'89 blazer

[cbrooks]

My husband just bought an 89' blazer, and I look in the backseat and it has only lapbelts so I'm so confused as to whether my husband's fun midlife buy (his first suv/truck ever and he is super excited) is going to work for the whole family.

I own a van for most of our driving but my husband does want to take us all out for rides on and to the beach since it is a 4 by 4. But my first problem is that I have a 10 yr old who is 120 lbs who normally rides with the adult lap and shoulder belt. I have a 4 1/2 year old, 47lb. who rides in a 5pt hw harness (graco nautilus), and I still need to buy a somewhat narrow seat (the maestro) for my 2 3/4 yr old who is 34lbs. I just don't know how I am going to work with the seatbelts. First of all, my 10 yr old will need a shoulder belt installed if possible and if I get 2 lapbelts installed somehow, I'm not against my 4 yr old being in a booster in this big truck if it works width wise with 3 kids across, 2 of whom in seats.

Config 1)
So I could have the nautilus for my 2 yr old.
And buy a hbb for my 4 yr old.

Config 2)
Or I could keep my 4 yr old in her nautilus.
And buy a maestro for my 2 yr old.


But my questions are these:

1.) What type of seatbelts are in this 89 blazer? They look weird first of all. The male end of the seat belt sticks straight out and is rigid, yet the female end has the retractable belt. I've never seen seatbelts that are opposite like this.

2.) Will I need locking clips?

3.) Has anyone been able to install shoulder belts in the backseat of an '89 blazer since essentially it can be a convertable top?

4.) Are there any types of shoulder belt 5pt vests that would work for a 120lb. 10 yr old who really is tall enough not to need a booster?

5.) Are there cargo hooks in the blazer acceptable for tethering or retrofit kits for an 89 blazer?

Lots of questions, if anyone has answers to any I really appreciate it. I'm so confused with this fun looking suv.

 

[aept]

Wow! Sounds interesting. I hope you can work something out to be able to safely enjoy it.

Do the retracting lap belts lock in any way? I think that would be essential to be able to install a carseat.

 

[cbrooks]

I just learned about the 86 y harness that just might work and my husband was looking at other regular 4 pt harnesses too. I'm pretty sure the 86 y harness would require a backless booster for my 4 yr old, but if I found a way to just install carseats, I'd probably like to go that route because I have a 2 yr old too and I don't want her unbuckling a booster seat. Though the 86 y could be an option for my 4 and 10 yr old.
The middle seaatbelt in the blazer is a standard ratchet type. And the other 2 lapbelts in the back seem to have some sort of locking mechanism. I just can't figure what type and how to use a locking clip since the receiving buckle is connected to the retractable belt, and I've always heard that locking clips should only be put an inch away from the latchplate. On these lapbelts, the latchplate is stationary. My husband is going to be looking for a manual as well online.
Well, I just took a minute to read my harmony literider backless booster manual and it says you can't use it with only lapbelts but you also can't add any other thing to it. But I would think with the 86 y being a 4 pt harness, the backless booster would aid in proper placement of the lapbelt portion of the configuration. Oh well. We'll keep thinking on how to get the carseats in there I think.

 

[BookMama]

Hi there. Thanks for asking your questions here.

I don't have any knowledge of an 89 Blazer, but I can answer your questions about locking clips. You can't use a locking clip with a lap-only belt.

It sounds as though your seatbelts may have automatic locking retractors (ALR), which are good for harnessed car seats.

Here's how you can tell if your lapbelts are ALR: gently pull the seatbelt out all the way. Slowly let it retract part way, then gently try to pull it back out again. If you can't pull it out any further (i.e. if you have to let it retract all the way to unlock it), it's an ALR belt. You can use it to install harnessed seats.

If you have ALR belts, I'd recommend harnessed seats for your 2YO and 4YO. The 86Y might work for your 10YO, but I'll let someone more experienced with it chime in here.

If your lapbelts are NOT ALR - if they only lock in a crash - you would need a belt-shortening clip in order to install a harnessed seat. A belt-shortening clip looks like a locking clip but is heavy duty - it's actually load-bearing, which a locking clip is not - and is used to shorten the seatbelt to the exact length needed to install the car seat. If you need to use a belt-shortening clip, I'd recommend finding a child passenger safety technician who can teach you how to use one correctly - they can be pretty tricky.

 

[cbrooks]

Thank you. I didn't know I couldn't use locking clips on lap only belts. I used to use a locking clip all the time on a center seating position I had in my old chevy caprice. I always thought the ratchet type seatbelts needed them so they would stay tight?

Today, I tested what you said, and I pulled the non ratchet seatbelts in the blazer all the way out let them retract about halfway and tried to pull the seatbelt again and it locked. So, thank you for that advice. They are alr seatbelts.

Unfortuanately, my husband tore up the bed of the blazer and took the backseat bench row out and found that the stationary latchplates that are bolted to the bed of the blazer, had some damage. A cut/ frayed belt so he ended up cutting out both of the old seatbelt latchplates. So for now, in the short term, we have one center seating position with lap only ratchet seatbelt until my hubs retrofits the seatbelts alltogether.