Btirax Frontier in 15 passenger van on a vacation?

[mariaW]

We want to take our five year old, 46", 50 lb child to Yellowstone this summer with a tour company that is "family friendly", but uses the standard 15 passenger vans - either a Ford P350 E series XLT or a Chevy Express, 09-10 model years. They said the Frontier "would fit". However, they don't think there is anything in the rear of either vehicle to use as a tether and also they remove the furthest rear row of seats to enlarge the back cargo area anyway. They do have shoulder belts for "most of the seats" in the van. We have lots of travel experience and have no problem lugging the seat around. We wonder if we should just rent our own vehicle if the Frontier cannot be tethered in theirs. Any thoughts? We really don't want to drive if we don't have to.... but safety comes first.

 

[wendytthomas]

It's not ideal, but at 50 pounds the Frontier does not require the top tether. I'd try to get a lap and shoulder belt and do the long belt path to help with head excursion.

The bigger problem will be that most 15 passenger vans don't have headrests. So you and your husband and anyone else taller than an eight year old will be at risk for whiplash.

Also, will whatever is the cargo in the back be secured safely?

Wendy

 

[ketchupqueen]

If it's a newer van, there will be tether anchors- check to see if center seats have LATCH; if they do (they will in the E350), there will be an anchor (probably on the back of the seat) and if they have the vehicle manual, you may be able to find there are tether anchors in other positions (in the E350 we rented once, outboard tether anchors were a pair of holes in the legs of the bench seats.) If not, as Wendy says, try to use a lap/shoulder belt unless there are not enough to go around for the adults in the vehicle. (An E350 of that model year doesn't have headrests, but does have lap/shoulder belts in all positions.) Good luck!

 

[mariaW]

Thank you for quick replies. It sounds like there might be tether anchors somewhere in one or both of these vehicles- although depending on how the rows of seats are configured, unclear how close we can put the Frontier to these. Very good point about the lack of headrests - my husband and I rode these type vans for years on similar trips and never thought about that. If we can't tether the Frontier, we will probably install it the best we can as long and avoid renting our own vehicle as long as they are staying on park roads and there is no highway driving. The tour operator was surprised that I was so obsessive. They take little kids in these vehicles all the time apparently and although some families have brought "baby seats" (according to them), no-one has ever asked this many questions about transporting a preschooler before.

 

[Keeanh]

They have tether anchors, and a Frontier will fit.

The Express ones will look like the male end of a seatbelt, and hang down from the back of the seat bight. There should be one available for each seating position. There are 2 per bench and come off the seatbelt anchors. They can be used centre or outboard, but you can't use one anchor for 2 car seats at once. If they're not hanging down the back, sometimes people think they're seatbelt parts and pull them forward to the front of the seat. Just stuff them back through the seat bight.

I'm pretty sure Ford has a dedicated metal anchor on the bottom back of the bench for each seating position.