Very upright FF RN in Tundra access cab (Canada)

[Alison's Mom]

I'm helping a friend choose a convertible for her son who is 7 months. She drives a '12 Impreza which fits a True Fit nicely RF and FF outboard. Her DH drives an '00 Tundra with access cab, with a small backseat, and very upright and shallow seats. The TF's angle with the foot adjusted properly, was too reclined for the vehicle seat, so barely any portion of the backs were actually in contact with each other. There was also a good chunk of the TF past the vehicle seat.

With the RN in the Tundra, there is good contact on bottom and back, and I got a tight install, but the seat is super upright, like it's pretty much at a 90 degree angle from the horizontal seat. The manual doesn't say anything about the angle requirements of a FFing install; it only talks about the required angle of a RFing install. The idea is that the child would use the seat RFing until age 3 or so. Is a very upright FFing install be acceptable? Would using the FFing recline adjustment make much of a difference? I didn't have time to try a second install with the adjuster out, but can try this before she actually buys one. I was originally more concerned with the RN being too reclined to be compatible with the vehicle seat even without using the adjuster.

Or, is there another convertible that would be compatible with the very upright vehicle seat, but would result in a more reclined FFing install, purely for comfort of the child, if nothing else? The RN is pretty much the top of their budget, so the pricier Britaxes and the Foonf are out. We are in Canada. Thanks.

 

[canadiangie]

Yup, go back and use the ff recline feature, and pull the bottom of the Radian out a bit (small gap between back of Radian and truck seat is fine) to create a bit of recline.

Did you top tether correctly per the manual and verify that the V shaped tether and adjuster mechanism are compatible with the truck's tether anchor?

Feel free to post pics of the install if you like.

Also, good to hear baby will rf to age 3ish.


Eta: just noticed you were seeking seat alternatives. They could try the new Evenflo SureRide that just hit Babies R Us this weekend. I have absolutely no idea how it would install rf, but imagine that it might install quite nicely ff. It is $139. Other options include the Evenflo Tribute which rf's to 37 inches or 40 pounds, costing $99. They could then use it ff, or, they could transition to an Evenflo Maestro (or whatever budget friendly combo is on the market by then). A Maestro is $99 when on sale.

 

[Alison's Mom]

Thanks Angie. There was already a gap behind the belt path with the FFing RN in the Tundra, so I thought afterwards that using the adjuster would make it even bigger. I could try that though. If I can't get it anymore reclined, though, would it be acceptable/safe?

No, I didn't get a chance to try the tether. I checked for TA and found those thicker metal anchors, but my tether hook wouldn't even fit on them because they were so thick. I went over there with the intention of just trying my TF in her Impreza, so didn't even bring my RN's RFing foot, or my LATCH manual. I did read it after and found out about the V-shaped tethering configuration, but no, unfortunately, didn't get a chance to try it. Any special tricks with that? I briefly read the description in the LATCH manual, but imagine I would need all the pieces in front of me to figure it out.

Well, I *hope* the baby will be RFing until 3. I have told both parents all the benefits of extended RFing and they seem on board with age 3 or when he outgrows the convertible's RFing limits, but who knows what will happen when they start getting comments from other parents about why their kid is still RFing. . .

Thank you.

 

[Alison's Mom]

Thanks for the suggestions, also. Yes, I've eyed the sureride posts with interest, and will go check it out in person hopefully soon, as it sounds like it could work well for a lot of people and is inexpensive.

Are the ones you suggested seats that you think would be for the very upright vehicle seats in the Tundra? Thx.

Right now they are thinking they will want to use the convertible until 5 or so, then just get a TB or something like that. I did mention the child/booster options, but unless they go with the Nautilus after he is done RFing, they would need to buy another LBB anyway, and I think they want to buy as few carseats as possible.