CSB’s Carseat Lockoff Guide
As LATCH weight limits continue to shrink due to a combination of heavier car seats and federal standards, more car seats require installation using the seatbelt once the child hits a certain weight. The problem with seatbelt installations is that most parents have no idea how to lock the seatbelts in their vehicle in order to properly install a carseat or infant seat base. Ask the average parent what a switchable retractor is and you’ll probably get a blank stare in response.
This is why every car seat in North America should come with a built-in lockoff! If you are installing with a seatbelt instead of lower LATCH anchors and your carseat has a lockoff device – use it and you will never have to worry about understanding pre-crash locking features on vehicle restraint systems.
Function of built-in lockoff device: A lockoff device can serve more than one function but its main purpose is to cinch or clamp the seatbelt in such a way that it cannot loosen and your tight car seat installation stays tight!
2023 Car Seats With Lockoff(s)
Lockoffs on Infant Seat Bases
There are different types of lockoffs that require different routing so make sure you are following the directions that came with your carseat. Never assume anything. Below we discuss the two most common types of lockoff systems for infant seat bases.
Lockoff just for shoulder belt portion of the seatbelt
- Bases with these types of lockoffs will have a lockoff on each side of the base but you only use one lockoff, on the side where the shoulder belt goes up to the retractor. Do NOT use the lockoff on the buckle side.
Two lockoffs on base but only use one of them!
Single lockoff device
- clamps both sections of the seatbelt (lap belt and shoulder belt)
Convertible seats with lockoffs may have them for both rear-facing and forward-facing or just for forward-facing.
Britax Allegiance and Emblem lockoffs
Clek Foonf & Fllo lockoffs (different types of lockoffs for RF & FF beltpaths)
Graco 4Ever DLX lockoff (only for forward-facing installations)
Forward-Facing Combination Seats Lockoffs
Chicco MyFit – Lockoff cinches just the shoulder belt portion of the seatbelt (this lockoff design can also be found on all current NextFit, Fit4 and OneFit models)
ClickTight Technology (available on certain Britax models): The ClickTight compartment acts as a lockoff too!
SO if you have lockoffs are you not supposed to lock the seatbelt? I feel like the install wouldn’t be as tight if I were to do it that way.
My mother in law has an older Tahoethe middle seat has only a lap belt. There is what looks like a rubber band on the belt. To me it simply holds the excess belt out of the way. My mother in law calls it a locking clip. I’ve only seen metal looking clips that look like an ‘H’. Is hers a locking clip? She won’t listen to me and doesn’t understand the importance of proper installation.
Hi Kelly, I’m not sure what the rubber band is for but it’s definitely not a locking clip. A lap-only seatbelt will lock in one of two ways depending on whether or not that system has a retractor. Most lap-only belts do not have a retractor but the few that do will have ALR (automatic locking retractor) system. I have a video of a lap-only seatbelt with ALR retractor here: https://youtu.be/vusUjmT1pZ8
Most likely what you have in the Tahoe is a lap-only belt with no retractor and a locking latchplate. It is fine to install a carseat with a harness with this type of system (but never a booster). After you buckle, you pull the loose tail end of the seatbelt as tightly as you can – and the seatbelt should keep that carseat firmly in place. No need for a lockoff or a locking clip with this type of belt system. Can you convince your mother in law to visit a CPS Tech in her area? Sometimes people need to hear the information from someone who isn’t a relative. Good luck!
I don’t know about the recaro seats for younger kids that can rear face as well as forward face, but the recaro pro sport does NOT have lock offs and even worse the belt path goes directly under the seat padding, as does the latch system and BOTH of these when installed properly and tight (which takes considerable effort) leave a seat belt digging into the child’s back under the padding. So extremely frustrating. I ordered from Amazon so mine went back with a no hassle return, but another mom who bought hers elsewhere and couldn’t return called recaro and their suggestion was to send a foam pad to go under exsist influence padding which would place even more bulk between the child’s back and the back of the seat. I didn’t feel that was a safe option.
Hi, I have an Argos 80 Elite 3-in-1 Car Seat and I am having a hard time installing the shoulder seat belt properly with the lock off (the shoulder portion of the belt, which should be the only part in the lock off, twists and does not stay straight; it seems that the lock off is too high!) Any help will be greatly appreciated!
Hi there. I have someone telling me that you only need a locking clip on cars built before ’96. I think he’s confused and incorrect. This is how I understand it (but I don’t want to correct him if he’s right, and I’m wrong): ’96 began the requirement for a seat belt to lock prior to a crash, but that required a locking mechanism in EITHER the seat belt retractor OR the latch plate, not necessarily both. The purpose of the locking clip is for belts with free-sliding latch plates. My car was made after ’96, and the belts are switchable, so when you pull them out fully, it activates the ALR. But although the belt retractor locks, because the latch plate is free-sliding, I think it still requires the locking clip. The California Highway Patrol officer who walked us through the installation used for it, too. The only thing that leaves me uncertain about this is that the Graco manual states both that a free-sliding belt “MUST be converted to prevent movement of the lap portion of the belt.” But it follows that statement by saying that you must use a locking clip “when using the infant restraint WITHOUT THE BASE.” So, if you’re using a base, do you not have to use the locking clip after all? It seems you would have to unless the base had the built-in lock-offs you show above (which ours didn’t).
