May 19, 200817 yr Greetings- I'm running into a problem mounting a child safety seat in a '98 Outback Wagon...wondering if any of you have come up with solutions. The issue is that the latch assembly for the center lap belt ends up in precisely the wrong place to mount the seat. (i.e. the belt wraps over the two corners of the seat and the latch assembly wants to wind up right where one corner is.) If the strap portion of the female latch side of the belt were about 3" shorter, it'd work fine. Are there any alternate part numbers or belts from another Subie model which might bolt up OK and solve this? Nathan
May 20, 200817 yr I don't have the answer, however, this subject was discussed about a week or so back on this forum. You may want to look back through previous threads, read that thread and responses for advise. I do remember reading that fitting child safety seats is a compatibility issue with many cars, not just Subies.
May 20, 200817 yr There should be a small clip available, which will make the 3point belt behave as a 2point. These should be in the box with the child seat, otherwise they are available separately, hanging with the seats in the store. I'm assuming your Lego has the "Latch" setup. Using the latch, and the belt clips is reccommended.
May 20, 200817 yr does it HAVE to be mounted int he center position? as crazyhorse001 said, there's usually a clip that you can use for the side seat belts that will hold the belts together so they won't move and make it act more like a single center belt... I'm having this same issue with my Forester though... http://ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=88543 the seat belts have the wrong kind of action on them and since they won't "lock" into place I can't use the seat belt system... however I think I can use the LATCH hooks on the child seat to connect to the seat mounting brackets and get it secure... will need to set it up and then have it inspected to see if the authorities think it's safe... --Spiffy
May 20, 200817 yr Our seatbelts have inertia reels in them. They won't lock without a sharp jolt to the chassis (IE braking hard, or an accident).
May 21, 200817 yr Author Since it is '98, it is not LATCH compatable. There are no issues with inertial reels not locking, as it's a straight lap belt only. I don't HAVE to use the center position, but it is considered the safest location for a child seat.... There's got to be a shorter lap belt assembly from some other car I can use.... Nathan
May 21, 200817 yr Can you use the outboard buckle for that side? That will move the buckle off the seat itself IE: if the belt comes from the pass-to-driver, can you latch the center plate into the driver latch?
May 22, 200817 yr Author Well, temporarily, I made a platform out of two 1.5" pieces of marine plywood, stacked the child seat on it and hey, presto. I'm still looking for a more elegant solution, but until then.... Crazyhorse: Thanks for your thoughts. I think the center and side latches might be different. I'll have to look. Nathan
May 22, 200817 yr Our seatbelts have inertia reels in them. They won't lock without a sharp jolt to the chassis (IE braking hard, or an accident). exactly why my baby seat manual says I can't use them... ): I think the center and side latches might be different. I'll have to look. and they might be different between models, which might mean a lot of trial and error getting one that latches safely... if possible maybe you can take your male belt end to a junkyard and start clicking into other models until you find something shorter that works... --Spiffy
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