Help on Convertible Booster for F-250 with shallow bench seat

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flashover52

Guest
I have a 1999 Ford F-250 Supercab (suicide doors and a 15" deep bench seat for the 2nd row). When our son was little, we easily mounted the base for his infant carrier and moved him into the Evenflo Triumph RF'ing with placing these in the middle. He's now 3 y/o and we have a 6 mo. old daughter.

My wife has brought home two car seats that I was not happy with how they fit so I had her bring them back. I stopped by a larger retailer today and tried 5 more but couldn't seem to find any that fit reasonably well. This is due to the seat reclining slightly toward the back and why we put a noodle under the Triumph base.

A colleague who is a certified car seat person gave me a couple to try out before we ventured down the road. One was an Alpha Omega that fit awesome but it was past its useful life expectancy. She can't recall any specific brands that would fit.

Has anyone found a convertible booster that will work for this type of vehicle?

I really don't want to take the Britax Regent out of the minivan and put that in the front seat with the airbag off....and my wife doesn't want to sit in the back for the two hour drive in the truck with the travel trailer in tow......
 
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mominabigtruck

New member
How big is your 3yo?? Off the top of my head an evenflo chase or bolero will fit back there, a graco cargo. I'm not sure if your truck has headrests but if it did a cosco prospector has actually pretty tall slots but its really wide. All of those are 40lb seats. I've put a safety 1st apex in the back of a truck also but you do have to have headrests with it also and it has a 65lb limit. I'm not sure about a nautilus, graco has a rule about how all of the base of the seat has to be on the car seat so I'm not sure if its too wide.
 
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flashover52

Guest
My 3 y/o is a big guy. Having turned 3 a few months back, he's 39" tall and 48 lbs.

There are no headrests on the rear seat. In fact, if he sits on the bench seat now with no booster, his shoulders are at the bottom of the rear window glass (that's just a sizing example, he doesn't ride like that.....).

I would like to keep him in a 5 pt but I don't think that will be possible. The side seatbelts on the back row are locking straps. I remeber trying the Graco Turbobooster that that had about 4" of space under the back. One of the better fitting (color was aweful) was the Eddie Bauer Prospector. The base was wide/stable and not too deep.

I just found the Recaro Vivo which looks like it has a narrow depth. I found one site that lists it as only being 14" deep. Searching other threads, and seeing some pictures, that seems a bit small from what I'm seeing.

Can anyone confirm that depth?
 

wendytthomas

Admin - CPST Instructor
Staff member
Kids are not mature enough for a booster usually until age five or six. So he's nowhere near ready for a booster. Not an option. If that's the only option, and you need to use the truck to tow, then your wife drives behind with the kids.

Have you tried the Radian yet? It's a very short and narrow seat. And as long as 80% of it is on the seat a little can hang over. I doubt you can find it in a store, though. You'll probably have to order it online, try it, and return it if it doesn't work.

The Radian is less deep than the Vivo.

I don't have a direct comparison of the two, but here are some to give you an idea.

Piper in the Vivo. Look at how low down her thighs the beltpath is.
1226177369_7ae7980b73.jpg


Piper in the Parkway.
1245893956_fdc42c5a19.jpg


The Parkway and the Radian next to one another to give the idea of the depth of both seats.
1409074923_bdb9288528.jpg


The Radian is far less deep than the Vivo. I'd give that a try.

Wendy
 

mominabigtruck

New member
He's really not that tall, just heavy. If you do look into the radian it might be worth the money to go with the 80. It has the same slot heights but it just has the higher weight limit and for you that's good.

Have you tried the regent in the truck to see if it fits?? I know my husky fits in most trucks but that's because it doesn't have all the silly rules the regent does. You could check out the frontier also. It harnesses to 80lbs and then converts to a booster so you would get more bang for your buck then if you bought another regent.
 
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flashover52

Guest
The regent fits fine on the front passenger bucket seat with a noodle under the back. I have to turn the air bag off. I can't hardly get it onto the rear bench seat with the front passenger seat all the way forward let along giving the little guy any leg room.

I can't seem to find anyone that sells the Radian or the Parkway. When I click off the google results, the retailers only seem to have the newer models.
 

canadianmom2three

Active member
I've had the Radian on the rear bench of my DH's 150 which has the same tiny bench (and the suicide doors too)and it fit fine for depth. It was a tough install in our truck, but don't give up, it's doable, just a bit of a learning curve due to the forward of the seat bight belts. Maybe they are different in your truck, because the Radian is a great fit.


ETA oh you have a 99 as well, which probably means the same belts--if you end up with the Radian, let me know, and I'll share some tips with you!
 

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