Does all that make sense? Please correct me if I’m wrong, but it seems that if the belt has a free-sliding latch plate and the base DOESN’T have a built-in lock-off, you WOULD need to use the locking clip.
Hi Liz,
A locking clip is only required if there is not any type of locking mechanism on your belt. If you have the ALR mechanism on your belt and it ratchets down when you feed the belt back in, this is the locking mechanism and you do not need to use a locking clip or built in lockoff. I believe that this is the setup for most late-model vehicles: ALR mechanism and free-sliding buckle piece. You can use the locking clip in these instances if you choose, but is is not necessary to have the seat installed properly and safely. Just be sure that the “lap” portion of the belt as you feed it into the patch is not twisted and is pulled as tight as it can be in front of the actual buckle, then ratchet down the shoulder.
I have heard that a locking clip can help with tilting of infant bases that have a shoulder belt fed through the belt path, so that may have been an instance where the locking clip was used to make things more even.
I’ll be flying with my daughter(nearly 2) in a few weeks with a Graco MyRide 65. I’m planning on RFing her during the flight. Do I need a lock off for the seatbelt?
Hi Jen, no – you don’t need a lockoff for a airplane seatbelt. The lap belts on airplanes have locking latchplates so after you buckle you just tighten the belt snug and it will stay tight! When you land and it’s time to remove the carseat you will probably need to peel back the cover to expose the latchplate so you can release it. HTH!
When I use the comparison tool on the Britax website to compare the marathon, boulevard and pavilion (non “ClickTight” models) the only seat that has a check in the “Built-in Lock-offs” column is the pavilion. However, I have read reviews and comments from owners of boulevard and marathon seats mentioning using lock-off clamps for a seat belt install. I also went to my local Target today to check out the marathon seat they carry and it had color coded plastic clamps under the seat padding that looked just like lock-offs to my , admittedly untrained, eye. And last but not least, this page lists the marathon, boulevard and pavilion as all having integrated belt lock-offs.
So… I’m confused! Do all three of these Britax convertible seats have the lock-off clamps, or is it really just the pavilion? I currently use the clamp on my son’s infant seat and I can get a beautifully tight install and feel very confident using this method to secure a seat. I want to purchase a Britax convertible seat for him, but only one that has built-in seat belt lock-offs. I would happily purchase the pavilion, it’s just that I prefer some of the lighter fabric choices on the boulevard which will help to keep the seat a little bit more comfortable for him in a hot car in the summer.
I Have the marathon and it does have the lock offs. I just got the FrontierClicktight booster. If I had to buy another convertible I would seriously consider spending the extra on clicktight. It really is amazing and no worrying about LATCH or lock offs. I never thought it was worth the extra but it really is!
We have a briatax pavilion g3. I know the lock offs are color coded for rear and forward facing, but what I’m confused on is if I’m supposed to use both clips or just the one closest to the car seat belt buckle. (There are two red clips and two blue clips… so if I’m using the reds, do I use both red or just one). Thanks!
If it’s like my Britax marathon, you just use the one closest to the buckle. 3 years of using the seat and I finally realized I’d been doing it incorrectly and using both this whole time. Gotta read those manuals about 20 times so you don’t miss any details.
I just found this out today as well. Only one is supposed to be used, but Britax still has an instructional video on youtube showing the installation with both. Im also having a difficult time getting a straight answer on the alr. Should I engage the locking retractor while using the lock off?
Hi Megan, if you are locking the seatbelt by using the lockoff then it’s redundant and unnecessary to switch the retractor to locked mode as well. HTH!
Megan, I have the Britax Advocate g3 model and I have been using both seat belt locks offs in my husbands truck which doesn’t have anchors. Am I too only supposed to be using one? If so, which one?! Thanks in advance!
FYI, currently the InTrust35 does not have a vehicle belt lock-off. At this time, it is only a vehicle belt positioner. Thanks!
Thanks for the clarification, Heather! I was going by memory on that one and I forgot that it’s not considered a true lockoff yet. I will remove it from the list for now.
I remember we’ll the first time we took a drive with our first son almost 11 years ago in his Graco Snugride. We went round a sharp bend, and the whole car seat and base tipped over onto its side! The baby was not hurt, but we knew right away that we had done something seriously wrong! That was the day we learned about locking off your seat belts. To this day, I still have locking clips floating around in my glove compartments.
I helped a customer today who came in looking for a locking clip, because “the guy at the fire station said I needed one for the infant seat base in my 1999 vehicle”. I offered to come out and give her a hand with one of my free ones (my store has not sold locking clips in at least 5 years), and it was a Graco Click Connect 40! That base has the nicest lockoff, I showed her how to install it in seconds, rock solid.