jdkenyon

I have an 01 Quad Cab and need to buy a new car seat for my son. I am needing a forward facing booster with a 5 point harness. So far every seat I have tried hits the back window when fastened in and everything thing I read says this is unacceptable. There has to be others that have ran into this issue and found good seats to use. Does anyone have suggestions for me?

KATOOM

The back seat of the quad cab certainly wasn't a good design for child seats since yes, the top will hit the back window and the leg distance is too short between the two rows. My kids just rest their feet up on the center storage compartment folded down. And as they grew I looked for the smallest seat I could. Even at that, it still touches the window but I make sure the seat is cinched down really good so its not pressing real hard trying to push the window out. I dont think its a big deal. If I'm not driving my truck soon or if I dont have plans on having my little kids ride with me then I'll simply unlatch the buckle so the seats just resting there.

The biggest problem is these silly child seats are terribly uncomfortable for the little guys. And they're forced to sit up when they're tired and want to lay their heads over too. Can you imagine having to sleep sitting traight up with your head hunched over? We'd all be frequent visitors of the chiropractor if adults had to do this. Stupidest designs ever..... I go through great lengths to assure my kids are comfy while driving. I've even lifted the child seat cover material and placed additional foam on the seat since the plastic frame and mere 1/4" of lame cushion padding they use is not enough. And I bought a few of those little pillows too. Hey.....just because they're kids doesn't mean they cant be as comfortable as we are.

The child seat laws keep increasing too, whereas I think its now 8 years old or 80 pounds. At this rate we'll all be sitting in child seats.....

SIXSLUG

There are so many do's and don'ts with these booster seats regarding tilt and cinching down.
All four of mine have suffered in the back seat of my truck and are now out of boosters and child seats.
I basically got in the back and ran my knee into the seat while my wife buckled it thru as tight as I could get it. This made the seat really secure and we felt comfortable the kids were safe back there....

I reviewed this method with a Firefighter buddy and he agreed that it was viably safe so we were happy to hear that.

The legroom for the smaller one's is terrible becasuse their feet are right at the front of the rear seat level and at the wrong angle for extended trip comfort.

My wife also made u-shaped travel pillows for each of them and they helped on the long trips. the manuals say not to do this, but I felt it was in our favor to make our own decision based on our driving experiences.

I grew up riding around loose in the back of a station wagon so I feel my kids were ultra safe when with me strapped in like they were...

bob95065

I have a 1997 extended cab truck. It was terrible for car seats. The seat belts were hard to tighten on the seats and there are no provisions for secondary connections. I was tempted to use a ratcheting strap to hold the seats down but I never did it.

The boys (6 and 4 YO) are in booster seats now and it is much better. They use the truck's seat belts. I can see a day coming a quickly when there will be complaining due to lack of legroom. My wife says in a few years I should look for a truck with 4 doors. Yeah....I'll lift the 97 and put 37" tires, a stack and biig engine mods on it. She said if I get a new truck I gotta sell this one.

u2slow

I fail to understand how they make a truck with a space that only really fits kids, but booster seats don't fit. At least if they fitted the space with only lap belts, you wouldn't need the booster seat.

When I was young my booster seat was a 50# box of nails.

KATOOM

Its because the laws change annually. And child seats keep getting bigger and more complicated too. And they keep changing the size requirements for the kids too. Soon child seats will be as big as the car seat itself.

jdkenyon

Good news, I found a Safety First brand seat that works up to 65 pounds. It will work fine in the middle. Thanks for the suggestions.

SIXSLUG

Nice!

I have always felt the extended cabs are for pets, gear, tools etc. I traded off my crew cab for my 01.5 quad. I love the suicide config of the rear door: jump out swing door open and access permitted!
As these kids of mine grow up I'll upgrade to another crew, but I just don't see getting rid of my quad any time soon.

By the way, I rode for three hours to a fishing hole in Montana in the back seat of a 97 club cab with a 110# rough coat collie. My 6'-3" vertical and Truman's 6'-0" horizontal made for a unique fit.....

KATOOM

I've had some larger people ride in the back of my truck.

cromulius

It's good to hear that you found a booster seat that will work. I just want to do add what I did in my truck in case it would help someone. I have one front facing car seat in the middle and one on the passenger side back seat. I went to the junkyard and got a standard middle backseat seatbelt and swapped it with the shoulder seatbelt in the back. I felt better with a seatbelt in both positions that I can really tighten down.