RF Marathon install w/ LATCH in Ody...

Just for the record, that is a PITB to install! The base of the seat sits on the LATCH anchors, making it hard to clip the connectors onto them, and even harder to get the seat in tight. I normally just install the MA w/ the seatbelt, because it's so fast and easy with a Britax seat, but I've got the baby's seat next to the "aisle" that the older kids use to get into the 3rd row, and I didn't want the seatbelt blocking that off. As soon as I get a chance, I'm switching the seats around so I can put the RF seat a position where I can use the seatbelt without it causing problems. I was installing it 2 days post partum and on a deadline. Now that I'm really up and around, the weather has turned nasty, so it's staying where it is for now.

Also, I have the baby's seat braced against the passenger seat right now, and the "airbag off" light is on because of it. Hubby's out of town, so no one rides in that seat anyway, and I could un-brace it by moving the seat it's on back &/or the front seat forward one or two notches.

Hehe...I guess I am just used to it. You wanna know what HUGE pita is?....MA with LATCh in the VW Passat's. UGH! The leather is so tight, and the bar is so far in there, it makes the Ody easy

Oh my, I have never had that light come on before because of bracing a seat. The Ody does seems to lack room between the first and second rows. I was quite shocked by this. It would also be nice to have the front captains chair be able to move backwards more.

I don't feel like the space between the two rows is small. I pushed the seat the MA's installed on forward (to give the two in the 3rd row a bit more room to get in) and I think the front seat is all the way back. The MA's at a full 45 degree angle, and it fits fine that way. I could easily unbrace it, but I don't see any reason to, since the front seat won't be used again until Hubby comes home for Christmas.

So it's TRUE! When they say not to press things against the seatback, it really DOES inactivate the airbag. I always thought they were just blowing smoke about that, lol. Probably a good thing to deactivate the airbag when no one's there in case you ARE in a crash, then you won't have to replace it in event of a crash...

But yeah, I guess I just don't remember it ever being an issue..I know it was more cosmetically pleasing to use the belt when FF, though (LATCH gave it a wonky tip only an obsessed tech would recognize, lol)

With the Radian rear-facing in the passenger side Captains chair, my knees are almost touching the front dash :thumbsdown: I need to go and reinstall the Radian and hope to get it more upright. Oh, and the front seat isn't reclined the way Dh and I like it.

That's really odd. Are you sure the 2nd row is pushed back all the way? Because my front seat is even slightly reclined, because I sit there to nurse the baby when I have to do so in the car, and I still have plenty of leg room in that seat. I'm only 5'6", but my legs are the same length as my dad's who is 6' tall (a fact whe discovered when crossing barbed wire fences LOL).

The lower anchors in an '03 Toyota Prius are also a PITB. Even with the MA alligator clips! There is virtually no room to stick anything into the bight of the seat, because it's so tight. It's hard to even stick a finger in there to find the anchors. Usually I get so excited when I get to use a car with LATCH because we don't have it, but now when we go to the in-law's I automatically install her seat with the seatbelt in that car.

UlrikeDG said:

That's really odd. Are you sure the 2nd row is pushed back all the way? Because my front seat is even slightly reclined, because I sit there to nurse the baby when I have to do so in the car, and I still have plenty of leg room in that seat. I'm only 5'6", but my legs are the same length as my dad's who is 6' tall (a fact whe discovered when crossing barbed wire fences LOL).

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Yep. The second row is slid all the way back. I am 5'9" (almost 5'10"), but my legs are reallllly long :shrug-shoulders:

JessicaS said:

The lower anchors in an '03 Toyota Prius are also a PITB. Even with the MA alligator clips! There is virtually no room to stick anything into the bight of the seat, because it's so tight. It's hard to even stick a finger in there to find the anchors. Usually I get so excited when I get to use a car with LATCH because we don't have it, but now when we go to the in-law's I automatically install her seat with the seatbelt in that car.

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OMG, I know! I wept with frustration when I tried to put my Marathon RF in our Prius...... I had the shorter LATCH straps (very, very *first* Marathons had that problem), so that was most of the problem, but man, those seats were tight (they squooshed out of the way after awhile and got easier to use)

Sorry for the hijack, lol

joolsplus3 said:

OMG, I know! I wept with frustration when I tried to put my Marathon RF in our Prius...... I had the shorter LATCH straps (very, very *first* Marathons had that problem), so that was most of the problem, but man, those seats were tight (they squooshed out of the way after awhile and got easier to use)

Sorry for the hijack, lol

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I told Dh his Passat leather near the lower anchors could use a "Perineal Massage"