LATCH or Seat belt system

[Unregistered]

Id like to know your opinions. Which is better, LATCH or the SEAT BELT SYSTEM for carseats?

Can you use both for added safety?



I will be installing a seat into a Honda Pilot.


Thanks,
RS

 

[Robert]

It all depends on wether the latch or seat belt system is better. There are times where we can get a better fit with the seat belt system then latch

You want no more then one inch of movement side to side at the belt path of the child seat. You don't want to use both systems. There is no reason for this. If you find when using the latch system that the child seat is loose (compatibility problems with seat and child seat) then switch back to using the seat belt system. Latch was suppose to be the cure all but there are some compatibility problems depending on your combination.

 

[UlrikeDG]

I have 3 seats in my Pilot. All 3 are in the center row, and only one of them has LATCH. I have my son's Marathon installed with LATCH. My baby's Roundabout is installed rear facing in the center with the seatbelt, and my daughter's Freeway is installed outboard with the seatbelt.

Assuming a good fit, I'd install the seat in the center with "just" the seatbelt as my first choice. This puts the child farthest from a side impact, and is generally the safest place to install a seat. If I had to put it outboard, I'd try to install it with LATCH first. If it fits well that way, great. If not, then I'd try the seatbelt. I can install my Marathon slightly faster with LATCH than with the seatbelt. A good install is the most important factor.

One final note, you didn't mention what kind of seat you are installing, but I did find that I cannot install the Britax Roundabout in the rearmost seat on the passenger side. It is incompatible. It has fit in all the other seating positions, though.

 

[SafeDad]

I agree with Robert and Ulrike

For more background, also see our LATCH guide by clicking "LATCH" under the top banner.

Please let us know how your installation goes!

 

[Unregistered]

THANKS FOR THE COMMENTS

I WOULD LIKE TO INSTALL THE BRITAX MARATHON IN MY HONDA PILOT.

i WANT TO INSTALL IT IN THE CENTER SEAT IN THE CENTER ROW.

THERE ARE NO ANCORS FOR THE LATCH IN THE CENTER BUT THE MARATHON IS WIDE ENOUGH THAT I CAN USE THE TWO INNER ANCHORS MADE FOR THE OUTER SEATS.

ILL SEE WHICH FITS MORE SECURELY AND GO WITH THAT ONE.

rOBINSON

 

[Unregistered]

sorry for the caps,

Im and engineer and write everything in caps.

robinson

 

[SafeDad]

Re: THANKS FOR THE COMMENTS

THERE ARE NO ANCORS FOR THE LATCH IN THE CENTER BUT THE MARATHON IS WIDE ENOUGH THAT I CAN USE THE TWO INNER ANCHORS MADE FOR THE OUTER SEATS.

Using LATCH in a center spot that is not a designated LATCH position is another issue. The official recommendation is here:

http://www.car-safety.org/latch.html#center

While Britax does allow this in some cases, Honda may not. If you can get an acceptable fit in the center with the seatbelt, that is the best choice.

 

[UlrikeDG]

There are 2 other factors to consider when deciding whether to use outboard LATCH anchors to install a seat in the center.

1) How far apart are the anchors? They seemed really wide to me, but I didn't measure them.

2) That "bench" has a 40/60 split, and one anchor is on one seat while the other is on a totally different seat. That alone made me uncomfortable enough that I did not even try to install my Marathon in the center using LATCH. I did have it in the center using the seatbelt for a while.

Oh, and when I was looking at the LATCH anchors thinking about the Marathon in the center, I though that the female belt stalk for the "40" seat would get in the way. Again, I never actually tried it, so it may be physically possible, but it didn't look like a good idea to me.

 

[Unregistered]

Thanks All

I finished the install of the Britax Marathon in my Honda Pilot. I installed it with the seatbelt and the tether combination in the middle center. I tryed the latch in the center and it fit nicely however I found it harder to tighten the latch system compared to the seatbelt. The tether really secures the seat down.


Just for kicks, I tryed all the types of installations in all the seats. RF-ing the seat only fits in the center. I found that no matter which system you use, this seat seam to be top heavy. In a rear end collision I don't think I would trust this seat in the RF position. I think the seat would flip forward on top of the child. The only way it could be secure would be to use a tether and the pilot does not have that option in rear facing position. Britax should look into this.


In FF-ing position I found it fit nicely in all the seats with either system.


Thanks Again to all.

Robinson

 

[SafeDad]

Hi-

You do not need a factory tether location for a rear-facing Britax Versa tether. The manual has suggestions on how to do this, as does this page:

http://www.angelfire.com/wa3/isakswings/ratetherrf.html