Radian install in an old body style suburban

How is it?

I was thinking this might be a better option than the Britax seats I was planning on.

I have a Marathon already and love them so I was just going to get the baby a Marathon and replace my soon to expire Marathon with another or a Frontier.

I drive a '99 suburban and have 6 kids and 2 adults in an 8 passenger vehicle so any space we can save via carseats is nice.

I'm interested in hearing about the rear and forward facing behind the driver and in the center of the middle row and also ff in the center of the very back row. Pictures would be awesome if you have them.

If they install well and I could convince dh that we need 3 new $$$ seats (holy hit to the pocket book batman ), I could have my 4 year old in the center of the way back instead of on the side in a booster. That would allow my older son's to all have shoulder belts. It's driving me nuts that one has to ride in a lap belt only now but I couldn't figure another way to configure it and still have everything be managable. :thumbsdown:

Hey, this is going to get lengthy, I promise...and I appologize too!

Okay, I have a 98 and got a Radian about 6 months ago. It took me two whole weeks of sweating and swearing and asking questions on this board. The RFing install was really no problem--not simple, but easy enough. I can't remember if I tried it behind the drivers seat, but definitely middle row center.

FFing was another story. That thing was my Everest! So I'll cut to the chase and give you the results. 2nd row--there's a square plastic piece around the buckles between the center and driver's outboard seats. You'll need to pop that off (it clicks back together later, tricky but doable). It doesn't come completely off the buckles, but just leave it floating. Once that's off you can get 2.5 twists of the stalk. The middle lapbelt you'll need to flip 180 degrees before buckling so it doesn't slip. NOW...that was the easy part. Pull the RN a couple inches out from the seat bight. Kneel in the seat with all your weight pushing straight DOWN, not back. You'll have to get the belt adjusted very tightly so it'll be tough to buckle and you may need to bounce in the seat a little, and a helper definitely would be a good idea, but you can do it with just one very committed person. It helps to unvelcro the cover to access the belt.

3rd row same deal, except instead of the square plastic piece, the belts and stalks are wrapped together in a soft rubbery plastic sleeve which you'll have to cut carefully with scissors. It was pretty easy to do if you flip the seat back down and pull the belts part way out the back. Then same thing for the install. For outboard l/s belts, you may need to get it as tight as you can while buckled, then unbuckle and feed the belt back into the retractor one or two clicks, then rebuckle (that'll be tough too).

I only have a couple pics, but I'll find them for you.
ETA: here they are, 3rd row center.





Ok so those pics won't tell you much (except that it'll RF in the 3rd row)
I think it'd be perfect for getting your 4 year old harnessed. Out of curiosity, what seats do you currently have across the third row?

The only seating position I did not try either RF or FF was the flip up seat. (Just because it was flipped down) but that seat has an awkwardly angled ridged stalk and my guess would be it'd be a no-go in that seat.

ETA: would you mind telling me how it works out having 6 kiddos in there? Just thinking about the future...

Dang that sounds complicated. I'm pretty sure my 3rd row doesn't have the rubber pieces though so that's good to know. I think I'll stick with Marathons in the middle row for ease of install though.

Right now I have in the middle row -
FF Marathon behind the driver
Chicco Keyfit in the middle - this will soon be a rf marathon
No carseat or Britax Parkway in the flip down

Way back (lol) aka 3rd row
Britax Parkway on passenger side
nothing in the middle (dreaded lap belt only)
Graco Turbobooster or nothing depending how how much room they want - ds fits find without the booster, but I feel better with him in it.

Oh ok, so you only have 5 kiddos back there at once now? I was curious what else you got to fit back there!

Nope all 6 are there.

The parkway moves depending on whether my dd or my oldest son is sitting near the baby.

I have to split up the 3 oldest boys in the back sometimes so I put dd back there and ds up front. Normally, it's like this.


Middle row
driver - 2 year old in ff marathon
center - 11 month old in rf keyfit
fold down - 11 year old ds

3rd row
driver - 7 year old in turbo booster
center - 9 year old ds
passenger - 4 year old in parkway booster

So your 9 year old is in a lap belt only? That would be my main concern. The Radian FF install is complicated, but only on paper--when you're actually doing it you just have to do all those things at once, definitely worth a shot. I ordered from Walmart.com and then got free shipping with site to store and was able to return it to the local store without paying return shipping (I returned it not because of the install, but decided to wait for the XT to come out instead).

