Child car seats and Pickups

tylera1

My wife just gave birth to our son and i need a
truck. does anyone know what models and makes of
pickup that a child car seat would fit in in rear
seat? I'd prefer a 1994-1996 year truck

powerisfun

Congratulations on your new family member! I don't have any info for you since I was wondering the same thing. I have a '98 GMC Sierra (old body style) that I was wondering if a child seat would fit in. I'm hoping so as my wife and I are planning on having kids in the near future and I don't want to get rid of my truck. If it doesn't fit, it would be a heck of a bummer.
-powerisfun

cole3500

I'm concerned about putting a car seat in my ram 1500 with the fold down console??

pcheng

I used to have a 91' Toyota Extra Cab PU. I could put one upright seat in the back. My oldest son rode in that for 2.5 years. If you go with a Toyota, make sure it has the old sytle back seats. I looked in a new Tacoma, and it didn't look like it would work. The difference is that the old Toyota had padding that went from the bottom of the rear window to the seat pad. The new Tacoma's just has a strip of padding that goes across the back.

The most important thing is that the shoulder straps are much closer to the seat, versus behind the seat. You have to really snug up the seat as well as anchor the top of the seat to secure it.

Now I have a 2000 Toyota Tundra, with two car seats in it and my boys are 3 and 1 year old. The truck comes with 2 (maybe 3) car seat anchors in the back. I think this truck has more room in the back than my 98 Camary.

Let me know if you have more questions.

powerisfun

Thanks, that's good to know about the car seats fitting in your Tundra. I think the x-cab in my K1500 is about the same size as the Tundra, so it should be no problem. One thing, though, is that my wife and I are pretty tall (I'm 6'5", she's 5'10") and we have the front seats all the way back. At least one of us will probably have to move it up a bit. Thanks again.
-powerisfun

larochelle

Is your Ram 1500 a quad-cab?

My parents have a quad-cab and I mount the baby seat in the middle of the back seat with no problems.

If you don't have a quad-cab, and you have to put the baby seat in the front seat (not recommended for safety reasons) you have to be able to disable the airbags. I'm not sure about mounting the seat in the middle against the folding console, besides, if the baby seat is in the middle of the front seat, there is a potential danger from the driver side airbag (can't be disabled).

Also, if the baby seat is in the middle of the back seat, the front seats can be moved all the way back.

Good luck.

powerisfun

Thanks for the info on being able to move the seats all the way back with the baby seat in the middle. The middle is probably safest for the baby anyway. My GMC has the 3rd door (couldn't get a quad-cab...thanks a lot GM!) which will be really nice when the time comes.
-powerisfun

vince4

GM says not to put a child seat in the middle position of the front seat but they don't say why. Does anyone know? I read the comment above about the driver air bag, maybe that's it. I have a 2000 Silverado LS regular cab with the folding center section. I don't see why this is a bad location since it has a seatbelt and is good enough for an adult.

chadc777

If I recall correctly, the only problem with airbags and child seats is for rear facing child seats. I don't think its an issue with forward facing child seats in the front seat. I think the passenger airbags that can be disabled say to disable them only for rearward facing seats not front facing seats.

Chad

pcheng

That 4th door (or rather lack of) is the reason why I didn't buy a GM. Now GM says they won't deliver the 4th door till April. I spoke to an ex-Ford engineer (worked in their truck division), he says he doesn't know what the problem is, it wasn't a radical re-design, actually, according to him, it was barely a slight modification.

We have one upright baby seat and one booster seat in the back. The booster seat will go from 20lbs - 50lbs (I think). There is definitely more room for legs with the booster seat. If you keep your seat back, the baby seat is okay as long as your kid's legs don't hang down too far.

Hope this helps.

cowpokes

The reasons for the airbags not being recommended for the middle of a bench or 60/40 is the bag is designed to wrap(hit) the driver or passenger square on, the middle position gives the passenger a side hit, a glancing blow.
The recommendation is for no kids in the front seat. In or out of car seats at all, whether front or rear facing.
The air bags are currently designed to slow down a full sized adult not a small child. It is a physics problem.
So if you have a regular cab pickup with an airbag for just the driver, kid goes next to the door, Mom and Dad get to ride close like when they were dating and still liked each other.
If the rig has airbags for driver and passenger, you have to get the dealer to disconnect the passenger side, you have to jump through some hoops to prove why you need to do it.

The kids are always safer in back, in a good car seat, correctly installed.

Sorry for the sermon,
But having been an EMT for 15 years, a kid in a car wreck is something no one should ever have to work on.

powerisfun

When I bought my truck (it's a '98), I got such a great deal I couldn't pass it up even without the 4th door. I love to tell this story, my apologies to others on the board who may have read this before: First, it was late 1998 and I found the truck with everything I wanted (4x4-Z71, 3rd-door, CD-cassette, and power-everything) and got it for $100 under invoice because it was a leftover K1500 and the new style GM trucks were out (dealer wanted to get it off the lot). Then there was a $1000 manf. rebate on the C/K trucks (GM also wanted to get rid of them), then I had $2300 on the GM Card rebate, then I also had the GM employee discount (my brother-in-law works at GM) which was another $1500. In short, I got a fully loaded truck with an MSRP of $29958 for $21,205 and that includes tax, title, and licence. For that I was willing to give up the 4th door. Plus I do like the looks of the old body-style GMC's better than the Fords or Dodges (Tundra wasn't out then). But I have to admit, I do miss that extra door on the drivers side.

Thanks for the extra tips on the baby seats.

-powerisfun

larochelle

I agree with you cowpokes.

I don't care what kind of inconvenience the carseat may cause, my son will never ride in the front seat while in a car seat.

Never compromise the safety of your children. Those bad drivers are out there and eventually may find you.

For more information check out the following article:

http://www.family.go.com/Features/family_1997_09/dcfm/dcfm97carsafety/dcfm97carsafety.html

pcheng

Wow, that's a great deal. For my self, I just couldn't imagine trying to chase my 3 year old across the back cab (since I have two kids). I thought this would be a real problem trying buckle and un-buckle two kids, especially while the other had to wait un-buckled.

Just curious, is it a problem for you? Do you find it convient to get at a car seat behind the driver? I brought my oldest son to the GMC dealer when I looked at the Sierra, and it was driving me nuts to just try to buckle him in behind to driver without the car seat (just testing out the reach, we didn't test drive it the truck that night). I figured it would have been next to impossible to reach the far seat if there was another car seat behind the passenger.

powerisfun

I don't have kids yet, I'm just here trying to learn because my wife and I are planning on kids in about a year or so. I imagine that will be a problem, though. The truck will mainly be my work vehicle, and we'll buy a family sedan that will be the main kid hauler. We like the new Impala so far the best.
-powerisfun

pcheng

We have a Camary too. I like taking the kids in the truck because it's easier to get them in and out; you don't have to bend over to pick them up.

Also, the kids like the truck, because the sit more upright and can see out the window. In the Camary, all they can see is the sky and tops of trees.

I think you'll agree (when your's come along).

powerisfun

I see what you mean about the kids liking the truck better. I guess I won't have to worry about not having the 4th door till we have 2 kids. Maybe then it will be time to trade up.
Thanks for all your input.
-powerisfun

pcheng

Oh yeah, I forgot the most important feature. They sit closer to you in the truck, so you can reach them. This means that you can hand them their pacifier, toy, book, or whatever, from the driver seat. Any parent who has had 2 screaming kids, (at a stop light, late for dinner, trying to close a business deal on the cell phone) knows the value of this feature.

meredith

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