crunchierthanthou
New member
specifically, with a seatbelt in a 2001 Outback with leather seats.
It seems like there are often posters looking for 3 across or HWH solutions for Subarus. I went to USABaby yesterday to try it out so I could know for sure when recommending it- rather than just saying "you can't use LATCH in the center at all or past 48 lbs outboard ... long buckle stalks... low belt path... try it out first... blah blah blah."
outboard- :thumbsup: although, I didn't like what it did to the seatbelt and it took 2.5 twists of the buckle stalk (3 kept trying to be 2.75 and made the seatbelt lie even more funny). 2.5 made it difficult to unlatch the seatbelt. The latchplate was right up against the beltpath, but it was solid.
center- :thumbsup: I had to lower the ff recline foot and kneel on it with all of my chubby self. it took 2 twists of the buckle stalk and I could have used a second set of hands to get it to retract one or two more clicks. There was a bit of slack in the shoulder portion and I couldn't get any more webbing to feed into the ceiling mounted retractor. It moved less than 1/2", so certainly acceptable.
next to a rf MA- :thumbsdown: There was about 1/8" between the MA and the door and significant tippage. When I uninstalled the radian, the MA moved about 5 inches.
Three across or side by side would probably work with multiple radians. FF Britax convertibles outboard may also work, but there will likely be some shell overlap.
pictures of the seatbelt outboard-
bottom line- it was a bit tricky and certainly wasn't my favorite installation and I probably wouldn't choose one for myself. However, it can work in situations where narrow seats are necessary.
It seems like there are often posters looking for 3 across or HWH solutions for Subarus. I went to USABaby yesterday to try it out so I could know for sure when recommending it- rather than just saying "you can't use LATCH in the center at all or past 48 lbs outboard ... long buckle stalks... low belt path... try it out first... blah blah blah."
outboard- :thumbsup: although, I didn't like what it did to the seatbelt and it took 2.5 twists of the buckle stalk (3 kept trying to be 2.75 and made the seatbelt lie even more funny). 2.5 made it difficult to unlatch the seatbelt. The latchplate was right up against the beltpath, but it was solid.
center- :thumbsup: I had to lower the ff recline foot and kneel on it with all of my chubby self. it took 2 twists of the buckle stalk and I could have used a second set of hands to get it to retract one or two more clicks. There was a bit of slack in the shoulder portion and I couldn't get any more webbing to feed into the ceiling mounted retractor. It moved less than 1/2", so certainly acceptable.
next to a rf MA- :thumbsdown: There was about 1/8" between the MA and the door and significant tippage. When I uninstalled the radian, the MA moved about 5 inches.
Three across or side by side would probably work with multiple radians. FF Britax convertibles outboard may also work, but there will likely be some shell overlap.
pictures of the seatbelt outboard-
bottom line- it was a bit tricky and certainly wasn't my favorite installation and I probably wouldn't choose one for myself. However, it can work in situations where narrow seats are necessary.