

An Aurora · Mar 20, 2012

mom of six said:
Thanks for posting all of that. Too bad Allanna isn't better with her wording and responses.

I still wonder what would happen if you kept the feet at the bend, like you have them (because being at the bend seems to be OK based on the response to Keenah's vehicle, then added the angle adjuster. Do you think that would lift the seat enough to make the front lip of the Radian touch the seat back?

So, to boil this incredibly long thread down to a single statement...

***To achieve a correct install, the front edge of the Radian, where the harness adjuster is located, MUST touch the vehicle seat back .***

Does that sound right?

Yes, I think you are right with that summary. It IS in the manual, but I've always read it as a little blurb about not putting it like flat on the seat or something, versus "the front of the seat must be pressed firmly into the vehicle seat." I think if it's a make it or break it factor, it needs to be more strongly worded, and the picture needs to be clear-it says to refer to the picture but it's just a drawing and doesn't show it at all.

The upright Radian install trick

mom of six

Active member

An Aurora

Senior Community Member

Starlight

Senior Community Member

An Aurora

Senior Community Member

Keeanh

Well-known member

An Aurora

Senior Community Member

An Aurora

Senior Community Member

mom of six

Active member

canadiangie

New member

ElmoMinnieMunoFoofa

New member

An Aurora

Senior Community Member

Car-Seat.Org Facebook Group

Sponsors

Forum statistics