I'm curious too - we have one on the way - hate to give up the SD if I don't have to. Could it be that particular infant seats work better than others with some seat setups? Just a thought. We'll be looking at carseats in the next month or so - looks like I need to do some test fitting in the SD.

DG

 

Yeah, you did what needed to be done. And the F150 is a very nice truck. It is a shame, though, that you couldn't hold off until the '07 model year. Ford is supposed to be putting a V6 turbodiesel in the F150. That is, if Ford actually goes through with it...

Naw, I wouldn't wait, either. The kids needed a safer ride now. Besides, Ford may sit on the F150 diesel for years yet... Still, they have a very nice, modern, 4.4L European V6 that might just find a home in the F150. I'd sure like to see it!

 

The best care seat we found to fit my F-350 Back seat was the Eddie Bauer Brand with the adjustable base. It works great sence the buckets in the back are so deep. You will see what I mean the first time that you put the car seat in. With out the adjustable base you have to put stuff under the back of the car seat to bring the base up to where it needs to be. Hope it helps

 

There are two possible issues with the rear facing child seat. The first one that I discovered myself is that some of the seats have a base that is fixed to the seat with the seatbelt and is left in place. The seat is then lifted off so you can carry your infant in the seat. I found with this particular seat that I was using, that the rear truck seat was not long enough to properly support the base and overhung considerably. This is a no no. That being said, there are other manufacturers with different configuarations, that probably will fit, the only issue here then is if there is enough clearance between the back of the front seats and console and the front of the infant seat. If the base of the infant seat fits, and you don't have a front passenger, you can move the front seat forward for clearance. You can also put the infant seat in the rear in the center but ONLY if there is clearance between the console in its full upright position and the infant seat. In other words, you do not want the front of your infant seat, protruding into the FRONT passenger compartment. The reason that you don't want it protruding OVER the top of the folded down center console, is that in a roll over or other rough accident (sliding off the road and into a ditch or median) where the truck is violently bucking up and down. The Center console becomes a hazard that can strike the carseat and possibly the child or do enough damage to render the carseat unsafe. The other scenario is that the center console lifts the front of the carseat (which is usually only supported by the seat belt at the rear) and acts as a catapult, throwing the front of the carseat up and back into the rear glass or body. Not good. Remember, not all accidents are frontal impact. You can get rearended, roll, side impact etc. Plan for all of them. I personally have been in an "accident" where I was forced to intentionally run my 77 chevy truck off the road and into a field to avoid a head-on collision at 60 mph. I was wearing a seatbelt but somehow managed to come free of it just from the truck bucking up and down. EVERYTHING loose in the truck slammed violently into the headliner and back down to the seat. I didn't hit ANYTHING with the body of the truck, all the damage was from running at speed over uneven terrain (and a culvert). I literally had a bottle jack, come up through the bench seat and slam into headliner. No kidding. There were 1/2 dents in the top that protruded OUTWARD from all of the loose debris being slammed around. My point is that center console is going to do EXACTLY the same thing if you are in a similar "accident." It's going to flop wildly and you do NOT want an infant seat in it's way. Safest place for your child is usually in the rear and center, but not if the infant seat can be contacted by the center console. Your next best bet (if the base fits the rear seat) is the rear passenger side without a passenger in the front seat to be too close to the dash or airbag. I hope this helps.

Bottom line. If you seat isn't safe, make it safe. relocate your infant car seat position or find a seat that WILL fit. There is a way!

 

The problem was that the small baby seats that you can carry around and put on a shopping cart work okay, but only in the center of the rear seat, or in the passenger front with air bag off.

I limped along till my little one outgrew her baby seat (she's 9 mo. now).

I spent many weeks looking for a seat that could be used in the rear, I spent $150 on the seat I finally did get. The next step up in car seats simply will not fit rearward, but only front facing. This is a problem if your kid is light in weight, but long in length (too long for the baby seat). They also will only strap with two point in the rear seat via the seat belt, but the cruicial top strap anchor simply has nothing to strap on too. This is an important strap that keeps the seat top from pitching forward.

That missing anchor point is why I ended up with a new truck. I do know that the newer extended cabs do have those anchors (i think), but I decided that people comfort was more important if I needed to haul more than my wife and the baby in bad weather.

 

I appreciate the info.
I dont see that much danger in the way my carseat is positioned.

 

The car seat in the back of much truck has worked really well. My daughter has used it since she was about 1 and now she is gonna turn 3 in March. It cost like $150 but it has the stages to grow with your child. I havent tried an infant seat, but from what I can see it would not be a problem. The infant seat worked fine in our 97 explorer (it is in the background of the gallery pic). Yep the seat I now worked well there is 1 in my truck, one in the plorer, and we bought one for each of the grandparents. Damn, now that I think about it- that was like $600+ just in car seats...