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Hi everybody, I was wondering if anyone has any answers for me. I have an 88 F150 extended cab, with the little bench seat in the back. I have 2 little girls and they sit on the little bench....problem while they fit pretty good on a small bench cause of their sizes they are not in proper car seats. I have no shoulder belts back there and the only way to fasten a booster seat is with the lap belts that are there. Aside from replacing the truck (which I can't afford to do) does anyone have a remedy for this situtation or some ideas or types of boosters that I can use to make it safe for my daughters?? One is 4 and the other is 8. I had a close call today and my littlest bumped her head on the plastic below the back window she is OK but I am really upset with what could of happened.
Yes, lap only belts are pretty dangerous in a real accident and can cause bad injuries. Ford and others have been sued over this before from people that have been badly injuried and died where the outside passengers with shoulder belts have not.
For me the simple solution is to install racing type shoulder belts that form a V over the shoulders and attach to the seat frame behind the seat back. I just bought a 12 pass. van and I need to do this for each seat position on the bench seats. I want to install headrests too to prevent whiplash.
Make sure your seat release handles are fastened down so they do not pop up by accident.
If you watch the van forum I will post updates there. An example of the seatbelts I might use:
When my boys were small(i have twins)the wife and i bought some booster seats at target that had built in 3 piont harness's.They were ajustable and i beleve they went up 100 pounds.The seats were made by costco.These seats also had head rests and removable covers that are washable.
I hope this helps,i know what its like to have little ones in the truck.
While I have no direct evidence, I have heard/read that lap belts for small children are MUCH better than trying to get the shoulder belt on them. Only stands to reason that shoulder belts would break their neck in a head-on.
I had a booster seat for my little ones, the lap belt would go right over the top of it, and hold the kid in perfectly. I don't think there's a need for a shoulder belt when using a booster seat with a small child.