Otherwise, here's what I would do: Put your 2 year old in the MA in the center of the 3rd row with the two seat belt only boys outboard. That leaves the two boostered kids and the 11 month old for the middle row, so you can still use the flip seat with a booster there. I'd be severely concerned with putting a child--or adult-- in a lap only belt. They're really only good for a CR install. Or you could get a EZ-on package installed with a vest for that middle seat, but that'd be way more complicated than a RN install for the 4 year old. :twocents:

I don't remember if I put a RF Radian in the middle row or if it was the Marathon. If it WAS the Radian, it installed fine in the center. I have put a FF Radian in the 3rd row center and I was comfortable with the install. (this was a 92-93 Suburban so it might differ a bit)

Thanks.

Yes, it's the lap belt I'm most concerned about.

It would sure be a pita to climb back there and buckle the 2 year old all the time especially if I can't flip the seat down due to the booster being there. The seat slides forward, but not that far and with the booster sitting in the seat, it locks back in the seating position easily. That's hard to explain. The seat it locked, but the whole thing is still slid forward. But it's not that far. If it happens while I'm leaning in to buckle someone in the back, my boobs get stuck and I have to hit the release again to get out. :lol:

That's why I was thinking it would just be easier to harness my 4 year old in the center 3rd row if I could get a good install with the radian. I'd prefer that to the marathon because it gives the other kids more room.

I agree totally with what you said there. My seat does that slidy thing too. I'd definitely give the Radian a shot. The PITA of installing it is way easier than going back there to buckle everyday, plus more room, like you said. But if you couldn't get it to work, I'd still move the 9 year old out of the lap only by whatever means possible! Would it be any easier to load your RFing 11 mos old from the cargo area?

Please let me know how you figure this out. I also have 5 children in a 99 Suburban and we are expecting number 6 in August. I've been drooling over 9 person vans, but it's really not an option right now for us. I've been going over and over it in my head trying to fit the 6 kids in it.

My 10 yr old should be able to sit with just a seat belt by then. But the rest will still need car or booster seats.

I've also found that the best way to slide the second row seat forward is to move the booster to the front seat while you do it. Because it really doesn't go far enough with it still on there.

zeo2ski said:

Would it be any easier to load your RFing 11 mos old from the cargo area?

Click to expand...

Umm no. In the cargo area at this moment we have a double stroller, a single stroller, and will soon have folding chairs and baseball and soccer equipment. The perks of older kids.


To the pp, I like the set up now except for the lap belt. Both my 11 and 9 year olds ride fine in the 3rd row without a booster. You can flip the cargo boards down so their feet touch the floor.

ShannaLeah said:

Umm no. In the cargo area at this moment we have a double stroller, a single stroller, and will soon have folding chairs and baseball and soccer equipment. The perks of older kids.

Click to expand...

LMAO, I almost didn't even suggest that but I figured juuuuusst in case. There's no way I could load from the back (did it once) and I only had 2 kids worth of stroller, etc in the back!!
FWIW an umbrella stroller fits nicely under the footrest/flap thing for the third row.

Another question for you...what do you do with all that cargo? We currently have everything strapped down, but I'm not convinced it's totally safe--I just picture something flying right into my RFing 3rd row toddler's face, ya know? I keep wondering if it'd be better to put him outboard 2nd row, but in the long run some kids will have to be 3rd row anyway and I'd like to be more confident about the cargo issue. We have a big rubbermaid tote (strapped down) to put groceries, etc. in, then big bags, pack n plays, strollers etc get strapped too, but I'm still nervous.

My double stroller is so big that it won't fit through between the seats and the roof and it would only move in a roll over anyway. I just tuck stuff underneath that.

It might cause a problem in a roll over, but that's the only scenario I can think of.

I wish I had one of those cargo rolly things that you can get in the newer models. They work like those cheap blinds and are attached to the rear seat and you can hook them in right behind the doors and it covers everything.