Installing MA in Chrysler Pacifica with LATCH??? Questions.

I have a 2004 Chyrsler Pacifica with middle row leather bucket seats and just bought a (ugly brown!!) Britax MA. My son is only 5 months old, 22.5lbs and 29inches.

I can't seem to get a good install and there are no techs within 15 miles of me. I can't get down to where they are until next week.

I have a couple of situations that I don't know what to do.

1. It's too upright. I am using the line that says "..should be parallel to the ground.." as a guide. I have it installed with the Latch and a towel rolle dup underneath but it didn't help really. I used the Tether and I attached it to the bolted rail of drivers the seat but when the seat is in a full back position (When DH drives) it pulls on the tether. Also the headrest of the seat hits the back of the MA. AND the tether tightened to get the seat at a good incline pulls it the right so it's not straight.

2. When front seat all the way back it pulls on the tether and hits the back of the carseat. Explained above.

3. The LATCH hooks on the vehicle seat are more narrow than the car seat, so with the towel to push the seat up the Latch belt is coming up across the top corner of the seat and around the side. Make sense?

I don't really know what to do except keep reinstalling it. Is there a limit to the towel use underneath the seat. I think part of the problem is the seat bottom itself is not level, it's plush and puffy in the front causing the seat to dip to the back.

I can't move the seat more than 1" in any direction. However the drivers seat sliding back and forward is moving the tether so that's not right. And the carseat can't be reclined properely without that.

Please help ... I am sick and have been working on this all day in the S. Florida heat!!!

ETA: I can't put the seat in the Passanger side due to the odd size of our garage. I can't get the passanger side doors open when inside the garage. Yes, any passangers have to get out of the car before pulling into the garage!

As far as the recline goes. Make sure the base is in the RF recline mode and not the FF. You may have to install it with the seatbelt if the latch connectors aretoo close together. you should have switchable retractors. Pull the seatbelt all the way our slowly and then feed it back into the retractor. You will hear a clicking noise when you are feeding the belt back in. When you pull on the belt it should not come out anymore until you feed it back in. As for the tether if that is your only otion to adjust the seat recline you will have to tighten it each time when your DH is done driving or find anothe tether location. You coulld try to hook the DRing around the base of the seat belt buckle stalk as long as the seatbelt buckle stalk is bolted to the floor it is an acceptable location as well.

Lisa,

Thanks! I do have the seat in the RF setting. I don't get it. I pulled the belt all the way out and fed it back in and it didn't do anything. There is something on the male part that moves but it doesn't tighten enough.

I think I might have to use the belt because the LATCH hooks in the seat are more narrow than the seat causing it to come up the front of the seat on one side. That's not good right?

I saw in a old thread that you rented or leased a 04 Pacifica. I looked in the owners manual and there is nothing regarding tighing the belt. It says something about a latching plate but there is nothing I can find on there. I am soo confused.

I am kind of house bound until I figure this out. DS is just at the top of his Infant seat weight limit and I wouldn't want to take any chances. Do you think a Chrysler dealership could help me?

Thanks,

Christina

A Latchplate means you DON'T pull the shoulder belts all the way out..it means the lapbelt stays tight all on it's own.

The LATCH is the standard 11 inches apart, and Marathons fit fine, but try pulling the base toward the front of the car, so that they aren't crammed into the seat bight right against the LATCH connectors. But since you have that awesome seatbelt, you could try it, too

joolsplus3 said:

A Latchplate means you DON'T pull the shoulder belts all the way out..it means the lapbelt stays tight all on it's own.

The LATCH is the standard 11 inches apart, and Marathons fit fine, but try pulling the base toward the front of the car, so that they aren't crammed into the seat bight right against the LATCH connectors. But since you have that awesome seatbelt, you could try it, too

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Thanks. I am blonde ... but I thought that's what that part on the belt was but didn't get it!!

Ok, so if I pulling the base more towards the front of the car won't it get crammed into the back and crease when I tighten the LATCH? Also, Can I sill put a rolled up towel or swim noodle under it to get it up?

And OFF TOPIC, but if anyone knows where I can get a Britax replacement cover please let me know ... I bought this seat two days before the sale and I couldn't cancel it so I have a cover I hate .. it wasn't worth shipping it back and the $25 restocking fee would have cancelled out any savings. I got this one for $219.

Thanks for the help!

Which seating position is it in? If it's in the center, then you might not be able to use LATCH. Verify in your vehicle owner's manual which seats have LATCH to use.

