Question Diono Radian RXT - trouble installing tightly

[Unregistered]

Hi there,

We've always used the First Years True Fit or Britax Marathon car seats. We recently bought Radian RXT's after having to replace our seats from a car accident.

My husband just tried installing one of the radians and is starting to hate the seats because he can't get it in tight. Our old carseats wouldn't budge AT. ALL. The seat portion of the radian pulls forward a good 2-3 inches away from the back of the vehicle's seat when pulled forward. It doesn't really have any side-side wiggle room though. Also, the top tether is anchored and the top of the carseat still pulls forward away from the seat a bit - could that be because the carseat is 5 inches taller than the back of the vehicle seat?

It's installed FF using the lap/shoulder belt. Racheted down tightly and also using the locking clip.

Oh, and if it's helpful, my car is a 2004 mustang convertible.

Thanks!

 

[tiggercat]

Have you tried putting the forward facing recline foot down? That often helps with the sliding forward.

 

[Sillyna511]

I'm the OP. I've since decided to just register.

DH said he did not put the recline out. I'll have him do that and see if it helps.

 

[Keeyamah]

Putting the recline down and pulling the Radian out slightly from the vehicle seat back are two suggestions I've seen a lot to get forward facing installs tight. So that there is a small triangle behind the Radian, also, if possible, you can twist the female side of the buckle up to three full twists (or one or two, or a half) if needed to help get it tight.

 

[Sillyna511]

I ended up meeting with a carseat tech. We discovered there was no way to get a good install using the seat belt in my car with this carseat. I had TIGHT installs with my Britax, but this one just wasn't a good match. So I'm using the LATCH - we were able to get the latch very secure. DS is 39 lbs and the seat is 24, so we're right about at the limit.... I'm in the market for a new vehicle anyway, so soon we should be able to get a good seatbelt install before he's beyond the 65 lbs combined weight.