installing Britax Marathon 70 in 2006 Honda Civic LX Sedan

[odysseus]

Despite having verified that these car seats (we have 2, for twins) would fit in our Civic, after installing them very tightly facing rearward using the LATCH connectors, it was obvious that the seats could be rather easily tipped further toward the back of the car -- in other words, they needed a shim of sorts between the base of the seat the portion of the seat nearest the crease between the seat and the seat back.

My neighbor and I used a towel as shim for each seat. The seats are much more stable, but they're a tiny bit off-axis, i.e. not perfectly vertical.

Three questions, then:

1) Is using a shim okay from a safety perspective?
2) If so, what about the seats being slightly off-vertical?
3) The manual mentions using the versa-tether, but since that would attach to latches directly behind the rear headrest (and not to the floor in front of the seat), it doesn't add a lot to stability and would make it a lot harder to remove the kids. Is the versa-tether recommended in this case?

 

[Pixels]

Rear facing seats often can move easily towards the back of the vehicle. That's fine. It's not a safety concern. You need to check that the seat is installed tightly by checking with one hand, at the belt path. It should move less than one inch in any direction at the belt path.

Britax allows tethering down and towards the front of the vehicle. You will use the D-ring that came with your seats to create a tether point. Directions are in your owner's manual.

 

[wendytthomas]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2upADev-UrM"]YouTube - Installing a Rear-Facing Tether Connector Strap (D-Ring)[/ame]

That's how you tether a rear facing Britax seat. Like Pixels said, directions are in your manual. And like Pixels said, they will tip when not tethered. That's fine and normal.

You don't need the lines level on the side if they're not newborns. They can sit more upright.

Wendy

 

[odysseus]

Rear facing seats often can move easily towards the back of the vehicle. That's fine. It's not a safety concern.

Really? It could move several inches backward.

So I should just remove the towels?

You need to check that the seat is installed tightly by checking with one hand, at the belt path. It should move less than one inch in any direction at the belt path.

By "belt path," do you mean where the seat attaches to the LATCH connectors?

Right now with the towels inserted, the seat is very immobile no matter where you try to push it.

Britax allows tethering down and towards the front of the vehicle. You will use the D-ring that came with your seats to create a tether point. Directions are in your owner's manual.

I looked at that possibility, but it wasn't easy to find an attachment point that wouldn't immobilize the front seat

 

[wendytthomas]

Did you try pulling the plastic off the back of the track? Hondas often have it.

Yes, seats can tip up toward the backseat, sometimes all the way to the backseat. That's fine. The backseat is padded and designed to take exactly such an impact, and there's a shell around the baby.

With the Britax seats, "belt path" does mean where the LATCH attaches to the seat, basically. It's also where the seatbelt would go through if you were using the seatbelt. That's the only place you check for movement.

Wendy

 

[odysseus]

Did you try pulling the plastic off the back of the track? Hondas often have it.

You're right. Does it matter whether the tether is attached to the left runner or the right runner? Is the tether supposed to be very tight? I wonder because it would be off-center in any case.

 

[wendytthomas]

No, it doesn't matter. Just remove the slack, don't pull it super tight.

Wendy