Vent installation frustration!! FR85 into 2005 ody

[MichiganMomma(Kim)]

Omg!!! I just spent the last 45 minutes trying like heck to get a rock solid install..nope, nada, NO! With my marathon I can do it very fast and easy! Honestly I have no clue why, if I try to move it in a normal method it doesn't move hardly, but if I put effort into it I can move it. I'm strong, but still. I watched the videos, so I understand the install. I just can't get the belt tight enough..its almost like the backup/retract clicks are to far apart...does this make sense to anyone?? I'm going to call our local carseat tech and see if she can help me install this thing. Any advice...I have a 2005 Honda Odyssey with cloth seats..this seat has a very slippery bottom too.thanks. time for me to go to bed. I think I have calmed down..

Autocorrect really dislikes me...just an FYI.

 

[snowbird25ca]

What seating position are you trying to install it in and do you have the recline block flipped forward to the harness position?

If it's going in 2nd row captain chair with seatbelt you'll want to use the long belt path.

(You posted this in the CDN forum but I'm assuming you're in the US since you have a FR85? It's called the Frontier XT in Canada. I'm going to move this thread to the installation forum. Installation will be the same between the US and Canada wherever you are - just the top tether is mandatory in Canada.)

 

[MichiganMomma(Kim)]

Oh, I m on my phone I'm sorry...yes I'm in the US. I am using the longbelt path. Vehicle Seat is almost completely upright? Should it be reclined more? Just can't get it (belt ) tight enough...the block under is forward..not sure what I'm doing wrong. going to bed to sleep on it, thank you so much. Any help is great.

 

[QuassEE]

No, there's a little block on the seat that flips back and forth underneath. It needs to be forwards.

It only installs well with the long beltpath and not the short beltpath, on the captains chairs.

-N.

 

[soygurl]

Omg!!! I just spent the last 45 minutes trying like heck to get a rock solid install..nope, nada, NO! With my marathon I can do it very fast and easy! Honestly I have no clue why, if I try to move it in a normal method it doesn't move hardly, but if I put effort into it I can move it. I'm strong, but still. I watched the videos, so I understand the install. I just can't get the belt tight enough..its almost like the backup/retract clicks are to far apart...does this make sense to anyone?? I'm going to call our local carseat tech and see if she can help me install this thing. Any advice...I have a 2005 Honda Odyssey with cloth seats..this seat has a very slippery bottom too.thanks. time for me to go to bed. I think I have calmed down..

Autocorrect really dislikes me...just an FYI.

(bolding mine)
Remember, a "rock solid" install is NOT required. To test for a correct installation, use your NON-dominate hand, and give the seat "a firm handshake" to test for side to side (not rocking) movement at the belt path. Then, with the same amount of force, use both hands to check for front to back movement (one hand on either side of the belt path). As long as the seat moves less than 1 inch in both directions, you're good to go! You shouldn't be using all of your strength yanking and shoving the seat to check for movement... that's just overkill!

Forgive me if I misunderstood your post, and if you still feel concerned, a visit with a CPST is never a bad idea! :thumbsup:

 

[MichiganMomma(Kim)]

Thank You!!!:yeahthatlove: I think that with the marathon I could shove and pull with everything I have and actually not move it (but the seat it was in lol) was how I thought This seat (which has an entirely different base to it) was supposed to install. With my nondominant hand there is not much movement, I.will try the other test later when I head out. Thank you so much. The Marathon installed so easy out of the box. I kind of expected this one too also.

My phone hates me this a.m. sorry for typos. V

 

[mykidsmom]

I have a little trick I do in the caliber. Also installing with LBP. I recline the seat of the car just a tiny bit. Once I get the seat belt tightened, then I put the seat of the car forward a little again and it really makes the install tight.

Without doing this, I always get it installed almost, but not quite tight enough and wish I could retract the seat belt one more click.

 

[soygurl]

Thank You!!!:yeahthatlove: I think that with the marathon I could shove and pull with everything I have and actually not move it (but the seat it was in lol) was how I thought This seat (which has an entirely different base to it) was supposed to install. With my nondominant hand there is not much movement, I.will try the other test later when I head out. Thank you so much. The Marathon installed so easy out of the box. I kind of expected this one too also.

Happy to help! It's very easy to get accustomed to a "rock the shocks" install, and then forget that a certain amount of movement IS allowed for an acceptable install.

