Please tell me about the TrueFit, and chestclips.

Joddle

New member
Hi everyone.
I've just been looking at the True Fit as I've been thinking about getting one imported.
I need a short-backed seat to fit in my Subaru Forester. The compact seats here only RF to 20ish lbs.
What I'm wanting to know, is if a 65lb child can REALLY fit up until they hit 65lbs, or if they'll outgrow the harness heightwise long before. It the demo video it doesn't look like it goes very high.

And completely unrelated to the True Fit, why do you guys have chest clips?
I know that they are a pre-crash positioner etc etc, but over here (and in Europe i believe) our seats pass standards without them, and the child's shoulders don't slip out of the harness. Do USA seats have a different harness design or something?

TIA!
 
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bbartlettnfld

New member
Hi there,

My petite 7 yr old still fits in the Trufit, she has about 1 inch of room. She only rode in it 2X in a friends car but I was shocked that she fit! She is under 65 lbs as well. She also has room in the SK Radian as well.
She rides full time in a high back booster by Sunshine Kids.
 

emtb79

New member
I have 2 5yr olds I keep. One is over the top slots Sept 2005 baby. One is March March 2005 baby and he is under the top slots and about even with the 3rd slots. SO it totally depends on the child.
 

Morganthe

New member
And completely unrelated to the True Fit,
why do you guys have chest clips?
I know that they are a pre-crash positioner etc etc, but over here (and in Europe i believe) our seats pass standards without them, and the child's shoulders don't slip out of the harness. Do USA seats have a different harness design or something?

I think European seats tend to have slots at a slight /o\ angle & US seats are -o- straight across.
One definite difference is that the shoulder pads are longer and have a grippy surface on the underneath against a child's body, so there's less likely slippage, especially when the harness is tight.
Britax Hugs are what we have as an alternative.

I think a US company long time ago put a chest clip on their seat and parents thought that a bit of plastic made their kids safer. And so it began :rolleyes:
 

jess71903

Ambassador
We have and love our True Fit. Most kids will outgrow almost any seat by height before weight, and the True Fit is no exception. It has taller top slots than many/most convertible seats, though, so it does tend to last longer by height. It also has a really tall shell with the upper seatback on, and a really short shell with it off. This is great because while the baby is young and needs the full 45* angle, it can be installed without the top part. When they are older and don't need such an angle, the seatback can be put back on and it still doesn't take up too much room.
 

Pixels

New member
Britax HUGS have nothing to do with the straps slipping off the shoulders, and everything to do with chest Gs.

I believe the top slots on the TF are about 17 inches. On most of the covers, the top slots are where the cover changes color. For example, on the City Chic, the top slots are where the whitish and black colors meet. In the pic on Learning Curve's website, the harness is in the third slots (second from the top).
 

njkj

New member
Hi everyone.
I need a short-backed seat to fit in my Subaru Forester. The compact seats here only RF to 20ish lbs.

TIA!

Just in case you did not know, the TF can only be used with out the head rest till 22lbs and/or your childs head reach the red line. Which ever comes first. Once you add the headreat it is not very compact anymore.

Have you looked at the Combi Coccoro? It is compact and RF's till 30lbs.
 

christineka

New member
Although the true fit rear-faces to 35 pounds, it only rfes to 22 without the headrest. I don't know that the true fit fits rfing in a forester with the headrest. Best to check that out before purchasing. My aunt and uncle have an outback and try as I might, the true fit did not fit with the headrest on. I had to turn the seat ffing for my 3 year old.
 

Morganthe

New member
Britax HUGS have nothing to do with the straps slipping off the shoulders, and everything to do with chest Gs.

Personally, I little knowledge of the particulars. It's been such a long time since I first read about the controvesy regarding "Best Car seat maker in America" :rolleyes: :shrug-shoulders:
Just that they failed originally with head excursion on American seats without HUGS, yet not on the British versions that had longer Shoulder pads that had padding/firm surface down the chest area.

Safety Recalls
Make: BRITAX

Models: E9031 (SUPER ELITE)

Production Dates: April 25, 2001 - February 15, 2002

Noncompliance: SUPER ELITE YOUTH RESTRAINTS, MODEL NO. E9031, WITH PRODUCTION DATES FROM APRIL 25, 2001, THROUGH FEBRUARY 15, 2002, FAIL TO CONFORM TO FEDERAL MOTOR VEHICLE SAFETY STANDARD NO. 213, "CHILD RESTRAINT SYSTEMS."

