What prompted the Britax G4 lower weight limits than the G3?

Nedra

Car-Seat.org Ambassador
I heard that other 70 lb weight limit seats will also be stepping down to 65 lbs as a result of some new regulation? Can anyone explain what that new regulation is? Are combination seats with weight limits of 80-90 lbs still safe?

PS-- This is in the US. I know in Canada the weight limit on the G3 convertibles was 65 lbs too.
 
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YinzerMama

New member
As I understand it the seats themselves were tested to that weight and the change has to do with some other matter - but I think most seats pad their upper weight limits by 10 to 20 pounds so this isn't a change that is really going to affect anyone. I can't see a 70 or 65 pound child fitting comfortably in the g3 or g4 britax seats. My oldest son is a smidge under 80 pounds and the idea of him harnessed in our fr85 has been laughable for some time now.

He outgrew his classic MA at 48 pounds and one of my daughters now at 48 pounds cannot comfortably ride in it (even though harness height is technically acceptable)

Anyway if they were to change the limits on the combo seats at some point - I expect it would have no actual impact on most people.
 
Yeah I agree with Yinzer, the five pound decrease is, in 99% of cases, not going to make a difference in the real world. L is 46 lbs and outgrowing the Britax convertibles by height now. I cannot imagine a 65-lb child fitting in those convertibles.

I feel like your question is more about the *why* of the decrease. As for that, I'm not completely sure. I believe it is FMVSS related, but maybe it has to do with the LATCH changes? Just a thought.
 

YinzerMama

New member
It is weird for it to be latch related since at that weight people have been using the seatbelt to install anyway but if the seats are roughly 20 pounds (I don't know for sure but they are in that ballpark) then a 65 pound weight limit would allow you to latch to the limits of the seat now in most cars. I don't if latch to the limits of the seat trumps a higher weight limit on the seat overall as a feature but again I doubt anyone will actually get a child of that weight into one of those seats so it's a moot point.
 

SafeDad

CPSDarren - Admin
Staff member
The short answer is that the vast majority of convertibles, and even a few combos, do not have the necessary seated torso height limits to fit the dummy that will be required to go above 65 lbs. Some products have gone down to 65 lbs. in advance, others will make the change when the final ruling is enacted.

As mentioned, because of the discrepancy, very few kids actually were heavy enough to exceed the 65 pound weight limit before one of the height limits, but there were certainly some exceptions that did.

This does not affect the safety of current models. They were simply tested with a different dummy weighted up to the necessary amount. The change does make the weight limits a little more in line with typical height limits, hopefully.
 

TechnoGranola

Forum Ambassador
They were simply tested with a different dummy weighted up to the necessary amount. The change does make the weight limits a little more in line with typical height limits, hopefully.

So I wonder if that's why the new G4's need tethering in Canada, because they don't meet the rebound standard with the new dummy...even if that dummy isn't required for Canadian testing at this point (don't know if it is), Britax may be being proactive for if/when Canada switches to using that dummy.

ETA: but now I realize that new dummy is likely only for FF, not RF. So that blow that theory out of the water! LOL
 

Keeks64

New member
So I wonder if that's why the new G4's need tethering in Canada, because they don't meet the rebound standard with the new dummy...even if that dummy isn't required for Canadian testing at this point (don't know if it is), Britax may be being proactive for if/when Canada switches to using that dummy.

Didn't we get a new dummy family when our standards changed?! Would we be getting new ones already?! - not asking you specifically lol more thinking outloud

It's a good theory & might explain the need now for RF tethering

Sent from my iPhone using Car-Seat.Org
 

TechnoGranola

Forum Ambassador
Didn't we get a new dummy family when our standards changed?! Would we be getting new ones already?! - not asking you specifically lol more thinking outloud It's a good theory & might explain the need now for RF tethering Sent from my iPhone using Car-Seat.Org

Oh yes we might have but the G3's would have been tested with that already, no?

I think my theory is dead anything with this new dummy being for FF.

I'd love to be a fly on the wall at the engineer's project meetings....
 

YinzerMama

New member
And of course if Britax were to raise the slots to meet the weight criteria, then they would sell fewer combination seats. ;)

I have seen them claim that a 90% 6 year old can still fit in their seats but I can't imagine how a kid can be short enough to fit and at the weight max but not be busting out of the seat side to side? My daughter is 48 pounds and solid (like Mary Lou Retton) - she meets the height requirement but she is not at all comfortable in a britax convertable. It just boggles my mind.

(She does fit more comfortably in the nextfit but I am not sure if she would still fit in there in 17 pounds. But I think I could see a heavier kid her height actually fitting)
 

thtr4me

New member
My almost 8yo is barely 45lbs soaking wet, and no longer fits in the Britax convertibles by height. He is just over the top slots now. I cannot see a kid at the max weight even coming close to fitting in that seat.
 

Nedra

Car-Seat.org Ambassador
The short answer is that the vast majority of convertibles, and even a few combos, do not have the necessary seated torso height limits to fit the dummy that will be required to go above 65 lbs. Some products have gone down to 65 lbs. in advance, others will make the change when the final ruling is enacted.

As mentioned, because of the discrepancy, very few kids actually were heavy enough to exceed the 65 pound weight limit before one of the height limits, but there were certainly some exceptions that did.

This does not affect the safety of current models. They were simply tested with a different dummy weighted up to the necessary amount. The change does make the weight limits a little more in line with typical height limits, hopefully.

Okay, so if I am understanding correctly, it's more a matter of height than weight. So it's not like a 5-point harness is categorically not a safe place for a 70 lb kid, but rather that in order to prove that it is safe for a kid that weight, they'd have to test it with a dummy that is 70 lbs. and since the new 70 lb dummies are being redesigned to more accurately match the proportions of a 70 lb kid, manufactures with short shells and harness slots will have to bring down their weight limits.

Is that right?
 

LISmama810

Admin - CPS Technician
Okay, so if I am understanding correctly, it's more a matter of height than weight. So it's not like a 5-point harness is categorically not a safe place for a 70 lb kid, but rather that in order to prove that it is safe for a kid that weight, they'd have to test it with a dummy that is 70 lbs. and since the new 70 lb dummies are being redesigned to more accurately match the proportions of a 70 lb kid, manufactures with short shells and harness slots will have to bring down their weight limits. Is that right?

That's essentially my understanding.
 

Kecia

Admin - CPST Instructor
Going forward (manufactured after Fed 27, 2014) any seat rated beyond 65 lbs. will be required, as per FMVSS 213 standards, to be tested with and pass with the 10 year old Hybrid III dummy. So, not only does the seat need to be big enough to actually fit the 10 year old dummy - but it has to pass crash testing standards with it too. There aren't many convertibles seats that are going to fit the 10 year old dummy because that dummy is huge! It's only slightly smaller than the 5th percentile adult female dummy. http://www.humaneticsatd.com/crash-test-dummies/children/hybrid-iii-10-year-old
 

nannykates

New member
Another question-will this apply to other weight limits as well? The titan 50 and classic ride (comfysport with a 50# limit) come to mind as seats that are awfully short for their weight limits.
 

ketchupqueen

CPST and ketchup snob
Staff member
65 lbs is the cutoff for testing with the ten year old size dummy. I doubt anything under that limit will change.
 

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