child seats in Quad-Cab

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How has anyone secured a car seat in the rear of a quad-cab? We tried last week but the tether strap couldn't be tightened enough to make the seat secure. We called the car seat manufacturer and were told that the tether strap we have is the shortest one available. Any suggestions? Thanks.

Bob

 

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I dont know how small your child is but the reason I bought a quad cab was solely because my daughter was on the way. WHAT A WASTE! My daughter almost 3 has to sit in the middle of the back seat because her legs don't fit behind either seat. Even rear facing it had to go in the middle because the passenger had to slide the seat all the way forward for the seat to fit. Most of the time we have to take our SUV becuse it is a pain in the *** to wrestle with that car seat. If I have to; I put the seat in the front and shut the airbag off but I hate to do that ,so; she sits in the back and puts her legs up on the center console between the seats Hope this helps

 

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Try this, I have a 3 yr old daughter, she calls my truck (super truck).

Tighten the buckle till its about 2 inches from the clip, then put your knee into the child seat (your weight will allow you to fasten the belt with out trying to pull the strap).

The seat should be snug. Alway put your child in the middle (safer).



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01 White, Quad Cab,Short Box ,Sport SLT+,5 speed,4X4,line-x ,Nerf bars,fiberglass tonneau cover

 

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RedNutt,

I'm not certain how big your 3 year old is but my 6 year old daughter sits in a "booster type" seat of sorts that can be used strictly as a booster using the stock buckles on either side or can be rigged to use the straps that come on the seat. I'll have to check the brand for you however we have used it in my truck with no problems using the stock straps to hold the child in. The straps go across her chest and waste at the perfect location due to the configuration of the seat.

My daughter is about average size for her age and with the passenger seat moved up slightly, she seems to have no problem and has never complained at all.

I will admit when I was shopping for the truck I brought the booster seat and the child and tried everything on for size before purchase.

I'll check the brand of the seat and repost later today.

LOL

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2001 ,2500 ST Light Driftwood QC,LB,ETH,6 speed,3. 54 LS, LT265/75R16, TrTGr, Smoothie, Step Sheilds, C. Crane Truck Antenna, Line-X bedliner and rocker panels.

 

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I place my 4 1/2 year old grandson's seat in the middle of the back seat and snug it down tight. He loves it as he can see really well. I always have the fold down center storage area in the down position so he does not have a problem with his feet.


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Chuck
2000 Quad Cab 2500 Auto w/4:10 rear end.
Rigged to tow a 5th wheel.

 

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The top tether is almost impossible to get into the back seat. Check out this product - http://www.mighty-tite.com/ . It's a ratchet device that you put on the belt and tighten it down just like a ratcheting tie down strap. It works AWESOME! There's no possible way you could ever get the seat in as tight as you can with it doing the knee in the car seat thing. It also makes it much faster to put the seat in the truck. It used to take me about 15-20 minutes to get my daughters seat installed properly - now its under 2 minutes. My brother is an ME and developed the isofix system for the 3rd row bench in the Ford Aerostar. That's the ideal setup - special child seat that just plugs into the seat, but not an option for us. He did a lot of crash testing and told me to set up the truck with a top tether. We looked at it and couldn't get it to work. I showed him the mighty-tite after I installed it and he checked out the seat and said that we were 100% ok using that instead. Now that I have it and use it I wouldn't even consider installing a car seat without it!!


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-Steve St. Laurent - President of the Great Lakes TDR
'98 QC LB (CMNSPWR), 4x4, ISB, 5sp, 4. 10 LSD, TST Powermax, 275hp RV injectors, SW fuel pressure gauge, BD exhaust brake, Isspro turbo temp monitor, front Draw-Tite receiver, rear Draw-Tite class V receiver, BFG 285/75R16 AT KO's, (all the common stuff clipped)

 

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I have two boys under 2 years of age. I tried to put the one month (Christopher) on the outside and I coudn't get past the stop button attached through the belt. His seat faces backwards so I put him in the middle and I put my larger son (30 lbs) (Nicholas) on the side. His seat faces forward and there is enough room to secure him. If it's just me and Nicholas he moves to the middle. Safer for him and he likes to see the road, not the back of my head. The mighty-tite looks like the way to go. I will pick up several this weekend for both of our reg. vehicles.

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98. 5 3500 SLT Quad Dually 4x4. Waterfall Blk on red. Custom dually flaps, All acc's w/leather
BD exhaust brake, dash mount Banks guages, Mag-Hytec Diff. cover, SS bug screen and fender trim,SS Stull diamond line running boards, Crome 4" turn down.
'97 Explorer
'90 Cherokee
'86 Iroc
'65 Sunbeam Tiger modified
'63 Sunbeam Alpine

[This message has been edited by Justbeamn (edited 11-09-2000). ]

 

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What year is your Ram? Our 2001. 5 came with three teathers, one behind each seating position. The car seats we have for our kids don't require teathers, and we have our younger kids seat (the full 4/40) in the rear passenger side. The rear shoulder belt is self locking so I clipped the seat and put my knee on the seat prior to pulling it tight. You might look into retrofitting the rear seat teathers from the 01. 5 into your truck. We have plenty of legroom for the kids, but I did find that some car seats are really long and take up a few inches of room, leaving only two or three inches of leg space between the front of the child seat and the rear of the passenger seat

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01. 5 ETH/DEE QC, 2500 4X4, 3. 54 Everything but leather

 

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Our truck is a 2001. 5 2500. The problem we are having is not being able to get the tether strap tight enough. The seat manufacturer doesn't offer a shorter tether strap. The Mighty-Tite seems like a good product and I checked their web site and didn't see any mention if it could be used on a tether strap. I am uncomfortable using the seat without the tether being tight and secure. Any comments are appreciated. Thanks

 

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Bob, it wouldn't work on the top tether, but you can cinch the seat down tight enough with it that it isn't necessary. This from my brother that ran over 60 crash tests last year with and without top tethers, and with his isofix system.

-Steve

 

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I have a rear facing infant seat in the back of mine. When I put the seat in I felt the same way you feel that there is no way it will work.
I have a friend that is a Sheriff, he came by with another Sheriff that is a car seat specialist, they got the seat installed properly. He put foam tube in the corner where the seat and back meet, and a non slip mat down. It is in there tight, I do not want to take it out because I do not think I will get it back correct.
They also installed our other base in my wife's Durango.
They come to you house and do this for free if you ask, I did not get special treatment because of my friend.
So try your local Sheriff or Fire Dept. , they may come out and set it up for you.