Please help - Radian SafeStop question

[ccjones]

I've been searching the forums, but I haven't come across anyone who's mentioned this issue. The Radian installed in DH's car has a DOM of 10/05, so it was manufactured before SK started to include the SafeStop. When I found out the newer Radians came with the SafeStop, I called SK and they sent me a SafeStop to use with my older Radian. Since DS was RF up until a month ago, we've had no need to use it. However, when we turned DS FF, DH put the Safestop on the harness yoke, and the SafeStop strap actually ended up being partially *under* the Radian seat bottom. This made adjusting the harness strap damn near impossible. So, we took the SafeStop off the yoke, and figured not using it is OK because the Radians originally weren't sold with the SafeStop. This was when DS was still on the third-from-the-top harness slots.

We've since moved the harness up the second-from-the-top harness slots because DS went through a growth spurt. We totally forgot about the SafeStop, but I'm going to be uninstalling the Radian in a few weeks to put the Britax chest clip on once it arrives. So, I'll install the SafeStop on the harness yoke again and see if it lays flat against the back of the Radian shell, and not under it.

In the meantime, has anyone else had this problem with the SafeStop?

[EzzieMom]

but I'm going to be uninstalling the Radian in a few weeks to put the Britax chest clip on once it arrives.

I'm sorry I don't have an answer to the safe stop question. But I'm wondering about the chest clip....is Britax chest clips better?

[CDNTech]

Here's a comparison of the old Radian and the new Radian... they deepened the harness channel along the back of the seat for this exact reason. The safestop was getting caught up between the vehicle seat and child restraint and making it impossible to loosen/tighten properly.

The one on the top is the new style found on all seats with dom Jan'07 or newer...
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/158/414063749_ce84953f08.jpg?v=0

Edited to add: They also added a sleeve over the safestop to help combat against it getting caught between the seats... which is shown in the pics as well.

[ccjones]

Here's a comparison of the old Radian and the new Radian... they deepened the harness channel along the back of the seat for this exact reason. The safestop was getting caught up between the vehicle seat and child restraint and making it impossible to loosen/tighten properly.

The one on the top is the new style found on all seats with dom Jan'07 or newer...
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/158/414063749_ce84953f08.jpg?v=0

Edited to add: They also added a sleeve over the safestop to help combat against it getting caught between the seats... which is shown in the pics as well.


Thank you for posting this! My Radians looks like the one in the bottom of your pic. The SafeStops that SK sent me do not have that nice sleeve over them. From your pic, it looks like the SafeStop will still partially go under the Radian seat bottom when the harness straps are in the 2nd-from-the-top slots. So, the bottom line seems to be that the SafeStop is incompatible with my older Radians. At this point, I won't bother trying the SafeStop when I uninstall the Radian to attach the Britax chest clip.

Thank again for the info! Will not using the SafeStop with my Radians have any adverse effects if I'm in an accident? I mean, is use of the SafeStop so important that I should consider selling my current Radians and buying ones with a newer DOM?

[CDNTech]

Thank you for posting this! My Radians looks like the one in the bottom of your pic. The SafeStops that SK sent me do not have that nice sleeve over them. From your pic, it looks like the SafeStop will still partially go under the Radian seat bottom when the harness straps are in the 2nd-from-the-top slots. So, the bottom line seems to be that the SafeStop is incompatible with my older Radians. At this point, I won't bother trying the SafeStop when I uninstall the Radian to attach the Britax chest clip.

Thank again for the info! Will not using the SafeStop with my Radians have any adverse effects if I'm in an accident? I mean, is use of the SafeStop so important that I should consider selling my current Radians and buying ones with a newer DOM?

Since your seat did not come with a safestop I would have no qualms about not using it with your child. The Safestop is designed to stretch a little in a collision to help provide some ride down time for a younger child. It is only to be used if your child is under 40lbs and you have the seat top tethered. Is your seat tethered?

Either way... I would definitely use the top tether on your seat and if it's too difficult to loosen/tighten, then use it without the Safestop... although a call into Russ (or an e-mail... Russ@skjp.com) to ask about your problem never hurt anything.

[becca011906]

it is likely that they may replace your old radain if you tell them how hard it is to adjust the harness b/c of the shallow path for the harness in the back, we had an older one with that and it was almost impossilbe to losten/tighten in my car with cloth squishy seats, but in my leather it worked a little better, but b/c of the issue they replaced the seat.

[dd9736]

Thank you for posting this! My Radians looks like the one in the bottom of your pic. The SafeStops that SK sent me do not have that nice sleeve over them. From your pic, it looks like the SafeStop will still partially go under the Radian seat bottom when the harness straps are in the 2nd-from-the-top slots. So, the bottom line seems to be that the SafeStop is incompatible with my older Radians. At this point, I won't bother trying the SafeStop when I uninstall the Radian to attach the Britax chest clip.

Thank again for the info! Will not using the SafeStop with my Radians have any adverse effects if I'm in an accident? I mean, is use of the SafeStop so important that I should consider selling my current Radians and buying ones with a newer DOM?

In Canada we have to use the Safestop FFing up to 40lbs, it's in our manual, and on the seat. It's designed to protect smaller children, In canada, they actually replaced the old Safestops (without the cover) with the new ones because it was found that the old ones allowed head excursion to be milimeters beyond canadian standards.

[ccjones]

... although a call into Russ (or an e-mail... Russ@skjp.com) to ask about your problem never hurt anything.

I'm not going to worry about not being able to use the SafeStop on my older Radians. Russ actually replaced one of my Radians free of charge in March. DH uninstalled it from his car, and while it was sitting in the house, I noticed a tiny crack in the plastic on the seat bottom. I took pics of the crack and emailed them to Russ and asked him if the Radian was still safe to use. He told me he was going to send me a new seat for my peace of mind, even though the 1-year warranty had expired. The seat he sent me in March had a DOM of 12/06, so it looks like I just missed out on the new seat shells by a month or so.

Like you said, the original Radians were deisgned w/out the SafeStop and since I tried to use the SafeStop and it make adjusting the harness impossible, I'm just going to let it go.

Thanks again for all the information!