To learn how to install your Evenflo car seat using your vehicle’s seatbelt, refer to your instruction manual. Make sure that your car seat is level with your vehicle seat. If it’s not, placed a rolled towel at the base of your vehicle seat to give your car seat the proper recline angle. We build car seats that we trust and use for our own children.
As your babies turn into toddlers, Evenflo’s convertible car seats are designed to adapt and keep pace with growth spurts. Our extended use, multi-mode car seats deliver the innovative safety features, comfort and convenience that cover you evenflo car seat through childhood. Installation with your standard lap/shoulder seatbelt was straight-forward and easy in the vehicles we worked in. Neither Heather nor I could remember if the seat came out of the box detached from the base or not.
It’s possible that you may need to separate the 2 pieces before you begin installing. Make sure your installation is tight and confirm that the visual indicator on the LockStrong bar has turned from red to evenflo wagon stroller fully green – indicating that it is securely locked. Just like an infant seat base, it shouldn’t move more than 1″ from side-to-side or from front-to-back when you check for tightness at the beltpath.
Remove the wheels from the carrier, then place the Shyft DualRide on the vehicle seat with the harness facing the rear of the vehicle. Thread the vehicle seat belt through the belt guides, buckle the seat belt, then route the shoulder portion of the belt around the back of the seat. If the retractor has not engaged by this point, pull the shoulder portion of the seat belt all the way out until it clicks, then let it retract back into the vehicle. Press down on the carrier to remove more slack from the belt, then check your work by giving the seat a firm handshake at the belt path. Evenflo’s most expensive infant car seat, the SafeMax has been side impact tested and rollover tested.
Evenflo does recommend raising or removing the head restraint if it interferes with the seat locking into the forward-facing position. Same process as above but using the LATCH strap instead of the seatbelt. You still utilize the LockStrong bar (after you’ve slightly tensioned the latch strap) and you still need to tether. I actually found it easier to achieve a rock-solid installation using seatbelt, so unless you have a compelling reason to use latch, I’d suggest sticking with a seatbelt installation. It was a little challenging for me to tighten the latch strap initially.
The main portion of the harness covers are referred to as “harness strap pads” and these have a grippy material sewn into the underside of the pads. I flipped it over to photograph the grippy material but I want to be clear that this is the backside of the harness strap pad which will be making contact with your child’s clothing. Pull the seat cover around the shell of the car seat and attach it to the plastic clips.
We rigorously test all of our car seats at 2X the energy levels of the Federal Crash Test Standard. This car seat takes up a lot of space front-to-back when it’s installed in the car. It won’t be the best choice for small backseats or for tall front-seat passengers. This seat is heavy, so some parents may find it difficult to lift it in and out of the car with a growing baby inside.
Some latch straps have a little loop sewn into the loose tail end that you can slip your index finger into and pull, but this strap didn’t have that option. Therefore, it took a little more effort for me to tighten the latch strap enough to yield a solid installation after the LockStrong bar was shut and locked. Once again, make sure you reference the visual indicator on the inside of the base to confirm that it has turned from red to fully green – indicating that the LockStrong bar is securely locked. Read on to learn how to put your car seat back together after removing the seat cover. If you need some more guidance, this short video will show you to install your Evenflo convertible car seat in the forward-facing position.