Regent install questions

[Elizasmom]

I just finished installing the Regent using the lap/shoulder belt (long route) in my 2004 Sienna. It was by far the most difficult car seat I've ever installed, but it's in and tight. It took me at least an hour and like 20 failed attempts. I kept pulling the belt out too far so it would lock and retract on me and end up too short.

I do have a couple of questions:

1. Is it okay that the front of the regent overhangs the vehicle seat by about a 1.5"? Actually, it's kind off crooked - overhands 1.5" on one side and about half an inch on the side closest to the vehicle belt buckle.
2. The shoulder belt kind of has to do a twist with it enters the first belt path hole. It's not that the belt is twisted, but it kind looks that way in that spot because it's making that turn and getting scrunched. Is that okay? Does anyone know what I mean?
3. The seat belt is going OVER the harness in the back, not under. Is that right?
4. I'm not using the recline bar, but there's still a significant gap between the car seat and the vehicle seat. Should the back of the car seat be right up again the back of the vehicle seat, or is that gap okay? I don't know that it would install any other way. The vehicle seat back is pretty close to fully upright.

Tell me again that I did the right thing not getting a Parkway instead! This thing is a monster!

[Joolsplus2]

Yup, it's ok for the seat to hang over the front a bit (80% of the seat is on that vehicle seat, so it's fine).
Yup, a little twist in the belt is fine... as long as nothing is all ropy and twisted majorly.
If the belt is going OVER the harness, how are you going to adjust the harness???? Does it adjust ok? Mine would get caught, so I have to do it under, but whatever works is fine.
How about reclining the vehicle seatback a bit so the seats 'mesh' together better? I find without the recline bar, I have to recline the vehicle seat rather significantly, and with the recline bar, I can leave the vehicle seat much more upright (there's a huge gap between them, but it doesn't matter, just as long as the base is on the seat).
Darn, I should have warned you about not pulling the vehicle belt all the way out... It took me a long time to learn that, too :/.
I promise installing it gets easier (ugh, actually, I hope so for my own sake...we had to take ours out the other day right after I installed it before the kids even rode in it, I was kind of bummed!), but my kids love theirs so much it's worth the hassle (they fight over it when I don't have both in the car and the other option is a booster, a Recaro Start, no less!)

:)
Julie CPS Tech and mom to 2 in seats
http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/RFAlbum/SarahMA.aspx

[Elizasmom]

Thanks. I knew I shouldn't pull the belt all the way out, but I kept doing it by mistake!

The seat has a little indenttation for the harness. If I put the seatbelt between the shell of the car seat and the harness, it would seem that the seat belt would cover that indentation and make harness stick. I have the belts running over the harness. I hope I'm explaining this right. If I reach in and feel the back of the seat, the order from back to front is seatbelt, harness, then shell of car seat.

I agree that I should have reclined the seat more, and will do that next time. Is the gap okay for now even though I'm not using the recline bar? Is there a safety problem with that? The seat is rock solid. Thanks again.

[Joolsplus2]

Sounds like they've made the harness path a little more indented and user friendly (it got stuck a lot under the Husky, it was a pain...).
:)

Yeah, a gap really is ok...you could even recline your seat a notch now and just tighten the belt up more if you want, without the whole installation struggle...it's up to you. But it sounds just fine as it is, so <high fives> are headed your way ;)
Julie CPS Tech and mom to 2 in seats
http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/RFAlbum/SarahMA.aspx

[murphydog77]

Julie's gotten your questions answered, so I thought I'd just add a couple of thoughts of my own. I've got an '05 Sienna and a Husky. I agree that it's one of the more difficult seats to install simply because of its size. It's a beast!

The best trick I've found so far is to turn the seat to the side somewhat so I can see the back as I'm installing it. Turn it away from the buckle. Then, after you buckle the belt, but before you lock the belt, position the seat so that it's even on the van seat, then lock the belt and do the Tigger hop while pulling the belt tight next to the latch plate.

