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radian or frontier 85

*Lu-Lu**Lu-Lu*
in Parenting

I have one more car seat question...

which of these would you get?   I'm debating between these two for my soon-to-be 2 year old (20mths now.)  I know the frontier is for 2yrs and up, so I would use the car seat that is in dh's car (fp safe voyage) for the time being until I decide to turn my son around if I decide to go with the frontier.  Or, should I just get a radian and use it now and then turn him whenever.

 In essence, my question is which is the better seat/value between the two for a forward facing 2 year old?  Would you choose the frontier 85 or the radian?  

 

I'm leaning toward the frontier because I'm used to britax installation and that is the seat we have for dd.  I'm liking having the same seat for the two of them.  I dunno...  

Thanks!

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Re: radian or frontier 85

  • emiliemadisonemiliemadison member

    If you plan to only FF your LO, then it doesnt make sense to buy a convertible car seat. You will get more use out of a forward only seat.

    I do want to let you know that the installation for the FR85 is TOTALLY different than any of the convertible car seats with the seat belt. In fact, its downright confusing (and I'm a car seat tech!). Installing it with LATCH is ok, but still not as easy as with the convertibles.

    Are you near a BRU? If so, go and install the display seat in your car. I'd also recommend trying the Graco Nautilus. It's half the price and I actually liked it better. 

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  • *Lu-Lu**Lu-Lu*

    I plan on FF, just not immediately.  I'm hoping for 2yrs or later.  He's 20 mths now.   We got in an accident and insurance is replacing our seats.  I bought dd the frontier and really didn't have too much of an issue installing it with latch.  I did see the instructions with the seat belt.... that looked pretty crazy!  I am thinking we won't ever even try that. 

    I'm looking for a seat for my 20 mth old now.  I bought a radian xtsl.  I haven't opened it yet because I'm still thinking about what would be the best seat.  We have a fisherprice safe voyage that I'm using now.  He's RF in it.  I'm just trying to decide if I should buy another convertible or the frontier now.  The fisher price seat stays in my husband's car, but I will keep it in my car if I decide to buy the frontier.  

    I really didn't even look at the nautilus because I'm familiar with britax products (ie: comfortable with installation) and am not really familiar with graco.  Also, cost isn't a factor, not that cost = better seat.  

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  • emiliemadisonemiliemadison member
    Something to consider is that, depending on your vehicle, you will only be able to use LATCH until your LO is 40 or 48 lbs. So at some point when he's still in the harness, you will have to install his seat with a seatbelt.
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  • JOEBunnyJOEBunny member

    I have 3 radians, an 80 and 2 65s.  Both go to 53". I just bought the 65's for DS.  I like that he can easily climb in and out on his own.  It is super easy to install using latch.  I like that it folds if I or need to store it in the back of the car when we have passengers.  It has a steel frame that makes it seem sturdier than the Britax we had before.  They should be in it until 7. 

    I have DS rear facing and DD forward.  

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  • JOEBunnyJOEBunny member

    FYI..."The new SuperLATCH feature addresses this issue by allowing parents to install their car seats with the security of the latch system all the way up to the full weight capacity of the car seat."

    As long as your car manual doesn't say otherwise, you should be able to use latch to the limit of the seat (I don't anticipate my kids will be anywhere close to 65 pounds by the time they are 53", given they are mid range for height and bottom of the chart for weight)

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  • emiliemadisonemiliemadison member
    imageJOEBunny:

    FYI..."The new SuperLATCH feature addresses this issue by allowing parents to install their car seats with the security of the latch system all the way up to the full weight capacity of the car seat."

    As long as your car manual doesn't say otherwise, you should be able to use latch to the limit of the seat (I don't anticipate my kids will be anywhere close to 65 pounds by the time they are 53", given they are mid range for height and bottom of the chart for weight)

    True. I was talking about the Frontier though :) 

    However, even though the new SuperLATCH Radian seats allow you to use LATCH up to the max weight of the car seat, using SL past the vehicle stated max (40 or 48 lbs) is only allowed in cars manufactured after September 1, 2005. 

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  • JOEBunnyJOEBunny member
    imageemiliemadison:
    imageJOEBunny:

    FYI..."The new SuperLATCH feature addresses this issue by allowing parents to install their car seats with the security of the latch system all the way up to the full weight capacity of the car seat."

    As long as your car manual doesn't say otherwise, you should be able to use latch to the limit of the seat (I don't anticipate my kids will be anywhere close to 65 pounds by the time they are 53", given they are mid range for height and bottom of the chart for weight)

    True. I was talking about the Frontier though :) 

    However, even though the new SuperLATCH Radian seats allow you to use LATCH up to the max weight of the car seat, using SL past the vehicle stated max (40 or 48 lbs) is only allowed in cars manufactured after September 1, 2005. 

    I knew you were talking about the frontier, just wanted to point out that that was not true of the radian.  Both our cars allow it, though DH's car specifically says you are not to install more than 2 car seats, so we still end up using a booster when we have a friend along, instead of the 3rd radian.  Where did you find the Sept 2, 2005 info?  I have not seen that wholesale date for all cars.  Interesting.

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  • *Lu-Lu**Lu-Lu*

    I also saw that date somewhere when I was reading about them.  Now, I can't remember where it was.

     

    Thanks for the info, both of you.   I just have to make up my mind!

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  • emiliemadisonemiliemadison member

    It's in the RadianSL manual. And I just checked and I was wrong about the Sept 1st part-  it actually says "...in vehicles made after September 2005. For vehicles made before September 2005, consult vehicle manual for lower anchor and tether limits."  Hmm. So even without the date, I still interpret this as it being ok if the vehicle was made IN Sept of '05, but not in August, etc.

    To find the month/year of vehicle manufacture, you have to look on the sticker that's on the frame of the door (same sticker as the VIN info).

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