KelleyC

Been reading up on this little bit today: http://www.edmunds.com/advice/womenf...1/article.html after deciding to go ahead and sell our old "on it's death-bed" car and keep our 4wd family fun wagon.

I am asking myself how are you supposed to attach your seat using it properly, as all the 2nd Gen 4Runners do not have a protruding anchor at either side, and certainly do not have the rear, 5th point (rear-mid seat) tether.




All I can think is maybe you could try to use the metal bracket the seat buckles are attached to (while trying not to damage the seat belt and buckle webbing) and offsetting it to one of the two closest of the four cargo tie down points behind the seats in the cargo area.

*Yes, I went to Highway Patrol, where the officer promptly told us we needed a "retrofit" performed by a local shop.

You gotta be kidding me, for that, we can just make a rear cargo shelf and add a set of tie downs in the right spot, heck, it would even give us a sleeper option and spots for stowing the baby supplies.

Thoughts?




Better yet, pics of how you set yours up?



Thanks!


.

Elton

seat belt through the car seat pull on the belt tell it locks

KelleyC

Given, but my state (CA) now requires them to have that 5th point tether, acting to prevent the seat from folding forward and then back in an accident, basically acting like a 5-point harness, since the seat has dual belts and a central buckle, so whiplash doesn't occur.

Maybe I need to hit up the local recycler/wrecker and grab the parts for the setup from a 3rd or 4th Gen?

Elton

3rd gen has no anchor points either

slosurfer

Where did you get your info that you're required to have that? I actually took a CHP carseat class and that was never brought up. There are plenty of old cars on the road that do not have that and don't have to be "retrofitted"

I can tell you that it is more of a PITA to put a carseat in the 4runner compared to newer cars for a few reasons. (I know because I have to use my wife's tacoma for work tomorrow and have to go move the carseats to the 4runner right now) 1. they don't have the latch system which is super easy and 2. the shoulder belts don't ratchet after pulling them all the way out, so you end up having to use the supplied with the carseat brass seatbelt holder

You should have your wife research your area and see if any of the CHP's offer a carseat class. It was probably the most informative class we took prior to having our kids. They teach you all kinds of stuff and then afterwards, will help you install yours and make sure it is installed safely. The coolest thing is that they teach you how to install it using all the available methods, so you will know when it's time to switch carseats to grandma's car so you can have a break.

I can tell you right now, that the infant rear facing seat is only going to fit in the middle in the rear of a second gen 4runner (unless you are uber short and have your front seats all the way up). For that, you run the lap belt through where the car seat calls for it to go, then you climb in there, put your knee in that sucker and bear down on it and tighten that seat belt up. Then you have to check that the car seat is at the correct angle. More than likely it will not be correct as the 4runner seats have quite and angle leaning back, so this will cause your rear facing infant to be leaning too far forward. The CHP office uses cut down pool noodles taped together as spacers to correct this problem (do not use wood, bricks, metal, books, etc... as they have the potential to become missiles in an accident, which would you rather be hit with a pool noodle or a 2x4?) STart with one pool noodle and work your way up till your seat is at the correct angle when it is tight. When you grab the car seat from the side (right by the seat belt), it should only be able to move about an inch on the belt (this is just on the belt, the other end will move around quite a bit more.)

That is just for a regular lap belt, then you have old school shoulder belts, new school shoulder belts that ratchet, the latch system, etc.. I could write a ton more and can later (after I go unload my 4runner and tacoma and switch carseats LOL), but honestly take a carseat class! You may be able to figure out your car, but it's so nice to be able to know how to do it with any system for when grandparents, babysittters, etc.. will need it in their car.

Thanks to Shane for pointing this thread to my attention.

KelleyC

I am the wife...already signed up tonight for the next class.

I think the officer was too, how do I say this, young and cocky..know-it-all-ish anyhow. He probably was being punished and was missing going out and driving way too fast and stuck dealing with the soccer-moms to be.

Thanks for the pool noodle suggestion, I have something similar from aqua aerobics and will try them in the class. As for Shane, he's a good guy, funny that he chose to pass it on though, guess he doesn't have the answer either yet. (We live down the street from them.)

slosurfer

Hold on, let me pull my foot out of my mouth. Sorry LOL!

Cool, glad you found the class and that they offer it in your area, it really was informative. They actually had the pool noodles there, just for that, so you may not even need to bring yours. We took a bunch of classes before our first child (birthing, breastfeeding, etc...) and that one was one of the best and it's one I think back on often (everytime I have to switch carseats, haha).

waskillywabbit

iTrader: (-1)

Pool noodle or roll cage padding works well.

Babys R Us sells this racheting mechanism for seat belts, it used to be blue with a yellow handle, and goes on your seatbelt. It made swapping car seats and securing them a snap. None of our seats had the LATCH stuff or the other tether just a seat belt spot.

