Help with Radiax XT install FF with seat belt in grand caravan

[CHSgirl]

Seems like we're having one problem after another with this car seat!

The latch strap on our Radian XT needs to be replaced (Diono should be shipping today) and in the meantime we've had to switch to a seatbelt install, which we've NEVER done before. The seat is installed FF on the driver's side captain's chair. My husband had a tough time installing but finally got it tight enough where there is minimal movement at the belt path. HOWEVER,

1.) the angle of the seatbelt just doesn't look right. If you take a look at the attached picture, you can see what I mean. It almost looks as if the belt is going to start twisting and it's super difficult to tighten the belt because we can't adjust the angle of the buckle. Is this right?

2.) I had to tighten the harness yesterday and when I pulled the adjuster UP to tighten, the car seat came with it! While I can't really move the seat side to side, It pulls up and I can slide it forward and backward. It seems the tether is preventing it from sliding forward even more. Does this sound right?

Edit: the image upload was failing, so I've put the photo here:
http://s1291.photobucket.com/user/CHSgirl1/media/Radian_zps07e5737c.jpg.html


Thank you for any help

 

[mom of six]

Common problem with the radian. Read this thread. It will solve the problem.

http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=28939

 

[canadiangie]

Yes, those fixed angled forward buckle stalks are hideous. They aren't forward if the bight per se, they're more just ... really crappy for car seats.

Be sure the ff recline foot is pulled down... then...

What I do is pull the bottom of the Radian way way way far away from the seatback. Thread the seatbelt through the ff belt path like normal and buckle. Start tightening the belt by reaching your hand through the cover on the buckle side. Be sure you are standing directly in front of the Radian while you work. Pull the shoulder belt but attempt to keep the seatbelt from bunching in the latch plate -- it's all an angles game at this point. Once you have it pulled tightish use your knee to boot the Radian back a bit -- but pull tighter at that same moment. Try to avoid the bunching. Pull tighter, boot back, pull tighter, boot back. It's little bits at a time until the Radian is reasonably back on the vehicle seat. A gap behind the Radian is ok; in fact it's pretty much necessary in this case.

 

[featherhead]

I will just add that for tightening the harness I would pull down rather than up.

 

[CHSgirl]

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Be sure the ff recline foot is pulled down... then...

.

what do you mean by pull down the FF recline foot? I'm not sure what the recline foot is :-/ we've removed the detachable base if that's what you mean?

Also - is ANY type of forward/backward movement ok in a proper install?

momofsix - thank you for the link, I had spent some time searching the forums and couldn't find anything like that.

featherhead - for some reason it's more difficult to tighten pulling down. Not sure if it's the angle of the seat or what. I also thing we may have purchased a lemon, because our seat has always been RIDICULOUSLY hard to tighten.

 

[featherhead]

what do you mean by pull down the FF recline foot? I'm not sure what the recline foot is :-/ we've removed the detachable base if that's what you mean?

Also - is ANY type of forward/backward movement ok in a proper install?

momofsix - thank you for the link, I had spent some time searching the forums and couldn't find anything like that.

featherhead - for some reason it's more difficult to tighten pulling down. Not sure if it's the angle of the seat or what. I also thing we may have purchased a lemon, because our seat has always been RIDICULOUSLY hard to tighten.

Look at the bottom of your seat, you will see a bar in a little track. Pull that little bar along the track, and pop the bottom of the seat out. That is the forward-facing recline.

When you check for movement at the belt path the seat should not move side-to-side or front-to-back more than one inch. That is using your non-dominant hand to give the seat a push/pull. Not using all the strength in your body to try to move it.

For tightening try holding the strap straight out with one hand, and then in the middle of that part push down with your other hand. With the ratcheting adjuster on the Radian I find it easiest to leave it tightened most of the time. I only loosen when my dd is wearing a cloth diaper instead of disposable, etc.

 

[CHSgirl]

Look at the bottom of your seat, you will see a bar in a little track. Pull that little bar along the track, and pop the bottom of the seat out. That is the forward-facing recline.

When you check for movement at the belt path the seat should not move side-to-side or front-to-back more than one inch. That is using your non-dominant hand to give the seat a push/pull. Not using all the strength in your body to try to move it.

For tightening try holding the strap straight out with one hand, and then in the middle of that part push down with your other hand. With the ratcheting adjuster on the Radian I find it easiest to leave it tightened most of the time. I only loosen when my dd is wearing a cloth diaper instead of disposable, etc.

Oh no - We have had the forward facing recline up this whole time! Oh my gosh, I feel terrible. Well, that, combined with some of the other tips helped a little bit, but I still think there's too much front to back movement. We may have to find a car seat tech to look at it. Ugh. This is so frustrating - it shouldn't be this difficult to install a car seat :-/

 

[featherhead]

Oh no - We have had the forward facing recline up this whole time! Oh my gosh, I feel terrible. Well, that, combined with some of the other tips helped a little bit, but I still think there's too much front to back movement. We may have to find a car seat tech to look at it. Ugh. This is so frustrating - it shouldn't be this difficult to install a car seat :-/

The recline is optional, it just helps get a good install in some cases

 

[CHSgirl]

The recline is optional, it just helps get a good install in some cases

Phew! Thank you