Britax Convertible Lockoff Tips and Updates

Britax recently made a minor change to the design of the built in lockoff on many of their convertible car seats.

These are the seats that have been affected by the change: Britax Roundabout 55, Britax Marathon 70, Britax Boulevard 70, and the Britax Advocate 70 CS.

What has changed?

Basically, Britax added a rubber strip to the area of the lockoff on all seats that have been manufactured from July 30, 2010 and onwards.

If you own one of these models from before that date, you can request an upgrade kit from the company.

This is not a safety change, rather a convenience feature changes.

Britax has updated the owner manuals for these car seats, and their new guidance suggests that you can now use just one of the built-in lockoffs instead of two of them. Some vehicles had tabs built into them which conflicted with the use of both lockoffs.

The recommendation from Britax is that the one lockoff which is located closest to the seatbelt buckle be the one utilized, however you can also avoid using any lockoffs in cars that have the seatbelt system which can be locked with the latchplate or retractor.

The method of using the new lockoffs now has different directions: You should leave the belt slightly loosened and then pull it tight when you actually close the lockoff. You may notice that this takes more force than if you simply push on the tab a bit higher, especially when the seatbelt already is tight when it is being clamped.