Crew cab truck and car seats

jlr9882

New member
We are looking around at different used trucks right now and wanted to hear your opinions on them. What we will need: can pull a travel trailer (not sure what kind yet), possibly 3 car seats in back, and 4 doors. We really liked '06 Nissan Titan SE crewcab. We also love our F150 series. The truck will have a RFing toddler in it all the time, but could also have 2 other seats in it.
 
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mburks26

New member
Hi, I have a 2003 Ford f150 Super Crew Truck 4 full doors 2 sets of latch outboard and tethers in all seatings in back, I can fit almost anything forward facing back there I have 3 of the widests seats Evenflo Bolero and Graco Natulius both 19 inches wide and fits just fine so 1 rf and 2 ff should not be problem. Latch limit 48 on the outboard seats tethers in all 3 seatings.
Can pull a trailer no problem travel trailers or ones to haul stuff.
I know nothing about the Nissans but I love our Ford.
 

zactayaus

Well-known member
Depending on the size of the trailer you'll be pulling you may want to only look at trucks that are 250 or 2500 series or bigger for the bigger engines and higher towing capacity. We found this out quickly when we were pulling our 30' travel trailer with a 1500 chevy suburban. It did the job but you could tell it was working hard. We now have a 32' fifth wheel and pull it with a 2500HD chevy silverado crew cab. Again it does the job but it works hard. My dh is looking into a 350 or 3500 for easier pulling. Oh and the silverado is very car seat friendly and has a pretty wide back seat.
 

jlr9882

New member
We are looking into F250 too. Thanks and keep the replies coming! One thing I was wondering is about trucks with low back seats and no headrest. For a rearfacing seat, would it rebound(cocoon) into the glass window? How safe is that? I am not planning on turning my almost 2 year old FFing anytime soon, so this was a concern for me.
 

jen_nah

CPST Instructor
We have an '02 Chevy Silverado 2500HD Duramax crewcab. We have a 34' 5th wheel that we pull all over Texas during the spring/summer time. We also have a 30' enclosed race trailer that houses a small work area (tool boxes, air compressor, etc... shop tools/gear plus it houses dh '05 Chevy Z28 race car plus his small 4 wheeler. Our truck has no issues pulling all this without any strain on the motor. I will say if your looking at pulling a travel trailer go with a diesel motor.

I have fit a number of 3 across in our truck. We have gotten 2 Regents outboard with any convertible in the middle. Also the the old body style Silverado's have a rear face tether hook on the front passenger inner seat leg.

Our truck is pushing 100k and it's still taking the beating with no issues at all. She is dh daily driver too.
 

TXDani

Senior Community Member
My husband used to have a 2006 Titan crew cab. You can fit any three seats across you want. I usually had a Regent, Boulevard, and a Peg infant seat in ours and there was room in between each seat.
We used our for towing a trailer but it was only a 12' utility trailer and when loaded down with a busted up concrete (heavy!!) it did just fine. I believe the Titan has a pretty high tow rating for that size truck.
Let me know if you have any specific questions.
 

tjham

New member
We have 2 2005 F250's.
I think there would be plenty of room for a RF seat back there.
Ours do not have Latch anywhere and there is lap belt only in the center position,
which is fine for carseat installation but not for anything else..

I was so disappointed when I realized the lap belt situation but it was too late to do anything about it. Now my granddaughter is almost big enough for a booster but since you can't use a booster with a lap belt, we are keeping her in the Radian because there are two older children who need the lap/shoulder belts. I don't know what my son will do when she outgrows the Radian. He better be shopping for a new truck!

Just something for you to keep in mind for the future!
 

rileyismydog

New member
Get the biggest most powerful truck you can afford - when pulling a trailer - you will be thankful for it. Think Diesel as the engine is better suited toward towing.

We pull a 21' toyhauler loaded with 4-5 dirtbikes. Our F250 gasser did ok on the flat, but totally slugged when on a grade. Our 2500 Diesel, pulls up hill no problem!

Our riding "family" has each of these vehicles - 2500 Diesel, F350 Diesel and Titan. All three trucks rear seats can handle 3 across. I've had DS Regent, Nautilus and neighbors SS1 in rear seat of our 2500 without issue. My DH's work truck is a Dodge Mega Cab - awesome room in the rear seat cabin.
 

beeman

Active member
Make sure if you get the F150 you get the 5.4L, and not the 4.6L. It will get similar economy running without the trailer, and will have way more power when towing. If you go for a 250 or 350, stand clear of the V10, unless you have unlimited gas budget, and go with the diesel. If your thinking of Diesels, the Cummins in the dodge has a proven track record, and there are some users on the board here who have dodge 2500 series, and are happy with CR installs. If you decide on the size of trailer you're going to be towing, we can help you decide if a 2500 or 3500 series is necessary.
 

Melanie

New member
You mentioned towing. Would the travel trailer be heavy? If it's a little pop up or something, I really like the Honda Ridgeline. Three car seats install like a dream. Center latch, lots of convenience goodies. The trunk in the bed is very convenient. It only tows something like 3 or 4k lbs though.
 

jlr9882

New member
It won't be a fifth wheel, but won't be a pop up either. My mom will be living it in when she does travel nursing, so she needs her own little room/bed and the extra room to move around. My son and I will most likely come stay a few weeks or even the whole summer with her, so bunks are nice for that.
 

Loves2sing

New member
Make sure if you get the F150 you get the 5.4L, and not the 4.6L. It will get similar economy running without the trailer, and will have way more power when towing. If you go for a 250 or 350, stand clear of the V10, unless you have unlimited gas budget, and go with the diesel. If your thinking of Diesels, the Cummins in the dodge has a proven track record, and there are some users on the board here who have dodge 2500 series, and are happy with CR installs. If you decide on the size of trailer you're going to be towing, we can help you decide if a 2500 or 3500 series is necessary.

