Harness tightening strap fraying around the edges

JMacSanDiego · Nov 7, 2010

I have the Sunshine Kids Radian XTSL (purchased in August 2010) carseat for my son. Anyhow, I have been noticing that the strap you pull to tighten the harness is fraying slightly around the edges. This is probably not a safety issue, but I'm worried that it might fray further with use, and one day it'll rip apart. I don't know if it's very visible in this picture, but it's fraying more on one side. Anyone else have this issue?

cryswilkins · Nov 7, 2010

I had this happen to all of my Britax seats with use. Some fuzziness is normal, and completely safe. I had one that looked MUCH worse than that and when I took it off the seat to replace it, I could see that it really wasn't as bad as it looked. I would be totally fine using the seat with the adjuster strap in that condition.

Babywearing Meghan · Nov 7, 2010

I know mine looks the same, but it is an 11/09 I just discovered it and contacted Russ, but it is not under warrenty so I am not sure what will happen, I am kind of screwed if I can't use it anymore honestly.

LISmama810 · Nov 7, 2010

I'd call that fuzzing, not fraying. It's not terribly uncommon on adjuster straps of all sorts. I'd have no problem continuing to use it. Keep an eye on it, though, in case it gets worse. Usually, though, it just fuzzes a bit then stops.

Baylor · Nov 7, 2010

That would bother me. With all you pay for those seats.. I have had Evenflo, Gracos.. and never had any problem with straps or latches or anything..

Babywearing Meghan · Nov 7, 2010

Baylor said:
That would bother me. With all you pay for those seats.. I have had Evenflo, Gracos.. and never had any problem with straps or latches or anything..

I agree, it does bother me that radians are having problems, any seat I pay a lot for I get really annoyed if they have problems.

Maggie · Nov 7, 2010

Baylor said:
That would bother me. With all you pay for those seats.. I have had Evenflo, Gracos.. and never had any problem with straps or latches or anything..

Eh, I've had it happen with my My Ride and it's currently happening on my Scenera.

I have fuzzing like that on my Marathon, True Fit and Safe Seat 1 too.

Doesn't bother me at all. Something fed through metal over and over again is going to get a little fuzzy. :twocents:

Angela · Nov 7, 2010

Question for those who have the 'fuzzies'... Do you adjust the harness every time someone uses it? I've had that problem with every single seat I've had, but I also adjust the straps every time it's used.

Baylor · Nov 7, 2010

Also my graco manual says that if ANY fraying occurs to discontinue use and contact Graco. To me that "fuzziness" means that the strap is softening.. I would not use it. I am not a tech or an expert but as a mom,I would get new straps.

Keeanh · Nov 7, 2010

Babywearing Meghan said:
I know mine looks the same, but it is an 11/09 I just discovered it and contacted Russ, but it is not under warrenty so I am not sure what will happen, I am kind of screwed if I can't use it anymore honestly.

I wonder if he's ever heard of such a thing happening before...

Maggie · Nov 7, 2010

Fraying and fuzzing are two TOTALLY different things.

Fraying? Yes, that is a serious issue that should be taken care of.

The picture above is fuzzing, IMO.

This
is a fray. One that would make me stop using my seat until it was replaced.

A little fuzzing like above is not a huge deal, to me anyway. If I called everytime my harness looked like that they'd probably block my number.

Baylor · Nov 7, 2010

I disagree. If you look at that straps you can see movement of the fraying working towards the middle of the strap.. It may be fuzzy at the ends but it is moving inward.. AS for that picture in the other thread? THat is not fraying.. THat is a cut in the belt..

Either way, I would not use them for my kids seats.

Meg · Nov 7, 2010

ajtastad said:
Question for those who have the 'fuzzies'... Do you adjust the harness every time someone uses it?

My 4 month old 80SL has the fuzzies and I adjust the harness every time I use the seat.

Maggie · Nov 7, 2010

ajtastad said:
Question for those who have the 'fuzzies'... Do you adjust the harness every time someone uses it? I've had that problem with every single seat I've had, but I also adjust the straps every time it's used.

Out of the 4 I own that are fuzzy (MA, Scenera, TFR, & SS1) the only one adjusted daily is the Scenera.

The other ones are adjusted maybe once or twice a week.

LISmama810 · Nov 7, 2010

Crunchy and I each had fuzziness on our Coccoro adjuster straps. Hers fuzzed on the right, mine on the left (I think). Her's was installed on the driver's side, mine on the passenger side.

We determined that it fuzzed toward the side of the door it was installed next to, because we tended to pull slightly in that direction as we were tightening.

JMacSanDiego · Nov 7, 2010

Thank you ladies. Yeah I guess it's fuzzies and not fraying. There is no ripping or tearing in it. I'm just afraid that it might get worse, and start tearing. I'm not rough with the strap or the harness (or the seat), so hopefully it'll last a long time. It was probably a dumb question to begin with, but I wanted to be sure. Thanks again.

LISmama810 · Nov 7, 2010

JMacSanDiego said:
Thank you ladies. Yeah I guess it's fuzzies and not fraying. There is no ripping or tearing in it. I'm just afraid that it might get worse, and start tearing. I'm not rough with the strap or the harness (or the seat), so hopefully it'll last a long time. It was probably a dumb question to begin with, but I wanted to be sure. Thanks again.

Not a dumb question at all--it's good to be diligent about these things.

For what it's worth, the Coccoro I spoke of fuzzed within the first few months of owning it. It has now been more than a year later and it hasn't gotten any worse.

JMacSanDiego · Nov 7, 2010

LISmama810 said:
Crunchy and I each had fuzziness on our Coccoro adjuster straps. Hers fuzzed on the right, mine on the left (I think). Her's was installed on the driver's side, mine on the passenger side.

We determined that it fuzzed toward the side of the door it was installed next to, because we tended to pull slightly in that direction as we were tightening.

You know what? You're so correct. My strap is fuzzing more on the left (because I pull it toward the passenger door). The other side is fuzzing, but not as much. I looked closely at it earlier today, in the daylight.

amelia222 · Nov 7, 2010

My myride strap is fuzzy, just on the side I pull towards too. I tighten/loosen it every time too.

Keeanh · Nov 7, 2010

The important thing is to look at what PART of the belt is affected. The coloured threads that weave back & forth hold everything in a nice belt shape. They don't actually provide the tensile strength. If the "structural" threads that run lengthwise are affected, then there could be a problem.

Harness tightening strap fraying around the edges

New member

New member

New member

Admin - CPS Technician

New member

New member

New member

New member

New member

Well-known member

New member

New member

Well-known member

New member

Admin - CPS Technician

New member

Admin - CPS Technician

New member

New member

Well-known member

Car-Seat.Org Facebook Group

Sponsors

Forum statistics