regent installation in aztek

[fastdogs]

When I got home, the sahara regent was here. I wanted to install in the center position in my 2001 pontiac aztek. Checked the car manual, the regent manual, and re-read the posts here about the installation- I was ready. I took out the touriva and was horrified by the crumbs that were under the seat, had to vacuum.
I hooked up the latch to the outboard ones to tighten it down, then tried to get the lapbelt tight. It's kind of forward of the bight, and is long. But I couldn't twist it- it's like the belt part wasn't long enough, and the plastic buckle part was too long. The hard plastic was right up against the shell of the seat, and would have had to go into the belt path to tighten it. That was with recline bar installed- it would have been even more so if the recline bar was off. So I resigned myself to the outboard position again.
Tried long belt path, with had been a breeze for the other regent in the excursion. We finally got it mashed into the seat enough, with recline bar off, to buckle it, but couldn't get it tight enough. Too much movement, and it was definitely tilted. Tried short belt path, still too much movement. We ended up installing it with latch and top tether, with recline bar. It's in solid at least.
Do you techs do carseat installs in the summer heat? that makes it twice as hard. It was hot in that car!
vickie

 

[lovemyfamily]

When I got home, the sahara regent was here. I wanted to install in the center position in my 2001 pontiac aztek. Checked the car manual, the regent manual, and re-read the posts here about the installation- I was ready. I took out the touriva and was horrified by the crumbs that were under the seat, had to vacuum.
I hooked up the latch to the outboard ones to tighten it down, then tried to get the lapbelt tight. It's kind of forward of the bight, and is long. But I couldn't twist it- it's like the belt part wasn't long enough, and the plastic buckle part was too long. The hard plastic was right up against the shell of the seat, and would have had to go into the belt path to tighten it. That was with recline bar installed- it would have been even more so if the recline bar was off. So I resigned myself to the outboard position again.
Tried long belt path, with had been a breeze for the other regent in the excursion. We finally got it mashed into the seat enough, with recline bar off, to buckle it, but couldn't get it tight enough. Too much movement, and it was definitely tilted. Tried short belt path, still too much movement. We ended up installing it with latch and top tether, with recline bar. It's in solid at least.
Do you techs do carseat installs in the summer heat? that makes it twice as hard. It was hot in that car!
vickie

In the beginning of your post, you are talking about installing it with LATCH and the seatbelt, which is a no no. One or the other.
Try the long belt path but put it over the seat like this:

With that, we had the buckle in the right place in my Yukon XL, and the seat is rock solid.
Edited to add: sorry that photo is so small. But the belt is over that lower "hump" on the side of the seat, instead of over the entire top. It makes you not need as much belt and then the female end is not in the back of the seat. HTH

 

[Victorious4]

Hi Vickie

I've gotten my Husky/Regent in my friend's Aztek -- LATCH cannot be used in the center regardless.... I got a good install with just seatbelt: had to put my whole body into the seat, but that lightweight locking lap only belt is nice (if kiddo is more than 50# you'll need to top tether).

You might ask a friend/family member to help pull on the lap belt (near the buckle) while you put your weight into the seat: it often helps to use a rocking sidetoside motion.

 

[fastdogs]

just to clarify, I was hooking into the latch from the outboard positions to tighten it down, then tighten the seatbelt, then release from the latch. This was suggested when I'd asked about putting it in the center seat of the aztek as a way to get the lap belt really tight.
I'll have to try again in the middle, although I hate to move it now that it's in so solid with latch and tether in the outboard position. But Andy's about 33 lbs, so probably have some time before I can't use the latch any more. I'd just be more comfortable with him in the middle of the car. I'm glad to hear someone has actually installed one in the center.
vickie

 

[fastdogs]

one more question, about the center lap belt install-
the buckles of the belt were right up against the regent's plastic, and really seemed like they needed to be flexible in order to feed into the slot. I'm not sure how to say it, but the male part of the buckle would have had to be in the slot to tighten down, and they don't bend. I was able to feed the end of the strap through the seat in order to get a straight shot for pulling it tight, but once the buckles came up against the slot, I couldn't tighten it any further. And that was with the recline bar in to try to get it further from the buckles so I'd have more strap to tighten before the buckles got up against the seat. That's why I gave up- theres no way to tighten it enough without the buckles going through the slot and into the seat (if they could bend they'd go, but since they don't, they just ram up against the seat and stop)
vickie

 

[Victorious4]

Aha, that trick is pretty good -- using LATCH to help get a tight seatbelt install, but then unhook the LATCH.... What year Aztek is this? Sounds like my friend's is different Where's Splash? I think her's was more like yours?

 

[lovemyfamily]

just to clarify, I was hooking into the latch from the outboard positions to tighten it down, then tighten the seatbelt, then release from the latch. This was suggested when I'd asked about putting it in the center seat of the aztek as a way to get the lap belt really tight.
I'll have to try again in the middle, although I hate to move it now that it's in so solid with latch and tether in the outboard position. But Andy's about 33 lbs, so probably have some time before I can't use the latch any more. I'd just be more comfortable with him in the middle of the car. I'm glad to hear someone has actually installed one in the center.
vickie

Thanks for the clarification.

 

[lynsgirl]

Can you twist down the buckle stalk (male end), or is it a rigid stalk? You can do up to 3 full twists of the buckle stalk to get it down farther out of the belt path.

I didn't see if you said anywhere about when you tried the long belt path, if you tried it both with and without the recline bar. It sounds you tried it *with* the recline bar, which is fine, but if you had trouble with it like that, maybe try it w/out the recline bar (outboard only and lap/shoulder belt only). That's one install I've never had a problem with in numerous vehicles [long path/no recline bar/top tethered).

Re doing installations/checks in the summer heat - yep :thumbsup: . Last year, I skipped the August check up event (I lived in SC and now live in VA, which is not much different, honestly, summer heat-wise ) because I was 7 mos pg and not all that thrilled about even *looking* at the seats in my own van and the thought of crawling into other people's hot cars and installing anything was a bit much to think about :dizzy: lol. But FTMP, techs are often all-weather people when it comes to this job. Maybe we're all a bit of a crazy bunch , but at least it's about a good thing .

 

[fastdogs]

My aztek is a 2001. I think part of the problem with the center lapbelt is that the part you put through the seat to buckle into the other side has a long metal tab part that is for attaching the shoulder part of the belt. For installing a carseat the manual says to just use the lap belt (the should part comes down from the roof to plug into the metal tap sticking out of the male buckle. The male buckle also has another tab sticking out the other end to plug into the recieving buckle.
So if the male buckle is on the end of the seatbelt strap that goes through the carseat, and the female buckle is forward of the bight in the seat, which one do I twist? I tried to twist the female one, but it would only twist once and didn't give me enough room. The female buckle is about 3", the male is about 4-6, with an additional couple of inches of metal sticking out the back for shoulder belt attachement. So there's about 9 inches of non-flexible hard plastic and metal that won't feed into the carseat seatbelt slot. (I didn't actually measure, just guessing). I wanted to install in the center, but with this belt I don't see any way.
I tried long belt path for the outboard installation, but couldn't get it in solid. I had a tilt also that my be solved by positioning the shoulder belt as shown by someone in this thread, but I got a solid installation outboard with the latch.
vickie