Extended cab work truck that's good with 2 RF seats?

I have friends who will be adopting 2 children under the age of 2 from Rwanda, exact ages unknown. The husband owns a landscaping business and will need to buy a new pickup as his current one doesn't have an extended cab. He needs towing capacity and I'm assuming will not be buying new.

I know I've read on here before that some extended cabs are terrible for car seats because of the design of the benches.

Can you give me some recommendations for good truck options to recommend to him? And possibly seats that are compatible with them?

We can assume that the children will be smaller than average, and I'm sure I can get them to RF to at least age 3.

We had a 2008 Dodge Ram 1500. It is the kind that had the back door that swings the opposite direction as the front door. I'm not up on technical terms for the size of truck back seats. Anyway, I never had a problem with seats. Two full sets of LATCH outboard and TT in the middle seat. We had the Hemi and pulled a trailer on occasion. My husband always commented how nice it was. If he's pulling everyday, I would consider the 2500.

We really liked that truck. Never had any issues. I almost wish we still had it.

We have a Dodge Ram 3500 Mega Cab. ANYTHING fits in that back seat. It's huge. That's probably more than they want, though.

We looked at a Ram 2500 Crew Cab the other day and the back seat was definitely smaller, but still quite large. I got a Radian rear-facing no problem, with plenty of room for the passenger. If a Radian will fit, pretty much anything else will, too. (The Radian was rather upright, though.)

I don't know if a Ram Quad Cab would work as well because that has an even smaller back seat.

One thing to keep in mind with the Rams is that most of them have a center seat that's shorter than the outboard seats. The RF Radian had quite a bit hanging off there (I didn't install, but set it there to see). Probably within the 80% rule, but something to keep in mind if they wanted to have a seat in the middle.

ETA: The body styles will be pretty much the same regardless of weight number. I think the Mega Cab is only available in 2500 and 3500 I think. For landscaping a 1500 is probably sufficient. If that's all he needs, the one with the Ram Boxes are a cool option only available on 1500s. That has nothing to do with car seats--it just seems very handy. Pretty sure that's available on the Crew Cab model.

Our Ram has been fantastic for towing. And carrying kids

I would bet he'd be fine with a crew cab but not an extended cab. The only place we could fit a RF carseat in our extended cab was the middle. We have a 2007 Chevy now, and I haven't read the manual because it's a moot point with 2 FF kids, but if you can have a seat touch the driver's seat I think you'd be fine. Right now we have a Roundabout behind the passenger because normally DH drives so the seat is scooted up farther than what would be comfortable for him.

I agree with he probably wants a crewcab (full sized back seat) not an extended cab (about 1/2 sized back seat) the depth of the actual vehicle seat, as well as the room between the front and rea rseats will make it much easier to install and correctly use carseats int he backseat. Also full sized regular doors make it MUCH easier to get kids in and out.

We are on our second personal crewcab (chevy 3500) We have had a 2000 k/c and now have a 2009. I can fit almost any combination of seats in there and a rearfacing radain fits easily in the center position.

My DH drives a chevy 1500 extended cab for his work truck and it is a pain on the occasion we have to put a seat in and out of there. Do able, but a pain.

Thanks -- I didn't even know the difference between crew cab and extended cab!

He's average height, maybe 5'10", so do you think something the size of an RF Britax would fit behind the driver comfortably?

This is a RF boulevard in our pickup. If is behind the passenger seat, but it is a full bench, so it the same. I was driving at the time, but it still works there when DH is driving (and he is 6'2")

I would say go with a full sized back seat. Check the instruction manual, but some car seats like the true fit specify that you absolutely cannot ever install the car seat in an extended cab.

Dodge Ram does seem to have bigger rear cabin space then the competition. Their names are funny tho so just remember them when you go shopping. Still, any of the full sized back seats on a full size truck will be fine (just look for the full sized back doors if buying used and the description doesn't say).

Toyota tundra.

We have an '03 Silverado Ext cab (suicide doors) and I've had a RF Scenera, Truefit, Radian (middle only), and a Keyfit 30. DH is 6ft so the RF seats have to go in the middle or passenger side, but it is totally do-able. '99-'06 would have the same size back seat.

We previously had an '05 Chevy Crew cab (4 real doors) and you could put anything in that beast!

I would go with a Toyota Tundra Double Cab or CrewMax....both are available in work truck trim if you want to keep it simple. I would also look at the Ford F150 SuperCrew....both the Ford and Toyota did well in the new testing for roof strength, the Chevy and Dodge did not.

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