Help with Convertible seat in 2007 GMC Sierra - crew cab

[Unregistered]

Sorry for the long post, trying to get in all the info...

I am pregnant and have severe hyperemesis and cannot drive, so I am looking for an inexpensive ($150 or less) convertible seat that my grandmother can use in her truck or 2000 Cadillac for taking my 2 1/2 year old to school. I have looked at the Cadillac and it looks like our options are pretty wide open there, but the truck is trickier.

In my vehicle she is FF in a True Fit Recline which I'm VERY happy with. This one I have successfully installed in the truck, but b/c I can't find it locally, we're running into a problem with needing it right away, not in a few days. And I'm too sick to be installing/uninstalling my seat on a daily basis.

She's (roughly) 30lbs. and 36 inches tall. She has a very long torso, so she seems to hit pretty high on her seats. For instance, I have an older (discontinued model) Evenflo Triumph (in Safari) that she is BARELY under the one inch rule. The beauty of the True Fit is all that extra height space with the detachable headrest.

I also expect to have #2 in a convertible seat before I move her to a booster (if I even do, I can keep her in the True Fit) so I want to be SURE it's tall enough to LAST!

So...to the PROBLEM!! Tether anchor in the Sierra - It has a big black (feels like thick wire inside) loop, instead of a small metal anchor like I'm used to seeing in all the other cars I've installed in. Am I missing something? I have looked and looked and that appears to be all there is??? The owners manual doesn't really indicate anything other than the location of the anchor, which is only these loops as far as I can tell.

My Grandmother took it to the police station and they installed it, attached to these loops and it doesn't fit tight at all. I have successfully installed the True Fit by sinching the tether strap to it's tightest position, lifting the seat up, attaching it to the anchor and then latching it on bottom...if I attach the bottom first I can't pull the tether strap to it's tightest position. Even using this method, the Triumph tether strap is still so loose it flops around.

I'm looking at possibly an Alpha Omega, that has a 100lb. weight limit and I believe converts to a booster. This would be ideal for long term use. But the problem is, I can't go to the store to test it out and my grandmother won't know what to look for. I'm afraid I'm going to have the same problem with the tether strap not being tight enough and just flopping around.

Any suggestions on a seat? Will the Alpha Omega work? Am I using the right tether anchor or is there something I don't see?

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!

 

[djma]

I am not familiar with that truck, so I am no help there. Sorry.

But if you are referring to the new alpha omega (with the 40lb rearfacing limit) the 100lbs is only referring to booster limits. That seat does not make a great booster, but is a decent convertible.

Are you going to be using it forward facing? I find that seat pretty easy to install forward facing, a bit tricky rear facing. It's nice because it has the no-thread harness adjuster so you can easily change the harness heights once it's installed. It has decent top slot height, my almost 6 year old fits still.

If you're planning on it for the new baby, I don't believe it fits newborns well.

Will it be moved a lot from vehicle to vehicle?

 

[bubbaray]

That "rope" is the tether anchor for that truck. Just make it as tight as you can. It doesn't need to be super tight like the seatbelt.

Tightening the TA strap can be tricky in any truck. I tighten it as much as I can with the seatback forward, then pull it straight up and push the seat back to locked. Hopefully the adjuster mechanism is now on the top of the seatback and you can tighten it more after you do the rest of the install. With trucks, I always do most of the tether first, the reverse of how we do it in cars. FWIW, its a lot easier to do the TA in trucks than it is to UNdo the TA. That is a huge PITA. LOL.

I know that the Nautilus works well in the 2008 and new GMC crew cabs, not sure about the 2007 MY.

 

[Dorothy]

Do you not route the tether through the loop directly behind the carseat and attach it to an adjacent loop? I could be mistaken, but that would solve the tightening issue. Someone with access to a manual will have to check, though.