Is your son's head slumping when he sleeps? The line on the side is just a guide. It can be anywhere between 45 degrees for a newborn to 30 degrees for an older child with good head control. Make sure that the vehicle is on level ground to get the angle as accurate as possible.

I don't think she even has middle seats in a Pacifica, just two captain's chairs in the window seats .

Yeah, even with LATCH you can cram a noodle (cut to about 11 inches long, so it fits in between the anchors) under the front of the foot.

Only Britax sells covers on their site, but sometimes good used ones (or new, from people like you with ones they don't like, lol), are on ebay or in our swap section.

I thought there are two versions- 7 seater with captains chairs or 5 seater with middle row bench.

crunchierthanthou said:

I thought there are two versions- 7 seater with captains chairs or 5 seater with middle row bench.

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No Just one version bench in the 3rd row and captains in the second.

crunchierthanthou said:

I thought there are two versions- 7 seater with captains chairs or 5 seater with middle row bench.

Click to expand...

I only remember because we test drove one right after I got my minivan...

Ihave not had the Pacifica for a little over a year now. I can't remember how the latchplates were. I was thinking they were sliding though. I only had a Combi Connection base installed in there and I did not do it a tech did when Tucker got out of the NICU. I had the truck by the time I got addicted to Britax and child passenger safety. If you still had problems with it then yu could see if there is a tech in your area that could help you. Try the LAtch again pulling the MA base from the seat bight and see how that goes.

Thanks so much Guys!!

Yes, it's captian chairs. We had no idea of DS when we got the vehicle!! I probably wouldn't have done that because once we have another child the car isn't going to be anymore useful than a sedan, since you won't be able to get to the 3rd row without taking out one of the seats. I have my eye on the new Aspen though ... don't tell DH yet!!

I am going to play with it more tomorrow when it's light since my garage light burnt out!! I may have to use the infant seat for another day or two and go find a pool noodle because the towel isn't cutting it.

Another question, Can I tether anywhere esle behind the rear facing car seat? Can I tether it to the seat it is on, underneath? If I can find a bolt there. Does that make sense? I thought I read that was a no-no on the front facing but ok on the rear.

I am going to check out the swap section and the britax website, I couldn't find anything earlier. I looked on Ebay but I didn't like any of those either. I guess that defeats the purpose of saving $50 on the seat to go and spend $70 on a new cover huh? At least I can probably recoup some of it buy selling the current cover.

You could always move the older kids to the rear bench and put the new one in one of the captains chairs if you don't get your Aspen.

No you cannot tether the RF tether to the same seat it is sitting on. Are you able to post a pic of the bottoms of the front seats? You can use photobucket to host your photo and post the link. I do not recall what they looked like. As I said in my other post you can also loop the DRing around the front seat female buckle stalk and tether to that if possible.

crunchierthanthou said:

I thought there are two versions- 7 seater with captains chairs or 5 seater with middle row bench.

Click to expand...

Crunchier, you're right about there being two Pacifica versions, one of which is a 5-passenger model. The base model version, which is pretty hard to find available, has 5-passenger seating and 2 rows, with a second row 3-seater bench. The more widely available Pacifica is a 6-passenger model, with 3 rows, 2 seats per row, with 2 captain's chairs in the middle row, like what the OP has.

Sorry for the threadjack, just wanted to clarify the Pacifica versions. We also considered a Pacifica while vehicle shopping a couple of years ago.

Lisa, I'll check that out tomorrow, the female seatbelt post. I did have a spot to tether it to under the front driver seat but when you put the seat in the far back position (The way DH drives it) it pulls on the tether. Like it goes over it, if that makes sense!! It also is to the right, where the female seatbelt stalk would be and it pulls the carseat to the right. I'll take a picture tomorrow if I can and post it.

We tried to get a carseat in the back row and it doesn't fit when you need to have another rearfacing in the middle row. In the middle row you need to have the seat all the way pushed back. My friend came down here with her 1 year old daughter and we could get it configured with the infant seat and the convertible seat and the passangers!!! We are hoping to have our next in about a year and half so hopefully DS will still be within the rearfacing limits by then. I can dream of my Aspen until then!!! I built it online today .. $39K

Jeanum - I love our Pacifica. Well until now .. What did you get instead?

We ended up with an 8-passenger Toyota Sienna to have sliding rear doors and somewhat easier access to the rear rows for the kids and their grandparents. I used to say I'd never own a minivan, but I ate those words after wrestling with carseats in my old Saturn SC1 coupe, and crashing the Saturn Vue that replaced the SC1.

