Installing Marathon forward facing: question??

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LoveMyBug

Guest
Well sadly the time has come all too soon to turn my DS forward facing(2y4m 33+lbs 37.5"). Ive really dreaded this day cause I still think its too soon(I got jealous looking through the photo album seeing 4yos still able to rear face). He's got my genes(tall and muscular/big built) but I was just hoping we'd make it longer than 28months. If I had the money Id go buy a seat that RF to 35lbs, LOL.

Anyway, on to my question. Im trying to figure out in my car a thing about what is considered "full upright position". Is it that I put the marathon in with the base in the front facing position and have the base even with the seat, or is it that I have the back of the carseat even with the back of the car's seat? This is going to be confusing probably. In the pictures it looks like the base is even with their seat and there is some gapping and sloping. Is this right or should I try to get as little sloping/gapping and have the back really upright? Either way when its installed the seat sinks in and you cant see any gapping, but it does change how upright the seat is by a few degrees. The seat seems almost too upright when I make it even with the back of the seat.

Ive installed and reinstalled trying to figure out which is right. I have to wait until the end of the month before I can have an IRL tech look at it.

Also Im trying to decide about another thing. My car is small(03 corolla) and there are 4 of us(1 in a carseat). In rear face the curves of the seat were positioned fine for someone to sit comfortably next to DS in the back seat(we always use the middle seat); but forward facing, the way the marathon's back has 'wings' makes it not possible for anyone that is grown to sit next to DS(because of shoulders and all). So we cant all go somewhere together. Which outboard position would be safest, if we needed to all go somewhere? We dont have curbs in this city, so no need to worry about loading/unloading... I want to know which side is less likely to be hit?

Thanks in advance, I know this will probably be a tough one to understand cause it was tough to describe.
 
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Kellyr2

New member
I don't have a Marathon, and haven't installed one.. but I'm guessing that when it says "full upright position" its referring to the recline on the seat itself. You want it in the upright, not reclined, position. Take it out of the car, adjust the recline so its as upright as it goes. Now its right.
And I know I saw a diagram yesterday showing that side impact collisions are the least common. Personally, I'd just install it in whichever outboard position is easiest for you. For me, that would be the driver side, because then I wouldn't have to go around to the other side of the car just to get the child out. (In my minivan, I rarely use the passenger side doors)

Having never installed a Marathon, I can't help more with the specifics of installing it in your car - but I do think thats what the recline part is referring to. Good luck, and I hope someone else can provide you with more info!
 
L

LoveMyBug

Guest
I figure that is what the manual was meaning when it said full upright, and I already know to switch the recline... Im just wondering if there is more on the natural incline of the seat and whatnot.

The seat's base is in the forward facing position(unreclined). If I install it with the back of the carseat flush against the back of the bench it sits slightly more upright than when I install it with the base flush to the bench seat. Im thinking having the base flush is what it should be cause the other way is almost too upright and the top of the carseat sticks out above the back of the bench.

Maybe pictures are needed, LOL. Id have to take them tomorrow.
 

shashoo

New member
All of the carseat base should lay flat on the seat. As long as the seat is in the upright position I don't think it matters how much of the back of the seat is on the vehicle seat back. Just make sure you get a tight installation (less than one inch of movement at the belt path). If you need pictures, I can take pictures of my WZ and email them to you. I love the ff lock-offs on the MA/WZ/BV, I can get my WZ installed in less than a minute. Let us know if you need anymore information.

Char
 

j4m4d8

New member
Just wanted to say I know how it is. Dd weighed 33.5 pounds before her bath tonight so I'm turning her seat forward-facing tomorrow. I had been hoping she'd make it to 3, but it's just not going to happen.

Julie
 
L

LoveMyBug

Guest
Well the base is flat on the seat, I think the seats in my car are a little weird, very padded and in the middle seat it comes up weird(extra padding??). So this may just be me being anal(which I always am). When installed the back and base sink into the padded seats cause they are just really plush to me.

Also the seat doesnt move at all, maybe like a milimeter LOL, so its in there really good.

I too love the FF lock off. I hated the RF one though, it didnt want to work for me and I could never get it snug enough.
 

Kellyr2

New member
Yeah, a lot of cars are hard to get a proper fit in the middle, due to the slight hump. I'd move out of the middle if you can install it easier on the sides.
 
