Help! RF versa tether anchor point in Caravan

[Chris]

Just got my blvd and was surprised to realize that I couldn't find a good anchor point to loop the D-ring on in our 2005 grand caravan with stow and go seats.

In our last car we looped on the driver's seat rail, but first time rfing tether in this car and the driver's seat rail looks like a no go. Where else can I put it?

We have it australian style for now (around sides of seat and onto the anchor on the back of the 2nd row seat), but it looks very different from the pics in the manual. Instead of being at head level (and in the way), the tether straps run down the sides of the carseat, around the sides of the seat back, and clip onto the anchor that is at the base of the backside of the captain's chair. There is no way to route it over the top of the seat back, it is too narrow and just slides down, but the whole thing just looks kind of off, and doesn't seem like it will do much to reduce movement front to back.

 

[jnamommy]

I have an 05 Town and Country and have not found a good place to RF tether on the driver's side. It can be tethered on the passenger side, though, if you are able to switch to the other captain's chair. I think the automatic stuff on the driver's seat is the problem.

 

[Chris]

I didn't look carefully at the passenger side because we use if for carpool loading so we can't rf there anyway. On the driver's side there are long plastic covers that run the length of the seat. If those weren't there I think we might be ablet o loop the d ring around the base of the rail.

I know there are a ton of these vans and seats out there, how are you folks tethering your seats?

 

[wendytthomas]

Did you pull the plastic off?

Wendy

 

[DanaherMama]

I have a 2008 GC SXT and I was able to pass the d-ring between the plastic and the seat leg and then wrap it around. It is hard to finagle but I didn't want to remove the plastic in the seat either.

 

[Chris]

Hmm, guess I will have to look at that plastic some more today and see what I can do to it. I had considered trying to cut a hole in it to pass the webbing through, but that seemed a bit extreme. I was hoping there was a better option that I was overlooking.

Am I right that britax doesn't allow tethering to the base of the same seat that the carseat is installed on in the US?

 

[joolsplus3]

Yeah, don't tether to the same seat. Try pushing your driver's seat way forward and really picking around under it, you may find the plastic will snap right off and then back on again, or some little bit of seat track that you can thread the D-ring under. Good luck!

 

[luckyclov]

Maybe I missed it, but what year is the vehicle?

I used to drive an '09 Grand Caravan and there was a very easy RF tether point under the driver's seat. It's easiest to access if you move your seat fwd (just don't remove the slack from the tether strap until the seat is back in position where you need it to drive). There is a metal bar type thingie (so technical, huh?) that runs across horizontally ________ under the driver's seat (it's attached to the frame). Over towards the console side, there's an indentation sort of thing - wrap the d-ring around that (just make sure not to get any wires mixed in). If I still had the vehicle, I'd take pictures for you...but once you see it, you'll know exactly what it is I'm talking about. You don't have to remove any plastic.

You've got to remeber to loosen the tether strap every time the driver's seat is moved, though, because moving it will either overtighten the strap or have it too loose.

 

[jourdysmom]

Here is what Clov is talking about on the newer ones... not sure if your year van is the same or not...

http://www.car-seat.org/showpost.php?p=654296&postcount=10

You've got to remember to loosen the tether strap every time the driver's seat is moved, though, because moving it will either over-tighten the strap or have it too loose.

Because the seat rubs on the strap, NOT because it is attached to the moving seat It is definitely a Non-movable part