New England B.S. Thread

You can say that again! The Sargent was a tall guy, and when he tugged at my seatbelt strap to tighten it and make it lock in place, my whole truck was rocking. Fuck that! I definitely couldn't get it as tight as he did, that's for damn sure.

 

What are these 'child seats' of which you speak?

 

Pretty much what I do with mine. I put a knee into the seat and tug on the strap to tighten it. I just keep rocking it and pulling the strap until it won't tighten anymore. They say it shouldn't shake more than an inch side to side once you have it tight enough.

Now that you have it installed though, remember to check it and re tighten every so often! The cushion foam compresses and it will loosen up over time.

 

That's exactly what he said. If I did it myself, that thing would have been all loosey goosey. Nope, can't have that.

 

I like it. Engineers and designers had population control in mind.

 

In my experience, unless you are looking at the Harbor Freight trailers, $800 is about as cheap as they'll come. My Maine Trailer Co. 5x10 trailer with pressure treated sides cost me about $2200 brand new. Trailers are unreasonably expensive.

 

Speaking of trailers... I took my little Tractor Supply 5x10 to get a ton of pellets on Friday, and it handled it like a champ.

 

Meh. Not when you think about how long they typically last. I mean, a well-built utility trailer is good for a couple of decades with just basic maintenance. My boat trailer is from the early 80's and it's still in great condition.

 

Unless you're relatively small I can't see how you could install it correctly. To get ours to not move more than an inch in either direction when you try to shake it back and forth I have to sit my ass in them and rock back and forth to put enough force on them to be able tighten then up enough. I don't see how anyone could get it without at least jamming their knee into the base or using bodyweight somehow.

 

True that. Not very easy to do it yourself, correctly.

 

That's exactly how I get mine tight. Jamb my knee into the seat, put my full weight into the seat while pulling up on the belt to tighten. Rear facing is a lot easier for me cause I can lean on the back of the seat and sort of use it as a lever.

The seats in my wife's car you can actually get tight as a small frame person. You flip up the seat, hand tighten the straps, then slam the seat down into a latch. This motion draws the straps tighter by a couple inches. It's a really neat design. That's the only one of the 3 brands we have that can be effectively put in by my wife. She can't get any of the others tight enough on her own.

 

I'm starting to see a general trend here... don't have kids
- no need to buy stuff for them

 

We got one of those types for my in-laws. Iirc it's a Britax. They still can't install it and need me to, so sort of defeated the point of getting that model for them....

 

They're worth it. Now, I don't have to drive people anywhere since I always have 2 car seats in the truck.

 

LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Definitely a nice "perk" right there!

 

That's the one. It's the easiest child seat I've ever had the pleasure of installing (or removing). As much as I like the Recaro seats, they suck to put in or remove.

 

Thanks for the kind words Scott. That was a fun project and it looks great!

I will add one thing to this for all those new parents. Please check how good they are after being tested. Some of the higher recommended ones are not expensive

http://www.iihs.org/iihs/ratings/child-boosters

 

That's what baby showers are for!

 

Yeah... that gets you through about the first 3 months. Then you're on your own! They certainly don't get cheaper as they get older.

 

They get their own showers now too? Showers, chairs, car seats, what's next?!