Question Two Britax Frontier/Pinnacle in 2nd row 2014 Odyssey

Tuzyae

New member
Howdy!

We are looking to replace the current seat for our 4 year old who is rear-facing in a Radian XTSL. Our 6 year old is currently in a Frontier 85 SICT and we are considering the comparable Pinnacle to replace the Radian. I am concerned about install/positioning.

Our current seats are in the 2nd row of our 2014 Odyssey. We have the Frontier positioned in the captain's chair behind the passenger and the Radian on the jump seat in the middle. So, my two questions then are:

Would the Pinnacle fit width-wise next to the Frontier SICT? I worry about space with the side-impact cushions even with the seats in their "wide" position.

Would a Pinnacle even fit with sufficient base coverage on the jump seat. We very much want to keep the captain's chair behind the driver available for additional passengers as well as allow access to the third row.

Thoughts? Options?
 
ADS

Tuzyae

New member
I very seriously doubt that will work. Sorry.

Is there another seat in the second row? Or another passenger?

In the second row, I currently have passenger-side captain's chair with a Frontier 85 SICT, middle jump seat with a Radian XTSL, driver-side captain's chair unused. We often have an additional passenger that uses that seat and we often get back to the third row with our current configuration. I want the best option that will allow us to use the jump seat for a car seat because otherwise the third row and extra seat in the second row are virtually rendered useless.
 

lgenne

New member
Lots of thoughts!

First: are you comfortable with the install of the Radian on the +1 seat? I haven't actually tried it in my 2013 Odyssey, but that install is controversial at best. The "toes" of the RF boot interact with the hinges and make it feel tight side to side before the belt is tight at all.

Second: there is no Britax seat that will work in the +1, regardless of the side by side issue. The versa tether wraps around the sides of the narrow seat (which may be fixable using the tether extender you can get from Britax) and they all have side overhang on the narrow seat, which Britax doesn't approve.

If you want to keep a captain's chair open and not put either kid in the 3rd row, I think you need to look for other (non-Britax) options.

Given that you're considering the Pinnacle and your 4 year old still fits RF in a Radian, I assume that your budget is flexible and that the 4 yo isn't huge? Trying to narrow down what your options are.

I see 2 broad options:

1) Get a new FF harnessed seat to go in the +1. There aren't a lot of combination seats that work there, but quite a few convertibles work there FF.
2) Get a booster that works in the +1, put the 6 yo in it, and move the 4 yo to the Frontier.

Is the 6 yo behaviorally ready to ride in a booster? Sit up and sit still the whole drive? And over 40 pounds? If so, I'd go with the booster. If not, we'll help you come up with ideas for a good FF harness seat for that position.

If you want more information than you can handle about various car seats that (don't) work in that position, check out this thread: http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?p=2848164
 

stormy

New member
So both kids will be FF once you replace the radian? I know you'd like to have the captain's chair open for a passenger, but if you took the jump seat out and had both car seats forward facing, it'd be easy enough for a passenger to walk between the captain's chairs to get to the 3rd row right? If you don't dig that, I think I'd put the 6yo in a booster in the jump seat and the 4yo in the Pinnacle in the captain's chair. Assuming of course the 6yo is mature enough for the booster.
 

Tuzyae

New member
For right now, the 6 year old is not quite mature enough for a booster (he just turned 6 in July; weight is definitely not an issue - he's on the big side - 48 in. & 58 lbs.). I feel much more comfortable leaving him harnessed.

The 4 year old is right on average for height and weight (like seriously 50%), so he is still good rear-facing in the Radian, but we are looking to put him in a FF seat.

I fear that with two seat in the captain's chairs, it limits use of the back row. Our additional passengers are in most cases grandparents (at least the one that sits in the second row captain's chair now, while I climb into the third row) and I don't think they'd do well trying to squeeze between the captain's chairs to sit in the back, hence wanting to keep the captain's chair available for a passenger vs. a car seat.

The Radian is LATCH installed and I am comfortable with the install. We have the angle adjuster, so I'm not sure if that helps address concerns about that particular install, but it is secure and the latch strap cannot be easily loosened which I know is an issue with some installs with that particular strap.
 

bnsnyde

New member
We don't have 2 carseats in the captain's chair since we need access to the back. 6 YO is in a Clek Olli. He was 6 in July. I put in the Recaro Pro booster orn longer trips as I like the SIP.

We had the Radian FF with latch 8th seat of same van until 40 lbs, when Honda says to use belt. Then we used a Kiddyworld booster there. She was 5 and I wasn't looking to booster but it worked well. SUCH a good fit for van and her.

I am thinking hard about a way to do what you want, but I keep coming back to a booster for at least one kid. Did you try 2 harnessed seats? I honestly don
t know what the space situation would be. The 8th sear is so limiting in many cases.
 

lgenne

New member
According to the thread I linked above, it works great with LATCH, not so well with a seat belt install.

I just installed a Frontier 90 in a captain's chair next to a FF Milestone yesterday. In wide mode, there was just barely enough room to fit them next to each other. I suspect that nothing other than maybe a Radian will fit FF next to a Frontier 85 SICT there.
 

Tuzyae

New member
Ok, so now I have additional questions.

I turned the current Radian we have around and positioned it forward facing to see how it would fit. The headrest seemed to get in the way. The manual (at least from what I saw) doesn't say anything about whether or not it's ok to remove the head rest for better installation of a car seat. It does state to lift the head rest to feed the top tether between the bars, but that's it. The top tether is a single strap that goes down the middle of the seat with the Radian, so I don't have to worry about it slipping down on either side of the jump seat.

Also, when installing seats side-by-side, what is the touching guideline? Should they not touch, some touching is ok, etc.? Where do I look to find this info?

Thanks!
 

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