Question Radian and Uneven Harness

[Ninetales]

I've been noticing lately that the straps on our Radian are uneven. When I tighten it, one side is tighter than the other and I can't figure out why. I've tried searching but must not be using the right keywords.

Sometimes it happened in the Myride, but only when she was off center in the side. Scootching her over to the loose side only helps a little.

 

[lyn_ak]

I would be interested too in an answer. What I ended up doing was undoing the harness from the splitter plate and pulling them through the seat to see if one side maybe is longer than the other side (happens with certain seats, don't know the correct terms) but nope, they were the same length. So I put everything back and then it tightened evenly again. I also notice that when I'm pulling the harness tight from the back while tugging the harness adjuster, I also tend to get uneven harness tightness.

 

[scariestone]

Ours is that way too and always has been. My uneducated guess is it has to do with the splitter plate. Instead of each strap going into its own side, they're mashed together into one slot. Its annoying but I'm able to get the "loose" side tight enough that I'm not worried about it.

 

[Ninetales]

Any tips on how to even out the tightness? I usually scootch her over toward the loose side and pull the tight side extra tight. I don't like it though, because she complains about it. What do you do?

 

[scariestone]

I have one uber tight side and one not quite as tight as it should be side. :/ You could try to take it out of the car, put the kid in it and pull the straps from the back and tighten it. Its DS's backup-backup seat so I haven't messed with it too much and I wasn't concerned about it RF. Call diono, they always have helpful advice.

 

[Ninetales]

I always pull the straps from the back. I think it's the way they loop onto the splitter plate. Since they both go onto the same hook it seems like one has further to go or something. I feel like if it had two hooks on it it wouldn't be a problem.

 

[scariestone]

Exactly. Its a terrible design. On top of making the straps uneven it is a royal pain to get both straps back on there. This isn't the only seat I've had an issue with(I think my kid is uneven. ) but its way more pronounced than any other seat I've owned.

 

[Ninetales]

It's kind of surprising that you don't hear more about this considering how often the seat is recommended here.

 

[Ninetales]

Does anyone have any tips or ideas on how to fix this? It's really bothering me that one side of my kid's harness is too loose. They're the same length so it's definitely a design flaw.

I can't return it at this point and if this doesn't work my 2 yr old will have to go ff.

 

[AshleyCPST]

iv had this happen in both my chaperone and RN and they were uneven in the chest clip. my husband actually figured it out, i couldnt for the life of me figure out why one side wasnt getting tight! we loosened the harness some and pulled the chest down to the buckle and pulled the slack out of the legs one at a time then re tightened and moved the chest clip up, it fixed the problem for us.

 

[mom of six]

Are your straps removable? If so, remove them and check if they are the same length. If they are not call Diono and ask. They will probably send you new straps.

However, be aware that when it comes to manufacturing there is a term called tolerance. It gives the manufacturer a window of acceptable limits since it is not practical to get things EXACT 100% of the time. Instead they have a range of what is acceptable. By this I mean that it might be with in acceptable limits (or tolerances) for the straps to be 1/2" different in length and that it really makes no statistical difference in a crash. We expect things to be perfect but when it comes to manufacturing that is really unrealistic.

I took the straps out of one of my older radians and the straps were indeed 1/2" different in length.

Heather

 

[tiggercat]

It's kind of surprising that you don't hear more about this considering how often the seat is recommended here.

I've never had this problem, on 4 different Radians (xt, xtsl, xtsl, rxt). I think it is pretty rare for it to be an issue?

Sent from my iPod touch using Car-Seat.Org

 

[Ninetales]

I assumed it was just part of the way it was made. My straps are the same length, so I figured that's just how they're made. That's why I thought it was weird no one else talked about it.

I tried moving the chest clip down and pulling out any slack at the hips. It got the loose tight enough but it's still looser than the other and she says the other side is too tight.

 

[tiggercat]

I assumed it was just part of the way it was made. My straps are the same length, so I figured that's just how they're made. That's why I thought it was weird no one else talked about it.

I tried moving the chest clip down and pulling out any slack at the hips. It got the loose tight enough but it's still looser than the other and she says the other side is too tight.

I wonder if it has to do with how she sits in her seat? Or maybe my kid is crooked?
I don't mean to imply that it isn't a problem for you! I can understand how frustrating it must be to not be able to get one strap tight enough. I wonder if they would send you uneven straps to balance it out? (only half joking here)
I wonder, could you post a picture of the straps attached to the splitter plate for me?

Sent from my iPod touch using Car-Seat.Org

 

[Ninetales]

I scootch her over as much as I can without making the other side fall off. Heck, I had to do that in the Myride too, maybe she's crooked or has one shoulder lower or something.

I'll get a pic the next time I can manage to put the baby down.

 

[tiggercat]

I scootch her over as much as I can without making the other side fall off. Heck, I had to do that in the Myride too, maybe she's crooked or has one shoulder lower or something.

I'll get a pic the next time I can manage to put the baby down.

Scooch her bottom over or her shoulders? If you've tried that, maybe try her centered in the seat (could be she tips sideways to compensate).

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[Ninetales]

I've tried her centered. I started scootching her whole body over after I noticed the issue. I don't recall trying just her bottom, though.

Here are some pics of the splitter plate area.













The strap on the right side of the picture is the side that is tighter.

 

[tiggercat]

Try just scooting her bottom over to the loose side, keep the rest of her centered. That will make her "tight" shoulder droop a bit?
That looks correct, I was just wondering if maybe the straps were switched (I've seen them put on together so other loop was inside) or something odd.

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[Ninetales]

Moving just her butt over helped a bit. I also pulled the tight side as much as possible without causing pain at her hip.

It's going to be a major PITA to do every time but at least it makes me comfortable enough to keep her in it.

 

[jmenole]

I've been noticing this in mine as well. Its the side that is on the splitter plate first - the innermost one - that's looser (left shoulder strap). Like the outer one (right shoulder strap) takes just a bit of length away by having to wrap around the first strap in addition to the splitter. Wondering if everyone's looser side is the same?