Baby seats??

[jad2411]

Hi all, just wondering, with the angle the rear seat is at, how do you properly secure the baby car seats? I have the rolled up towel and a floating tube, like the manual for the seat said, but I'd like to know what others have done about it, this is in a 3rd gen, we have 2 02's and it's the same both on the XLS and the XLT

Thanks!

 

[natedoggaz]

My wife and I took our baby seat to the fire department and they installed it for us in our '02. Call around and ask them - they did ours for free as part of a community service effort. In Arizona, they have to be car seat certified - not sure about Texas though...

 

[A Wise Guy]

Fortunately, I'm at the stage now where all I need is the bases facing forward using the Explorer's seatbelts. But, when I had my '98 Explorer I had the problem with the seat angle and the fix I used was three pool noodles (floaty things) duct taped together to make a nice triangle that would keep its shape. Worked well and never had any fitment problems. The one thing I have noticed in my '06 is with the 60/40 split bench is on the driver's side the seat base needs to be narrow in order to fit between the edge of the seat and the part the seatbelt plugs into. Sorry I couldn't help with third gen info but I only had second and fourth gens. Hopefully it can help with your dilemma.

 

[alexk]

maybe it was my carseat but I never had a problem with the car seat in my 02 xlt

 

[natedoggaz]

We have a baby seat from Chicco that can be elevated in the back to reduce or remove the angle entirely:

http://www.chiccousa.com/gear/car-seats/keyfit-seat-base.aspx

Maybe you have something similar...

 

[jad2411]

@ nate: I read online about that, I'll look for a local center, even if the have a fee, I guess it wouldn't be too much, specially since it's for my baby's safety
@ wiseguy: Yeah I got me 2 of those for $5, I cut them to size and it works, I did the towel too to protect the leather seat a little
@alexk: I've tried 3 seats and all 3 had the same issue
@ nate: One of our seats has that, and it works, but the seat we use the most since the other one is too small now, doesn't.

I guess I'll go to those safety inpections and get it done properly, just wanted to know what other people experienced.

Also, would it be safe to add LATCH? say from a JY explorer?

 

[natedoggaz]

If you still live in El Paso - give them a call:

El Paso Police Department-Safe Communities
911 N. Raynor
El Paso, TX 79903
Counties Served: El Paso
Hours: Monday-Friday, By Appointment
Phone: 915-564-7352
Contact: Margaret Petrozza-Meraz

http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cps/cpsfitting/FindFitting.cfm?=&q_State=TX&q_Zip=

 

[A Wise Guy]

If you add LATCH and it fails you need to live with that. I was always able to get the seat tighter by pulling the seatbelt all the way out and letting it ratchet back in than I could with the LATCH system in my wife's Honda.

 

[jad2411]

Thanks Nate, I had seen that one yesterday online, I'll need to call to check their work hours to schedule an appointment

Thanks for the info Wise, I'll leave it alone then

 

[A Wise Guy]

The best part about finally getting the seat right and tight is then you can start the countdown to when you can finally get rid of the stupid thing.

 

[jp450]

My 05, with the LATCH and a Graco set, all I needed was a towel. The thing is in nice and tight. Did the 02 not have the LATCH?

 

[stuartr]

My 02 don't have LATCH but the 08 does.

STU

 

[jad2411]

No, the 02's and 03's (first batch) don't have latch, my sis in law had an 03 and it didn't have it, manuf date was 06/2002 so it was not mandatory yet, it became mandatory on 09/2002.

Right now I haven't found a way to put one of those mirrors to see the baby in the XLS, in the XLT I had to make a mount and drill some holes on the mirror to mount it to the light between the 2nd and 3rd row seat