Question Need Help with Car Seat in a Dodge Ram Quad Cab

Hi,
I have a question that I was hoping you could help me with!! My husband just got a Dodge Ram Quad Cab (his work vehicle) that we would like to use personally to save on gas money. The problem is I don't know how to safely install the car seat. I have set up an appointment for an inspection, but they can't see me until next week. The problem is on these trucks that the back bench seat is indented on the center seat (not as long/deep). Also, there are no LATCH clips on the center seat. The outer seats have LATCH clips. I love using the LATCH system. Also, on the outer seats I worry about the airbags. When baby is rear facing, my passenger seat has to be almost all the way up as well. My question is what kind of convertible car seat can I get with the smallest footprint AND where should I put him - center or passenger side. Thank you so much for your help! I greatly appreciate it!!

Hi there! What year is the vehicle? The Quad Cab has a full-sized back seat, right? (As opposed to the crew cab that's smaller.)

We had a Ram Mega Cab, and while ours didn't have the shorter center seat, I know what you're talking about. We looked at some of those, and I don't recall if I was able to get a rear-facing seat installed properly there. Most car seats allow a small amount (20%) of overhang, but the ones I tried all had more than that.

Seatbelts aren't less safe than LATCH, and since there are limits to how much LATCH can hold, you'll probably need to get used to using a seatbelt at some point anyway. But if it seems like you'll need to use the sides anyway, you can go ahead and use LATCH for now.

I was able to use pretty much everything in our MegaCab. (That one is basically the same as the other full-size version, but part of the bed is borrowed for extra space behind the back seats.) You might have a little less room, but I think you'd be okay with most rear-facing convertibles. Most of them can be installed more upright for older children, meaning they'll take up less room--often less room than an infant seat.

So, you would recommend rear facing on the passenger side? My seat has to be pretty far forward to do that. I am okay with it if that's the only option. Also, is side airbags a concern? I would prefer him in the center, but don't know of any car seats that have a small footprint/base. Someone else mentioned the Classic Roundabout, but I can't find that - except on Amazon in a girly print for more than I kind of wanted to spend. Do you know of any other car seats with a small footprint?