Seems like you could retrofit your truck easily, just be sure to reinforce the sheet metal at the securing points.

Astralplane

Here's how to install a top tether. The threaded hole is already there. You just need the part from the dealer.
https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f2/a...2nd-gen-53369/

Toyota has a bulletin out about this. I'll look for it and add it to this topic.

Astralplane

Here's the Toyota Service Bulletin for installing a Child Restraint Seat Top Strap Bracket

http://www.the-roo.com/4runner/Servi...s/bo010t02.pdf

qdude79

Those teathers on top (in my experience) are VERY long. I've gone over the top of the back seat and connected to the cargo tie downs.

Another idea would be to drill/thread another anchor point between the stock seat belt locations just below the backrest (with the rear seats flipped up).

KelleyC

*Thanks for the help. I thought I'd seen those threads in here, but for some reason I apparently couldn't find the perfect combination of words in search to get them.

Reality#2 of YT: If you can't find it after searching, just start a thread and it'll cross reference later if someone gives a link.

Reality#3..the same doesn't hold true for Pirate4x4..especially silly stuff like family safety and how to throw a munchkin in correctly.

kburgher

I managed to get two seats secured in my '97 3rd gen 4Runner. Its not as easy as with the LATCH system, but it isn't too bad with a little modification.

With the center lap belt it is easy to get the seat tight. With the shoulder belt it is very difficult to get it tight and level. The tighter it gets, the more it pulls up on the shoulder strap side. The two solutions are use the "H" shape locking clip, which is a pain, or get a seat with clips built into the base. I have the Britax Roundabout. I am able to get it plenty tight and almost level using both clips on the Roundabout.

For a rear facing seat, to get the 45 degree angle and compensate for the tendency of the shoulder belt to lift up the side, I attached the top tether to the seat hinge. To do this you need the top tether anchor bracket kit supplied by most seat manufacturers. Britax will send them free of charge. Cosco/Eddie Bauer/Safety1st charge $5. To attach this anchor to the rear seat hinge, pull the rear seat cushion up and you can easily see how to remove the plastic cover. The metal hinge has a hole in it perfect for mounting the anchor brackets. The Cosco anchor kit worked best here. If you seat does not have a top tether, you could use the latch belt fed through the forward facing belt path. This would only work with hook type LATCH belts, not the fancy buckles that come with Britax. Check with the car seat manufacturer to see if this is okay.

For a forward facing seat you can further secure it by installing the top tether anchor bracket in the cargo area. For the side seating positions, there are two holes already there with anchor nuts welded under the metal. You will need the bolt from Toyota, it is not a standard size. The Toyota part does NOT come with the bracket, just the bolt and spacers. For my '97 4Runner the part number is 04731-22012. There is another kit you may find if you search the web that does have the bracket (73709-12010) but it is useless for the '97 4Runner because the bolt threads don't fit anything. In my situation, I needed the anchor in the center seat position, for which Toyota did not provide a hole. Fortunately the Britax tether anchor kit comes with a big washer to go on the underside of the truck. I drilled the hole in the center, 3 inches in front of the side holes to miss the extra strip of metal that covers the other two holes. This will be more clear once you have crawled under your truck. It will take 2 people to tighten the nut and bolt, one person underneath and one in the cargo area.

And lastly, the big tease. When you lift up the rear carpet to install the top tether anchors, you will see 4 holes drilled right along the seat back. These are no doubt the mount points for the real live LATCH lower anchors. BUT there are NO nuts welded underneath and no way to access the underside of the metal. I spent hours trying to find an easy way to get in there but I had to give up. It would have been nice to get the LATCH parts for a 2002 4Runner and just put them in.

KelleyC

Re: https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f2/a...2nd-gen-53369/

Thanks again. Now that I had the day off, I headed over to Shane's shop space and since he also is on the road to parenthood, he was gracious enough to let us watch him perform the retrofit to our 4Runner as well as his.

Since the procedure was similar, but with some small differences he took some pics for me to link in.

Also, FWIW, part #73709-12010 has been updated to a new one, keep that in mind when you ask for this piece. It was around $15-$25.

I'll clip in his writeup in a second, once I copy everything down.

KelleyC

Re:

Here's the info:

Matt16

Wouldn't be hard to drill a hole in the floor and install some of those baby seat tie-downs. Disclaiming... I know nothing of car seat, baby's etc etc so take this with a grain of salt.

abecedarian

If the vehicle was manufactured and / or sold (by the dealer / manufacturer) prior to a 'law' taking effect, the vehicle does not have to be modified to accomodate the regulations and they can not force you to modify the vehicle to come in to compliance with any such law.

abecedarian

I have a 72 Firebird and they cannot give me a ticket if I do not wear the shoulder restraints since they are not part of the passive restraint system required in that year. Make sense?