Slow Loosening of SnugRide Base

[shauburg]

I have Graco SnugRide Base installed in a 2001 Chrysler/Dodge Neon. It is in the center position in the back seat installed using the seat belt (car does not have latch/UAS). I have found that the belt slowly loosens over time or if I push & pull on the base side-to-side I can wiggle it looser in a minute or two.

The vehicle manual states that "seat belts are equipped with cinching latch plates which are designed to keep the lap portion tight around the child restraint so that it is not necessary to use a locking clip... The cinching latch plate will keep the belt tight, however, any seat belt system will loosen with time, so check the belt occaisionally and pull it tight if nesessary." This is what I have been doing, but I was wondering if it was normal for the belt to loosen like that when I push & pull on the base?

It is also recommended in the vehicle manual that if you have trouble tightening the belt to "disconnect the latch plate from the buckle, twist the short buckle-end belt several times to shorten it and insert the latch plate into the buckle with the release button facing out". I have done this and it has made it so I can get a tighter install initally, but does not seem to fix the slow loosening issue.

Finally, the vehicle manual says "if the belt still can't be tightened or if pulling and pushing on the restraint loosens the belt, disconnect the latch plate from the buckle, turn the buckle around, and insert the latch plate into the buckle again". I don't get this one. Does it mean I'd twist the buckle belt one more 1/2 turn and have it so that the release button was facing in? And how would this stop the slow loosening?

Thanks for any help you can offer. I actually have a Radian on order and am only using the Snugride a few more days (if at all), but since this is a vehicle issue, I figure if I can get it resolved for the Snugride it will make my Radian install that much easier.

[seatchecker]

Is the center spot a lap only belt or a shoulder/lap combo? Does the buckle end come up into the belt path of the seat itself? Generally flipping the latchplate once before buckling (after the belt is pulled tight) will hold it in place (that is for a 3 pt belt). A lap only belt usually holds on its own unless it is tipped at an angle by lying on the edge of the base. If the buckle is hitting at an angle so it loosens, twisting the buckle stalk can help that - up to 3 full turns, using the least # possible to get the job done.

[snowbird25ca]

You have lightweight locking latch plates, and they are known to sometimes loosen over time. They work really well if the belts are perfectly parallel to each other, but irl that doesn't happen with a lot of car seat installations.

What it's telling you to do is to flip the male end of the buckle a half turn. In most cases this fixes the problem and it won't loosen anymore. Make sure you tighten it as much as you can before flipping the male end though, otherwise it can be difficult to get the rest of the slack out of the belt. If you haven't used the twisting the buckle stalk up to 3 times trick, this would be a useful place to use it if you were having troubles getting the last bit of slack out of the belt with the buckle flipped. :thumbsup: (The male end is the end that latches into the buckle. Think male and female. ;) )

eta: In most cases flipping the buckle a half turn is sufficient, if it's not enough, you can flip it a full turn. Alternatively a locking clip can be used if the buckle just isn't going to hold. Usually just flipping it a half turn is all it should take though.

[shauburg]

Thanks seatchecker. To answer your questions:

The center spot is a shoulder/lap combo.

The buckle end did come up a little into the belt path of the base, before I twisted the buckle stalk 2 times.

When DH gets home with the car I will try flipping the latchplate once and rebuckling

[shauburg]

What it's telling you to do is to flip the male end of the buckle a half turn. In most cases this fixes the problem and it won't loosen anymore.

Now this makes sense and as I told seatchecker, I'll try this later tonight.

Is it just me, or is this an error in my vehicle's manual? Perhaps it would be clearer if it said "if the belt still can't be tightened or if pulling and pushing on the restraint loosens the belt, disconnect the latch plate from the buckle, turn the latch plate (not buckle) over (not around), and insert the latch plate into the buckle again"

[snowbird25ca]

Now this makes sense and as I told seatchecker, I'll try this later tonight.

Is it just me, or is this an error in my vehicle's manual? Perhaps it would be clearer if it said "if the belt still can't be tightened or if pulling and pushing on the restraint loosens the belt, disconnect the latch plate from the buckle, turn the latch plate (not buckle) over (not around), and insert the latch plate into the buckle again"

Well, yes and no. The manual is addressing 2 seperate problems that can also go hand in hand. Sometimes because of where a belt path is in relation to the length of a buckle stalk, you just can't pull enough slack out of the belt to tighten the seat down properly. In a case like that, anywhere from 1 to 3 twists of the buckle stalk could allow for a tight installation, and depending on the angle of the buckle, you wouldn't have any issues with the latchplate slipping.

It's written in a rather confusing way in my opinion, but I'm also impressed that the manual is telling you to twist the buckle stalk as a tool to help with installing a car seat. Most people don't know it's ok to do that unless they've seen a tech or read on a forum like this one, so a vehicle manual saying that is actually a really good thing.

The twisting of the buckle as well as the flipping of the latch plate are seperate things that may or may not need to be done depending on what car seat you're installing. Some seats you might not need to do anything, others you might need to twist the buckle stalk and that's it, others you might have to flip the latch plate and others you might have to do both...

So I think the manual is trying to do the best it can at covering a multitude of possibilities. Them trying to do that is good IMO - I've seen some vehicle manuals that do nothing more than talk about the importance of car seats, location of LATCH points and top tether anchors (if they need to be installed or are already there.) Depending on the age of the vehicle, you might not even get info about tethers or LATCH and will get info about locking the seat belt and nothing more. It's just variable by manufacturer.

[shauburg]

Okay, I think I am beginning to see why 80% of CR are not installed properly. It's too hard! Especially when it's hot and you have to climb all over your back seat.

Anyway, I twisted the base stalk 2X, buckled it, tightened the belt around the Snugride base, unbuckled it, flipped the latch end over, and tried to rebuckle it. But no matter what I do, I cannot get it rebuckled!!!:crying: Do you think I have it too tight before I am unbuckling & flipping the latch plate?

[snowbird25ca]

Okay, I think I am beginning to see why 80% of CR are not installed properly. It's too hard! Especially when it's hot and you have to climb all over your back seat.

Anyway, I twisted the base stalk 2X, buckled it, tightened the belt around the Snugride base, unbuckled it, flipped the latch end over, and tried to rebuckle it. But no matter what I do, I cannot get it rebuckled!!!:crying: Do you think I have it too tight before I am unbuckling & flipping the latch plate?

Are you able to have a 2nd person to put pressure on the base while you're trying to rebuckle it?

One other thing to check - try with a seperate seatbelt if need be - like in one of the other back seating positions. Flip the male buckle a half turn and see if it will click into the buckle. In some cases the buckle will only go in in one direction, so you have to do a complete turn instead of a half turn. If that's the case, that could be why the buckle isn't going in... otherwise I'd try getting a 2nd person to put pressure on the base because it will take 2 hands to buckle the belt.

Or you could get it reasonably tight, flip the buckle and buckle it up, then try to get the remaining slack out - it can be tricky to do though because you need to make sure you're pulling on the lap portion of the belt and that it doesn't get twisted sideways in the latch plate.

Hope that helps some.