VEHICLE CRASH FORCES COULD CAUSE THE CHILD'S HEAD TO MOVE FURTHER FORWARD THAN ALLOWED BY THE STANDARD.
Consequence: THIS ADDITIONAL HEAD MOVEMENT COULD ALLOW A CHILD'S HEAD TO STRIKE SOMETHING IN THE VEHICLE, CAUSING INJURY.

Corrective Action: OWNERS WILL RECEIVE A FREE REPLACEMENT HARNESS SYSTEM ALONG WITH INSTRUCTIONS INCLUDING TPE PADS (ALSO KNOWN AS HUGS HARNESS ULTRA-GUARD SYSTEM). ALL CONSUMERS WHO RETURNED A REGISTRATION CARD TO BRITAX WILL AUTOMATICALLY RECEIVE THE FREE REPLACEMENT. OWNER NOTIFICATION BEGANS OCTOBER 3, 2003. OWNERS WHO DO NOT RECEIVE THE FREE REMEDY WITHIN A REASONABLE TIME SHOULD CONTACT BRITAX'S TOLL-FREE NUMBER AT 1-888-427-4829.
......

Topic is also mentioned here: Britax Car Seat recalls

I have no clue why Britax fails, yet other carseat manufacturers pass without creating some sort of version of HUGS for their seats on the HWH seats.
 

wendytthomas

Admin - CPST Instructor
Staff member
The Coccoro rear faces to 33 pounds, not 30.

While the TF gets much larger with the headrest, it doesn't get much bigger front to back because it can sit as upright as 35º, so it takes up about one more inch with the headrest at that angle than without.

Wendy
 

christineka

New member
The Coccoro rear faces to 33 pounds, not 30.

While the TF gets much larger with the headrest, it doesn't get much bigger front to back because it can sit as upright as 35º, so it takes up about one more inch with the headrest at that angle than without.

Wendy

I couldn't get the true fit into my aunt and uncle's car with the headrest attached. I took it off, put the seat in the car. Then I took off the front headrest and tried to get the true fit headrest on. it interfered with the roof of the car and the front passenger's headrest. Also, In my experience (maybe I'm not very good at upright installs), the headrest adds to both height and length to the true fit.
 

finn

New member
Having used American, Australian and Swedish seats, I find the chest clip a pain! I have also noticed (but not measured) it seems as if on the American seats the straps are closer together, they rub on ds neck something shocking, where as on the Australian and Swedish seats the straps seem a little but further apart and the longer/thicker covers (on the Swedish) seats protect his neck nicely. I really wish I could have a frontier with no chest clip, Swedish covers and an American height and weigh limit....one can dream right :whistle:
 

joolsplus3

Admin - CPS Technician
pnetwork.com/britax-child-car-seat-recalls/"]Britax Car Seat recalls[/URL]

I have no clue why Britax fails, yet other carseat manufacturers pass without creating some sort of version of HUGS for their seats on the HWH seats.

Oddly enough, the new 65 pound Complete Air has a hug-like rubber harness guard system. The old Nania Airway had rubbery pads.... And Graco recommends removal of their soft pads on their HWH seats above 40lbs, so evidently it doesn't take much to pass or fail a test :eek:

Joddle, have you run across any 'aftermarket' chest clip products? I know I've seen some probably in Europe, that are straps and buttons and whatnot to add to the harness to keep kids in their harnesses better (my godmother's son in Australia always took his arms right out of his chestclip-less seat, so I can see why people might like them...they only add safety in that regard, when they keep the harness on the shoulders, for the most part, they ARE just custom and habit, as a PP said).
 

Joddle

New member
One of our brands, Infa Secure, offers fabric button-up things, but these are (as you said) to stop bub escaping rather than a pre-crash positioner.
 

HayleyCPST

New member
I have also noticed (but not measured) it seems as if on the American seats the straps are closer together

Actually I measured less than 2" for my TWE straps. I've found it to be much closer together than the American seats I have owned.

OP- how old is your child? Weight/height? Torso height? If you are importing, maybe look at other options too. Swedish seats are nice.
 

joolsplus3

Admin - CPS Technician
One of our brands, Infa Secure, offers fabric button-up things, but these are (as you said) to stop bub escaping rather than a pre-crash positioner.

Well, sort of the same thing... by 'precrash positioner' they mean 'keeps the wiggly kid in the harness', not just keeping the harness on the shoulders (due to some real or imagined difference in belt geometry... as you can see, we can't even agree on that, and it probably doesn't matter a lick, the last seats to have no chest clips in the US--the Fisher Price Safe Embrace-- had the same basic belt design as any other US seat).
 

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