Vent My fr90 isnt working out :(

[mommytosavy]

Checked mine, no bar. Power of suggestion I guess. I have to say the honeymoon is over for me as well. It's a great seat don't get me wrong and I'm still glad I got it, but if I didn't need the easy install I honestly don't think the extra features are worth it. I guess I was under estimating how great a seat the 85 really is, I've loved mine so much, it's really hard to improve on something that is that great to start off with. The click tight is freakin awesome though! For those wanting to upgrade their 85s that are comfortable with LBP, I honestly wouldn't bother.

I am looking for a booster but haven't made up my mind on which one. So if someone doesn't have the FR85 but looking at boosters what would you recommend since it sounds like the FR90 is just ok? My DD is average weight and just a bit over average on height. Thanks!!

 

[AK Dad]

So after one day with the replacement seat, I hate to say it, but it's going back too. The difficulty of getting the harness tight is just a deal breaker for me. Sorry Britax, but customer loyalty only goes so far, and in some cases can backfire since our expectations are high. Most of us have owned and loved other Britax seats, and in my opinion, this one is a step backwards and one I'm not willing to take.
I'm probably going to try to get another FR85 before they're all gone ...

Glad I'd read about it here first.
Just got off the phone with Britax. They told me just to push it back in and keep using the seat, but really not sure I'm comfortable with that.

Thanks for checking for it and reporting it - my guess is this is going unreported by a lot of people, because it's pretty subtle if you don't know to look for it. They didn't give me an opinion either way when I talked to them, but I did see someone over on FB says customer service told them not to use it anymore. I'd say if you can avoid using it and have another seat to use in the meantime that would be the best bet, but if it's your only option it's probably just fine to push it back in and keep using it until a replacement arrives.

I have to say the honeymoon is over for me as well. It's a great seat don't get me wrong and I'm still glad I got it, but if I didn't need the easy install I honestly don't think the extra features are worth it. I guess I was under estimating how great a seat the 85 really is, I've loved mine so much, it's really hard to improve on something that is that great to start off with. The click tight is freakin awesome though! For those wanting to upgrade their 85s that are comfortable with LBP, I honestly wouldn't bother.

Completely agree! I did some comparison between the two because I was trying to figure out why the harness adjusts so smoothly on the 85 and so poorly on the 90. One of the biggest differences is where the straps make the 90-degree+ bend thru the back of the seat at shoulder level. On the 85 the straps run over a nice, radiused piece of steel - it's not a roller, but smooth enough it might as well be one. On the 90, it's just going right over the sharp edge of a piece of plastic. Also, after the splitter plate on the 85, the adjuster strap has a direct path to the release and then to the front of the seat, whereas on the 90 it for no apparent reason makes an extra "jog" down, then thru the release, then back up. All of that seems to combine to make the harness just a huge PITA to tighten!

 

[Jessica61624]

Sarah posted herself in here its ok to use them until replaced.

 

[nylle]

Just wanted to say that my Frontier 90 adjusts extremely smoothly and easily...crazy that people are having such different experiences.

 

[AK Dad]

I am looking for a booster but haven't made up my mind on which one. So if someone doesn't have the FR85 but looking at boosters what would you recommend since it sounds like the FR90 is just ok? My DD is average weight and just a bit over average on height. Thanks!!

Well, if you're talking pure boosters, there are plenty of great ones. I assume you mean a "high weight harness" to booster seat like the Frontiers are? If that's the case, it complicates the search a bit because the FR85 and 90 have about 2" of extra shoulder height on the nearest competitor.

What are your daughter's stats?

 

[mommytosavy]

Well, if you're talking pure boosters, there are plenty of great ones. I assume you mean a "high weight harness" to booster seat like the Frontiers are? If that's the case, it complicates the search a bit because the FR85 and 90 have about 2" of extra shoulder height on the nearest competitor.

What are your daughter's stats?

That is what I seem to be going back and forth on if I really do need a big of a seat as the 90 or even 85. My DD is about 30ish lbs and around 39.5"ish. She is just average in weight and has stayed just a bit over average on height around 65%ile and I believe her torso is 13" or 14" (if that sounds about right? She wasn't cooperating well) she is 3.5yo. I know I don't need it for weight but I just don't know on the height. I am just having the toughest time making a decision. I love her TFP but I would like to get something different and use that as a spare, especially with summer the sitter can take her to the pool or something.

 

[Athena]

I think it depends on how long you want to harness her. I got the Frontier 85 for height, not weight and I'm happy that my 6.5 year old still fits in the harness because she's happy about it. She prefers it over a booster right now. But there are some other options for combo seats. I don't know much about the other options though, so I'll let someone else tell you about that. Do you have anywhere you can go look at the seats in person?

 

[mommytosavy]

I think it depends on how long you want to harness her. I got the Frontier 85 for height, not weight and I'm happy that my 6.5 year old still fits in the harness because she's happy about it. She prefers it over a booster right now. But there are some other options for combo seats. I don't know much about the other options though, so I'll let someone else tell you about that. Do you have anywhere you can go look at the seats in person?

