I've been settling in to my "new" '09 Platinum, and now have to put the car seats in for the kiddos (who are begging me daily for a ride in the truck!) I spent a couple of hours trying to figure this out today, and am completely stumped, hoping someone has done this (as searches never turned up what I need.)

My situation is, I'm trying to put 2 Car seats (Britax Boulevard, Front facing) in the back seat, using the LATCH system, with each seat at a Window. Securing the bottom Anchors are easy, and I can get those seats pretty tied down securely against the bottom of the seat without issue. The problem I'm having, is the tethering at the top of the seat. I'm following the instructions in the Ford manual, which states to run the tether underneath the head rest, through the tether loop behind the seat the car seat is installed on, and attach it to the middle seat's tether loop. My problems here are two fold - 1) How the hell are these supposed to be tightened? This configuration doesn't allow the tether to completely tighten up, and, no matter how tight the seat bottom is, still allows WAY too much movement for the seats, and 2) Are both seats supposed to attach to the middle tether loop? That loop hardly feels strong enough for both seats.

If anyone has a configuration similar to this, would you mind sending me a picture of how you've done it, and/or offer some advice as to tightening the tether?

 

I've got a Britax in my 2010 FX4 Screw for my daughter. The method you mentioned is how I've got it set up, though just one seat for now. I did the top first....and yeah it was a major pain.

If you don't have them I'd suggest going directly to Babies R Us and picking up some "Seat Savers" from a company called Prince LionHeart. The Britax, while being the safest on the market are also probably the worst for destroying Leather (and cloth) seats.

I wouldn't worry about the strap, those things are tested way beyond what a couple of car seats in an accident will put on them.

-Frozen

 

You just need the base of the seat to move less than 1" side to side.. The top can move more.

I have a Britax Marathon with the same base. While I don't have a 2010 F-150, I have installed it in about 10 vehicles in the 5 years I've had it. Every one has been rock solid before attaching the tether. I think you need to reef on those bottom anchor straps some more. I always put a knee in the seat while pulling.

And get some kind of seat cover to protect the leather. I have 3 kids all in child seats. I have 7 seats in 3 vehicles all with leather and all with a mat like Frozen listed. While leather is easy to clean up, the mat prevents scratching the leather.

 

there are points behind the seat backs that you can use instead of those rediculous loops for puts int there. If you can get the seat down (there is a thread for this here) then you cna tether them much better.

 

I did not know that....I have to check that out tonight. Now to find that thread on the seat backs.

-Frozen

 

My 03 has the tethers down low behind the rear seat, but the seats fold down flat, not up flat. It is not easy to get tight because the amount of slack gets eaten up when you push the seatback back. But it sounds better than the silly sideways tether.

 

I have 2 Britax Marathon's and I removed the head rest's in the back seat so they sit better and I like using the seat belt because we move the seats around to different trucks all the time. I never liked the way the seat's sit with the latch system.