We have a 2007 Dodge 2500 Mega Cab with a Cummins Diesel engine. It gets pretty good mileage, and had decent towing power when we used it to tow a fully loaded 20foot trailer when we moved. We took it on a 6 hour drive, and had no problems. With the Mega Cab, we have headrests in all 3 spots, so no issues with rebound. It has LATCH in all 3 positions, and there is a TON of room for any seat you could ever want to install. We still had a ton of room behind my dh's seat and Jenna's RF Radian. It was great.

With the crew cab version, it's alright. My fil has a 2004 crew cab. It has headrests in the outboard positions. The center position is a little strange. Not my favorite place for a carseat. I am not sure if you are allowed to put one there. The seat goes inward, like this:

----------__________-----------
outboard center outboard
If you are allowed to put a seat there, there isn't LATCH for the center position. There is LATCH in the outer positions, but not a ton of room for RFing. It is very easy to get a Ra, and a MA FF in the outboard positions though.

Hope this helps!
 

jlr9882

New member
We have a 2007 Dodge 2500 Mega Cab with a Cummins Diesel engine. It gets pretty good mileage, and had decent towing power when we used it to tow a fully loaded 20foot trailer when we moved. We took it on a 6 hour drive, and had no problems. With the Mega Cab, we have headrests in all 3 spots, so no issues with rebound. It has LATCH in all 3 positions, and there is a TON of room for any seat you could ever want to install. We still had a ton of room behind my dh's seat and Jenna's RF Radian. It was great.

With the crew cab version, it's alright. My fil has a 2004 crew cab. It has headrests in the outboard positions. The center position is a little strange. Not my favorite place for a carseat. I am not sure if you are allowed to put one there. The seat goes inward, like this:

----------__________-----------
outboard center outboard
If you are allowed to put a seat there, there isn't LATCH for the center position. There is LATCH in the outer positions, but not a ton of room for RFing. It is very easy to get a Ra, and a MA FF in the outboard positions though.

Hope this helps!

I did noticed that wierd seating in some of the crew cab trucks with only outboard headrests too. So would the best place to put a rearfacing toddler be on the outboard because of the bigger seats and the headrests? I would just worry of rebounding into the back window with no headrest. Although, this is just me thinking. I have never even tried installing a car seat in one to see how high the seatbacks are, so I don't know if that would even happen. I have already thought about getting something that I could tethered RFing, but I was hoping to just save up for something that would harness him even longer (possibly turn into a booster later on) once he is FFing which won't be for a long time.
 

jen_nah

CPST Instructor
I did noticed that wierd seating in some of the crew cab trucks with only outboard headrests too. So would the best place to put a rearfacing toddler be on the outboard because of the bigger seats and the headrests? I would just worry of rebounding into the back window with no headrest. Although, this is just me thinking. I have never even tried installing a car seat in one to see how high the seatbacks are, so I don't know if that would even happen. I have already thought about getting something that I could tethered RFing, but I was hoping to just save up for something that would harness him even longer (possibly turn into a booster later on) once he is FFing which won't be for a long time.

For me I would only use a seat I could tether rear facing in a truck even with a headrest. That is just my personal & parental opinion.
 

Guest

New member
I know used trucks are cheap right now, but if you're looking at Ford F-150s, only buy a 2004 model and newer.

Why? Here's a 40 mph crash pic of a 2002 Mini vs a 2002/3 F-150

mini_vs_f150.jpg
 

hunypooh77

New member
We have a travel trailer and I can def say our 99 f-150 rerally struggled with it!! We now have a 04 f-250 and we love it. Pulls the camper like it isnt even there. We do have the crew cab and my dd is rf in a marathon in the middle of the back seat, there is so much room that my 7 year old can actually climb between the ma and the front seats!

But be carefu to check the weight on the trailer and the towing capacity. We were almost going to buy a new camper and found out that we would only be able to get a light weight. The camper we have now is only 24 foot and has no slide-outs and we wanted something larger with at least 1 slide. All of the non-lightweight models were way too heavy!
 

bubbaray

New member
We've towed a lot of different combinations of trucks, trailers and 5th wheels.

Last year, we towed a 28' 5th wheel with a Chevy 2500HD Diesel. This year, we towed a 30' 5th wheel with a Dodge 3500HD Diesel -- what a HUGE difference. The Dodge was TOTALLY the beast for towing. We went through the exact same insane mountain pass both years and the Dodge didn't even hiccup. You couldn't even tell it was towing anything, whereas with the Chev, it was working really hard. THe Dodge was just a towing rig -- had engine brakes and everything! I felt like I was in a semi, LOL.

We had no problems installing 2 carseats outboard and center in the crew area of either vehicle. LATCH & TTs in all three locations (but we are in Canada, not sure if that is the case with US trucks).

If we were going to purchase a truck for towing, we'd definitely get a 3500 Diesel. I was really impressed with the Dodge for towing, but the fit & finish on the Chev was nicer (felt less like a work truck, more like a car).

HTH
 

J-max

CPST Instructor
We have a 2000 chevy 3500 crew and a 93 GMC C6500 crew (both diesel). We pull either a 16' stock trailer or a 24' steel stock trailer full of cows, or a 24' flatbed (all gooseneck). I can get 3 car seat in the back of either no problem. The 93 has non locking belts, so that can be a pain, but ok other than that.

We had to get the bigger truck, because the 1ton, could not pull the big trailer very well on the highway (it weighs 10,000lb empty). They big truck, can get up and go 70 with a full trailer and you never even feel it :) But for a travel trailer a 3500 with a diesel engine should be fine!
 

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