Car Seat options for 1st Gen (aka New baby on the way!)

[MrWinkey]

Well I tried the search option and I didnt have too much luck soooo.....



How have you guys been mounting your baby car seats in the 1st gen trucks?



I have buckets in both trucks w/ a console and since the baby isnt due untill August I figured I should get a good jump start on this now rather than wait. I'm thinking about a new set of 2nd gen seats or maybe ordering something from Summit (oooo new seat... ... )



How have you guys done it?



Thanks in advance.....

 

[MFalkinham]

First off, congratulations on the upcoming addition to your family!!



For the first year the baby will require a rear-facing safety seat. Only after they turn one year of age can they face towards the front. I've found with our new baby it worked best to belt the child seat into the front-passenger seat, and my wife and other daughter have to sit in the back seat. It's far from comfortable, but we don't take long trips in the truck so it works out OK.



I don't know how much shoulder room we'd have trying to put two adults in the front seat along with the safety seat. Perhaps someone else can elaborate on that experience.



- MikeF

 

[phillips5]

My first two grew out of car seats in my old 90 regular cab shift lever hit the carseat when they were old enough to face forward. when they infants facing backwords they had to go against the passenger door. Our third child now gets his seat rachet straped in back on the floor dead center. A rachet strap sure should hold as much as a seat belt. When he is to big for that we will have to scrap the buckets and get a second gen seat. Oh the third child is in the 93 ex cab.

 

[Paychk]

Food for thought the safest place for a child seat is in back seat. This creates the greatest crumple zone in case of collisions. This is from the insurance institute I believe.



It is from the NHTSA;



http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/people/injury/childps/

 

[MMiller]

On my 93 with the factory bench, the rear face seat would sit in the middle, and I had to be careful with shifts when she was sleeping, cause I would wake her if the lever hit her seat . Since she is old enough to look out the front window, my girl has to sit by the window. Can't shift otherwise.



Now this being said I am 6'1" long legged country boy so the seat is always against the back of the cab. If the seat was forward any then shifting would be a no go in the middle with any seat.



My little girl loves to ride shotgun in dad's truck. She gets a little worried when the smoke roles, but then she goes OOoooo- tractor whenever she sees them out the window! For some reason my wife keeps calling out daughter a Daddy's Girl. I figure she'll keep liking me until shes about 14 then she'll hate me. So I am loving it right now.



Good luck, and congrats. I'm hoping that since my wife sits close to me again in the truck, sometime soon we can maybe get another one on the way. Unfortunatly she still remembers the little girl being born :{ .



Michael

 

[mazdarotary]

I got a nice bench seat made especially for our 1st gen truck from www.pcvrv.com[url] They make them...will get you the answers you seek. Good luck.

 

[MrWinkey]

Hmmmm I knew the second gen seat was an option... .



The other thought I had was once we pick out a baby seat I could possibly remove the console and bolt it through the floor there.



I'm totally going to have to check out that website for the Seats made in canada. I have some friends up there I could have them ship it there and save a bunch of $$ that way.

 

[mazdarotary]

You could even drive up there,they are in Chilliwack,BC which is near Vancouver I think. Not too bad a ride from Spokane. I would bet they could even install it for you. Good luck.

 

[MrWinkey]

Do you have any pictures of the seat in your truck?



My wife would like that idea as then she could visit our friends in seattle. She loves the big towns while I cant wait to make some smoke and get the heck outa there.....

 

[Lock93]

Congrats!

We had this same problem times 2. Looked at the canada rear bench seat, but it was too small for the seat base to sit on w/o hanging off the front edge (which then violates the car seat manu rules).



Ended up buying a triple trucker front bench (like a 2nd gen, except the middle seat is on tracks also). Spendy, but both kids were up front with me, and mom got the jump seat.



This worked for a while, but now we're growing again, and had to list the truck for sale and buy a legitimate crew cab.



Edit: I considered putting the baby seat on the rear ext'd cab floor since I had read that back seats were safer, but the local fire dept does free inspections, and I asked that question of them -- they dang near called CPS on us for even mentioning that -- so don't do it, even if it was strapped in good. Just not made for that sort of thing, and too much liability. Do it right!

 

[jbolt]

A big congrats to ya. Your life will never be the same again. :-laf



I've got 10 years of experience with this myself.



When #1 came along I removed the center consol and built a sturdy wood platform (box) about 6-7 inches high. This was bolted to the floor where the console goes and the baby seat was bolted (facing backwards) to the box. As an added safety measure I installed 2 sets auxiliary seat belts, one to the front of the box and the other to the rear to cross tie the child seat. This made it easy to quickly put the seat in or take it out for short trips. On long trips I always bolted the seat in and used the belts.



When #2 came along a few years later I replaced the jump seat cushions with a piece of plywood and removed the wanna be head rest. The plywood is longer than the casion but still folds away if need be. The car seat is secured the the platform (facing sideways) with a motorcycle tie down. The car seat belts and factory belt were used until they outgrew them.



They are now 10 and 8 and still fit in the child seats, which is good but... :-{}





The 10 year old will be too big for a child seat in the near future. My plan is to see if a dune buggy or sub compact bucket seat will fit in the same place. When they out grow that daddy gets a new truck. Oo.

 

[mazdarotary]

I don't have pictures but I can get you some real soon.



As far as the bech being a bit short on the cushion as the previous poster noted,he is right the seat does not support the whole seat,but it gets like 70-80% of it,and it isn't moving anytime soon. The seat I have for my son is a convertable type that is a car seat/booster seat for when he gets bigger,and I think it fits fine,and like I said it doesn't move once i pull on the seat belt as tight as i can while kneeling on the seat to compress the bench cusion as much as possible. I will get you a pic as soon as possible,maybe even friday if I feel up to it(I am having all 4 wisdom teeth out tomorrow morning Oo.

 

[MrWinkey]

Ouch on the price... they are 499 CND and that works out to be like 400 bucks US. Danged exchange rate isnt very good right now.



I know I can order a newer seat from the Summit Catalog and fab some mounts for like 600 bucks for the front and the back I can possibly use the rear seat out of a 2nd gen truck... .



hmmm maybe it's time to go junk yarding.

 

[Lock93]

Most folks say the 2nd gen rear seats are too big. They use rear seats out of a ford ext'd cab (fit best). There's a guy on DTR that did this, but I can't find his post now. He sold his truck now too, so may not even hang out there anymore.

Good luck.



OBTW, don't want to sound like the NTSB here, but its not really safe to mount your car seats sideways in the back. The safety seats are designed to work facing front & back; not sideways. Being a bit nerdy here, but it took me and my wife many years to have kids, and I don't want anything happening to them because I cut a corner.