I have a little trick I do in the caliber. Also installing with LBP. I recline the seat of the car just a tiny bit. Once I get the seat belt tightened, then I put the seat of the car forward a little again and it really makes the install tight.

Without doing this, I always get it installed almost, but not quite tight enough and wish I could retract the seat belt one more click.

I was taught that reclining the vehicle seat is something that should not be done. From what I understand, it amounts to using non-human-strength force (i.e. the leverage provide by the reclined vehicle seat) to tighten the belt. Doing this can, in some cases, result in an overly tight seat, and possibly even a damaged seat belt (same as using the "mighty tight" to tighten the seat belt).

That said, I will on very rare occasions use this trick as a last resort if I'm unable to install a seat with less than 1 inch of movement. But I never use in on an already acceptable install, just to get the seat "rock solid" tight. :twocents:

 

[safeinthecar]

It only installs well with the long beltpath and not the short beltpath, on the captains chairs.

-N.

If you line up the buckle up with the belt path exactly, short belt path does work.

 

[MommyShannon]

I have one in our '06 Ody captain's chair using LBP. Moving the seat forward or back a click on the track might help. I am not a tech so somebody please correct me if that's not allowed. I did change the seat's recline a little to get it to match up with the FR better. I stood in front of it and pushed it into the seat while tightening.

 

[mykidsmom]

Happy to help! It's very easy to get accustomed to a "rock the shocks" install, and then forget that a certain amount of movement IS allowed for an acceptable install.


I was taught that reclining the vehicle seat is something that should not be done. From what I understand, it amounts to using non-human-strength force (i.e. the leverage provide by the reclined vehicle seat) to tighten the belt. Doing this can, in some cases, result in an overly tight seat, and possibly even a damaged seat belt (same as using the "mighty tight" to tighten the seat belt).

That said, I will on very rare occasions use this trick as a last resort if I'm unable to install a seat with less than 1 inch of movement. But I never use in on an already acceptable install, just to get the seat "rock solid" tight. :twocents:

Odd since this is what Wendy just suggested to someone else on another thread:

I'd probably recline your seat back, stand in front of the Frontier and shove it back with your knees, all while tightening the belt. Then pull the seat back back up. See what that does about the overhang, gap, and seatbelt folding.

Wendy

http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=215891

 

[soygurl]

Odd since this is what Wendy just suggested to someone else on another thread:


http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=215891

Yeah, there are a lot of people who use that trick and swear by it, and I'm not normally one to argue with Wendy. I'm just sharing what I've been taught, and what I am, and am not comfortable doing to install a seat. IIRC, there have been several threads/debates about whether or not using the vehicle seat as leverage is an ok thing to do. Some people do it all the time for almost every seat, some won't do it at all, and some (like me), are only comfortable using it as a last resort to make an otherwise incompatible installation acceptable. :shrug-shoulders: :twocents:

 

[Keeanh]

Yeah, there are a lot of people who use that trick and swear by it, and I'm not normally one to argue with Wendy. I'm just sharing what I've been taught, and what I am, and am not comfortable doing to install a seat. IIRC, there have been several threads/debates about whether or not using the vehicle seat as leverage is an ok thing to do. Some people do it all the time for almost every seat, some won't do it at all, and some (like me), are only comfortable using it as a last resort to make an otherwise incompatible installation acceptable. :shrug-shoulders: :twocents:

I think you both could be right, and it depends exactly WHAT you're trying to accomplish and how you use the reclined seat. I think Wendy is saying to get the seat out of the way so you can get one more click out of the belt, then put the seat back where it was without moving the Frontier. This is different from reclining the seat, tightening the belt beyond where you could with the vehicle seat there, and then leveraging the seat against the belt.

I've done the exact thing that Wendy recommends in order to get one more click out of a retracting belt. When I was all done, I was still able to relax the belt by pushing down hard on the seat, so I know it wasn't over-tight.

I've also done the "leveraging" thing once. I was in a hurry doing a finicky RF install with a locking clip. When faced with unbuckling the seat, moving the locking clip, and fighting it back in... I jammed the vehicle seat forward one click to make it tight . It was a "just in case" install because I was leaving the baby at home with DH, and I uninstalled it as soon as I was home. I would never, ever do that for a long-term install!

 

[soygurl]

Thanks Keeanh, you said it perfectly! That's pretty much what I meant, but I was totally unable to articulate it.