Boulevard install RF

lizajane30

New member
We just tried out a BLVD RF in our Corolla wagon and found that DS had a lot less leg room than he's used to. We didn't have our noodle with us (which we use for his RA and he has enough leg room) so I'm not sure if that would make a difference. Is there any trick I don't know about that will make it so DS' legs aren't completely cramped? The front of the carseat is totally squashed into the back of the vehicle seat and I don't see how we can make it better, but maybe using the noodle to recline it a bit more will help?

Have other BLVD owners run into this problem? Our RA is 5 years old and has the older style base which seems to put the foot of the carseat in a better position for DS' legs.

I really want to order this seat on sale and I need to act fast to get a good price, but DH will not go for it if we don't know for sure that we can solve this problem. Any advice is appreciated!

-Linda
 
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An Aurora

Senior Community Member
You don't need a noodle with Britax seats--one of the benefits of the RF tether is that you can use it to adjust the recline. Pull the base of the Blvd out from the seat bight a couple of inches, and install while pushing down where your DS's feet would go. It will install very upright. Then, hook up the RF tether and use that to adjust the recline so it's comfortable to your DS. I would take the noodle out from under your RA, as well.
 

lizajane30

New member
I don't understand how the seatbelt could be tight if the base of the BLVD is pulled toward the front of the car? If the seatbelt is coming out from the bight, then wouldn't tightening it pull the BLVD back toward it again?

Is the rear tether intended to counterbalance the seatbelt in this case?

Also, FWIW, this is a noodle which was given to me by CHP to use with our RA, not a standard pool noodle; it's much denser and larger in diameter than a pool noodle. Don't know if this makes a difference. in whether we use it or not.

-Linda
 

An Aurora

Senior Community Member
Pool noodles are perfectly acceptable to use with all RF seats other than Britax. Let me see if I can explain the pulling-the-seat-away-from-the-bight thing. If you install the car seat with the base right up against the seat bight, the part where your DS's feet rests is smushed into the back of the vehicle seat. If you pull it out and install, the part where your DS's feet rests will be up against the vehicle seat, but at a lower place on the vehicle seat. It's still a tight install--in fact, I can get my MA tighter installing it like that, because the base of the car seat is flat on the vehicle seat. The seat belt is just angled a little differently in the belt path.
 

brightredmtn

Well-known member
Pool noodles are perfectly acceptable to use with all RF seats other than Britax. Let me see if I can explain the pulling-the-seat-away-from-the-bight thing. If you install the car seat with the base right up against the seat bight, the part where your DS's feet rests is smushed into the back of the vehicle seat. If you pull it out and install, the part where your DS's feet rests will be up against the vehicle seat, but at a lower place on the vehicle seat. It's still a tight install--in fact, I can get my MA tighter installing it like that, because the base of the car seat is flat on the vehicle seat. The seat belt is just angled a little differently in the belt path.

Correct me if I'm wrong but to get a more vertical install, the part of the seat where the cover wraps around the seat still touches the back of the car's seat but the bottom of the base is pulled away from the seat blight a couple of inches.

To the OP, try this. I didn't think I could install our Blvd. this way but it was easy. Just push down near the harness adjuster rather than where your kiddo's butt goes.
 

An Aurora

Senior Community Member
Correct me if I'm wrong but to get a more vertical install, the part of the seat where the cover wraps around the seat still touches the back of the car's seat but the bottom of the base is pulled away from the seat blight a couple of inches.

To the OP, try this. I didn't think I could install our Blvd. this way but it was easy. Just push down near the harness adjuster rather than where your kiddo's butt goes.

That's what I said. ;)
 

lizajane30

New member
The vehicle seat is not flat. It slopes down toward the bight. The noodle lets the carseat base install horizontally instead of on a slope. I tried installing the RA without the noodle and it was almost vertical--even with the rear tether pulling it back. Without the noodle, both the RA and the BLVD bases slip into the crack between the vehicle seat and seatback, and makes it impossible to access the harness adjuster, and also results in the problem of cramped legs for DS.

I tried the BLVD without the noodle, pulling it several inches out from the bight as suggested here. When I tightened the belt it pulled the BLVD into the position it was in originally (where the carseat is smooshed into the vehicle seat and DS legs are cramped). It just slides back into the bight.

Is it really against the rules to use a noodle with Britax seats, or is it just generally not needed? I've never heard of this before and I don't see how I can use Britax seats any more if this is true.

-Linda
 

sb518

New member
How old is your DS? You don't want the seat TOO reclined... here is what my MA looks like installed pulled away from the back of the seat.

101_2544.jpg


101_3254.jpg


At one point or another your DS will have to fold his legs/bend his knees to rear face. Does the lack of leg room bother him? Or does it bother you? :whistle:

My niece is almost 27 months and she prefers to have her legs up in the seat rearfacing versus having them spread out forward facing. She also falls asleep a lot quicker that way I've noticed!
 
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lizajane30

New member
Looking at Tumblebug's photos I can see how this install would work...but in our car the seatbelts protrude from the crack at the bight, unlike those in the photo which are about 2-3 inches forward (toward the front of the car) of where mine are.

It also looks like the vehicle seats in the photos are more horizontal than ours. The manual says to make sure the base of the carseat is level with the ground, and to accomplish this in our car you have to have a noodle, otherwise it's at about a 10-degree angle which in turn decreases the recline angle.

Literally, in recline position, tethered--without the noodle--the seat is nearly vertical. Without the tether it's definitely vertical. The seats are hard enough (this is a no-frills 96 Corolla station wagon) that pulling down on the tether doesn't do much of anything if you've got a tight install with the seatbelt.

Glad to know I can use the noodle. We'd need to start our carseat research all over if we had to rule out Britax seats!

Oh, and the lack of legroom might not bother DS but I'd rather not spend the money then find out it does bother him but not be able to do anything about it! I would imagine it would bother him, as it's much more cramped than our current configuration with the older style base plus the noodle. Having trouble reaching the harness adjuster would be annoying for me and DH, too, since we use it every. single. time. we put DS in!

-Linda
 

henrietta

Well-known member
Our son clearly prefers all of the other carseats he's ridden in to Britax Dec and FPSVD due to leg room. The Evenflo Triumph Advance definitely has more leg room rearfacing than the Britax, so maybe that would help you all out.

henrietta
 

nisi

Senior Community Member
Our RA is 5 years old and has the older style base which seems to put the foot of the carseat in a better position for DS' legs.

You are absolutely right. The old style RA base allows for a lot more leg room RF than the current, smaller base. You can try some of the suggestions here to get a little more leg room with the BV, but no matter what you do, you won't get as much room as your RA. That's just the way it is with the current base. :twocents:
 

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