Any advice would be great

Hi all,

We are expecting our first child in late Sept and I am in the market for a new to me (used!!)pickup truck. We have these car seats

http://www.toysrus.com/product/inde...romRegistryNumber=96269842&product_skn=103803

and

http://www.toysrus.com/product/inde...romRegistryNumber=96269842&product_skn=911227

So my question is should I go out of my way for an extended cab truck (with the small back seat) or will I be Ok with a regular cab??? I am hoping to get a truck with the passenger side air bag that has the key-off option as opposed to the weight sensor option. If I have to I will blow the passenger side air bag before the baby arrives. I have read different opinions on the front seat/pickup debate. I need a pickup for work but I want to make sure its safe to drive the baby in.

Thanks in advance!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It would be your best bet to go ahead and get a truck with a back seat. This way if the three of you want to go out together, you'll be able to. Also, with the airbag issue, I wouldn't want to put a RFing seat in the front seat if there is even an airbag on the driver's side. I wouldn't want to risk that it will come over and strike the side of the car seat.

It is possible to safely install RF infant seats in the front seat of some trucks. You're correct that the key-off passenger airbag disablers are best - the ones with sensors do not allow a RF carseat in front of them.

However, the front seat increases the risk of severe injury or death by at least 40%, so I think you'll find that the extra effort of finding a truck with a back seat is worth the effort.

Also keep in mind that it must have forward-facing seats in the rear (those flip-up seats that face sideways cannot be used with any carseat, and really aren't safe for adults, either), and always check the vehicle manual for specific instructions or restrictions on installing carseats. :thumbsup:

You might want to take your seats with you to test install them. The seats that you have are great seats, but may be difficult to fit in some smaller pickup trucks (I learned this the hard way) Crew cabs are probably your best bet. My FIL did used to have a Dodge Ram Extended Cab that a Marathon and Infant seats installed well in. You want to make sure that when installed, at least 80% of the base of the seat is on the vehicle seat

Hiya! I just wanted to state here that car seats expire 6 years from the Date of Manufactor(DOM), so if you have already purchased the Marathon & it sounds to me like you have, then I would suggest returning it & waited untill you truely need it, when your baby outgrows the infant seat, to purchase it. By having already purchased the seat you are chancing loosing a year of use out of the seat already.

So as I said it would be best to return it now & repurchase the seat when you're ready to actually use it. I hope this makes since!

I agree about getting one with a back seat over a regular cab truck.

Most issues with regular cab trucks are you don't want to place baby in the middle esp when still rear facing but the driver side airbag does deploy into the center position passenger compartment area. That means baby would need to go in the passenger outboard position. This then lives your SO to sit in the center postion. In most regular cab trucks they don't have a lap/shoulder belt or a head rest in the center. This is very dangerous for that occupant.

Can I suggest you look at a crew cab truck? The reason being is it will give you more room in the back seat and more leg room for the front passengers. With the current truck & SUV market you can find killer deals on trucks so find a used crew cab truck should be easy to do.

We have a '02 crew cab 2500HD Silverado long bed. We have had so many different seats in it and all have fit great with issues on lack of room. Before our Silverado we had a '99 GMC Sierra extended cab truck. Again, No issues with installing our Graco Snugride or Britax Roundabout in the center position. Our front seats were bucket seat instead of a bench which helped with installation.