Which seat did you install it on? The passenger side captain's chair is a bugger because the seat belt is a good 2-3" shorter there than the driver's side captain's chair.

Heather, CPS Tech
http://www.CarSeatSite.com

[Elizasmom]

I intalled it on the passenger side. The belt was so short that I'm not sure I would have been able to turn it on it's side.

When you say to get the Husky "even with the seat" do you mean so that the front edge doesn't overhang at all, or do you mean so that there is no gap between the seat back and the Husky? Is it possible not to have that gap in the Sienna? I don't dare uninstall unless I know I can do better!

What is that recline bar for anyway? Should I have used it? Would it be safer with it even though it's tethered? Also, should my Regent have come with that optional loop thing that goes with the tether. I don't need one, but just curious. I couldn't find one in the box. Maybe that's just for RF seats since that's when most people would need it.

[murphydog77]

My Husky fits on the seat pretty well, so there's probably only 1/4" overhang if I'm really looking for it. After I've buckled the seat belt, I just shimmy the Husky around until it's centered on the van seat. I have the back of the van seat reclined to the same angle of the Husky so there's no gap at all between the two.

It's my understanding that the recline bar on the Regent is different than the recline bar on the Husky--it's higher or something. If the instructions say you don't need to use it for a long belt path install with tether, then you're fine without it. And for the tether connector strap (tether loop thing), you're right that it's for rear-facing seats only.

Heather, CPS Tech
http://www.CarSeatSite.com

[Elizasmom]

The instructions with respect to the recline bar seem to be identical to the Husky instructions (I think they may be identical throughout). It says near the back of the booklet that the bar must be used unless the vehicle is tethered, but it has a "warning" with the lapbelt (short route) install saying to "always" use it. There is no similar warning with the lap/shoulder install. It says to "insert bar" in the lap-shoulder instructions, but not "warning you must use the bar". If it's not required with the Husky with tether and lap/shoulder, than the Regent is the same. Am I correct that it is not required with the Husky? What's the point of the thing anyway?

Are you sure there is absolutely no gap between the back of the Husky (at the bottom) and the vehicle seatback? The reason I ask is that if the Husky were completely pressed against the seatback at the bottom, there would be no overhang at all because the vehicle seat is several inches deeper than the husky seat. If you've somehow gotten it all the way against the seatback with no gap at the bottom, I feel I need to reinstall mine to get it the same way!

[murphydog77]

I took some pictures and there is a gap right at the bight where the recline bar presses in. Since the instructions specify use for the recline bar when the lap-only belt is used, but its use isn't specified for the other belt paths, then I think it's OK to leave it off. Of course, a call to Britax to check is always OK too :). AFAIK, no one has ever gotten a satisfactory answer as to the recline bar's purpose since the Super Elite didn't have it and it worked just fine (hehe, though the SE has been recalled into oblivion now).

The picture makes it look like the Husky is hanging over the van seat by a lot, IMO, but it really isn't. I think it must be the fabric pooching out a bit.

Heather, CPS Tech
http://www.CarSeatSite.com



http://www.windsorpeak.com/dc/user_files/31328.jpg




http://www.windsorpeak.com/dc/user_files/31330.jpg

[Elizasmom]

Thank you so much for the pictures! I think my gap is about the same as yours. The gap starts right above where the armrest connect to the seat back in the Sienna.

Why did you choose to use the recline bar if it's not needed? I am thinking I may put mine on next time I reinstall the seat. When I picture the forward motion of the car seat in an accident, I can kind of see how the recline bar might reduce that as it wedges into the seat back.

[murphydog77]

I used it because it was there :D. If I hadn't been able to get a good fit, I would have taken it off. Also, I just didn't want to lose it. I probably would have stuck it next to the water heater then wondered what it was 4 years from now, lol.

Heather, CPS Tech
http://www.CarSeatSite.com