Question on 2012s and LATCH system
 

Hey guys,
I'm meandering over here from the 48-56 forum with a question for all the papas (and mamas) on this forum.

We've got a 2012 F-150 and are expecting a baby in February. I went out this afternoon with the car seat to see just how difficult it's going to be for me to load the seat/kid into the truck as I'm somewhat vertically challenged. While I was trying to get the dang thing in, I noticed there weren't any brackets like in my car for the LATCH system. Now, it's a bit on the chilly side outside and I'm getting to big and unwieldy to be messing around with flipping seats around and scouring the backseat for something that may not even be there.

SO, is the LATCH system something that should be present in my truck, that I can easily (or not-so-easily) locate, or will I be wasting my time looking for something that's not there?

Also, one last question: What worked best for you all in installing a rear-facing infant seat? I have an Evenflo seat and it seems to overhang the seat a bit. Did anyone find theirs did that, too? And did you install your seat in the middle to avoid having to jack the seats all the way forward to get the seat in? (Ok, so more than one question...Sorry.)

looks like a swing and a miss for ford ... no LATCH system in the 2012 f150.

look in your owner's manual on page 195 and read though that section for instructions on how to install a child seat.

the rear facing seats aren't too bad to install. when ours was young enough for the rear facing seat, i installed it in the middle as that position had the standard lap belt which made getting the seat base installed good and tight much easier. (this was in an explorer, and a subaru). also putting it in the middle gave room for the length of the seat, but i did scoot the passenger's seat forward to make it easier to get the seat in and out.

the front facing seats are much harder get installed tightly without the LATCH points.....

don't know if you have one with the separate base or not, but if not, you want one.... MUCH easier. install the base once and forget about it until you are ready to move on to the next seat.

if there is ANY doubt, call your fire department and have them show you how to install the seat. that's one of the things they do (around here at least). you might have to make an appointment, but it is worth it as they can do whatever it takes to get the seat in there good and snug. sometimes you need a noodle or something to get it leveled out right.

funny that they don't have the LATCH points... that was the FIRST thing i looked for when shopping for my expedition ... if it didn't have the LATCH points, i wasn't going to buy it. kind of surprising.

it looks like you do have the top tether point for the bigger car seats, but that won't help you with the rear facing seat.

Interesting, I have a 2012 F150. It has a tether at each seat position as well as the metal latch system.

what cab configuration do you have... ext. cab or crew cab? my 2010 STX ext. cab has the latch system for both drivers and passengers rear seats, but not the middle. With that said the strap on my rear facing car seat as well as my forward facing car seat reaches to both drivers and passengers inside latch point. If you look at your back seat where the seat back meets the actual seat you should see what look like small plastic buttons on the seat back. this indicates that between the seat and seatback there is a latch point for car seats.

I find it hard to believe that they have it in the 2010's but not the 2012's.

maybe they do have them .... but the manual makes it sound like they do not.


https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...07062a1f42.jpg

as found on page 206 of the 2012 owner's manual.

i'll check my 2010 Scab at work tomorrow and see if it has the lower anchors or not. I know it has the top tether points, but i'm thinking it doesn't have the lowers ....

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...12c6621e6b.jpg

2012 F150 Lariat Super Crew 4x4 has 4 of these latches in the back. This is the passenger rear seat.

Thanks for the responses, guys.

Awq134, we've got the ext. cab.

XR, there were definitely not those bars in our truck- the ones in your pic are what's in my car and what I was looking for earlier!

Lower LATCH bars in my '11 "supercab" (Ford's version of extended cab), but no upper tethers to be seen? Otherwise I have a Chicco brand car seat and base which works well enough. I'm 6ft 3in and find the seat way, way too far forward if the baby seat is behind me but it works well enough in the center position- just takes a little pulling to get both sides to latch in.

Doesn't work fantastic without the base since the rear seat is just a tad narrow. It does work, just not nice enough to do it all the time.

Ok, I stand corrected.
Upon digging around in the seats, I found LATCH on the driver and passenger sides, but not the middle seat. They were buried compared XR's picture! And that got me curious about what the owner's manual said.

meborder, my owner's manual had different page numbers than the ones you referenced. According to my owner's manual, on page 221, the regular cab F-150s do not have LATCH available but the SuperCab and SuperCrew have the LATCH system installed. They do go on to say that you need to check the specifications from the car seat manufacturer if the 27.5 in space between the inboard latch anchors is acceptable.

Thanks for all of your input, gentlemen. It was very much appreciated!