bsquarewi Posted April 4, 2011 Share Posted April 4, 2011 I recently moved my son from his 5 point car seat to a booster seat with back that uses the car's 3pt seatbelt. However, I've run into 2 things: 1. The rear seat is very narrow and the booster pretty much is sitting right on the seat belt latch. That means I have to slide the seat to the side with him in it to buckle the darn thing. The seat is then resting on an angle on the seat cushion. There is no way he could do it himself with the latch buried like that. 2. The 3rd (middle) seat belt also gets in the way when trying to buckle his belt. He sits on the passenger side in the rear. It looks like the middle belt is attached with a connector that doesn't have a visible release. Is there anyway to detach this middle seatbelt? Does anyone know of a seat belt extender option that would allow the female part of the rear seat belt to come out a bit more from the seat? The back seat is tight enough the way it is without me having to lay across my poor son why I try to dig out the seatbelt connector to buckle him in. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
double-0-newb Posted April 6, 2011 Share Posted April 6, 2011 Bump. Both my kids are in boosters, and I have similar issues. Am looking online for extenders now.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bsquarewi Posted April 6, 2011 Author Share Posted April 6, 2011 Bingo. Found one. Seems that Subaru did offer an OEM Seatbelt extender (http://www.ifisher.com/subaru.asp) but I can't seem to find it on any of the online parts sites. There's one on eBay (no part #) but it's a bit pricey and may not be for rear seats. Called the local dealer and he said he couldn't find an extender for the rear seats. Also found this site which offers an extender for $26 (photo below) which seems to be what the Dr. ordered. I'm going to order one up and see how it works out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
contractkiller Posted April 6, 2011 Share Posted April 6, 2011 Are you referring to this? what did u mean when you said. it felt like i was driving a civic? did u mean the car felt like it was more dependable and it was getting better mpg's? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
contractkiller Posted April 6, 2011 Share Posted April 6, 2011 If so, find the little "hole" with the white button inside and use your ignition key (or similar device) to depress the white button and then it will retract into the headliner. what did u mean when you said. it felt like i was driving a civic? did u mean the car felt like it was more dependable and it was getting better mpg's? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
contractkiller Posted April 6, 2011 Share Posted April 6, 2011 it just dawned on me that the middle seat belt set-up is probably a little different between the wagon and the sedan so if this is of no help I appoligize for wasting bandwidth... what did u mean when you said. it felt like i was driving a civic? did u mean the car felt like it was more dependable and it was getting better mpg's? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bsquarewi Posted April 7, 2011 Author Share Posted April 7, 2011 If so, find the little "hole" with the white button inside and use your ignition key (or similar device) to depress the white button and then it will retract into the headliner. Yep that was exactly what I was looking for. I saw this and tried to push the white hole in but it didn't disconnect. I just tried it again with a small screwdriver and it came undone no problem. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
contractkiller Posted April 7, 2011 Share Posted April 7, 2011 No worries mate! what did u mean when you said. it felt like i was driving a civic? did u mean the car felt like it was more dependable and it was getting better mpg's? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
double-0-newb Posted April 7, 2011 Share Posted April 7, 2011 Bingo. Found one. Seems that Subaru did offer an OEM Seatbelt extender (http://www.ifisher.com/subaru.asp) but I can't seem to find it on any of the online parts sites. There's one on eBay (no part #) but it's a bit pricey and may not be for rear seats. Called the local dealer and he said he couldn't find an extender for the rear seats. Also found this site which offers an extender for $26 (photo below) which seems to be what the Dr. ordered. I'm going to order one up and see how it works out. Good find, please do update (with pics?) once tested. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bsquarewi Posted April 13, 2011 Author Share Posted April 13, 2011 Received my seat-belt extender from the guy who sells them at the link above (4extender.com) The website isn't much to look at and it didn't look it had been updated in a while, but I called him and he does still sell these things. It's what I'd expect. 1 male, 1 female end with the nylon strap holding them together and a whole lot of nylon thread keeping it together. It's about 8 inches long, I'd guess. I just need to reach out a slight bit more from behind the booster seat and I'd say this extender about 2-3 inches longer than what I need. We haven't actually used it yet, but the female end now comes up from behind the booster and slightly wraps around the base of the booster seat. The problem now being that it's right about where the booster arm rest is. I'm hoping it doesn't interfere. But at least it should be much easier to get to now. At $31 shipped it's a good enough value. Sure, I could maybe scour junk yards looking for Subaru seat-belt parts and make something like this with some scissors and nylon needle and thread. But how much would I spend driving to said junk-yards and actually finding what I need and then sewing the darn thing. I'd probably end up spending over $30 in gas plus get the added benefit of sticking my finger several times. This is definitely a better deal than the OEM one I saw on ebay at $71. I'd say if I were to buy it again, I'd ask the guy (forgot his name, Greg maybe) if I could get one that was a few inches shorter. photos attached Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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