Britax - getting new harness for FR and MA

seamonkeys · May 11, 2009

I've been putting off calling about the fraying on my FR because I thought they'd want photos or give me crap about it. But recently started noticing fraying on my MA (DOM 10/08!!). So I finally called today and she said they've changed the harnesses on both of the models I have, so they're sending new ones out tomorrow!

I'm hoping that means new tongues will be sent, too - with no metal. (I forgot to pay attention to if she mentioned they were included

)

jujumum · May 12, 2009

Good deal! I'd love to see comparison pics of the older and new models when you get the new ones.

seamonkeys · May 23, 2009

Got them the other day! And yes, came with new tongues with no metal!! :thumbsup:

I already replaced them on the MA and tossed the old ones. But haven't done the FR yet, so I'll take photos to show comparison before I throw them out.

tanyaandallie · May 23, 2009

No metal? Did I miss this change?

seamonkeys · May 23, 2009

tanyaandallie said:
No metal? Did I miss this change?

Yeah! I think I've seen a photo of here and was very excited to get mine! I think it's the metal that was making the straps fray!

I'll go take photos right now while the baby is not screaming to be held or eat!

Okay, photos:

Old buckle - note the opening is about 1/4" wider than the strap - that's why people have had problems with it twisting and making the tong backwards!

New buckle with NO metal! Also note that the opening is now exactly the width of the harness! YEAH!

joolsplus3 · May 23, 2009

Yeah, they had a big announcement at Lifesavers and here a couple months ago that they will have 'overmolded' tongues so that they are all plastic next to the harness webbing to reduce fraying. I've been putting off a ordering new FR harness till I was sure they were done sending out the metal tongues, looks like I can now (uh, except I'm only using it as a booster, lol).

Glad to hear they sent you new harnesses, OP!

seamonkeys · May 23, 2009

joolsplus3 said:
Yeah, they had a big announcement at Lifesavers and here a couple months ago that they will have 'overmolded' tongues so that they are all plastic next to the harness webbing to reduce fraying. I've been putting off a ordering new FR harness till I was sure they were done sending out the metal tongues, looks like I can now (uh, except I'm only using it as a booster, lol).

Glad to hear they sent you new harnesses, OP!

Yeah, she mentioned the models I had were changed, that's why I got the new ones.

You should get one that way it will be ready for the next owner. And I bet you could get it free, even if it's past the warranty time! Especially if you'd had fraying!

jujumum · May 23, 2009

I just had to check all of my Britax seats. Here is what I found:

11/06 MA - No metal
08/07 FPSVD - Metal
11/07 BV - No metal
02/08 RA - Metal
03/09 BV - Metal
New beige harness/buckle set just purchased last week (full $22 price, full $10shipping)- Metal

I don't get it - some of my older seats don't have the metal, but the new ones do? Why did they send me a brand new set with the metal exposed?

Should I call them and have them sent me new tongs and/or harness? I JUST ordered the harness/buckle set last week!

tanyaandallie · May 23, 2009

Cool!!! I'm going to call. I want a new cover as well. My pink one is just not wearing well at all!!! I love this seat but I swear it has had so many quirks.

seamonkeys · May 23, 2009

jujumum said:
I just had to check all of my Britax seats. Here is what I found:

11/06 MA - No metal
08/07 FPSVD - Metal
11/07 BV - No metal
02/08 RA - Metal
03/09 BV - Metal
New beige harness/buckle set just purchased last week (full $22 price, full $10shipping)- Metal

I don't get it - some of my older seats don't have the metal, but the new ones do? Why did they send me a brand new set with the metal exposed? Should I call them and have them sent me new tongs and/or harness? I JUST ordered the harness/buckle set last week!

I think the metal was a new thing, but realized after all of the fraying harness complaints that it was NOT a good idea! Oh wait, you have a 3/09 that has metal?? I would call and ask about it. And the other one with metal as well!

I would at least call - if your harness is new, I would just ask for the new tongues. Mention you are worried about it fraying the harness! I didn't think it was a problem on my MA until recently. I thought it was only a problem on the FR - because the harness is slightly different thickness.

snowbird25ca · May 23, 2009

2lilmonkeys said:
I think the metal was a new thing, but realized after all of the fraying harness complaints that it was NOT a good idea! Oh wait, you have a 3/09 that has metal?? I would call and ask about it. And the other one with metal as well!

I would at least call - if your harness is new, I would just ask for the new tongs. .

The buckle tongues aren't available by themselves, they come attached to the harness.

Ignoring the FPSVD, here's the history on the Britax buckles and why some are plastic, then metal, and now back to plastic...

Original plastic: Britax buckles used to be single click - with most seats (and Britax now as well,) you get a click after each tongue is inserted. With the single click buckle the positive click only happened after the 2nd tongue was inserted. Some people complained a lot about it, so they changed to a double click buckle.

