My dad got schooled by one of his buddies

Splash

New member
My dad keeps on me about letting him take Charlie somewhere in his truck. Not gonna happen. He had a perfectly nice Subaru that he got rid of in exchange for an F-150. It's a nice truck, but still not gonna let my kid ride with him in it. He also has (or, has access to) a Buick LeSabre (with three full sets of LATCH!) if he needs to take him somewhere.

So, we were at lunch with friends from the old neighborhood last week. We were talking about Dinosaur World (totally hoaky tourist attraction in Plant City that Charlie would loooove) and my dad complained that i won't let him take him because of the truck. One of the buddies asked why, I said it wasn't safe for him. He started about how trucks are the safest thing on the road yadda yadda.

So Haywood, another buddy, pipes in "Actually david, it's not recommended to put a car seat in front of an airbag. A kid needs to be at least 12 and out of a car seat before they can ride in the front. Plus, you won't have those little hooks to clip the seat in." Even Haywood's wife looked at him oddly! His oldest kid is 21, his youngest is 12. He has no reason to know anything about car seats, but he had that little morsel in the back of his head! But dad was willing to take it from Haywood and decide that maybe I was right about it.

So, even 50 year old guys with no little kids and no child involvement can pick up CPS rules along the way!
 
ADS

Splash

New member
No back seat in the truck I assume?

Correct. There is a tether for the middle, but not for the side (that I can find, and I haven't read the manual so that might be used for both). I COULD push the front seat way back (it does go WAY back, probably well out of reach of the airbag) and if I could tether it to that middle hook, it would *probably* fine. I told him he could start taking him when he was in a booster, so about 6 years old. If there was a tether for the passenger side, I actually probably would let him take him. Or if the middle seat adjusted back independently of the driver's seat (I don't think it does) because I'd rather him be in the middle. I *think* I can turn off the pass airbag, but not sure.

Either way, if he needs to drive him somewhere, he can get the Buick from Eunice, so it's not that big a deal. But he wants to take him in the truck and I know charlie would love it. I actually thought about getting a RSTV for that purpose.

Hmm.... I want a RSTV for the trip to VA. Dad wants to take Charlie in the truck with him. Maybe I should make my dad buy the RSTV... :whistle:
 

Nisha

New member
Correct. There is a tether for the middle, but not for the side (that I can find, and I haven't read the manual so that might be used for both). I COULD push the front seat way back (it does go WAY back, probably well out of reach of the airbag) and if I could tether it to that middle hook, it would *probably* fine. I told him he could start taking him when he was in a booster, so about 6 years old. If there was a tether for the passenger side, I actually probably would let him take him. Or if the middle seat adjusted back independently of the driver's seat (I don't think it does) because I'd rather him be in the middle. I *think* I can turn off the pass airbag, but not sure.


I'm pretty sure all the F-150's have a shut off switch for the passenger airbag, even if they do have a back seat. Not sure about the tether though.
 

crunchierthanthou

New member
I'm pretty sure all the F-150's have a shut off switch for the passenger airbag, even if they do have a back seat. Not sure about the tether though.

according to the LATCH manual, it depends on which year it is. it should have-

01-02 2 TAs
03-04 LATCH outboard, TA center
05-08 2 TAs
09 2 TAs bench, 1 TA bucket

I'm guessing it's an 05 or newer because then the center TA is loop style and the outboard TA is on the lower seatback- so not immediately obvious.

MY 1997 on have passenger side airbag on/off switch. Per the manual, if tethering outboard to the TA on the bottom of the seatback, hook upside down.

Good for Haywood for speaking up, but remember, LATCH is no more safe than the seatbelt. You don't necessarily need those little hooks to clip the seat in.
 

Joyofbirth

New member
What year is the F-150. My dh has one. It has a key shut-off. I have a couple of threads on here about putting my kids in it. One of them was rear-facing.
 

Splash

New member
Good for Haywood for speaking up, but remember, LATCH is no more safe than the seatbelt. You don't necessarily need those little hooks to clip the seat in.

I know that, but I was not gonna correct a 50 year old man with no children when he so obviously had won my dad over with his statement.

It's probably a 2009, might be a 2008. He bought it... I don't remember really. I'll ask him. If it's an 09, poop. It's... well, I don't know if it's buckets or bench. It's two very obvious defined seats, with the flip up armrest in the middle that makes a middle seat if necessary. So I suppose that would be a bench, although it certainly doesn't look like a bench.

Maybe I should indulge them both. Gotta check out the crash tests, though, which I'm sure suck.
 

crunchierthanthou

New member
I know that, but I was not gonna correct a 50 year old man with no children when he so obviously had won my dad over with his statement.

It's probably a 2009, might be a 2008. He bought it... I don't remember really. I'll ask him. If it's an 09, poop. It's... well, I don't know if it's buckets or bench. It's two very obvious defined seats, with the flip up armrest in the middle that makes a middle seat if necessary. So I suppose that would be a bench, although it certainly doesn't look like a bench.

Maybe I should indulge them both. Gotta check out the crash tests, though, which I'm sure suck.

I thought that was probably the case. I just wanted to post it for the benefit of anyone who may be searching for info on that vehicle. Otherwise, it's just a longtime member saying, "no way, no how my child will ride in that vehicle", when it really can be done safely.

I'd call flip up armrests and a third seatbelt a bench. Really, the ratings don't look too bad. Aside from roll-over risk, it's actually pretty good.
 

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