hard time pulling latch strap

[tmcg4]

Ok, am I doing something wrong with these car seats? I have a true fit in my car and husband has a cosco 3 in 1 in his. For both, we can not seem to pull the latch strap tight enough. Is there a trick to this? Do you push the buttons or not when you pull? If my husband can not even pull, we must be doing something wrong - right?

Thanks for your help!
Tracey

[crunchierthanthou]

When you say it's not tight enough, where are you checking for movement? It should move less than 1" in any direction at the beltpath. Are the seats rf or ff? What vehicles are they in?

Generally, no. You shouldn't have to push the button to tighten. Is there a twist in the belt near the buckle? I've found it works best if you pull so that the tail is parallel to the other part of the strap. Sometimes this means threading the tail back into the beltpath and pulling the cover back to tighten. The same goes for some seatbelt installations.

[scatterbunny]

I've found it works best if you pull so that the tail is parallel to the other part of the strap. Sometimes this means threading the tail back into the beltpath and pulling the cover back to tighten. The same goes for some seatbelt installations.

This was my biggest "lightbulb moment" installing carseats. :p It makes a HUGE difference!

[jess71903]

I have a TF and it seemed like I wasn't getting anywhere tightening it, but I was. I agree with threading it back up through the belt path and not trying to pull up on the outside of the seat (make sense?) I put my knee in the seat and then pulled up and kind of angled away from the buckle, wiggling the strap back and forth as I pulled. I got it in REALLY tight.

[jubgulia]

For the True Fit and other seats as well, I found it much easier to tighten the strap if it was very loose beforehand. I also pull it up through the opening in the cover along the belt path. I have it pretty loose and then sit on or put weight on the seat and then pull it all in one big pull. Sometimes that's the only way I can get it tight on some seats, almost like it's got to have the momentum or something, if that makes sense.