Help! I can't UNinstall my Triumph!

[delly]

Ok, apparently I did TOO good a job installing our Evenflo Triumph in my husband's car, because we needed to take out the carseats so he could pick up some furniture, and I can't get the Triumph out! Ugh!

I got my son's Regent out in about 45 seconds, no problem - the Britax LATCH attachments made it easy to disengage from the car's LATCH bars.

The problem with the Triumph seems to be that I got it in there so tight that

1) there's very little slack in the LATCH belt,

2) even with leaning hard on the carseat to get some slack, I can't get the LATCH belt to loosen because there isn't enough slack to turn the buckle to the right angle to slide the belt through the buckle and

3) most importantly, I can NOT get the LATCH hooks off the LATCH anchor bars of the car! It seems that even if I can get my hand in there and push the hook open, I can't push hard enough against the cushions of the car to get it up and over the LATCH anchor bar and free of it to pull it out - does that make sense? The cushions are just so firm that I can't get enough room to get the hook high enough to clear the bar. I never realized how nice the Britax LATCH system is until today!!

Any ideas??? I'm almost at the point of cutting the strap to get this stupid seat out! Can you buy new LATCH straps for a Triumph? I don't even know...

I swear though, I'm thinking of some kind of pry system to push the cushioning out of the way to give me room to get the hook off??? I dunno. There's got to be a way to do that. But I'd need to cut the straps to get the seat out of the way and give me enough room to get in there with tools.

 

[jess71903]

I did that with a borrowed AOE and hurt my hand trying to loosen the stupid LATCH strap! The babysitter's hubby ended up getting it for me. Sorry I'm no help! I just wanted you to know that you're not the only one!

 

[Gypsy]

Try kneeling in the seat and opening the LATCH connector and turning it sideways to get it off the anchor.

Or kneeling in the seat to loosen the LATCH strap.

 

[Jeanum]

By any chance does the vehicle seat recline? If so, try reclining it to get more room to maneuver and unhook the lower LATCH connectors. :twocents:

 

[BeachMama86]

Lol, I have this trouble with my Triumph too (EFTA)!! Only when using latch. My problem is I push the release on the latch and it doesn't push!

The only way I can get it out is to have hubby get in there and push, and I'm actually a really stong person!

It's a PITA.

 

[P1ally]

Lol I did the same thing to my parents EFTA.. They were so pissed lol..

 

[Mommy0608]

I had that issue with my Triumph Advance, too. It was rear-facing so I couldn't climb in the seat. What I did was use both hands to push the gray release button on the LATCH strap, and at the same time give a good hard shove with my shoulder into the side of the car seat to push it enough to loosen the strap.

If you can climb into the car seat, that might be helpful in pushing it down so that it creates some slack in the LATCH strap.

I'm not sure if you can purchase a separate new strap though, but you could call Evenflo to find out.

Good luck!

 

[delly]

Oh, no, it happens with EFTA too? I have one of those installed in our other car, but I haven't tried to get it out yet - now I'm a little worried!!!

I'll have to try a couple things tonight when he gets home... unfortunately I think the seat folds FORWARD to fold away, sort of, so I doubt it reclines. I could try to turn it sideways (the latch, I mean) ... there's so little room, though. I wish I could get the stupid belt to loosen, at least, to give me more manuvering room.

Oh well, I'm glad I'm not the only one!

DH saw the Marathon on sale for like 188 on amazon or something and emailed me today asking if we should get it - he said he saw britax and thought "oh, latch buttons!" hehe. I don't know if this is worth spending $$ to replace the carseat, but...

 

[Murphy's Law]

Ugh. My EFTA does that ALL the time. Usually I have to break a sweat and curse at it several times before I can get it out. I have vowed to only do seat belt installs with it from now on when it is RF but I keep forgetting what a pain it is to remove and inevitably I end up using the latch straps!

 

[BookMama]

he said he saw britax and thought "oh, latch buttons!" hehe. I don't know if this is worth spending $$ to replace the carseat, but...

Doesn't one version of the EFTA have push-button LATCH connectors? I wonder if you could get one of those LATCH straps from Evenflo.

 

[BeachMama86]

MY EFTA has the same kind of release that a seatbelt does, so is that a push button? And as I've mentioned, it does the same thing.

 

[AtTheSouthDam]

Oh, no, it happens with EFTA too? I have one of those installed in our other car, but I haven't tried to get it out yet - now I'm a little worried!!!

I'll have to try a couple things tonight when he gets home... unfortunately I think the seat folds FORWARD to fold away, sort of, so I doubt it reclines. I could try to turn it sideways (the latch, I mean) ... there's so little room, though. I wish I could get the stupid belt to loosen, at least, to give me more manuvering room.

Oh well, I'm glad I'm not the only one!

DH saw the Marathon on sale for like 188 on amazon or something and emailed me today asking if we should get it - he said he saw britax and thought "oh, latch buttons!" hehe. I don't know if this is worth spending $$ to replace the carseat, but...

I think alligator clips are totally with the money BECAUSE of this problem. You can get to good and installation with the other clips

 

[jewlsvern]

Doesn't one version of the EFTA have push-button LATCH connectors? I wonder if you could get one of those LATCH straps from Evenflo.

Yes, the premiere version does. I have one and it is a breeze to uninstall. Totally worth the extra $20.

 

[Mira Giovenazzo]

I am desperately trying to remove the Triumph LX carseat----I can't get any slack in the base strap please HELP

 

[murphydog77]

I am desperately trying to remove the Triumph LX carseat----I can't get any slack in the base strap please HELP

This is tricky because there's so much EPS foam along the sides of the Triumph. I'm guessing you have the hook-on style connectors since you'd just be able to pull the other ones off? Have someone help you if you can and one of you stand over the top of the carseat (assuming RF) to put as much weight on the seat as possible while the other tries to loosen the LATCH strap. By taking pressure off the strap, it generally allows the strap to loosen. If putting weight in the seat doesn't help, you can always cut the LATCH strap and remove the lower connectors. The carseat can be installed with the seat belt in the future.