Thank you for suggesting the Fr85. I guess I am just not sure how long I will harness her. She is pretty wiggly and doesn't like to sit still for very long but she is only 3 but I guess I like having the option to harness to an older age. We have a BRU but they don't seem to carry a ton of different seats. They may have had 1 FR85 if I remember correctly. We don't live real close so next time I go I will check out their seats again and maybe try more in my car.

 

[jpegtle]

So has anyone gotten a response from Britax on how hard it is to tighten the harness? We have 3 new seats and all of them adjust fine until you put a kid in there and then you have to work really really hard to adjust them to correct tightness. It's a safety issue.

 

[Phineasmama]

Mine are not hard to tighten at all. It's probably due to the fit in the vehicle, which could happen with any seat. I would try installing it with the head rest on the vehicle seat.

 

[jpegtle]

I am not sure what you mean about installing with headrest. We have our headrests installed in the cars. I am having this problem jn three different cars. We have 3 other britax boulevards that we have never had a problem with. Personally I think they have a design flaw.

 

[Jessica61624]

I haven't had any issue with the adjuster either.

 

[NVMBR02]

I don't have any problems with my adjusted either, on any of the vehicles I have tried it in. I do think there is a problem with some seats but I would not call it a design flaw at this point.

 

[Cryssy Jane]

I found that with my headrests on it was harder to tighten but not impossible. With the headrests off there's no issue for me.

 

[AK Dad]

So has anyone gotten a response from Britax on how hard it is to tighten the harness? We have 3 new seats and all of them adjust fine until you put a kid in there and then you have to work really really hard to adjust them to correct tightness. It's a safety issue.

Just wanted to say that no, I haven't heard anything back from Britax, but they're hearing from me in the form of returned Frontier 90. I bought a Frontier 85 SICT to replace it. Fortunately Amazon.com allowed me to to return the FR90 even though I was over the time limit due to having Britax send me a replacement because of the metal bar working its way out.

And no, the issue with the FR90 had nothing to do with interference from the vehicle seat since I tried it sitting in my living room floor also to make sure I'd removed as many variables as possible and still couldn't get it tight enough with anything close to a reasonable amount of effort.

I am surprised that the majority of people here aren't having any problems. I guess all I can say to anyone who's planning on buying one is keep your packaging and receipt ...

 

[jpegtle]

Just wanted to say that no, I haven't heard anything back from Britax, but they're hearing from me in the form of returned Frontier 90. I bought a Frontier 85 SICT to replace it. Fortunately Amazon.com allowed me to to return the FR90 even though I was over the time limit due to having Britax send me a replacement because of the metal bar working its way out.

And no, the issue with the FR90 had nothing to do with interference from the vehicle seat since I tried it sitting in my living room floor also to make sure I'd removed as many variables as possible and still couldn't get it tight enough with anything close to a reasonable amount of effort.

I am surprised that the majority of people here aren't having any problems. I guess all I can say to anyone who's planning on buying one is keep your packaging and receipt ...

Thank you AK Dad--I was starting to feel crazy

 

[msg221]

I haven't even had the chance to use my seat with a kid in it yet! This past weekend we were going to babysit Ethan & Chase but then their parents plans changed so that didn't happen, so I have no idea how the harness adjuster and headrest work for me.

One problem i did have was when I played around with it today and tried to install it in the center of my 2013 Kia Sorento. I could not get a tight install at all! It's a piece of cake outboard though. I wanted to see if it might be possible to get it installed in the center with something next to it so I would still have room in the other outboard position if needed. Has anyone else had problems installing in the center position?

 

[Kobain's Mommy]

I haven't even had the chance to use my seat with a kid in it yet! This past weekend we were going to babysit Ethan & Chase but then their parents plans changed so that didn't happen, so I have no idea how the harness adjuster and headrest work for me.

One problem i did have was when I played around with it today and tried to install it in the center of my 2013 Kia Sorento. I could not get a tight install at all! It's a piece of cake outboard though. I wanted to see if it might be possible to get it installed in the center with something next to it so I would still have room in the other outboard position if needed. Has anyone else had problems installing in the center position?

I had a 13 Sorento for a rental. I couldn't get the 90 in center either when I tried. It want an issue since I had a blvd70 in the car too. I was just playing around.

 

[Janina]

I just got two frontier 90s same baych number ending in 42116. One has a very loose rod that I can spin and push in and out. The other is only slightly loose. It was sticking out when I got it but I pushed it back in and it pretty much stays there. Any word on what Britax is doing about this?

 

[Amy7707]

I just got two frontier 90s same baych number ending in 42116. One has a very loose rod that I can spin and push in and out. The other is only slightly loose. It was sticking out when I got it but I pushed it back in and it pretty much stays there. Any word on what Britax is doing about this?

I called today and they said you can just push it back in and continue using the seat. They did offer to replace the seat for me as well though.

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