Do I need to use the lock offs

MichelleMay · May 7, 2008

on my new Marathon in the center seat (rear facing, lap belt only) of a '99 Tahoe? My manual doesn't say what kind of seat belt it is but the tech that installed the last seat told me that it was the kind that didn't need a locking clip for that seat (sorry, I can't remember the technical term for it). If I do need to use the lock offs I think I have a problem. With the belt as tight as it needs to be the buckle is too high. The buckle sits at the lock off instead of the belt.

MomToGupCPST · May 7, 2008

Hi!
As long as your seat belt locks (so it doesn't retract back into the seat) you do not need to use the lockoffs if you don't want to (or are unable to)

As long as you have less than 1 inch of movement at the belt path, then you should be good to go!

azgirl71 · May 7, 2008

If you have a lap only belt you probably have a locking latchplate. You do not need to use the lockoffs. You can close the lockoffs over the lapbelt if you want too.

MichelleMay · May 8, 2008

Yes, locking latchplate sounds familiar. Can you tell by the picture if that's what it is? I guess even if it is I was thinking of using the lock offs just to be *extra* safe but it doesn't look like I can. (sorry so blurry)

thepeach80 · May 8, 2008

You don't use the lockoffs on a lap only belt.

joolsplus3 · May 8, 2008

You don't need to use it (just echoing everyone else)...but using it would lock the seat in relative to the belt webbing, which IS 'extra safe'...you could lock the other side (in fact, the manual says to lock the one on the side away from the buckle: this problem you are having with the latchplate in the lockoff is very common, so they say lock the other side, to prevent lockoffs from breaking).
As for this side, I'd probably just reinstall and lock the lockoff before you run the belt over it. You could go through a whole lot of trouble and twist the buckle stalk down so that the lockoff can be locked, but it's not necessary (just the sort of thing some of us would do for a challenge, maybe, but definitely not necessary, lol).

azgirl71 · May 8, 2008

Yes, it is a locking latchplate. Thanks for posting the pic. Not neccesary for you to close the lock off, but you can if you like. As Jools said you can twist the buckle stalk down up to 3 times and reinstall the seat that way. It should get the latchplate out of the way of the lockoff so you can close it. The main reason I close mine even with a lap belt only install is to keep the lockoffs from accidentally getting broken.

Do I need to use the lock offs

MichelleMay

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MichelleMay

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