My wife and I are expecting another child (surprise). Which means my much loved 94 is not gonna cut it anymore. I make it work with two little ones but won't be able to with three.


My ? Is do you guys think a supercab is large enough to fit carseats in the rear?

 

I don't want anything newer than a 96 either.

 

My "kids" are 19 and 21, so they were in car seats a long time ago, and I know that car seats and car seat laws have changed a lot since then. So I'm not sure how applicable mt experience is. But a '95 SuperCab worked well for us with two kids. We put one car seat on each side in back, it wasn't ridiculously hard to reach back to get them in and out, and they had enough room. The fact thact they were a little closer to us when we needed to reach back and help them with something was nice too. I don't know how well a third car seat would have worked in the back seat, but if you could get two kids in a regular cab I don't think three in a SuperCab would be a problem, again assuming new car seats still fit.

Our kids had outgrown the SuperCab's rear seat leg room by the time they were about 10 and 12 (maybe even earlier) so we got a Crew Cab. That was way better for teenagers and adults. The better access through the rear door would've been nice with the car seats earlier, but as I said, the SuperCab was OK there too.

Now that we're empty nesters I'd like to get back to a SuperCab. I like the back seat area with the seat folded down for my dogs. But with more than 2 people the Crew Cab has big advantages.

If the length of a crew cab is scaring you off, in '96 and '97 Ford made Crew Cab F-250s with short beds (All F-250 CCs are SB, all F-350 are LB). I think a CCSB is just a little shorter than a SCLB, but still longer than a RCLB. It's what I have now and it's not too bad in parking lots (as long as driving a full size truck in a parking lot doesn't scare you off to begin with).

 

'97 F-250 HD and '97 F-350 are still the old body style. I assume you'd still be OK with them.

 

Simple answer.

You want a 83+ crewcab
or a 99+ supercab (doors to get in)

You do NOT want a Supercab that does NOT have an access door

 

Yes old body style just easier to say 96. I don't mind the inconvenience of have no rear doors just as long as I don't have to move my seat all the way up to fit a carseat behind me.

 

I'm 6' tall and I always put the seat where I wanted it, even with a kid behind me (again with the caveat of late '90s vintage car seats)


It actually didn't work out that bad for us with 2 car seats in a '95 SuperCab. A Crew would've been easier, but we never regretted the SuperCab until the kids were simply outgrowing the leg room.

 

id keep the current truck (thats a nice one btw) and buy a family car to go with it.lot cheaper even considering extra tag/insurance cost with fuel prices today.given you don't go spending 10k or more for a decent little car.running a pickup around as a family car can cut into the retirement and or collage funds.not worth it imo.

 

Ditto on this, keep the truck for truck use and get a small four seater car that is easy on gas, best bang for buck if you don't want to spend half the paycheck on gas for a truck.

 

Ding ding! I support this idea. Unless you absolutely have to get a new truck. A 96-97 F250 crew with a short bed is a great option.

 

That's why I bought a SuperCab to begin with, knowing that it that it would be nice to have space for more than just one of my buddies for a junkyard run or whatever, that I would probably date a few women that had kids, and that I'll have kids of my own sometime. So yes you can put a car seat in the back of a SC, but you might have to slide the front seats forward just a bit depending on the car seat.

I'd agree with the guys saying to just buy a family car and keep the truck for truck things, BUT that don't take into consideration the fact that you might want to take the kids along with you for some of those things that require a truck, like camping, off-roading, fishing that sweet lake way out in the sticks that nobody else goes to, etc.

 

Little car is not an option. I had a focus hated it. Payment and mileage did not offset the paid off 94. It cost about the same to run when it was said and done. A deer smashed the car up bad twice. Hit one in the 94 and had no probs. now if the focus was paid off then it would def save. Also with the focus I would not be able to drive with a carseat behind me.

 

Hmmm, if a little car is out of the question, how about something like a 2nd gen (96-01) Explorer/Mountaineer with a 5.0? It would still have 4x4 and some beef/power to it as well as plenty of room for car seats. Also a bit of a gas mileage bonus over an F250/350

 

Crew Cab all the way. A super cab on my opinion would be a pain in the a$$. Especially with the carrier type car seats for infants been there done that. The super cab may get you by for a little while you'll be looking for a crew cab in a few years for more leg room and ease of use.

 

Plus crew cabs just look cooler!