I feel your pain man. Went through all this when my kids were born and it's still happening(even at ages 4 & 6). They seats are not safe or legal sideways. Make sure you check your local laws well. Police may not even know the current laws.
If your truck is a stick it won't work in a front center bench, unless you grow an extra elbow. You might try mounting a 93-94 dakota bench and center belt in the back(some even have matching upholstery), but it will only work until you need a booster. The seats work fine in our 01 quadcab and I'm 6'2" and 350lbs in the front seat. Rear facing will have to be in center, boosters on the outside.
The real problems start when you need a booster. Boosters are required by law most places, but are not legal without a shoulder belt. Wyo requires a booster until age 8
and 80lbs. Here in Alabama it's 6
and 60 lbs, but it's more complicated than that. There are
no grandfather clauses for older vehicles. Kids can not legally ride in an older vehicle until it has been retrofitted with lap/shoulder belts. The new law also makes no exclusion for front seats in vehicles without airbags. Regardless of the studies, my booster seat child is safer in the front seat of my 85 crewcab with a shoulder belt and no airbag than in the backseat with no shoulder belt. The law does not care and luckily it is easy to retrofit rear shoulder belts into as the mounts and braces are already there.
But what do you do if you own an older van, suv, or car. I was told I had to buy a newer car and it was just the price of having a family. They make junior dragster seats that are kid sized and have 4 or 5 point belts but they are not legal. They make retrofit belt systems for bus seats including vans, but they are not legal for private use.
The solution for my ramcharger is a third row seat out of a 2000 suburban with built in shoulder belts. The only other way was to put in a roll cage to tie the belts to or salvage belts from a 91-93 ramcharger. While searching for a donor, I found this suburban that came out of a pond. I only paid $25 for the seat since it needs alot of cleanup(but everything works). Unfortunately, these seats are usually $250-$500 even on Ebay. I will have to build new mounts for it, but that will be easier than a cage.
If the lawmakers were really interested in the safety of our children they would force the seatmakers to sell solutions for people who own older vehicles and subsidise the initiative to get them out there. They can do that for a new digital tv system but not for our kids. #@$%!
Attention: TDR Forum Junkies 