Jeanum said:

Crunchier, you're right about there being two Pacifica versions, one of which is a 5-passenger model. The base model version, which is pretty hard to find available, has 5-passenger seating and 2 rows, with a second row 3-seater bench. The more widely available Pacifica is a 6-passenger model, with 3 rows, 2 seats per row, with 2 captain's chairs in the middle row, like what the OP has.

Sorry for the threadjack, just wanted to clarify the Pacifica versions. We also considered a Pacifica while vehicle shopping a couple of years ago.

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Thanks. I didn't realize they were uncommon. I've seen a few, but that must be related to living in the ghetto.

Jeanum said:

Crunchier, you're right about there being two Pacifica versions, one of which is a 5-passenger model. The base model version, which is pretty hard to find available, has 5-passenger seating and 2 rows, with a second row 3-seater bench. The more widely available Pacifica is a 6-passenger model, with 3 rows, 2 seats per row, with 2 captain's chairs in the middle row, like what the OP has.

Sorry for the threadjack, just wanted to clarify the Pacifica versions. We also considered a Pacifica while vehicle shopping a couple of years ago.

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NEver knew there was another version thanks!

Jeanum said:

Crunchier, you're right about there being two Pacifica versions, one of which is a 5-passenger model. The base model version, which is pretty hard to find available, has 5-passenger seating and 2 rows, with a second row 3-seater bench. The more widely available Pacifica is a 6-passenger model, with 3 rows, 2 seats per row, with 2 captain's chairs in the middle row, like what the OP has.

Sorry for the threadjack, just wanted to clarify the Pacifica versions. We also considered a Pacifica while vehicle shopping a couple of years ago.

Click to expand...

She has a 2004, though which is when they only made 6 seater models. The 5-seater without the third row came out in 2005.

Doesn't really matter though since she said she has a 6-seater anyway.

DMickey28 said:

Lisa, I'll check that out tomorrow, the female seatbelt post. I did have a spot to tether it to under the front driver seat but when you put the seat in the far back position (The way DH drives it) it pulls on the tether. Like it goes over it, if that makes sense!! It also is to the right, where the female seatbelt stalk would be and it pulls the carseat to the right. I'll take a picture tomorrow if I can and post it.

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I have a 2005 Pacifica so I'll try to address your issues!

I had this same problem with the rear-facing seat behind the driver. We couldn't adjust the seat for me to drive and for DH to drive without the seat pulling on the tether a bit when you move the driver seat backwards. I was happy when DD1 hit 33 pounds so we didn't have that issue any longer. You could always loosen the tether, adjust the seat, and then tighten the tether again if you don't switch between drivers very often.

Where exactly are you tethering? Pictures would help. I would tether to the inside rear track leg of the driver seat. I know on the passenger side there's another spot where you can tether, but I don't think it is the same on the driver's side. I'll have to look tomorrow when it is light out and let you know.

The female belt stalk doesn't work - it's connected to the driver seat so it is a moveable part.

We tried to get a carseat in the back row and it doesn't fit when you need to have another rearfacing in the middle row. In the middle row you need to have the seat all the way pushed back. My friend came down here with her 1 year old daughter and we could get it configured with the infant seat and the convertible seat and the passangers!!! We are hoping to have our next in about a year and half so hopefully DS will still be within the rearfacing limits by then. I can dream of my Aspen until then!!! I built it online today .. $39K

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I've installed 4 rear-facing seats in the Pacifica just fine. You just have to move the captains chairs in the middle row forward a few notches to be able to recline the RF seats in the third row enough. My 6'2" DH was still able to drive comfortably. I don't have a picture of the 4 RF, but I do have a picture of 2 RF, 2 FF.



Anyway, let me know if you have any questions. I can get a rock-solid install RF with a MA/BV in about two minutes. You do need to use the tether to adjust the angle and you should definitely ditch the towel. You don't need it. The latch connectors kind of bending around the base of the MA is normal. It happens in pretty much any LATCH install where the anchors are in the bight of the seat.

Here's a pic of the MA RF on the passenger side. I don't think I have any good pics from when I had one RF on the driver's side too. It's a little more upright than I had it when DD2 was younger but I never had problems getting enough recline for a young baby with just the tether. You really shouldn't need a towel or a pool noodle.



PM me if you have any more questions or if you reply here with more questions. I've been insanely busy and haven't been checking this board as often as I used to.