Moving truck

K

karmamama

New member
We are moving soon and I need advice about car seat placement, please :)

We will have a large uhaul that we were told will have a bench seat and the ability to turn off the passenger airbag. Dh will drive this, towing our sienna. I wil be driving his gmc quad cab truck. I need to fit four kids and one dog who needs a seat with buckle for her harness.

Dd1 is 9yo in a hbb.
Dd2 is 6yo in a nautilus.
Dd3 is 4yo in a ff true fit.
Ds is 5 moths in a rf true fit.

This is a very last minute move (it was just confirmed earlier this week, and we are leaving Friday :eek: ) and our budget is beyond tight so new seats for anyone isn't an option. I do know I can get any combo of what we have three across in the gmc, so I guess what I need help figuring out is who is the best candidate to ride in the uhaul? Would your recommendation change if the person we spoke to was incorrect and the airbag cannot in fact be disabled? Dh is going by the rental place later today to see the truck for himself, and will also be cheking his own truck to see if the front passenger airbag can be turned off. This is where I'm expecting the dog to ride, but would there be circumstances where this would be an ok place for one of the kids? I wish I could just drive my van :( but logistically and financially it is just not possible.
 
ADS
C

cantabdad

New member
The back seat is always the safest choice for a child, but as I understand it, the primary concern with airbags is with a _RF_ carseat.

A FF carseat or booster seat in the front seat, while not ideal, would be OK as long as (a) it's permitted by the vehicle's manual, (b) you can get a good fit, and (c) and it is is legal in the states that you will be passing through.

Just at a quick glance, it appears that in the handful of states that require that children be in the back seat, there is usually an exception when all of the rear seating is already occupied by other children.

If you have to have someone up front, I suppose the oldest child would be the logical choice, but it might depend on whether the booster or the FF carseat fits better. I've never traveled with a pet and can't help there.
 
bubbaray

bubbaray

New member
Three younger kids in your backseat in your truck, your eldest in the front seat in the truck, dog with your DH.

ETA: JMHO, but your DH is going to have enough on his hands driving a large truck and towing the Sienna. Unless he has a commercial truckers license, personally I would not put any of the kids with him, just the dog. Towing behind a moving truck is not for the faint of heart.
 
Brianna

Brianna

New member
RF in front of a manually deactivated airbag would be safest- but I assume that's not the best set-up to have your husband driving the U-Haul with a 5 month old.

If the 9 year old's HBB converts to a backless, I would have him ride backless in the U-Haul, assuming he'll be able to stay in position and has adequate head support. Removing the back puts him that much father away than the dashboard if the airbag is deactivated, or the airbag if it is activated.
 
safeinthecar

safeinthecar

Moderator - CPS Technician
I would think that the van would get better gas mileage than the truck, and that it would save money to drive the van and tow the truck.
 
bubbaray

bubbaray

New member
If the truck is 4WD and he's not towing it on a trailer it might damage the tranny. Plus the truck might weigh more than the hitch is rated for.
 
LISmama810

LISmama810

Admin - CPS Technician
I think I've heard of UHAUL not allowing car seats in their trucks, so you might want to double-check that it's allowed.
 
ketchupqueen

ketchupqueen

CPST and ketchup snob
Staff member
LISmama810 said:
I think I've heard of UHAUL not allowing car seats in their trucks, so you might want to double-check that it's allowed.
Click to expand...

I've been told that some locations have "car seat appropriate" trucks and some don't. The ones that do are the ones with a switch for the airbag.
 
Ninetales

Ninetales

New member
I'm no expert but my first thought was the same as Bubbaray's. Young kids in back of truck, oldest in front, with airbag deactivated if possible, dog in UHaul.
 
bubbaray

bubbaray

New member
Just asked DH (has a commercial license), he said it is safer to tow the lighter vehicle (Sienna). He said the best thing is to rent the trailer and put the van on that.
 
Pixels

Pixels

New member
cantabdad said:
The back seat is always the safest choice for a child, but as I understand it, the primary concern with airbags is with a _RF_ carseat.

A FF carseat or booster seat in the front seat, while not ideal, would be OK as long as (a) it's permitted by the vehicle's manual, (b) you can get a good fit, and (c) and it is is legal in the states that you will be passing through.

Just at a quick glance, it appears that in the handful of states that require that children be in the back seat, there is usually an exception when all of the rear seating is already occupied by other children.

If you have to have someone up front, I suppose the oldest child would be the logical choice, but it might depend on whether the booster or the FF carseat fits better. I've never traveled with a pet and can't help there.
Click to expand...

This.

If the airbag cannot be disabled, then oldest FFing harness up front. The harness guarantees the child cannot move out of position into the path if the airbag.
 
K

karmamama

New member
Thanks, everyone, for your input. We got the truck and trailer here this morning. Our gmc will not fit on the trailer so I will be driving that. We do not have the ability to turn off the airbag on the passenger side of the gmc, but the uhaul truck does not have a passenger air bag at all. So I think we have determined that dd1 will ride with dh using her hbb. She will be the least distracting passenger (although dh does have professional experience driving large loads so neither of us are particularly worried about that), and have the other harnessed girls with me in the gmc so that their seats can remain tethered. Baby and dog also with me.

Does that seem reasonable? My brain is so fried right now, so please point out to me if I'm overlooking something obviously unsafe about our plan.
 
4boysmom

4boysmom

New member
karmamama said:
Thanks, everyone, for your input. We got the truck and trailer here this morning. Our gmc will not fit on the trailer so I will be driving that. We do not have the ability to turn off the airbag on the passenger side of the gmc, but the uhaul truck does not have a passenger air bag at all. So I think we have determined that dd1 will ride with dh using her hbb. She will be the least distracting passenger (although dh does have professional experience driving large loads so neither of us are particularly worried about that), and have the other harnessed girls with me in the gmc so that their seats can remain tethered. Baby and dog also with me.

Does that seem reasonable? My brain is so fried right now, so please point out to me if I'm overlooking something obviously unsafe about our plan.
Click to expand...

IS there a safe place for dog that does not intrude on the other passengers? Don't flame me because I am probably not thinking things through enough but can doggie ride in the van with windows down and such?
 
Dillipop

Dillipop

Well-known member
If there's not a safe place for the dog in the passenger vehicle, I'd put the dog in the front of the moving van with dh without the airbag. Then put your biggest ffing harnessed child in the front of the passenger vehicle. The dog shouldn't be in front of an airbag.
 
K

karmamama

New member
No, I won't put the dog in the van...I'm nervous even about putting my plants in there because of the heat :eek:. I had considered that she might not be the safest in frot of an airbag, but if it's her or one of my kid sin the front seat, well... Moot point anyways because she fits perfectly in between dh and dd1 in the uhaul. Thanks for helping me think this through :)
 

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