Britax Pioneer Issue and unrelated booster rec question

[mamakc]

I tried calling Britax, but they are closed.

My Britax Pioneer is stuck in recline mode. I put it that way because it installed better in someone else's vehicle. Putting it back in mine, I need it upright, but I can't get it to go back. I'm afraid I'm going to break it if I try to force it. Any suggestions?

Issue #2 is that I noticed stress markings on the safe cell on the seat. One side is significant, the other side has only one or two very faint markings. Is this a concern?

And my unrelated booster rec question: I need two inexpensive (preferably) latchable boosters. Backless is probably fine as the kids will rarely use them and only for an occasional very short trip on a 25mph road. It's for the second row captains chairs of a 2000 Ford Windstar. The only booster I've tried there so far is the Harmony youth booster and it doesn't work because the buckle stalk is higher than the armrest of the booster (if that makes sense..?) So I need one that is taller than the Harmony one.

 

[Fallon]

Have u uninstalled it to put it back in upright? Safe cell stress marks are Normal .

 

[mamakc]

Have u uninstalled it to put it back in upright? Safe cell stress marks are Normal .

Yes it is uninstalled

 

[amyd]

I don't have a solution for you but my Frontier 90 is also stuck in recline mode. Luckily that's where I need it but it's annoying that I can't move it.

 

[ketchupqueen]

I don't want to freak you guys out but have you checked to make sure the seat is not broken? I had the plastic on my FR90's plastic deform- the hook that holds the bar in place apparently deformed in the hot car and got twisted sideways so it would not come out of recline mode. >_< A few other people had similar issues, and Britax replaced our seats.

 

[LISmama810]

I mean no disrespect by this question, but are you sure you're doing it right? (It took me a long time to figure it out.) Just in case, this review has a video showing how to recline and un-recline it: http://carseatblog.com/22545/review-of-the-britax-pioneer-70-a-pioneering-new-seat/ (It's the second video in the review.)

Other than that, yeah, I'd call Britax.

 

[amyd]

I don't want to freak you guys out but have you checked to make sure the seat is not broken? I had the plastic on my FR90's plastic deform- the hook that holds the bar in place apparently deformed in the hot car and got twisted sideways so it would not come out of recline mode. >_< A few other people had similar issues, and Britax replaced our seats.

Well, that sounds fun. I remember you talking about this but I haven't had mine long enough for it to have been in a hot car (just bought it in the fall) so figured that wasn't my issue. I'll have to pull it out and check.

 

[happiness-and-balance]

Here's what happened to the recline mechanism on my Frontier CT.. My Pinnacle CT is fine, even though it is installed in the same vehicle, and used about the same amount, maybe a little more, ~3x a week maximum by a 40 something pound 4 year old. I can get it into both the upright and recline position, but not without flipping the seat over and carefully judging how much force I apply and how slowly, most times I can get it to work, but it is really difficult.

 

[ketchupqueen]

That's very similar to what happened to mine, except that piece that's bent was all the way down sideways, and it happened just from the heat and the kid climbing in and out of the seat while it was in recline.

I'll be honest, I've been too scared to put the replacement in recline... ever.

 

[mamakc]

I am sure I'm doing it right, but I watched the video to make sure. I've put it in and taken it out of recline mode before. I don't think it's broken, I looked close at the mechanism when I was trying to get it upright and it didn't look warped. For now I'm just using it in recline mode until I can get ahold of britax. It's annoying, but does install acceptably.

Eta: I've only had the seat a couple weeks. And it has not been hot lol