Some Britax Frontiers are having some problems, please beware

The Britax Frontier is a new High Weight Harness Forward Facing seat made by Britax. It harnesses to 80 pounds (unless the child gets too tall) and then becomes a High Back booster. Many people love Britax seats and think they must be the best because they are so expensive. The Frontier is a brand new seat, just out for 2008. Some people have bought the seat, and have run into problems. Not all of the Frontiers are having problems, but some are. Many of us in the carseat community are expecting Britax to recall the seats. If you already have one, here are some problems to look for.

Problem 1-
The harness comes off the splitter plate. When installed in the vehicle, loosen and tighten the harness straps a few (or several) times. Make sure when you pull the straps to loosen, you're only pulling 1 strap at a time, not both together. Then pull hard on 1 harness strap and see if it comes out of the seat. Repeat for the other side of the harness.
If you harness comes out of the seat, uninstall and fix. THe ahrness came off the splitter plate (metal clip that holds it). Simply replace the ahrness through the seat and reattach to the splitter plate. Make sure all future harness loosening is done by pulling both harness straps equally.
Also, if your harness came off, you need to contact Britax and NHTSA. Call Britax and tell them you're having a problem. THey are aware of the issue, and are working to replicate it and fix it. The more calls they get from people having problems, the better! Also, go to http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/ivoq/ and fill out the information to report the problem. I know NHTSA has already received 3 reports, again, the more the better! Once NHTSA gets enough reports, they will look into it and possibly order a recall.

Problem 2-
Some people have found that when they install the Frontier, it becomes difficult or impossible to loosen or tighten the harness. When they uninstall it, they've found the splitter plate can get stuck on a small piece of plastic on the back. If this happens, follow the same steps as above to report it to Britax and NHTSA. It looks like Britax was aware of this, and seats made after August have had the plastic on the back changed to it can't get stuck.



This is a picture of problem 2. The splitter plate gets stuck on a piece of the plastic.










This is a picture of a Frontier where Britax fixed problem 2 :)











All photos are used with permission of the owners