Child seats in rear of QC

[Erik Unthank]

One of my criterion in shopping for a new truck is the ability to put two forward facing child seats in the rear. My dad has an '04 extended cab Chevy. I can't fit the child seat behind the driver without adjusting the front seat well forward so that it would be impossible for me to drive (I'm 5'10'). I'm almost ready to pull the trigger on a Ram 2500 QC Cummins, but I want to make sure I can get my kids back there. Short of going to the dealer and actually trying it out, can anyone give me any feedback? I'm sure there are others with similar situation. I don't want to be forced to go buy a crew cab GMC Duramax!

 

[whamby]

Depending on the size of your kids they will fit fine. They fit a lot better in my truck than they do in the backseat of my wife's Jeep Liberty. I am about your same size and don't have any problems. My little boy is 6 and rides behind me in a booster seat with a back it so it sits him forward a little he can kick the s@!t out of me sometimes but other than that he and I are perfectly comfortable. My little girl has just got out of her forward facing car seat. It was a little tight at her feet with seat slid back but my wife just slid her seat up a hair and all was well. I guess it also depends on how far you keep your seat tilted back. Mine are usually a couple of inches back from straight up. Hope this helps.

 

[DPelletier]

Erik,

You're spending alot of money on a new truck. If it were me I would go to the dealer with the family and all the seats and check it out. Unfortunately I can't help you with regards to the child seats, my kids are much older. My daughter was in a booster seat four trucks ago and that was a '92 F150 S/C, which didn't have a very big back seat. Obviously the child seats are the big issue. I believe they take up more room if they're rearward facing, so at least your past that stage.



good luck



Dave

 

[Erik Unthank]

Going to the dealer is probably the best bet, I just hate to get harassed by the salesman. Thanks.

 

[whamby]

If he harrasses you just tell him you can always go somewhere else. There is also a guy on here that goes by Tommygun I believe that might be able to help you get that truck a lot cheaper. You might PM him and see. I sure wish I had heard of him before I bought mine. I got a good deal but it good have been a lot better from what I have read.

 

[Erik Unthank]

I'd love to deal with Tommygun, but he can't order CA equiped Cummins.

 

[whamby]

:{ that sucks

 

[bighammer]

I went to the dealer mid-morning and took the truck for a drive. I told them I would be back before closing and they were cool with that. I told them I wanted to try it on different roads and see if it fit in garage, etc. Take your time and see how it works for you.

 

[Tejasdge]

The forward facing seat was not a problem with mine other than possibly loosing a hair of seat travel when the dogs ride inside in the summer. They get the double fold flat on the passenger side and my 15 month old son gets to sit behind me. Otherwise he sits in the safest spot in the truck; middle back seat.



Rear facing seats were a nightmare when he out grew the small ones. All of them we tried worked in the middle, but the most of the bigger convertibles would not fit behind me without me eating the steering wheel. I don't recall the brand name of the one that only lost me a couple of inches of leg room(I'm 6' and was still comfy), but it was a higher dollar seat. I'll check on brand and model if anyone is interested.

 

[Bertram65]

I have a rear faceing child seat in the back of my truck and I do not have to move the front seat to be able to fit it. My truck is an '03 and has the LATCH system, the rear seat belts do not have the ability lock as previous belts did prior to '03. The LATCH is only behind the driver and passenger not in the middle. How does a forward facing car seat attach? If it does not use LATCH I will not be able to use it in my truck. For information on LATCH see here http://www.buckleupnc.org/using_latch.cfm

 

[RobertBolinger]

Originally posted by Erik Unthank

I'd love to deal with Tommygun, but he can't order CA equiped Cummins.

Other users have used tomeygun's prices as leverage to get a better deal



I have had similar experiences as the guys above in regards to child seats-I think the Chevy extended cab is about 3" shorter than the Dodge QC-isn't the Dodge short bed 3" shorter-I know the Dodge QC SWB and Chevy Ex cab SWB are exactly the same length overall (227. 7")

 

[Pawpaw]

Erik,



My wife & I are raising 4 grandchildren, ages 6, 4, 2-1/2, & 1-1/2. Car seats are our life!



I usually have 3 car seats in the back of mine and the 6-year-old rides up front, in the middle. The 4-year-old rides in the rear middle.



The only issue I have is the two little ones keep putting their feet on the back of the driver & passenger's seats. Our solution is to simply remove the little one's shoes. They still put their feet on the seats, but there is no harm done.





Bob

 

[JRMora]

My 2¢ worth:



I'm 6'3 and my wife is 5' 10. I have a 12 year old boy, 4 year old boy, and 1 year old boy. Whe the baby was less than 1, we had to have him (by law) facing backwards - even though he was well over on weight. When back facing we had to have him in the center rear. I was worrried about the "non-locking" seat belts but they do lock at the buckle. Pull all the way tight and I bet you can't get the seat to move. I don't like the tether straps (on ANY pickup), but I love the latch fittings. If you don't have to move the car seats a lot, the teher won't be an issue.



Now that we have reached the big 1, everybody rides front facing. We have the car seats on the outsides and the 12 tear old rides the center (There is no latch fitting in the center). We haven't gone on any super long trips yet, but we went on an off road excursion through the mountains and everybody did fine, even with the bumps!.



Love the truck! 9500 miles in 5 months.



Juan

 

[Tejasdge]

For the rear center I use a ratchet device that goes on the seatbelt - buckle side. You can suck the seat down so that it barely moves. Found ours at Babies R Us. Best gadget around for less than 20 bucks, and makes it easier to move the seat to non-latch vehicles.



And now a for a quick rant... . why do the manufactuers put latch attachments only on the sides when the center is the safest?

 

[RobertBolinger]

Originally posted by Tejasdge



And now a for a quick rant... . why do the manufactuers put latch attachments only on the sides when the center is the safest?

To save $1. 00 per vehicle times hundreds of thousands of vehicles

 

[Erik Unthank]

Thanks for the input everyone. I love this place!

 

[boonsur]

My booster seats, w/backs, fit fine (4 & 6 yr. olds). I strongly recommend the fold-flat floor. This gives their feet a place to rest (they can reach), instead of kicking the back of the front seats.

 

[RobertBolinger]

Originally posted by boonsur

This gives their feet a place to rest (they can reach), instead of kicking the back of the front seats.

I'll have to try that!

 

[EMD-Run8]

I got a 6yr old girl and an almost 3yr old boy. They like ridin' in it more than my wife's Odyssey! They'll fit just fine but yes they probably will be puttin' their feet on the back of the seats. A barking Dad may (or may not) help with this. Now that I've got some nerf bars installed it's much easier to reach in an buckle 'em up. Oh yeah, go to the dealer after about the 20th of the month------they'll pretty much let you do anything reasonable with it to get the sale. You'll like QC (and the Cummins a lot more).

 

[Badunit]

I have twin 19-month olds and a dog. The kids ride in car seats on the double wide back seat and the dog gets the single fold-flat floor with a rubber backed mat and a sheepskin rug on it. Perfect setup (thank you Dodge!). I found that not all car seats work well, though. We have some $50 cheapies that worked okay rear-facing but I couldn't get them leveled forward facing except with a big roll of towels and then they were wobbly. We also have some expensive seats with a large adjustable base and they work well both ways, though they do require the front passenger seat to be forward a bit. In any case, my '03 looks far better for car seats than my '01 appeared to be (I didn't have kids then).