Geo Prizm/Toyota Corolla tether anchor pics?

Can anyone provide pictures of where/how the tether anchors are attached to the car in the Corolla (or Prizm) for a FF seat? (Maybe one pic taken from inside the trunk and one from the inside of the car.) I have a '96 Geo Prizm which is supposed to be the same as the Corolla... and I need to drill the holes to attach the tether anchors (which I got from Toyota), but have not seen a picture of where I am supposed to be drilling. A LONG time ago there used to be a site with pics like this for the Geo Prizm -- but it has been taken down. Thx

According to the LATCH manual, the Prism is one of the few GM vehicles that cannot be retrofitted. That may be because the part actually comes from Toyota. The Corolla isn't exluded in the Toyota section, but they don't offer any specific information for retrofitting.

Are there plastic covers in the rear filler panel in the back window? If so, there are likely pre-drilled holes. If not, you may need to pull the carpeting back to look for drill dimples. Can you take it to a Toyota dealer? They should at least be able to find the information for you as far as where to drill.

I just installed anchors in my '96 Corolla this past weekend. Mine is the station wagon version, but my vehicle owner's manual shows the exact locations of the weld nuts for both the sedan and the wagon. I don't have time now, but I can come back in later (probably tonight) with the owner's manual, and try to give you the relevant info. for the sedan. Have to run now.... Do you have a manual for your vehicle BTW?

Katrin

Yes! I miss that page! It was absolutely *AWESOME* and showed exactly what you needed to know. I'm looking for the little 'blurb' in the LATCH manual that discusses it, I know it's in here... But what I remember is that there's a weld nut under the package shelf...it looks like a little nipple, for lack of a better description, and you have to poke up through it to know where to cut the carpet to screw the part. The controversy arose because GM claims that weld nut really isn't there, and that the sheet metal isn't reinforced, yet the picture that was online showed that there's a large thickened area of metal surrounding the nipple, which indicates it IS reinforced. (at least in that year). If you don't see a thickened, huge washer-shaped area there, then I'd assume it's NOT reinforced and be leary of using it without adding my own reinforcement (a huge washer, which is a standard part in 'generic' retrofit kits). I'll keep looking for that blurb to see what I can quote from it, but I have to get the kids on the bus

Pardon me for butting in here. I was curious to dig further into the LATCH manual about retrofitting anchors in the Prism. I found a blurb discussing the Prism (on pg. 69 of the 2007 edition). I didn't find any accompanying photos or diagrams showing the exact location of the anchor points in the Prism, but the blurb indicates there are indeed weld nuts present in the Prism's rear filler panel. :thumbsup: Here's the Prism blurb from the LATCH manual for reference:

Case study: Anchor points for the Geo Prism

In some vehicles, there are peculiar reasons for the lack of a tether anchor point. Take, for example, the Geo Prism, for which General Motors does not provide a tether kit or information on anchor points. The reason given is that it was designed for GM by Toyota and tether anchor points were not part of the design specification at the time (early 1990s).

A determined CPS Technician looked into this situation and discovered that the Prism is basically the same as the Toyota Corolla. All Toyota models since 1979 have been retrofittable with an existing part. She found welded nuts under the filler panel of the Prism, just as in the Corolla instructions, and was able to install the standard Toyota tether anchor kit without trouble, following the general instructions in the 2nd edition of this book. The GM reviewer for this manual did not disagree with her findings.

This installation does not follow the GM Owner's Manual instructions. However, it does not violate generic guidelines for tether installation. There may be other models with similar situations. Such an installation should be done with caution and awareness that the manufacturer's requirements are not being followed. The vehicle owner should make the decision as to whether to do such an installation.

Click to expand...

A '96 Corolla owner's manual, if the original poster could lay hands on one, might have a diagram/photo or more detailed description of the exact locations of the anchor points.

OK, I'm finally back with the owner's manual for the '96 Corolla.

Here's the text regarding 'top strap anchors and locations' for the sedan:

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With filler panel trim --

a. Using the illustration as a guide, run your fingers across the trim of the filler panel itself to locate the position of the holes underneath.

b. Make a hole in the covering directly above the hole in the filler panel.

c. Insert a 10 mm (0.4 in.) spacer and tighten down the anchor bracket for your child restraint system with a bolt. Torque the bolt to 16.5-24.7 Nm (1.68-2.52 kgfm, 12.2-18.2 ftlbf).

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There's also a version of the instructions for vehicles without filler panel trim, but that just mentions removing caps from the filler panels, and I assume you would have already noticed if you had those caps there.

As far as describing the illustration, the easiest thing would probably be to start with the center anchor location, since it is right in the middle. If you start at the rear vehicle backrest, the anchor location is 7.3" straight back from there (so it's maybe a few inches in front of that rear center light -- the distance from the light isn't given in the illustration though). To find the side anchor locations, start at the center tether location and measure 11.8" to each side. The side locations appear to be just a bit closer to the vehicle backrest (i.e. a little further forward in the vehicle) -- they are shown as being 7" back from the vehicle backrest (versus 7.3" for the center anchor).

If you already bought the part from Toyota, you don't have to worry about the separate 10mm spacer they talk about in the text above, since that is all pre-assembled in the kit from Toyota -- you'll see it has a spacer on it. As far as the torque described, if you have a torque wrench, that is great (and it's not terribly expensive to get one). Otherwise, 12.2-18.2 foot-pounds means that you want roughly 15 pounds on the end of a one-foot-long wrench handle.

If you (OP) go through the registration process on this site, you could then PM me your mailing address, and I would be happy to send you a photocopy of the relevant manual pages, in case the written version above is not adequate.

The installation in the sedan looks a lot simpler than in my wagon -- I had to cut 2" by 4" chunks out the plastic trim in the back of the cargo area, just in front of the bumper, and then DH and I had to clean out the threads on the two outer anchor weld nuts with a cleaning tap (since these tether locations go through to the outside of the vehicle, they are, surprisingly enough, no longer new and clean in a 1996 vehicle ). The sedan should be a breeze in comparison...

Good luck .

Katrin

Thanks, Jean and Katrin!!! You guys are great. (now, must get postit notes for my LATCH book for these sorts of things...)

Can I bump to ask what people did? Looking up from inside our trunk, I definitely see 2 pre-drilled holes with plastic, yellow 'screws' in the outboard positions where a tether would go. I didn't have time to look the other day, but is the same for the middle seat even possible?? Will take a pic later to illustrate what I mean.