Kids, a carseat, and a F150 extended cab
 

I have a four month old and per the police department can not put the carseat in the back seat of my 99 F150 extended cab. The truck does not have the child seat anchors. Could these be installed aftermarket? My wife and I have been evaluating a change to another vehicle and wanted to get peoples experiences with this issue. I have evaluated the excursion, but believe it may be a little big for my wife to drive (although I know people will say she would get used to it). I have a boat (6000# total)and a dog which we take with us to the beach. I have evaluated the expedition, but do not like it that much.
I am now evaluating the change to a F250 crew cab and wanted to get some advice. If I keep the F150 will I have problems down the road (that I am not seeing) if we plan to have another child? Having the carseat in the front seat (which forces my wife or anyone else to ride in the extended cab) is inconvenient. And, does the crew cab provide enough of an advantage to justify the change especially when looking at using it for travel?

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Rick

i have a 2 1/2 year old and a 6 month old i don't know what i would do without my crew cab-keep in mind though a crew cab short box is longer than an excursion.

You might want to check the correct forum. They might know more about the F150, but... Not all vehicles have child seat anchors. That's something fairly new. What do they suggest for a cab and 1/2 truck or car that is a few years old? Are they trying to say you can't carry a child in a rear facing seat in any cars or trucks w/o anchors? Doesn't make much sense. Car seat manufacturers design them to be used with or without the anchors. I have a 3 1/2 year old. He loves sitting in the back. Your's is a little different situation though because of the rear facing car seat. Once you go to a forward facing seat / booster seat you shouldn't have any issues... I'd question the PD's sources of info and whether or not that's legit. Might be perfectly legit and a safety issue though...

I think you were given mi-information, basically what you are saying is it's elegal to place a child seat in a vehicle that is more then a couple of years old. I would check with someone else.

I had Ford, free of charge, place child seat anchors in my F-250 SuperCab. I would stop by any ford dealership and have them install. I believe it even states in your owners manual that Ford will install for free. Hope this helps.

I know when we had our daughter, We placed her rear facing infant carrier in the middle of the rear bench, and in that application, anchors are not neccessary. When she turned 1, we purchased a new seat and installed forward facing. We even had a certified safety seat installer from the local police department come out and help with the install. She gave it the thumbs up.

I used to have 97 F250 supercab and I had a daughter and when I put her in car seat with front face and it dont look too comfortable cuz the bench is too short make the car seat lean more to forward and I was shopping around and got good deal that I cant turn it down and trade in for 2003 SD F250 crewcab and the carseat looks much better in crewcab and more comfortable for my daughter and my safety for kids come first which is why i did trade the pick up. So, I recommand to get crewcab or fullsize rear bench if you can find and I doubt for pick up. Good Luck with your long term decision.

I have a 4 month old also. I went went with the crew cab. The backseat is huge for the baby and the wife rides there occasionally. The only drawback is where to put the stroller if all 3 of us are going someplace and it is snowing or raining. Usually set it in the front or fold up the seat in back and place it on the metal racks. The anchors are behind the seat. The 04 seat bottom folds up and the back rest folds down . The anchors are behind the backrest. But do think you got shady info from the cop. Good luck. Sure beats a suv.

v1rotate-get a tonneau for the bed a through the stroller in there, thats what i do. but do not by the lund elite(the one with the velcro closure, they call "hook and loop") i have one its a p.o.s.

The law gave you a bum steer. That being said I too have a little one(9 mos.) and am looking at crew cabs. The F-150 supercrew would due but a F-350 is what I think I'll get. Can't go wrong with plenty big. Then you can have several more kids.

Stay away from Berlin Tonneau covers too. POS. Cheap and you you get what you pay for... I don't subscribe to that theroy for everything, but it holds true in this case. I have a hinged tonneau for the same reason as "wlihntr" above. Their customer service blows. I found out after it broke and flipped over my roof when I was plowing. I was in a parking lot in reverse when it caught air. They tried blaming it on me at first. They are lucky it didn't do any damage. Can you say "pis#ed"!

I have a 350 CC, plenty of room for 2 car seats and a 100 pound black lab.

I have a 4 year old and a 6 month old. Before buying my wife a new expedition, we went everywhere in my 250 CC. The rear facing infant seat fits perfectly in the middle of the rear bench, and the booster seat fits well behind the driver's seat.

I have the driver's seat about 1/2 way back, and my daughter still can't quite reach it with her feet..

The CrewCab is the only way to go if you plan on hauling your family around!!!!

I had a 2000 f-250 and the dealer installed the anchors for free. IThe owners manual should give you information on this.

My 2002 SC came with the anchors from the factory.