Yea, Front facing L.A.T.C.H. child seat installed

Ramathorn · 08-29-2012, 04:58 PM

Since its been so nice ive been neglecting my SC in favor of my GSXR lately. That being said the car seat install had been put on the back burner and weve just been taking the wifey's outback for family hauling. Well today that changed and finally got around to getting the "quick links" put on the existing seat belts (and red loctite to keep them securely locked), removing the rear portion of the back seat and getting the seat bolted in. Wifey was happy that i was able to do it without mucking anything up, the seat is very secure and i was able to use the LATCH system. Another kinda cool thing is that since my wife is kinda short 5'4" there is plenty of leg room for her and my corbeau's are still able to fit.

Diddnt take any pics on the way cause i thought it was pretty straight forward.
Parts used:
(2) 3/16" x 2" quick link stainless steel rated at 800lbs safe working load
(1) Safety 1st complete air 65 car seat

each quick link was placed on the existing seatbelt attachment point without having the cut or modify anything. The 3/16" is the size of latch attachment points in the newer cars 05+ (i think), so thats what makes this a plug and play deal.

the latch attachment piece was sewn onto a strap and that strap was screwed onto the child seat. removed the screw and strap from the actual latch belt.

click and tightened it up and test fit with the wifey and daughter, happy campers.

Roby466 · Roby466's Garage

Nice! Your kid will love the rides!!

porterdog · 08-29-2012, 05:41 PM

My kid cries when I arrive to pick him up in the CRV.

Ramathorn · 08-29-2012, 06:18 PM

Well right now when i leave she stands at the door and my wife says when she hears my bike down the road she goes to the window and looks for me

oh snap · oh snap's Garage

Do you mind posting more pics/details of the install? We are looking at front facing seats as our daughter nears her first birthday.

What are quick links and where do you buy them? Are you using a child seat anchor at the rear?

Thanks

Ramathorn · 06:36 AM

These are the quick links i used. got them at home depot, $4.74 a piece.

not using the rear anchor (i assume youre refering to the attachment point at the top).

Dont really know what you want for pics, the quick links are looped around the attachment point of the seatbelt webbing at the base. kinda straight forward. With your 85' you can get away with using the factory 3-point belts in the rear my 83' was only equipped with the non-locking lap belt.

http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R-100286341/h_d2/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10053&langId=-1&keyword=quick+link&storeId=10051#.UD96WqOwT4Y

oh snap · oh snap's Garage

thanks for clarifying. I thought you had stitched the links to straps and unsure how that could be done safely.
Im trying to see what everyone has done to come up with a safe way to mount the seat. My 85 has non locking 2 point belts too. I'd like to have an anchor but I'm not sure if shops still install them due to potential liability. Im wondering about other options for the anchor, like running it back down to the mounts where the seat back rotate (any thoughts on that appreciated).

Similar to what you've done, I was thinking of replacing the seatbelt bolts with these ring bolts like in the below link to use the latch mounts. they would probably hold better than the stock seat belts and probably even better than newer style locking or 3 point. The only thing that worries me about the quick links is that they could potentially pull the seatbelt in a way it wasn't designed to be pulled, maybe reducing the load capacity. Reducing to what, or if at all I don't know, but its a thought

G-Force*Eye Bolt 20mm*-*SafeRacer

Ramathorn · 06:50 AM

With the way i have mine setup my seat dosent move much at all maybe a little less then in my wifes outback which has the latch anchor points. In her car there is a little side to side play where there isnt any in my car. I have a few eye bolts laying around from my harness's and was going looked at using them but, with the way that the child seat fits into the rear seat cushion you 1. cant get the seat to sit properly because with the eye bolts portrude inwards and 2. they dont fit the latch buckles because the eye portion is much wider than 3/16". At least this was the case with my seat and my eye bolts.

As far as the anchor i doubt anyone would install it for the liability factor. Again in my case since my seat dosent move i don't see a reason for it. I think i remember in one of the "child seat" threads that someone actually ran an upper anchor belt through their rear speaker hole where they had mounted a bracket of some sort to the firewall.