What seats can be tethered rear facing?

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katymyers

Active member
Radian, Coccoro, and Britax convertibles. I don't think any besides those do but I could be wrong. Those I know for sure all do though.
 

LISmama810

Admin - CPS Technician
The Via has an anti-rebound handle position as well. Any infant seat that allows you to keep the handle up also offers some degree of anti-rebound protection. I wouldn't say that an anti-rebound handle/bar is exactly the same as a RF tether, but they do serve a similar purpose.
 

crunchierthanthou

New member
For future seats, the Foonf can.

Sent from my iPhone using Car-Seat.Org

The Foonf will be conditional/parental decision. The seat itself is approved for it, but manual will to say to check with your vehicle manufacturer. Last I heard, only one vehicle manufacturer had given Clek the green light for rf tethering.
 

katymyers

Active member
crunchierthanthou said:
The Foonf will be conditional/parental decision. The seat itself is approved for it, but manual will to say to check with your vehicle manufacturer. Last I heard, only one vehicle manufacturer had given Clek the green light for rf tethering.

Are there vehicle manufacturers that prohibit rf tethering altogether? I'm wondering because that's never really mentioned. Why would it be ok with other car seats and not the Foonf, if only one manufacturer has said it's ok?
 

TechnoGranola

Forum Ambassador
crunchierthanthou said:
The Foonf will be conditional/parental decision. The seat itself is approved for it, but manual will to say to check with your vehicle manufacturer. Last I heard, only one vehicle manufacturer had given Clek the green light for rf tethering.

Isn't Clek the only manufacturer who's actually asked the NA vehicle manufacturers?

Also, my Britax manual says if I can't find a rear-tether point, to call my vehicle manufacturer and ask where I can tether to. Any guesses on how many manufacturers would provide me with a location to use?

Sent from my iPhone using Car-Seat.Org
 

crunchierthanthou

New member
Are there vehicle manufacturers that prohibit rf tethering altogether? I'm wondering because that's never really mentioned. Why would it be ok with other car seats and not the Foonf, if only one manufacturer has said it's ok?

As of now, none have come out either way (that I know of, except communications with Clek). However, that may happen in the future. I've heard it's on their radar. I wouldn't be surprised if we see statements in the next LATCH manual.

Until now, we've kind of glossed over the vehicle manufacturer's standpoint. Most vehicles don't have a dedicated rf tether anchor because the number of people using it is relatively low, and a rf anchor isn't required. Plus, rf tethering is so different from ff, and the loads can't hurt anything, right?

That may be true, but there are a few concerns. 1- there's no way to actually test the loads on the 213 test sled. 2- the vehicle seats themselves are becoming more advanced with sensors and such and are an integral part of the passenger occupant system. They don't know whether rf tether may disrupt that. 3- more and more vehicle seat anchorages are enclosed/integrated. Sometimes there is wiring, or other hardware running through the same tracks. There's a possibility that we could disturb that in our zeal to find a place to wrap the connector strap.

I've actually noticed the integrated seat hardware myself- particularly in newer, more expensive cars. I'd guess over 80% of my rf convertible installations are Britax or Diono in a luxury vehicle. I don't even bother going over the rf tether info until I've scoped out the front seats. There were too many times that I went through my whole spiel about what the connector strap was, how to use it, why rf tether may be beneficial, only to turn and find that there was no place to wrap it. Then I'm stuck with explaining away, "but it's totally option, and passes all testing without it... "
 

bnsnyde

New member
We have our seats RF tethered for the 1 and 3-year-old and I'm not so sure about it, really.

I mean, there is just no good info out there. How do I even know how strong what I'm anchoring it to is. Or for that matter, WHAT I'm anchoring it to. I'm grasping around in the dark and found a spot that seemed to fit the bill, and found online that other techs have used it, but still, is it OK?

I pulled trim off the van to do it.
And a heavy Radian with older RF kid is a BIG load.

Maybe it would all equal catastrophe in a crash. I don't know. Nobody has given me a reason not to do it. Hmmm. In theory I think it sounds good.
I wish there were some tests on this.
 

snowbird25ca

Moderator - CPST Instructor
Isn't Clek the only manufacturer who's actually asked the NA vehicle manufacturers?

Also, my Britax manual says if I can't find a rear-tether point, to call my vehicle manufacturer and ask where I can tether to. Any guesses on how many manufacturers would provide me with a location to use?

Sent from my iPhone using Car-Seat.Org

I believe Clek is the only one who has asked the vehicle manufacturers up to this point.

I've spoken with GM about rf tethering before. My question and pictures went from customer service to an engineer. The engineer could not tell me if it was safe, would not recommend for or against, and said that the only thing they could tell me is that it wouldn't void my new vehicle warranty. This was a few years ago, last I've heard GM has possibly changed their stance. I should probably try calling again and see if they have an official answer now. (My vehicle is out of warranty at this point now, so it really has nothing to do about warranty and has everything to do about safety - that was the one question they couldn't tell me yes or no to.)

The Foonf will be conditional/parental decision. The seat itself is approved for it, but manual will to say to check with your vehicle manufacturer. Last I heard, only one vehicle manufacturer had given Clek the green light for rf tethering.

They get very big bonus points in my eyes for doing this wording. Some vehicle manufacturers don't allow rf tethering, so this wording matches what has been the message Canadian technicians have been giving for years. It's good to see it make it in to a carseat manual rather than a company just recommending the use of a rf'ing tether whenever possible without mention of getting approval from the vehicle manufacturer.

We have our seats RF tethered for the 1 and 3-year-old and I'm not so sure about it, really.

I mean, there is just no good info out there. How do I even know how strong what I'm anchoring it to is. Or for that matter, WHAT I'm anchoring it to. I'm grasping around in the dark and found a spot that seemed to fit the bill, and found online that other techs have used it, but still, is it OK?

I pulled trim off the van to do it.
And a heavy Radian with older RF kid is a BIG load.

Maybe it would all equal catastrophe in a crash. I don't know. Nobody has given me a reason not to do it. Hmmm. In theory I think it sounds good.
I wish there were some tests on this.

I wouldn't do it without approval from your vehicle manufacturer. The seats are safe without the rf'ing tether and given that we don't know how it may affect the vehicle, it's not a risk I'm willing to take unless my vehicle manufacturer can tell me it's safe to do so.

eta: I just realized this is an old thread - I replied without looking at the date when I was trying to find some information that was mentioned in a different thread and I obviously missed this thread when it was new. :eek:
 

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