No more replacement Turbo screws?

Pixels · Mar 20, 2010

I have items in my cart on Graco due to the stroller recall. I thought while I'm at it, I'll get some more Turbobooster screws. I've put in several different model numbers and not finding any screws.

Does anybody else find screws? If so, can you help me out? If Graco isn't providing the screws any more, yikes.

wendytthomas · Mar 20, 2010

#10 machine screws, 3/4" long, phillips head.

Wendy

Qarin · Mar 20, 2010

This is alarming! I have a bookmarked URL, which has an embedded model/date (it's the one I paste in to posts to direct people where to get screws), and you are right, the "height adjustment screws" are no longer listed.

"#10 machine screws, 3/4" long, phillips head" is actually an inadequate description- I really like the truss head (very low profile) of the screws Graco uses, and they appear to use a self-drilling screw with the tip cut off, but I don't know why; also, I think there should be a number after the #10 (like "#10-24"), and I'm not sure what that is.

I have a single screw left from my last order of five, so I guess I'll go to a hardware store and work this out to my satisfaction, since KQ's research was unsatisfying to me.

Carrie_R · Mar 20, 2010

That's odd. I just ordered screws this week... maybe Weds or so? They came in my mail this morning.

DisneyWorldNanny · Mar 20, 2010

Hardware store

Qarin · Mar 20, 2010

The thing is, sending someone to a hardware store to find a screw they don't have a sample of is... well, it's just mostly not going to happen. I've had actual luck directing parents to order free screws from Graco, but do not believe I'll ever get anyone to go try to find the right screws at a hardware store.

They're not cheap screws, from what I understand from KQ; I don't think I'm going to be able to adequately fund keeping them in stock to give out.

DisneyWorldNanny · Mar 20, 2010

I'm willing to bet that the OP would be smart enough to take a sample with her and they will match it...if she needs Turbo Screws and is aware that a Turbo needs screws I'm pretty sre that she has a set or can find a set from a frend

I have done this as I had to go looking for screws for a friend's Turbo as they didn't know about them like most people and threw them out/lost them... Took one out of mine and brought it into Ace... They are inexpensive and they are identical- if anything they seemed to be of better quality.

Wendy has already given details above also. Graco gets their screws from a hardware company so there is no life or death difference! Plenty of children have been protected by Turboboosters in horrible accidents with no screws at all... if you have the right size, there is nothing wrong with picking them up in a decent hardware store. It's either that or buy a new seat I guess if Graco is no longer supplying them.

Qarin · Mar 20, 2010

DisneyWorldNanny said:
I'm willing to bet that the OP would be smart enough to take a sample with her and they will match it...if she needs Turbo Screws and is aware that a Turbo needs screws I'm pretty sre that she has a set or can find a set from a frend

I am not concerned about Pixel's ability to know how to buy the screws at a hardware store, and neither is she I believe. If Graco is no longer sending replacement screws (especially free), this makes a huge difference in our ability to direct people to easily (and cheaply) GET the screws they didn't even know they needed.

By "people", I don't mean "CPS Techs on car-seat.org"... I mean everyone else: the family at preschool whose seat you see sitting in the entry waiting for pickup; the friends who come over to visit; the people who post on car-seat.org and mention that they have a Turbobooster for their older child when they're asking about a new seat for their 14 month old; etc.; etc.

Plenty of children have been protected by Turboboosters in horrible accidents with no screws at all

I have no proof of this at all- do you? I'd like to hope it's true, and it feels like it must be, given that upwards of 80% of the TBs I see in parking lots (which are well over 50% of the booster seats I see in parking lots) do not have screws in the arms, but I really don't know. Graco has made it clear that the screws are required- I've ordered a few sets of free screws from Graco (three sets, 15 screws total, I think) and handed them out to friends (or put them in myself). I've bought a couple of screws from the hardware store, too, but pan-head (which is not as nicely low-profile as the truss head), and expensive ($0.25/screw- cheap for one-offs, but I can't supply them to people for free that way). I've directed many more people to use Graco's replacement parts system to get screws, and I know that several have done so- I can guarantee that NONE of those people would have gone to a hardware store and tried to find "#10 machine screws, 3/4" long".

I hope that the lack of screws on the replacement parts ordering forms on Graco's site is temporary.

BookMama · Mar 20, 2010

DisneyWorldNanny said:
I'm willing to bet that the OP would be smart enough to take a sample with her and they will match it...if she needs Turbo Screws and is aware that a Turbo needs screws I'm pretty sre that she has a set or can find a set from a frend

Yes, but the issue people are really getting at is the availability of replacement screws for the average parent, not a tech who's smart enough to know that the screws are required in the first place. I have no doubt that Pixels is going to be able to find something suitable to keep in her tech kit, even if she has to go to the hardware store.

