Nautilus, Locking clip, HEAD EXPLODING.

[Juvysen]

Please excuse me if this post is difficult to understand, I'm in meltdown mode.

Ok, so we needed a new carseat for dh's car, but since our radians still fit both the older kids, we decided to use one of those in his car and get a Nautilus for DD thinking that it would (hopefully) be the last carseat we'd have to buy her since it can become a high back booster and all that jazz.

SOOOOO... I go to install it and I decided to put it in the one position on our third row seat that doesn't have LATCH, because I didn't think it would fit well next to the radian - and would give them both more space. It seems we have the type of seat belts in our Sienna that require the locking clip. I can't figure out the trick. I literally fought with it for a half hour and though I followed their directions in the manual I just can't get a good install. The @#$% thing moves a good few inches if I take the front corner and push it over... the back doesn't seem to move much. And they want me to take off the locking clip when not in use? they *must* be joking.

Help! Please!! What's the trick that i'm missing?

[TheGirls]

What year is your van? Cars newer than 1996, I think, all have locking seatbelts. Cars older than 1996 don't tend to have LATCH, which is why I wonder.

[mamadelbosque]

Yeah, surely your seatbelts lock one way or another. *MOST* seatbelts in *most* cars I've instaleld carseats in (which, come to think of it, has mostly been honda's... but anyways!), they lock if you pull them all the way out and then let back in. Apparently some others lock at the latchplate, though I don't know how that'd work... check your manual. I seriously doubt you need to use a locking clip

[chickabiddy]

Any car new enough to have LATCH will not need a locking clip. Check the owners' manual to lock the belts.

[Juvysen]

oh thank goodness. I did lock the belt, but couldn't get a good solid install that way, either, which sent me back to the manual where I noticed this:

combination lap/shoulder belt with sliding latch plate: this belt has a latchplate that slides freely along the belt. this belt MUST be converted to prevent movement of the lap portion of the belt. You must use the locking clip provided with the child restraint, unless your vehicle's seat belt can be converted in another way as described in your vehicle owner's manual

Which made me think maybe mine *did* need that. But... if I don't... how do I get a nice install with a seatbelt? I had all my weight on it, pulling on in as hard as I could, etc, and didn't get a good tight install...

[mamadelbosque]

If you can't get a good install, you can't get a god install... but I"d keep trying. Are you sure you aren't somehow sitting on part of the belt, thereby keeping it from fully tightening? I've never installed a nautilus but i know lots of other seats have the belt path in such a way that if your not careful allows/makes you sit on it and thus keep from getting it truly tight...

[Juvysen]

I checked for that. I mean... it's *pretty* tight. Maybe I'm just used to getting the tightness I can with a latch install? It wiggles a bit... but only if I'm pushing it reasonably hard...

Bleh.

[an_aurora]

Only check for movement with one hand (the non-dominant) right at the belt path, and don't put all your weight behind it or anything. So long as you have less than an inch of movement, it's an acceptable install.

[Juvysen]

seriously?? they should really put that in the manuals. *sigh*

Thank you all for your help. I guess it was fine and I was just freaking out for nothing. Can I just take this opportunity to say I *hate* carseats and can't wait until they build ones that come *with* the car. It seems like such a risk, having all the user error involved with installing the car seats correctly (not to mention, how badly some of the manuals explain things...)

ok, rant over.

Thank you all.

[Marissamom]

my mom used to have a dodge caravan (1994?) that did have FF carseats build into the middle seat. But I don't think they'll be able to do built in rear-facing carseats for a long time.

and if the belt slips freely though the latch plate, it needs a locking clip. because even if it self-locks there's a lot of give before it does lock, because the give is designed to be distributed over the whole belt.

[DahliaRW]

Originally Posted by Marissamom

my mom used to have a dodge caravan (1994?) that did have FF carseats build into the middle seat. But I don't think they'll be able to do built in rear-facing carseats for a long time.

and if the belt slips freely though the latch plate, it needs a locking clip. because even if it self-locks there's a lot of give before it does lock, because the give is designed to be distributed over the whole belt.

Not when it locks at the retractor (ALR seatbelts) which is what the Sienna has. There is no locking clip required.

[Marissamom]

I guess I'm so used to the cars I'm in having an ALR system that no longer locks that I don't trust them. don't want the mechanism to give out when it actually matters.

[chickabiddy]

If the ALR system is actually defective (and that's rare, and odd that it would happen to you with more than one vehicle), the vehicle needs to go to the dealership. Many brands have a lifetime warranty on seatbelts.

[Marissamom]

usually not my car. I don't drive, so I get rides with lots of different friends and family members. and it seems like almost 50% of the cars we're in the ALR system doesn't lock in at least one seat. most of these cars are 5-12 years old, but since I've seen so many times when the ALR system doesn't work, I just don't trust it as the only method keeping the carseat in place. I've also gotten really good at installing with a locking clip, so I don't consider it a hassle to also use the locking clip for an extra level of safety.

[an_aurora]

ALR= automatic locking retractor. These are either lap-only belts with no tail and a sewn-on latchplate, OR a few older vehicles.

ELR = emergency locking retractor. This is the type that's found in the driver's seat--they only lock in a crash. Some cars older than 1996 also have these belts, and these are the ones that require a locking clip.

Switchable retractor = belts that have free-sliding latchplates, but a locking retractor that is engaged by pulling the belt all the way out slowly.

Locking latchplate = belts that lock at the latchplate as opposed to the retractor. Many Chrysler vehicles have this type--to test, buckle the belt, and try to pull the lap portion out away from the seat. No locking clip required with this type of belt.

[mamadelbosque]

I've never been in a car with locking retractors that didn't work.. and most of them have also been 4-12 yrs old at this point.

[DahliaRW]

Ooops, I meant switchable retractors. The NHSTA seems to refer to them as ALRs, though, when I was looking up terminology.