L

LoveMyBug

Guest
I am just afraid of the outboard seats cause Im always worried about us in the car, so I want him in the safest place he can be. Ive had really bad car luck(a few accidents of my own and lost relatives in seperate accidents, Im always a fearful driver).

I was realizing as I was out in the car just now playing with it more that the middle seat cushoin seams to be the most of the problem. Maybe Ill put it on the outboard until the end of the month when I can get the techs to look at it and give me their opinion.
 

Victorious4

Senior Community Member
Is your middle seat a lap-only belt? If so then, I'd keep the MA there, but if not, then I'd definitely move it outboard ... it will not only make seating for the others easier (especially when the sit where the belt plates are positioned right next to each other), but also a 5-point harness is much safer outboard than a regular shoulder belt, so moving the seat outboard would more evely distrubte the safety of all passengers ;)
 
L

LoveMyBug

Guest
the middle is a regular belt, um shoulder and lap?, all 3 across the back are regular and the latch is only on the outboard seats.

is it safer to have him on an outboard with the latch if the middle is a regular belt?
 
U

Unregistered

Guest
Latch doesn't mean safer, just easier to use. If all seats have shoulder belts then middle would be safer for a belted passenger (the least protected passenger if the other passenger is in a car seat). If the middle one were lap only then using it for a car seat is the only safe use for that seat.
Putting the child in the car seat outboard leaves the safer middle seat for your other rear seat passenger. Which side outboard I don't know.
C.
 
L

LoveMyBug

Guest
ohh yes I know latch doesnt mean safer, but I was reading like the shoulder belt didnt distribute as well as the lap so I figured the latch would distribute better than the shoulder.

No one will be able to sit next to him, so if he is in the middle the 2 outboards cant be used comfortably, and if hes on the outboard the middle cant be used but 1 outboard can be used.

This is one of the many reasons I need a bigger car, LOL.
 

Victorious4

Senior Community Member
It would just be safer for the other passenger to be in the middle since only kiddo in carseat has the added safety of the 5-point harness ;)
 
L

LoveMyBug

Guest
ohh, well the other 3 of us who arent in a carseat are grown, LOL. Its me, my mom, and my 15yo brother(6'1 218lbs). which is where the problem of him being in the middle comes from. we are all big built people(my mom and I are only a couple inches smaller than my bro), so in my corolla it gets cramped, LOL.
 

Victorious4

Senior Community Member
Being bigger built doesn't make anyone less likely to suffer from a side impact, but the 5-point harness does ... plus, allowing the other 2 passengers to share buckling locations makes it easier & comfier to get buckled :)
 
L

LoveMyBug

Guest
none-the-less we still wouldnt fit right next to him. If I put him on an outboard then it only frees up the other outboard, there isnt enough room to squeeze into the middle seat.

so what I was saying is not that we are bigger built so we are less likely to suffer but that we are bigger built which is where the problem of people not being able to sit next to him comes from.
With him in the middle, one of us cant sit next to him without being smack up against the door with one arm over the back of the carseat and no way can you manage to get buckled. The same with him on an outboard seat, the middle seat area is small and with the carseat on one side its hard not to be sitting on top of where the belt buckles.

As I said Im anal and worried about car crashes. I know that side impact are rare but with my luck, kwim? I want him to be in the middle, but that means we cant all 4 go somewhere together. That may be what we have to do though. This isnt our only car, its my car, but its the only one we can go somewhere with the baby in. We dont go places together a lot, so this probably doesnt matter and Ill just keep him in the middle.

Im just not ready for him to be FF :(
 

Kellyr2

New member
Well, those in the front seats are in outboard positions, right?
The way I see it, there's no option but to put the Marathon into the outboard. If no one else can fit back there with it in the middle, then there's no where else for it to go.
If you don't have a hard time installing it, you could keep him in the middle whenver others aren't in the car with you and just move it over when necessary. I wouldn't recommend that unless you are good at getting it darn well installed every single time though.
 

joolsplus3

Admin - CPS Technician
Sometimes seats are a little tippy, but only the installer notices it :rolleyes: . If it's rock solid in the middle position, and the base is on the vehicle seat cushion almost entirely, then I'd leave it in the middle and only move it when you have someone else sitting back there, personally.

:)
 

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