1996 ford van

1996 ford van-changed to 1998

If I buy a 1996 Ford passenger van how likely is it that it has top tethers? The guy selling it of course had no idea what I was talking about. I haven't had a chance to go look at it yet, being here with no car. It does have shoulder belts down each side, which is great for the older kids, but if it doesn't have tt I don't think I can use it with my Regents after my kiddos hit 50 pounds, right? I guess I can worry about that when the time comes. My 5 year old is 45 pounds and my 7 year old is 48, both gaining slowly now. He also has a Monterey now, so.... Anyway, does anyone know if it is likely to have tt? thanks

ETA:We found an even better deal on a '98. I'm going to guess there aren't tt either, although I do have tt on my '98 Ford Taurus SW, so I guess it's possible. We're going to go look at it tomorrow and I'll probably need the part number for the tt. Or do I just say the same thing, Ford Program R7C? My dd is now 48.5 pounds so creeping up on the 50 pound requirement of her Regent and I like them better with the tt anyway. My 7 year old is 50 pounds or more so he would have to use his Monterey in there until we got tt installed. I can't see my 5 year old sitting nicely in a booster though. She's a wild child!!

Almost 100% unlikely. The good news is that you should be able to get some tether anchors installed by Ford for free. Your local Ford dealer should be able to take care of it if you refer to Ford Program R7C. (They may not know what you're talking about at first, though - it took my local dealer a couple of days to get back to me after I initially called, but after that I had no problems getting three tethers installed in my 1998 Escort for free.)

My father has a 1996 Ford Windstar. There are no TTs in it now, but they are retrofittable. I can't remember how many/where but I know they are.

I think the op may be referring to a 12-15 passenger van, not a minivan.

Jennifer mom to my 7 said:

I think the op may be referring to a 12-15 passenger van, not a minivan.

Click to expand...

Yikes, that's what happens when I post in a hurry, oops. :doh:

kaitlyn said:

My father has a 1996 Ford Windstar. There are no TTs in it now, but they are retrofittable. I can't remember how many/where but I know they are.

Click to expand...

and actually the second row of a 96 Windstar does have TAs. They are in the crossbar under the seats. The third row can have them retrofitted outboard.

As the others said, 1996 large passenger van won't have TAs. You can have them retrofitted in pretty much all positions of the E150-E450, though (including the front passenger seat - useful for rf tether).

Here is the info from the LATCH manual:

For the front seat, there is a drilled hole on the lower seat frame and the part number is F7UZ 5613-D74-AA.

For the 2nd and 3rd rows there are drilled holes under the upholstery in rear rail of seat cushion frames. The part number is F7UZ 15613D74-AA.

Another concern is that those vans don't have headrests for the rear passengers.

I realize the head rest problem. At this point in our lives we can't afford a newer van with taller seats or headrest. I do look at them online and drool occasionally though!! We have a 2003 Dodge 15 passenger van. It was mine until my hubby's van croaked and he had to use it for work. Well, it's been a year now and as you can imagine it's trashed inside. It has tt in all the lap belt spots, but only has shoulder belts on one side of the van. Fords and Chevys have shoulder belts on both sides. So it should be a smidgen safer for the older kids who don't fit in car seats anymore. Probably not much, but a little. At least they won't fly forward and hit their faces then fly back and get whiplash. We are looking at 2001-2004s also if we can get financed. I'm hoping we can. But none of the ones I've found have taller backs until maybe 2006-7. Those are a little too spendy. Thanks for the help with the tt info. That will come in handy if we do buy it.

crunchierthanthou said:

and actually the second row of a 96 Windstar does have TAs. They are in the crossbar under the seats. The third row can have them retrofitted outboard.

Click to expand...

Not to derail the thread, but is this different in Canada than the US? We've never actually looked for the anchors since there's no kids riding in the van, but his manual says specifically that the higher trim models have the anchors, but this his base model does not have them installed, but are able to be installed. I'm curious now, but I'm not home to check his van.

kaitlyn said:

Not to derail the thread, but is this different in Canada than the US? We've never actually looked for the anchors since there's no kids riding in the van, but his manual says specifically that the higher trim models have the anchors, but this his base model does not have them installed, but are able to be installed. I'm curious now, but I'm not home to check his van.

Click to expand...

No, there shouldn't be a difference.

Here's a picture of what you're looking for - http://www.car-seat.org/showpost.php?p=535589&postcount=2

If you aren't familiar, you probably wouldn't guess that it's a TA. It's a hole in the crossbar off to the side (toward the left/driver's side). As you can see in that picture, Ford instructs you to flip the anchor and attach it facing downward.