Questions/concerns re: E-Z On 86Y used with booster

scatterbunny · Jul 9, 2007

I was Googling info on the 86Y tonight and came across this issue of SafeRideNews from Sept/Oct 2001 about the 86Y used with a booster, and thought it was interesting. I wanted everyone's take on it.

Vest/Harness Confusion

Use of E-Z-On Vest & Harness
with Backless Boosters
not yet Recommended

E-Z-On Products has been interested inresponding to the need for a product to usewith lap-only belts in both passenger ve-hicles and school buses. The company’s“proper use” video issued last May rec-ommended using its E-Z-On Vest or 86YHarness with a backless booster for chil-dren aged 4–7. No particular brand ofbooster was mentioned. (Instructions forthe E-Z-On 86Y harness have includedthat recommendation for several years.) Inthe video, the 86Y Harness or 1086 cam-harness was recommended with a boosterin school buses for children aged 3–7.When seeking confirmation for such usefrom booster makers, SRN found none thatis ready to sanction vest or harness usewith its backless boosters. SRN alsosought but has not found FMVSS-213 testdata to support booster use with a harnessor vest. It would, therefore, be prudentfor advocates not to recommend the jointuse of these products until more is known.The certification of existing boosters orE-Z-On’s products, used alone, is not atissue here.So far, only one maker of backlessboosters, Car Seat Specialty, has tested itsboosters with the 86Y harness. Its testswere run with the 3-year dummy becausethe lower limit on its boosters is 30 pounds.These tests showed excessive chest accel-erations and, in a few cases, high HICs(head injury criterion). Car Seat Specialtyhas asked E-Z-On not to recommend thisuse of their Polo or Uno booster.The poor test results surprised manywho had assumed that the two deviceswould perform well when used together.In the early ‘80s, the first boosters sold inthis country met FMVSS 213 using a simi-lar booster/harness cofiguration.When asked by SRN, Evenflo said it hasnot tested its booster with E-Z-On’s prod-ucts. Cosco also has not run any tests, buta spokesman says it may do so soon.Recently, independent tests of the 86YHarness/booster combination were run atthe University of Michigan TransportationResearch Institute (UMTRI) to explorevarious installation configurations andcombinations. The results were not satis-factory with the 3-year dummy.
Connie Murray, president of E-Z-OnProducts, commented that children in pas-senger vehicles should be in regular CRsas long as possible. The 6-year dummywould be more appropriate for tests ofboosters with her vest or harness. Her rec-ommendation of the booster/86Y combi-nation on school buses starting at age 3 isto accommodate Head Start providers’needs. (See note on school bus testing,below.) Murray says E-Z-On plans to runmore tests, including some with the 6-yeardummy, in the near future.

http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache...tOct.pdf+86Y+harness&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=7&gl=us

Sorry for the way it pasted; all the run-on paragraphs/sentences.

So it makes me wonder, is using the 86Y plus a booster really a good thing? Have the tests with harness+booster with the 6yo dummy been done, and if so, what were the results? Can we find out?

Defrost · Jul 9, 2007

Good is a relative term in this case, though. Is it better than a harnessed seat? Absolutely not. Is it better than a lap-only belt, with or without the booster? Almost certainly.

Also, the lowest weight on the harness is 40 lbs, not 30, so it's hard to say how much difference that 10 lbs would make. It's also not something that most parents are going to choose over a harnessed seat unless they truly have no other options - for example, I can't imagine that someone would remove their child (who is most likely perfectly capable of buckling himself into that seat) from a harnessed seat, buy a booster AND a harness and then deal with the locking clip (for a lap/shoulder belt) and threading the seatbelt through the straps every single time they got in the car. What would be the point, yk?

scatterbunny said:
Can we find out?

Call EZ-On and ask for Yvonne - she's awesome!

UlrikeDG · Jul 9, 2007

For a while, EZ-On sold a HBB specifically for use with their harnesses. I don't remember the timing of that, but I'm pretty sure it was after 2001.

scatterbunny · Jul 9, 2007

Thanks, guys. I know the Kid-Y harness must be used with only the RideRyte booster, but any booster is approved for the 86Y, which is why this SRN thing threw me.

It's true that most parents wouldn't move their child out of a harnessed seat into the harness/booster combo unless necessary in most cases; I'm curious because dh's truck has a lapbelt-only in the center, and we can't replace it right now. Using a hbb and the 86Y sounds like the perfect solution (although we can't do the tether anchor at a 45 degree angle because it's a single cab truck). I was also throwing around the idea of using the 86Y with a booster when either Hayley outgrows the Husky/it expires. If using a good hbb that positions the belts properly is safer than using the 86Y with a hbb, that's what I'll do; but I'll put up with the inconvenience of the 86Y with a lap/shoulderbelt if it's safer. This article just has me wondering. There's no question that it's better than a lapbelt, and it's better than lap/shoulderbelts that don't fit correctly, but I was wondering what had changed E-Z On's mind about allowing the 86Y to be used with a booster, and if anyone knew.

Looks like I'll need to call and ask some questions this week.

Defrost · Jul 9, 2007

I just got off the phone with them (I needed to ask them about their recommendation about our Mazda unstated-weight-limit anchor points anyway) and got quite a few questions answered.

#1: the 45 degree angle is *not* required, just "ideal," meaning that they want people to try to get as close to that angle as the vehicle allows, but if the only place to put it is straight down behind the seat that's acceptable as well.

#2: She said in cases where the vehicle manufacturer doesn't state a limit, they recommend switching to their hardware at 60lbs. (Oh joy - Fighter's around 55 lbs so I better get to work figuring out how I'm gonna manage this in that damn car!)

#3: EZ-On has done their own crash testing with a "variety" of boosters with the 86Y, and with different dummies (she told me which but I've forgotten already - I *knew* I should have written them down!); all met FMVSS standards. She was unfamiliar with the article in question and asked me to email it her.

scatterbunny · Jul 9, 2007

Great info, thanks so much! I wonder though, what does FMVSS cover as far as the harness systems? I thought FMVSS only covers up to 65 pounds?

Questions/concerns re: E-Z On 86Y used with booster

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