Ez-on vest lower latch add on. How to use?

[chrissevern]

We just got the Ez-on vest with lower latch add on for our 10 year old special-needs daughter.
We thought it might be time to move her from a car seat, and we're travelling internationally soon so having something small to take with us that will work in cars is needed.

We just tried to put her in the car, and use the latch add on between the car's latch points, and the vest, but they're so long that it doesn't hold her in the seat. She can move very far forward on the seat, and to the side. In an accident, if she was far back in the seat, she'd shoot forward and get snapped back.

Can anyone explain how these are meant to work? It seems so obviously wrong that I must be missing something obvious.

9 days ago I sent a message to the Ez-on company but they haven't responded........ Hmm...

 

[murphydog77]

We just got the Ez-on vest with lower latch add on for our 10 year old special-needs daughter.
We thought it might be time to move her from a car seat, and we're travelling internationally soon so having something small to take with us that will work in cars is needed.

We just tried to put her in the car, and use the latch add on between the car's latch points, and the vest, but they're so long that it doesn't hold her in the seat. She can move very far forward on the seat, and to the side. In an accident, if she was far back in the seat, she'd shoot forward and get snapped back.

Can anyone explain how these are meant to work? It seems so obviously wrong that I must be missing something obvious.

9 days ago I sent a message to the Ez-on company but they haven't responded........ Hmm...

Hello! Which vest did you get? EZ-On makes several, so it would be helpful to know specifically which one you have.

I'm thinking you may have gotten a Floor Mount accessory, which are 2 very long straps that go over the top of the vehicle seat like tether straps and connect to anchors installed on the floor by a professional. These are not LATCH straps. But again, it would be helpful to know which vest you have.

 

[chrissevern]

Hi,

The vest is: EZ-ON ADJUSTABLE PUSH BUTTON SAFETY VEST (E16750)

I did get these too:

Tether Mount (E16617) - $65.95
Lower Latch Add-on (E15742) - $49.95

I'm talking about the lower latch add-on. Item 225A here:

Parts & Accessories | EZ-ON Products

Shop the EZ-ON Products transportation ankle straps, lower latches, neck pads, locking clips and more.

ezonpro.com

Look at the length of those - if you attach them to the latches in the car, and lay them stretched out on the car seat, they make it about 80% of the way to the front of the car seat. Meaning when they're attached to my child's vest, she can be basically half-sitting with her bum on the edge of the car seat and her feet on the ground. (Well, probably not quite after I connect the tether mount to the top....)

When my child is sitting properly in the car seat, I can see the latch on the seat is only a few inches from the hooks on her vest. I only need a connecting strap that's a few inches long. Why then is the minimum length of the supplied connecting strap about a foot long ? (Measurements from memory...)

This is the manual:

https://ezonpro.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/225A.pdf

In pictures 3 and 4, it shows what seems to be a lot of slack, but in reality it's even worse.
The manual says "* Passenger should not be able to move their bottom more than 2 inches in any direction".
Well, she can move her bum a lot more than that, since they're much longer than 2 inches.

 

[murphydog77]

Hi,

The vest is: EZ-ON ADJUSTABLE PUSH BUTTON SAFETY VEST (E16750)

I did get these too:

Tether Mount (E16617) - $65.95
Lower Latch Add-on (E15742) - $49.95

I'm talking about the lower latch add-on. Item 225A here:

Parts & Accessories | EZ-ON Products

Shop the EZ-ON Products transportation ankle straps, lower latches, neck pads, locking clips and more.

ezonpro.com

Look at the length of those - if you attach them to the latches in the car, and lay them stretched out on the car seat, they make it about 80% of the way to the front of the car seat. Meaning when they're attached to my child's vest, she can be basically half-sitting with her bum on the edge of the car seat and her feet on the ground. (Well, probably not quite after I connect the tether mount to the top....)

When my child is sitting properly in the car seat, I can see the latch on the seat is only a few inches from the hooks on her vest. I only need a connecting strap that's a few inches long. Why then is the minimum length of the supplied connecting strap about a foot long ? (Measurements from memory...)

This is the manual:

https://ezonpro.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/225A.pdf

In pictures 3 and 4, it shows what seems to be a lot of slack, but in reality it's even worse.
The manual says "* Passenger should not be able to move their bottom more than 2 inches in any direction".
Well, she can move her bum a lot more than that, since they're much longer than 2 inches.

I can only speculate that they're so long because of the variety of vehicle seats that they're used with. Like regular carseat LATCH straps, you should be able to take most of slack out by pulling the tail; I would do that before hooking your daughter's vest on. The picture in step 4 in the instructions makes it look like you won't be able to get the strap super tight simply because the hardware on the strap gets in the way.

Without actually having the LATCH straps and the vest in my hands, that's about all I can tell you. Sorry. I hope you can get in touch with them.

 

[ketchupqueen]

Definitely call them- I think it's likely you'll get hold of them easier that way.
It may be that the geometry of your car doesn't work well with this particular setup. Or it may be ok! Hopefully they can give you some clarity, I've always found them really responsive by phone.