installing top teather anchor in older truck.

[jspo97]

My 2012 chevy sonic completely died this week. We are waiting to be approved for a mortgage and I don't want to finance a vehicle until that it all settled, and so for now my daily driver is a 1990 Ford F150.

LO's carseat is a graco 4ever (she is forward facing, almost 4 years old) I am able to install it using the seatbelt instead of the anchors however there is not spot for the top tether to anchor. I have it dangling below the seat right now and if I pull it tightly the car seat is so secure and doesn't move, but because there is nowhere to clip it, the seat moves a lot.

What can I do to attach an anchor point for the top tether? I see some after market stuff on amazon but 1) they look like they are for cars and 2) I don't know how safe they actually are.

 

[ketchupqueen]

Hi there!
Your instincts are right on the amazon parts- they aren't legit.

When you check for movement, check only at the belt path. Pulling at the top will cause it to move no matter what- just check where the belt goes through. If you get more than 1" of movement at the belt path, fix your install to be tighter. If not, you're ok on that front. However, a tether is important for purposes of keeping the child's head from going too far forward in a crash- especially in the front seat (which you have to use in this truck as the rear seats are side facing.)

The part for the truck you have is out of stock from Ford. There are a few options:
-Try to source it from a junk yard or by calling individual service dealers- if you find a listing, the part number is E5TZ-15613D20-A
-Use a tether anchor made by a child restraint manufacturer, such as Ez-On (they don't officially approve use of their anchor with other products but have oked it on a case by case basis.)
-Turn your child back rear-facing. Make sure your airbags are keyed off, if you have them, before choosing this option. If your child is under 40 lbs this is probably the easiest, quickest, cheapest safe option.
-Though it is not approved by the manufacturer, you could choose to tether to the seatbelt behind. This isn't condoned by Ford in this case but it's a tried and tested solution that may work, depending on configuration, and may be better than nothing as a last resort if none of the other options work.

Please let me know if you need more info on any of these choices!