Dodge Dakota Club Cab Problems

I have a 2004 Dodge Dakota Club Cab with a very shallow bench seat in the back. I am looking for a combination seat that harnesses to 65 pounds or a high back booster seat that will allow for some overhang. The seat bench is only about 14 inches deep. Somehow, though, the Evenflo Maestro we have installed with a 20.5 inch base that allows 20% overhang (that's 4.1 inches) has just a tiny bit less than 4 inches of overhang. DD is at the weight limit for harnessing in the Maestro, and at 8 might be fine in a booster, but no overhang is allowed in booster mode for the Maestro, so we can't use it for her in the truck anymore.

Also, her Maestro is using a seatbelt install and the top tether is really not being used. The tether strap, even when set to the shortest length, just hangs between the seat and the top anchor, which is directly behind the car seat. If an adult sat on the bench, the top anchor would be on their back, right between their shoulders. So the car seat back is right up against the anchor, and attaching the tether to it doesn't really do anything. I thought this was fine because the manual said "When installing this child restraint with LATCH or the vehicle seat belt, always use the top anchorage (tether) strap, if a tether anchor is available," I guess I took our situation to mean that the tether anchor was essentially unavailable, since it didn't do squat. I mean, it's hooked up, but it doesn't keep the carseat back any tighter to the car seat. So anyway, tons of mom guilt going on now b/c I'm reading everywhere that tethers must be used in this type of situation. IDK that any other carseat would install differently and work with the top anchors the way the truck is set up.

This is a second vehicle that does not see much kid use. We probably could cut out kid use entirely if there was no good solution to allow a kid to ride in the truck.

Any advice, thoughts, or comments?

That particular vehicle is problematic for restraint installs. Have you tried s Radian?

Do you have the vehicle manual to check for directions for the tether install? Does there happen to be a loop of seatbelt webbing near the anchor? I have no idea if this is the case for the Dakota, but in my dad's Ram of similar vintage, to install the tether, you actually thread it through a loop of seatbelt webbing directly behind the carseat, but then attach the tether hook to the anchor for the seat next to it. That seems kind of weird, but it solves the issue you mentioned of not being able to pull it completely tight.

As for a seat that would work there, for an 8 yr old I would try some boosters, maybe the backless Harmony Youth booster if the headrest is high enough. GL!

Yes, it does have webbing over the anchors!! I feel silly now that I didn't bother checking the truck's manual. I'll have a look at it later today and see if I can resolve the problem this way. We will still use this seat for DD2 who will be 6 in April.

I'm going to go to babies r us this week to see if I can try out some boosters in the back seat. I probably should be more comfortable with her in a booster than I am. She's 8, she's well behaved, she doesn't sleep much in the car. (I just turned my 5.5 year old to forward facing a few months ago...)

We have diono radians in our main family car, I am fairly certain they are too deep for the truck's bench seat. But I should measure them to check. I didn't want to spend that much on a "spare" seat, honestly, but if it works, it may be worth it.