Retrofit tether in 88' Bronco?

ntrenary · Mar 13, 2017

My nephew just bought a 1988 Ford bronco. They want to forward face their 22 month old daughter in the Bronco because it's a 2 door and will be hard to get her in a rear facing seat. This will be the 2nd vehicle so she wouldn't be in it very often, the other car is a newer ford fusion that she'll stay rfing in. I have 2 questions.
1. Can he get a tether anchor installed?
2. Can they put a rfing seat in front since there are no airbags. And which would be safer, rfing in front or ffing in back in a possibility untethered seat?

ketchupqueen · Mar 13, 2017

1 drill dimple is on the floor behind the passenger seat and 2 drill dimples are in the cargo area floor behind the second row to mark locations for tether anchors. However no part is available from Ford so you'd need to get a car seat manufacturer-made kit. I'm unsure if the free retrofit program applies in such circumstances.

Rear facing in the front with no airbag is fine and it would be much safer than forward facing, especially without a tether, at that age and especially in the small back seat with no tether.

ntrenary · Mar 15, 2017

I helped my nephew install the car seat today. They have a Cosco easy elite that I installed rfing on the back passenger side, my nephew is going to crawl in the back cargo area to put her in.
It went in pretty easy, the only thing I'm worried about is the recline angle. It is slightly more upright than the level line should be for older toddlers.
I can switch it out for the Next I have in my car if I have to but they'd like to keep the elite because of the extra side impact cushions on it.
Is the recline something I need to fix or is it more of a comfort thing for a almost 2 year old?

Which carseat manufacturers sell tether retrofit kits?
I'm sure they'd pay to get one installed once my niece outgrows her seat rearfacing.

ketchupqueen · Mar 15, 2017

The recline definitely needs to be fixed.

Britax sells one but only for use with Britax seats. Ez-On sells a heavy duty tether anchor kit, it is intended for Ez-on products but they have approved use with other brands on a case by case basis. I believe there's one other but I don't think it's easily obtained by the public.

ntrenary · Mar 15, 2017

I'll let them know and hope the Next works better, the passenger seat was barley able to lock in place with the car seat behind it. Thanks for the info!

ntrenary · Mar 15, 2017

If they're not able to get the tether kit installed, can they install the seat ffing in the front, and tether it to the back seatbelt? The backseat belts are ratcheting lapbelt that come from the middle and buckle by the door, so they're backwards from what I'm used too.
Is there a ffing car seat that has better crash test results untethered?
They're fine keeping her rfing as long as possible so I'm just trying to have a plan for the next step when she has to be ffing.

ketchupqueen · Mar 15, 2017

While it may not be officially approved, I'm quite comfortable myself with tethering to the seatbelt behind. Do the seatbelts lock at a fixed length?

While some seats claim better performance without a tether that's not a choice I'd make if there are other options. My first choice would be EZ-on tether anchors since they have drill dimples so a good spot to install an anchor is available. Since they only have lap belts in back they may eventually want to put in an Ez-on 86-Y harness anyway for use with a high backed booster, once their forward facing harness is outgrown. (the 86-Y comes with the heavy duty tether anchor in the kit too.)

ntrenary · Mar 15, 2017

Good idea about the 86y I wasn't thinking about the booster issue with no shoulder belt.
The seat belt ratchets back to any length, so if you pull it all the way out and let it go back in 1" it will lock there and stay until it's released. The male end comes from the middle of the vehicle and buckles on the door side, so if the seat is installed in the front passenger, the tether will be offset. Would that be ok?
I don't know if that makes sense... so the tether strap would not be directly behind the car seat, it would go from the passenger side to the middle of the SUV and clip on to the hole in the male end of the seatbelt.

ketchupqueen · Mar 16, 2017

Yep. Locking lap belts that pull like that are among the easiest to tether to if you can get a tether hook around the tongue of the buckle. It is ok for them to be offset but no farther than 30 degrees from the center of the car seat. What you describe would likely work. There is another method if that method doesn't work but I won't get into it.

However it is certainly second choice to buying and installing actual tether anchors.

They have some time before rf is outgrown so I'd work on it now.

Also if the seatbelts are original, I'd look at getting them replaced in a vehicle that old.

ntrenary · Mar 16, 2017

I meant to talk to them about replacing the belts and spaced it out! I'll do that asap. What's the recommended time to replace the belts? 20yrs?
Thanks again for all your help!

ketchupqueen · Mar 16, 2017

Well, mechanics and engineers I've talked to about it say inspections at 10, 15 and every year after 15 but that even if belts look good they'd consider replacing at 20 and definitely replace at 25. Seatbelts aren't supposed to have a limit and it's better to use old ones than none but they do have issues with fibers becoming more brittle over time and stiffening, things being spilled, etc.

30 years is well past the point I'd hesitate on personally.

Retrofit tether in 88' Bronco?

ntrenary

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