Trucks without headrests

MommyShannon

New member
What can I do once DD outgrows her hbb in DH's truck? It's a 3 door F250 and the back bench doesn't have headrests. It's normally only used when towing our boat or something else requiring a truck. If I'm not going, she could use a lbb in front with the airbag keyed off, but DH never wants to replace it so this will become an issue before I know it. She has about a 19-20" torso I'd guess based on her fit in seats. I had to extend a Vivo all the way up the other day when her PW was elsewhere.
 
ADS

Carrie_R

Ambassador - CPS Technician
See if you can find an old school Frontier, and use it in booster mode? That will gain you a few years.

In the long-longterm, you'll need to discuss with DH that there is no safe way for your family to ride in the vehicle together. If he doesn't want to replace it, you'll need to take two cars.

ETA: Isn't the Kiddy World Plus super tall? Maybe check that, too.
 
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Keeanh

Well-known member
If it's a 3-door, that means it's pre-99, I believe... Maybe it'll break down soon ;) LOL

Besides getting your hands on the tallest booster (yes, I think that Kiddy is supposed to be super tall), you could look into swapping seatbacks with a newer model. I remember our 98 F150 seatback being super easy to remove. You needed to do it to put on the tether anchors. I'm wondering if there's a chance the later ones like this are compatible: http://azr.cdnmedia.autotrader.ca/5...1-156d-4eef-8874-bf4185de59e8.jpg?w=800&h=600

Or you might be able to do what I did with my van -- cut headrests off a newer truck and weld them into yours.
 

carseatcoach

Carseat Crankypants
If he refuses to consider buying a vehicle that is safe for the whole family, then you should drive and your daughter should sit in the front passenger seat and he should sit in the back without a headrest.
 

safeinthecar

Moderator - CPS Technician
Truthfully? Do the best you can without bankrupting yourselves for as long as reasonable, then take a deep breath. A some point this issue is going to pop up in more than just the truck and all you can do is hope for no crashing. My kids range from 5'3" to 5'10". We ran out of car seats quite awhile ago. Neither of my sister's vehicles has head restraints. My mom's car either. FILs truck is like yours. Numerous friends and people at church have older cars. None of these cars are daily rides for my crew, but with that many possible less than ideal variables in play, it does happen. While I could drive them everywhere and never let them ride with anyone else, I don't. For one thing, I'm outnumbered. There are too many kids going too many directions, plus my MIL that needs full time supervision but is rarely willing to leave the house. These less than perfect cars take my kids to valuable experiences and let them have relationships that are worth the risk. Keeping this in mind keeps me sane now that the only option for mitigating the risks is to cloister them, and ultimately, it's way less scary to send them out into the world with a trusted person that doesn't have head rests then it is to watch them drive away with their brand new driver's license.

You still have options, and I do encourage those options. I'm not saying throw in the towel, just offering some perspective for the future.
 

MommyShannon

New member
If it's a 3-door, that means it's pre-99, I believe... Maybe it'll break down soon ;) LOL Besides getting your hands on the tallest booster (yes, I think that Kiddy is supposed to be super tall), you could look into swapping seatbacks with a newer model. I remember our 98 F150 seatback being super easy to remove. You needed to do it to put on the tether anchors. I'm wondering if there's a chance the later ones like this are compatible: http://azr.cdnmedia.autotrader.ca/5/photos/import/201312/0714/0344/5bbaf061-156d-4eef-8874-bf4185de59e8.jpg?w=800&h=600 Or you might be able to do what I did with my van -- cut headrests off a newer truck and weld them into yours.
It'd be great if those seats could fit. It is a '97 or '98 I think. I forget. No tether anchors either though right now I just have rf seats and boosters. It doesn't come up much, I just don't want to over look a do able fix.
 

disbugsmomma

New member
I will be in the same position here shortly. We have a 97 Ram with no headrests in the back. I don't really recommend going backless if you can avoid it. It really hurts when you get rear ended. Yeah, personal experience speaking there. :thumbsdown:
 

Ford1234

New member
This is an old thread but if it could save a child from an injury then its worth me posting. I have a 2001 F150 Super cab and like a lot of trucks in those years, it didn't have headrest in the back so my kids could hit the back window with their head if we were in an accident. I fixed this by going to bed, bath and beyond and buying a bathtub pillow with suction cups for $10. It is about 2 inches thick and feels just like the headrest as far as firmness. I didn't like how the suction cups held so I cut those off and added Velcro to the back so it could be adjusted up or down according to the height of the child or even an adult. The best part is when my kids aren't in the truck, I can remove this and slide it under the seat so I can still see out of my back window with no problem and all that's left on the window is Velcro strips. I added two extra Velcro strips on the window so I had adjustment not only up and down for height but left and right because my son's booster seat is so wide that it puts him a little farther over towards the center of the truck than an adult would be in the truck. Hope this helps someone in this same situation. 20181103_144732.jpg 20181106_174844.jpg 20181103_144712.jpg
 

murphydog77

Admin - CPST Instructor
Staff member
This is an old thread but if it could save a child from an injury then its worth me posting. I have a 2001 F150 Super cab and like a lot of trucks in those years, it didn't have headrest in the back so my kids could hit the back window with their head if we were in an accident. I fixed this by going to bed, bath and beyond and buying a bathtub pillow with suction cups for $10. It is about 2 inches thick and feels just like the headrest as far as firmness. I didn't like how the suction cups held so I cut those off and added Velcro to the back so it could be adjusted up or down according to the height of the child or even an adult. The best part is when my kids aren't in the truck, I can remove this and slide it under the seat so I can still see out of my back window with no problem and all that's left on the window is Velcro strips. I added two extra Velcro strips on the window so I had adjustment not only up and down for height but left and right because my son's booster seat is so wide that it puts him a little farther over towards the center of the truck than an adult would be in the truck. Hope this helps someone in this same situation. View attachment 29779 View attachment 29780 View attachment 29781

Hi and welcome! I totally understand wanting to make the back window as safe as possible! However, a bathtub pillow won't protect anyone's head from injury in a crash. Vehicle head rests (actually, in the industry, they're referred to as head restraints) are structural with metal posts connecting them to the seats for added reinforcement. Head restraints also have impact cushioning to reduce injury. I'll admit I'm not up on rear seat head restraint regulations, but front seat head restraints have active technology so that in a crash, they move forward to protect drivers and passengers from whiplash injury.

I would suggest having your son ride in a highback booster for the added head protection. If he's too tall for the highback portion, there's not really much you can do. :( Just next time you're in the market for a truck, look for one that has those head restraints.
 

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