Wanna hear the solution we came up with?

glockchick

New member
I know you probably don't care, but I'm excited to get my 9 year old out of a lap belt so I'm sharing.

I drive a '99 suburban and this is my current set up.

driver - 2 year old dd in ff marathon - expires Aug 13th
center - 11 month old ds in rf keyfit - has about 1" of torso height left
fold down - 11 year old ds

3rd row
driver - 7 year old ds in turbo booster
center, lap belt only :eek: - 9 year old ds
passenger - 4 year old dd in parkway booster


So here is my plan for now. Instead of replacing both babies' seats now and getting Britax like we have now, we'll get a Radian for the 3rd row.

My now 4 year old will move to the radian and her 9 year old brother can have the passenger side seat she's in now. I'll see whether or not he needs a booster.

Come August 13th, we'll move the 2 year old to the 3rd row in the Radian and the 4 year old (will be 5 and 2 months then) back to her booster behind the driver.

We'll replace the baby's seat when he outgrows it. If he outgrows it before the Britax sale in Sept, he can move to the marathon, and we'll just make the other switch earlier.

So I've solved the lap belt problem that's been bugging me since the baby was born and didn't have to buy more than 1 seat at a time to do it.

Come on, be excited with me. :D

Now go check my other thread and tell me which Radian to get.
 
ADS

zeo2ski

Well-known member
Oh, I AM so happy for you!!! I'm so excited you are going for it. That plan sounds perfect, too--I hadn't even though about the 4 year old getting any older, lol. That'll work great. I bet the older brothers will be an awesome help with booster training too.

Ok I'm off to find your other thread because I just had to buy a RN myself...(and it's supposed to get here today so I'll be messing with installs, let me know which seats you want me to try out!)
 

glockchick

New member
Thanks.

Could you try the 3rd row center? That's where I plan to have it.

After that if I like it I may get radians for the 2 little ones as well when they need them. I like the idea of a lower profile. My truck is a 4x4 so it sits high already and then lifting a 30 lb kid up and into the middle seat over the high sides of the Britax is kind of a pain. It would be nice if there was an easier option.

So if you feel like it, I could stand knowing how it fits in the center row in the driver side and center seats, but I can try that myself when I get mine.
 

Kat_Momof3

New member
I'm excited for a 9yr old using a shoulderbelt, not just a lapbelt, and for a 4yr old being harnessed!!

can I just throw a thought out there... what about just getting the 2 babies Radians, too??

forget the cuteness of matching seats, they would be narrow and give you more seating setups possible.
 

glockchick

New member
I am for sure considering it. They're both ok for now so I'll wait until I try the one I've got coming. I've just loved my Marathons so much that I'm afraid to stray. ;)
 

zeo2ski

Well-known member
Thanks.

Could you try the 3rd row center? That's where I plan to have it.

After that if I like it I may get radians for the 2 little ones as well when they need them. I like the idea of a lower profile. My truck is a 4x4 so it sits high already and then lifting a 30 lb kid up and into the middle seat over the high sides of the Britax is kind of a pain. It would be nice if there was an easier option.

So if you feel like it, I could stand knowing how it fits in the center row in the driver side and center seats, but I can try that myself when I get mine.

I knew that's where you were planning to put it, and that was the very first place I tried it last night and guess what? With all those instructions I gave you for installing--and it took me 2 WEEKS last time to get it in FFing--I walked out to the car plopped it down and it was rock solid in about 60 seconds, no joke. So like I said, it's a lot of tricks on paper, but once you know what you need to do it's a cinch. I have some install pics for you, but I didn't upload them yet, I'll work on that. But here's what I got--3rd row center RF and FF, 2nd row center RF and FF, and 2nd row drivers outboard RF were all rock solid.
The outboard l/s FFing installs in both rows were all acceptable--solid at the belt path, zero movement, but if I pulled the top of the seat to the side it easily tipped sideways. This is not how you're supposed to check for a successful install, and a top tether would help, but I wasn't crazy about it (I didn't try any top tethers, I don't have any so the TA is the 3rd row seat belts).
I actually didn't try RFing outboard in the 3rd row, just didn't think of it at the time.
The flip up seat has a rigid stalk that angles forward of the bite and is too long, so I didn't think it would work at all, but I was actually able to get a technically acceptable install, but I wouldn't use it there, I like to see rock solid! Not that you'd use it there anyway cause you couldn't access the back without climbing over seats.

RFing behind the driver we had to move the drivers seat up, install it, then back the drivers seat up until it was against the RN. DH (6') said he could still drive it like that, and it ended up being in the spot where I (5'8")used to always keep it. I didn't put much effort into getting it more upright though--my fedex guy came at 5 pm so it was dark and cold by the time I got out there! Center 2nd row didn't interfere with the front seats at all.
I'll get pics up for you.
 

zeo2ski

Well-known member
Ok here's a couple at a time while they load.

Center, 3rd row: sorry for the poor angle
insxtcenter3.jpg


This is how the buckle ends up looking in that position. See how the RN is pulled out a little from the seat bite? And you can see the latchplate is flipped to keep it from slipping over time and the buckle stalk is twisted 3 full rotations. I forgot to tell you before, pull the recline foot out for all FF installs in the suburban.
insxtbuckle2.jpg


ETA more:
center, 2nd row FFing
insxtcenter2ff.jpg


center, 2nd row RFing
insxtcenter2.jpg


And ETA the last two:
RFing behind driver, 2nd row (that's DH in the driver's seat and this angle looks like less room than there really is, but I just read up on how to get it more upright so I'll have to try that out.
insxtdri2.jpg


and FFing 3rd row outboard drivers side.
insxtout3.jpg
 
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