JPS

Yes, I know this has been discussed at length. I'm trying to find a solution for my 16 month old from now until he is ready for a booster. There are tons of posts, AJ's DIY, etc. I have read them all, I think.

However, many of the posts are dated quite awhile ago, or were specific to boosters (for older kids) or were incomplete in terms of what actually worked. There were lots of posts on "I'll try some and see what happens" or "this works for my 5 year old". Additionally A) technology on the seats has changed, in some cases affecting fit, and certainly new seats have come onto the market; and B) more research on what is safe in a car seat is available, so acceptable installation is a bit more rigid than perhaps it used to be. Hence, I'm posting for any updates.

SO, for a 16 month old 20-22 pound child (until he grows enough to fit in a booster...3 or so years from now), in a 993 CAB (the seats ARE more narrow than a coupe):
1) Has anyone found a seat that works REAR facing AND still allows use of the front passenger seat? My wife is short and doesn't require a ton of space in the front seat.
2) Other than BOOSTERS, what FORWARD facing car seat(s) seem to work?
3) Has anyone discovered where to tether the top of the child seat in a FORWARD facing installation? There was some reference to what appeared to be a tether anchor point but was actually something to do with securing the cab top when folded (don't fully understand that).

I gave up on the rear facing infant seat other than one trip we took with both my wife and son in the back seats, and (I think) I'm covered later when he is ready for a booster (I ordered the Britax Starriser some months ago as it was being discontinued, so I have that for future use), but for this summer and beyond, I'm not finding a sure thing.

Thoughts?

ninjabones

I think you've read my post on this subject from my old cab (clicky). Unfortunately, there is no perfect solution and you have to accept some form of compromise. I tried a number of different solutions, but found that the Britax Starrister worked the best. I removed the base, propped up the back about 2" with a towel and cinched down the tethers to Brey Krause seat belt anchors. This provided a very secure fit. In my opinion, there is no way to adequately secure the car seat with the car's stock seat belt system. You really need to be able to cinch the seat down to secure it.

I tried to find a way to secure the top of the car seat, but ended up giving up. If you wanted to do this the right way, you'd have to remove the rear seat and somehow secure an anchor to it. I actually purchased an anchor with the intent of doing this, but ended up selling my cab before I got around to the install. For the very rare trip with the baby, the brey krause anchors were sufficient in my opinion. The child seat straps clip right into the brey krause anchors which was somewhat surprising.

BTW, I've got the anchors available if you want them PM me with an offer ($75 new).

MarkD

In a 993 coupe I have had great success in cinching the seat down with a "mighty-tite". It is a ratcheting belt thing... you can pull the shoulder belt quickly and it locks, then keep tension on it and ratchet up the mighty-tite.
Now that I have a 993 cab, I need to figure out what to do. My system doesn't work (yet) in this car. I will figure something out eventually.
The biggest problem is the seat backs are fixed and sit pretty far forward compared to he coupe. Removing the seat bottom gains some space but I haven't worked on it much yet.

brucec59

I gave up on an infant seat and just waited until my son was big enough for a booster.

JPS

Yeah, I gave up on infant too, but looking for toddler, hoping not to have to wait until booster. He'll be going to the Prom before he is ready for that at this pace

J.B.H.

Guys, I read a bunch of the posts and then I decided to read the owners manual...apparently if you slowly pull the rear seatbelt out slowly to the end and then let it contract back in fully...it enters "child seat mode"/"rachet" mode...Once I did that, I just ran it through my 2 year olds foward facing seat as recommended by the car seat and pulled it as tight as I could...It actually locks down pretty tight....Now, there is a little bit of play as with any seatbelt so the seat moves a little....but under any braking it doesnt budge....
The scary part is that I'm pretty detailed...and I know there are guys here on Rennlist that are even more **** than me but...Did anyone else read the owners manual? I have a 1997 C4S, with the soundtray installed for the winter...maybe that's why it works?

sdcabrio

This "pull it all the way out and then it's in ratchet mode" works in every car I have tried it in. Just pull the shoulder belt all the way out then slowly let it back in. Pull the shoulder belt portion tightly as it snugs the child seat into the cars seat. The kid seat will not MOVE when you do it this way.

As for my cab, my five year old rides back there sans any kind of bolster, etc. and the 3 year old sits on a folded up "stadium blanket."

JPS

Your 3 year old sits on a blanket? You mean a car seat on top of the blanket, or just sitting on a blanket?

If just sitting on a blanket, I'm not trying to tell you how to do anything, but my newfound understanding of crash dynamics (after installing new seats, 6 pts, and HANS in my 993) and child safety (after selecting a car seat for my Celica for my 16 month old), suggests that is probably not a good idea (nor even legal). Here are a couple sites I learned a bunch on:

http://www.carseatdata.org
http://www.freewebs.com/sacredjourneys/ (a little cheesy, but informative)

Now, if I misunderstood, never mind.