Fitting a car seat in an extended cab truck?

[PingSpike]

Hardly the most manly topic but it is vehicle related!

I've sort of been looking at trucks again lately. I don't really want to own three vehicles because I'd rather not pay insurance and registrations as well as do repairs and deal with the hassle of maintaining another vehicle. But in researching I'm not so sure thats going to work for everything.

So I keep looking at compromise vehicles. I have a moderate commute (~19 miles one way) and have noticed that some of the 4 cylinder trucks get decent enough mileage I wouldn't go in the poor house if I commuted in one and left the car home for the wife.

One question that occured to me is that since we're planning on starting a family it would actually be fairly important that I could fit a car seat in there. I wouldn't expect it to be comfortable but in a pinch it would be nice if it was possible. Obviously standard cab would be out. And crew cabs come with a joke bed...4ft box? I might as well just get an SUV...and then I might as well just get a car...and so on.

Has anyone tried this? Is it impossible? What about 2 car seats? I know you can't use those side jump seats but I don't really know anything about car seats.

 

[an51r]

Buy a volvo 240 DL station wagon!

 

[thirdeye]

I was able to put a rear facing seat on the bench seats of my Titan (King cab not the full size 4 door Crew cab). A forward facing seat would definitely work a lot better, but I didn't have that choice at the time. But yes it should work in a pinch, I can't say how well in a smaller truck though.

 

[Zenmervolt]

Get a bench seat for the front and put the kid in the middle. There's no center airbag, so I think that should be OK. Any newer truck should also have a switch to disable the passenger side airbag which would make the front passenger seat safe for a car seat as well.

ZV

 

[JulesMaximus]

I have and it's a PITA.

Once in a while would be doable but if you were going to be hauling a baby around regularly I would not buy an extended cab truck.

 

[Demon-Xanth]

There's usually plenty of space in the bed.

 

[Kirby]

Originally posted by: Demon-Xanth
There's usually plenty of space in the bed.

Or just thow 'em in the toolbox.

 

[AmigaMan]

I had twins in rear-facing carseats in my 04 Tacoma Double Cab. I'm 6'1" and usually have my seat almost all the way back. With the car seats in I had to sit a little closer to the steering wheel but it was doable. And BTW, my double cab has a 5 foot bed which has been plenty for me. I've never seen a 4 foot bed though, who makes it?

 

[vi edit]

Anything with a 4 cylinder is going to have jump seats. I don't think those are compatible with car seats, and even if they were, I would have no desire to put my kid(s) into them.

You are either looking for full size king cabs with a bench or quad cabs in the compact market. Nissan had a long bed option on their previous generation Frontiers, and the Dakotas have a very functional bed as well. Newer model Frontiers (08 and up) and Tacomas (05 and up) have 6' beds + crew cab configs. But those are probably more than you want to spend.

 

[Demon-Xanth]

Originally posted by: vi edit
Anything with a 4 cylinder is going to have jump seats. I don't think those are compatible with car seats, and even if they were, I would have no desire to put my kid(s) into them.

You are either looking for full size king cabs with a bench or quad cabs in the compact market. Nissan had a long bed option on their previous generation Frontiers, and the Dakotas have a very functional bed as well. Newer model Frontiers (08 and up) and Tacomas (05 and up) have 6' beds + crew cab configs. But those are probably more than you want to spend.

Nope, you could get a 4 cylinder Dakota with a normal clubcab that had the same bench the V8s had. I don't think you can get a 4 cylinder Dakota since 05 though.

 

[radioouman]

I have a '94 Dakota extended cab that I'm not getting rid of anytime soon, and we have a baby on the way. I haven't tried putting the car seat in the back yet, although I think that it will be OK, especially in the center. But I could be totally wrong and it may be impossible.

Mine doesn't have a bench seat in the front. Buckets.