Car Seat Installation 1996 Chevy Silverado Extended Cab

[princesshannon]

I have a graco nauti to install ff and an efta to install rf in a 1996 chevy silverado. I need to know if I need a locking clip. Some tips or tricks would be great. I'm not the world's greatest car seat installer...I'm a slow learner in this area and it takes me 900 forevers to install seats ...



If you help me I'll and give you and

[princesshannon]

[Dillipop]

I believe that all vehicles starting in 96 are required to have locking seatbelts. Do you have your owners manual for the truck? It should say something in the carseat section about how to lock the belts to install a carseat.

There are 2 ways to lock a seatbelt that I know of.

1- locking retractor. Pull out the seatbelt all the way and slowly feed it back in. It will click as it goes back in. If you try to pull it back out while feeding it back in, it'd won't pull out. It is locked.

2- lightweight or heavy duty locking latchplates. The heavy duty ones are what are on lap belts and some lap/shoulder belts. If you pull the belt tight and then pull against the lap portion, there should be no slipping. There is a large adjuster with a bar in it that catches the belt and only lets it out if you pull on it at the right angle. Lightweight latchplates are smaller and do the same thing as the heavy duty ones. They are found on lap/shoulder belts. Once tightened across the lap or in a carseat, they can only be loosened when you get the proper angle.

Both methods are ways to lock the belt. If you lock the belt this way, you do not need a locking clip. With lightweight latchplates, sometimes the way it lays in the beltpath causes a little slipping because of the angle. If this happens, you can flip the male portion of the belt one time to help create an angle that doesn't allow slipping.

With the nautilus, you will want to have a tether anchor retrofitted to help prevent forward head motion. Chevy used to provide one free anchor (not sure if they still honor this or not) and it is about $40 per anchor for any extras. While all seats pass testing in the US without use of the tether, it is an important safety feature that can help reduce injuries in serious accidents.

HTH and hopefully someone with you truck will come along and tell you exactly what kind of seatbelts you have.

[MooseDon'tWearDiapers]

I have a 97 Silverado. We installed Cody's Scenera rf in the middle without a locking clip because the middle belt is a self-tighten one, old school lol. The outboard belts are both the locking kind, like when you stop fast the belt pulls. Does that make sense or was it not helpful at all LOL.

[princesshannon]

no, that makes sense. i'm thinking the efta in the middle and the nauti on the passenger side. with the locking seat belts i won't need a locking clip. i'm wondering how well the efta will fit in the back seat. i haven't tried it yet b/c dh has been shampoo'ing the interior for us before we start driving it. we don't have an owner's manual for it. i sure wish a cpst lived here...

[MooseDon'tWearDiapers]

You might be ableto Google-fu a manual.