Forward of the Bight Belts & Incompatibility

Brigala

CPST Instructor
So, the manual of the Britax Frontier 85 clearly states that it is incompatible with forward of the bight lap-only seat belts.

Huge bummer since it sure would be nice to put a car seat in that spot that would last, like, forever.

I know such belts can be a PITA to install with, but usually there are ways to make it work if you try hard enough. Are there any other car seats out there (Britax or otherwise) which specifically say they're incompatible with this type of belt? I didn't see the same warning in the manual for my RA55.
 
ADS

Pixels

New member
Several seats have warnings about installing with forward of the bight belts.

Frankly, unless they define forward of the bight (FOTB), I'm okay with using FOTB belts as long as a good install can be achieved (less than one inch movement front to back or side to side). Where is the line between a belt in the bight, and forward of the bight? Does the belt have to come out precisely in the crack? Is it okay if it comes from the seat bottom as long as the back edge of the belt is touching the seat back? What if it's another centimeter forward? And then factor in the different contours of vehicle seats, where the crack between cushions is not precisely where the seat bottom turns 90 degrees to become the seat back. What is the bight, precisely? Is it the crack between cushions, or is it where seat back meets seat bottom, even if that's not precisely where the crack lies?

Considering I'm not even sure what they mean when they say forward of the bight, and they don't really define it, I'm okay with most installations. That said, there are some vehicles with REALLY FOTB belts, like 4 inches or more where there can be no doubt that that counts as being FOTB. Most of the time you wouldn't be able to get an acceptable installation there, anyway.
 

Brigala

CPST Instructor
I'm not even sure what they mean when they say forward of the bight, and they don't really define it

I've had much the same thought. The lap belt in my Suburban is definitely FotB, but I sure wish they'd define how far forward they consider forward.

I didn't try very hard, but I wasn't sucessful getting the Frontier installed there (I tried, just out of curiosity). Then again, I always have to try hard with every FF car seat I try to put in that spot.

I bet if they'd allow a long belt path for lap-only belts, it would work. But they don't. So oh well. :eek:
 

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