I don't have tether anchors in the back seat of my van (ok, there is one in the center attached to the seat frame, an upside down u-shaped thing welded to the frame, but I need 2 outboard). Do they just drill thru the vehicle floor somehow to install the anchor? I called ez-on about their 86Y, explaining my situation and they said I'd have to bring it to a dealer or mechanic to have them see what to do. Anyone know anything about either of these? Thanks
I think you're blending two different questions:
1a)
Could I install these harnesses or have a mechanic do it somehow?
To USE the 86Y, you need
tether anchors and after a certain weight, you need heavy duty tether anchors. (I don't know how the Heavy Duty anchors work when you have the "U" anchors on the seat back. Heavy Duty anchors can be swapped with ones where you can see the anchor bolt.)
You'll need to check your vehicle manual and/or have someone check a LATCH manual. There could be "dimples" in the vehicle that are tether ready.
If you post the vehicle make/model/year, someone here will gladly look up the info in a LATCH manual.
1b)
Do they just drill thru the vehicle floor somehow to install the anchor? Pretty much.
Assuming there are tether anchor locations "predrilled" in your van and you have the tools/are handy, you probably could install the tether anchor yourself.
If you don't have the predrilled anchor places I'd want E-Z ON to take a closer look.
2)
It is cheaper or the same as a regent but would last forever, right?
The 86Y harness
attaches to the tether anchors. I don't think the 86Y is necessarily safer than a Regent. (Many here would argue that 5pt is always safer.)
It's original or primary intent was to provide HWH in vehicles that did not have lap/shoulder belts (couldn't use a booster).
That said, it can be used past 80 lbs. If you have heavy duty tether anchor and the matching booster, you'd be able to safely transport just about any child over 4 & 40lbs. w/o having to constantly rethread harness straps. Because of this flexibility, the harness makes sense for school districts and daycares where there multiple children are transported.
The tether ANCHOR is good forever (unless you crash), but I
think "E-Z On" harnesses only have a 5 year life. I think it is cheaper than the Regent but I don't know by how much.