Metal buckle: When they switched to the double click buckle, all the tongues had metal in them. I'm sure a search here would show the exact date that happened, but it was early 2008.

New plastic buckle: For Canadian seats the change happened sometime between the end of February to the middle of March 09. (I don't remember exactly now, but I had a whole bunch of seats at work that I used to get a 2wk time frame.

) My guess is it probably changed on US seats right around the same time.

A lot of people have had fraying problems with the metal tongues, and I think that was an unanticipated problem. So they just started encasing the metal tongues with plastic again to prevent the fraying. And there you have the history of the different buckles.

jujumum · May 24, 2009

Ok, I'm going to call on Tuesday and tell them that I need to return the replacement harness that I just bought for ones with the non-exposed metal tongs. I'm also going to ask them to send me replacement ones for the 3/09 BV.

I tried and can't for the life of me get the 11/06 no-metal tongs off the old harness (that I am tossing as the harness fabric is ruined). I was going to try to replace the BV tongs myself. The exposed metal ones come right off the BV, but the non-metal ones have such a tiny opening, that I can't slip them off I'll cut off the ruined harness belt, but I still won't be able to slip them onto the BV harness. The non-metal ones look like they may have been placed on before the sewing was done.

Britax is really testing my love for their company.

NVMBR02 · May 24, 2009

Good to know. I have been putting off calling about my MA harness (DOM 11/08) even though I have had good luck with their customer service in the past. I should just call on Tuesday and be done with it!

momof3boys · May 24, 2009

I just checked too.

plastic on 2/09 MA
metal on 2/09 FN

Hmmmm...

BTW is there anything to do with the Frontier tongs sliding all the way down into the seat (have to "fish" them out each time). I love that the MA has the velcro which keeps them from doing this. I read someone used some sort of felt sticky, any other ideas??

seamonkeys · May 24, 2009

snowbird25ca said:
The buckle tongues aren't available by themselves, they come attached to the harness.

Yeah, that makes sense.

jujumum said:
The non-metal ones look like they may have been placed on before the sewing was done.

In the "removing the cover" instructions, the FR manual says: "Never remove the buckle tongues from the harness. They cannot be attached after removal."

momof3boys said:
BTW is there anything to do with the Frontier tongs sliding all the way down into the seat (have to "fish" them out each time). I love that the MA has the velcro which keeps them from doing this. I read someone used some sort of felt sticky, any other ideas??

I never did anything. I'm hoping that they won't slide as much with the new tongues having a smaller opening.

FYI: I went back and corrected the spelling to "tongue" thanks to snowbird!

momof3boys · May 24, 2009

I'm wondering if I shoud call?? It couldn't hurt I suppose. Especially if it helps with the sliding into the seat.

snowbird25ca · May 25, 2009

jujumum said:
Ok, I'm going to call on Tuesday and tell them that I need to return the replacement harness that I just bought for ones with the non-exposed metal tongs. I'm also going to ask them to send me replacement ones for the 3/09 BV.

I tried and can't for the life of me get the 11/06 no-metal tongs off the old harness (that I am tossing as the harness fabric is ruined). I was going to try to replace the BV tongs myself. The exposed metal ones come right off the BV, but the non-metal ones have such a tiny opening, that I can't slip them off I'll cut off the ruined harness belt, but I still won't be able to slip them onto the BV harness. The non-metal ones look like they may have been placed on before the sewing was done.

Even if you could get them off, they will not work properly with the double click buckle. The manual also explicitly states not to disassemble the harness... I've seen a few replacement harnesses and they always come with new buckle tongues on them.

(Russ spells buckle tongues tongs, so I don't know that there's a right and wrong way. I say it tongue, so I spell it tongue,

)

jujumum · May 25, 2009

snowbird25ca said:
Even if you could get them off, they will not work properly with the double click buckle. The manual also explicitly states not to disassemble the harness... I've seen a few replacement harnesses and they always come with new buckle tongues on them.

I'm tossing the old harness/tong/tounge set anyway, so I thought I'd try to take them off. I wondered about the double click buckle compatibility, thanks! Off to the trash.

I hope Britax will be cooperative tomorrow about sending me replacement sets.

Judi · May 25, 2009

They sent me a new harness, and that wasn't the problem, lol. I noticed after I called that my harness was also fraying. This was my frontier, that has been used a total of maybe 20 times.

seamonkeys · May 25, 2009

snowbird25ca said:
(Russ spells buckle tongues tongs, so I don't know that there's a right and wrong way. I say it tongue, so I spell it tongue, )

Okay, this is funny, Sunshine Kids calls them "tongs" (per their website), BUT Britax calls them "tongues" (per the FR manual).

So I guess there really is no wrong way!

Britax - getting new harness for FR and MA

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