| silroc |
Buddy of mine tells me his seat will not connect to the LATCH system. He tried for a few hours, then he went to the local firehouse, and they tried for an hour also. After all that, they had to connect it old style with seatbelts.
(Ironically my friend and I both have the same truck '04 MDX, and he just had his baby, mine is due in a month)
So whats the deal ? is this a documented problem, or did he just not do it correctly, and he went go to an odd firehouse :2: ?? |
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| Warzau |
| I'd say the latter two. I've have yet to see someone here reporting that the LATCH system was unusable. Did they RTFM?:2: |
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| dj-mdx2 |
| That is unusual. For your friend's peace of mind, there are some carseats that are safer when secured the seatbelt way rather than via LATCH (not sure if Graco has a model in that list from Consumer Reports). The reason was due to unacceptable tip=up at 40 mph crashes. if I remember correctly. |
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| kdsooner |
| I have a Graco snugride and the only time I have problems with attaching the base using LATCH is when locting it in the center of the middle seat. The connections are too wide apart, but I have read on here somewhere that a guy attached three carseats in the middle row and used LATCH for all of them. It's really pretty simple to hook up. |
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| silroc |
update -
Spoke to my buddy and told him that no one on the MDX forum heard of this.
He said the seat fit using the LATCH system only on the left and right side seats. But he wanted to sit his baby in the MIDDLE.
So anyone have this experience? According to him, the middle does not provide LATCH system that works.
****edit - i just saw your post kd**** |
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| Slick15 |
I'm a new member so forgive any posting errors. I just went through all this 6 weeks ago as our first child arrived. I think the problem your friend is having is there is no "center latch" points, only left and right. I believe, and based upon a quote above which reinforces belief, if you want middle seat placement, you need to latch into the "inner latches" on the right and left seat positions. It's a bit of a stretch but that should do the job.
Hope this helps. :-) |
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| NJ MDX 04 |
The MDX is only designed to have the two outboard postions equipped with LATCH seats. I have an 04, and had two Graco's in there perfectly, and how use a Britex which is just as easy.
I could get mine in and out in 15 seconds.
For rear facing, the latch connector will slide in closer to the bottom seat for an angle, for forward facing it will go in top down. Make sure the release is pointing to the outside of the car (biggest mistake).
The MDX is great with the LATCH, and much easier to install than my Audi. |
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| kdsooner |
| For what it's worth, there is an article in the July 2005 issue of Consumer Reports about car seats. It mentioned that the SAFEST position for any car seat is in the middle (furthest from doors in case of side collision?) and that many seats are in fact safer attached with seat belts than LATCH. |
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| RobDDD |
| I have two snugrides in the rear of my 04 MDX. No problems here. |
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| twomany |
Graco Snugride works fine in the MDX -- I just installed 2 in my '05 last weekend, using the LATCH connections. However, as noted before, only the 2 outside seats are LATCH-compatible... if you and/or your friend are set on using the center as the place for your carseat, you'll have to use the pull-down center seatbelt and attach your seat the old-fashioned way. That being said... I had to install my toddler's Britax in the center, between the 2 Snugrides -- and the seatbelt method worked quickly and easily, and the center carseat is holding rock-steady in-place.
Good luck (on both the carseat installation and the new kid him/herself)! |
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| flash |
| I have attached my car seat in the middle with the latch system using the inside latches of the two outside seats without any issues. Why shouldn't the center seat not be used with the latch system? I have an 03 mdx. |
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| twomany |
| I stand corrected -- while only the 2 outside seats are LATCH-compatible, using the two inside latches to attach a single car seat in the center is just fine. The thing you want to avoid is attaching more than 1 seat to any individual latch -- i.e. if you have 2 car seats, and want to place them side/center, rather than side/side... the latches are not intended to withstand the stress of being attached to 2 seats simultaneously. |
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| ZXTT |
For all those using the LATCH connectors for the middle seat, here is NHTSA's position on it:
6Q. Can I use the two inboard lower anchors (of the outboard LATCH seating positions) to install my child seat in the rear center seating position?
A. No, unless both the child restraint manufacturer's instructions and the vehicle owner's manual specifically state that this is acceptable. A child restraint can be installed using the rear-center seat belt and, if forward-facing, the top tether anchor.
Bottom line is you're probably using the LATCH attachments and the seat in ways that have not been tested and not approved. |
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| silroc |
well my baby is here !! woot !!
it's a boy !!!
i just decided to connect the seat to the outer latches behind passenger..
thanks for all the input |
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| uglywerm |
| CONGRATS!!!!!!!! |
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| ChuckSchick |
congrats!
I installed a graco (don't recall model name, eddie bauer edition something) seat forward-facing in the middle position last weekend. I used the inboard anchors as mentioned above. But, here's the bit that makes me think this is okay - the "LATCH" system requires two lower anchors and one upper anchor for a strap to thread below the headrest and connect to behind the seat. My 05 has upper anchors in the left, right, AND middle position. The end result was a very stable install.
Looking at the "snug ride" I'm wondering if your buddy didn't have the same problem I did. The "snug ride" is what I would call a "basket carrier" where you basically anchor the base and have a removable infant scout vehicle. The thing is, the base has to sit within a certain range of "level" to be okay. What is required for some vehicles is that you place something under the base closest to the seat-back to get this to happen. (This is in the manual for my graco infant carrier). What is recommended is that you roll up some towels to form sort of a bolster. I haven't done this in my new MDX but it was required in my wife's RX330 and in my previous Landrover. |
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