DisneyWorldNanny said:
Plenty of children have been protected by Turboboosters in horrible accidents with no screws at all...

Really? Where did you find this info?

Are you really comfortable implying that those children wouldn't have been better protected (and suffered fewer or less severe injuries) if their boosters seats had been used correctly?

DisneyWorldNanny said:
if you have the right size, there is nothing wrong with picking them up in a decent hardware store. It's either that or buy a new seat I guess if Graco is no longer supplying them.

Yep, a matching screw from the hardware store should do the trick. However, as a tech, the second I start telling a parent that their seat is missing screws and they need to go to the hardware store to find replacements, they're going to hear "blah blah blah" and that'll be the end of it.

xxluckychicxx · Mar 20, 2010

DisneyWorldNanny said:
Plenty of children have been protected by Turboboosters in horrible accidents with no screws at all...

Hmmm do you have statistics on this one?

carseatcoach · Mar 20, 2010

DisneyWorldNanny said:
Plenty of children have been protected by Turboboosters in horrible accidents with no screws at all...

Plenty of children survive horrible accidents with no carseats at all.

steph_s · Mar 20, 2010

The #10 3/4in machine screws are almost an identical match to the tb screws. BTW: This isn't the first time graco has run out of replacement screws. I'm willing to bet they are out of stock and they will be getting more in soon. :thumbsup:

Pixels · Mar 20, 2010

The website doesn't list the screws as being out of stock. It no longer lists the screws as an available replacement part at all.

I didn't try calling them. I'm not out, but figured I might as well get another set to add to my tech kit while they were mailing me stuff anyway.

kidzndogz · Mar 20, 2010

BookMama said:
Yep, a matching screw from the hardware store should do the trick. However, as a tech, the second I start telling a parent that their seat is missing screws and they need to go to the hardware store to find replacements, they're going to hear "blah blah blah" and that'll be the end of it.

I just don't like having to tell parents that because here we are, preaching to NOT jimmy rig a car seat and if it didn't come with it, don't use it. The idea of having a parent go to a hardware store to buy something to use in their seat makes me cringe. I mean I know the screw thing is fine, and as techs we know this is a special circumstance, but I don't wanna put the idea in a parent's head that it's okay to go to the hardware store to get seat parts instead of the manufacturer. Because you KNOW tons of dads would do that for every other "problem" their seat may have. lol.

BookMama · Mar 20, 2010

kidzndogz said:
I just don't like having to tell parents that because here we are, preaching to NOT jimmy rig a car seat and if it didn't come with it, don't use it. The idea of having a parent go to a hardware store to buy something to use in their seat makes me cringe. I mean I know the screw thing is fine, and as techs we know this is a special circumstance, but I don't wanna put the idea in a parent's head that it's okay to go to the hardware store to get seat parts instead of the manufacturer. Because you KNOW tons of dads would do that for every other "problem" their seat may have. lol.

That's an excellent point! It's a very slippery slope when we start telling people to "do things" to their seats, isn't it?

ShumNum · Mar 20, 2010

I honestly don't deal with the Turbo very much...actually at all. How/why does one lose the screws?

carseatcoach · Mar 20, 2010

Usually, parents don't put them in to begin with. They're in a little bag with the shoulder clip, and easily overlooked.

I am also not comfortable telling parents to go buy something at the hardware store to improve their seat (!!): I will probably buy them myself and keep them in my bag.

NannyMom · Mar 20, 2010

ShumNum said:
I honestly don't deal with the Turbo very much...actually at all. How/why does one lose the screws?

They are with the shoulder clip and manual that no one bothers with anyway. You have to assemble the TB your self... pop in the armrests, and put in the screws to hold them in place. It's rare to see a TB with the screws.

Sofi's highchairs were recall, and I figured I'd get screws while I was on the website but they were out of stock. I might be calling Monday instead. But if there's currently a shortage, I won't get any because I still have plenty.

ketchupqueen · Mar 20, 2010

I would never send an "average parent" to the hardware store to get the screws. Yikes! That's why I keep them in my kit to give out.

There was a review on... I want to say Wal-Mart's website, of the TB. It was warning parents how "dangerous" this seat is because she was in a crash, and the arm rests popped off and the seatbelt went into her child's abdomen and caused injuries (thankfully not fatal.) First thing I thought, reading that, was, "I bet she didn't have the screws in." In the right kind of crash lack of screws could apparently cause the seat to critically malfunction.

I have two TBs registered, I checked both of them and neither lists screws as an available replacement part any more. Yikes!

When someone calls Graco Monday, please let us know what they have to say about this.

hsjwmom · Mar 20, 2010

Um, would you believe that I just checked to make sure my TB has its screws. All those times they've been mentioned over the YEARS that I've been here and it *just* now occurred to me to check mine, lol. It expires in a couple of months.

Yes. My screws were in place. :thumbsup:

No more replacement Turbo screws?

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