Radian chest clip

One of my sons is always pushing the chest clip down as far as he can. We're thinking that he doesn't like the size of the chest clip. Is there a smaller or less bulky clip we could replace this one with? He doesn't do this in his AOE in Dad's car, and that clip is much smaller and less bulky.

Thank you!

You could choose use the Britax chest clip on your Radian. It's much smaller.


Read this:
http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=43609

-N.

I'll go looking for those chest clips. From the posted link maybe it's that the straps are too close together and rubbing at his neck.

I understand that the chest clip has been changed on the newest Radians. It's possible you may be able to get a new-design one directly from Sunshine Kids.

HTH!

OK I couldn't find a Britax clip here in Ottawa. I went to Toysrus and Kiddytown. At Toysrus I found the Graco clip, and Kiddytown has the current Radian clip. Does anyone know where I could find the Britax clip either in a store in the Ottawa area or online where I wouldn't have to pay $18 in shipping which is what I found on the Britax website? I have emailed PMJ to see if I could get the new clip from them but of course I don't expect to get a response until at least Monday. I was hoping to takeout my car seats on Friday or Thursday clean them change the clips and reinstall them in my car ready for the visit from the inlaws.

I don't think Britax sells the clips in stores just through the company directly.

Can one buy the spacers that go under the Britax chest clip, with the chest clip (and will it fit onto the Radian straps). My husband is FOREVER clipping it too low, and i think the spacer would be a wonderful reminder to get the chest clip up, well into the chest area.

OP--I can send you a Britax one, I'll just order a bunch more from Britax to my US address... I only have one left, and it's on a demo seat

-Nicole.

QuassEE PM'ed you with some info and questions. Thanks for the offer!

BCsymmes I was looking at that too but will try to start with the new clip. our next seat when we replaced the AEOs in DHs car might be the Frontier or the Nautilus if it's around and works for the boys.

BCsymmes said:

Can one buy the spacers that go under the Britax chest clip, with the chest clip (and will it fit onto the Radian straps). My husband is FOREVER clipping it too low, and i think the spacer would be a wonderful reminder to get the chest clip up, well into the chest area.

Click to expand...

No, you could not use those on a Radian carseat. To do so would compromise it's crash worthiness.

The reason for this, is that those rubber pads are HUGS and are proprietary to Britax. HUGS stands for "Harness Ultra Guard System" and it's designed to spread the forces more evenly along the child's shoulders and chest in a collision. HUGS changes how the harness sits on a child. In a high impact speed it may increase head excursion slightly. On a Britax seat, it's no problem - Britax tests the seats with both HUGS and the energy absorbing tether.

The Radian, OTOH, uses a system called the Safestop to reduce the loads on a child's neck when he/she is ff'ing. (The safestop is not used when a child is rear facing, and it has to be removed once a child is over 40lbs.)

You do not want to use part of another manufacturer's seat on the Radian. There's just no way to know how it would affect crash test performance. The HUGS aren't a chest clip positioner, they're part of the energy management of the carseat.

A Britax chest clip is different because Sunshine Kids originally tested the Radian with a Britax style clip, and Sunshine Kids has ok'ed the use of that style chest clip on the Radian. A chest clip is a pre-crash positioner. It's positioning the harness properly, and that's it's only job. It's much different than changing the harness geometry itself which is what adding HUGS would do to the Radian. (Though you still wouldn't want to switch a chest clip with a different brand without manufacturer approval. :thumbsup: )

Wow I didn't know what the HUGS was for and I'm glad you posted this info. So I won't be looking at getting any of those in the future!