Question Needing a 6 pass. truck!

Please give me some direction here ... my head is spinning with names like Crewcab, Supercab, Extended cab, etc!

I have 4 children, ages 7, 5, 3 and 1. Older 2 are in Regents. 3yo is in a RF radian. 1yo is in a RF Blvd. We drive a 99 Windstar currently, and need to replace hubby's Dodge Dakota (96). We want a truck that we can all fit in, because we plan on towing our boat and camping a lot this summer. The van can tow, but it's hard on the engine. Anyway ...

So, what stands out as a great truck for us? We are hoping to stay under 7K, which limits us, of course. I searched some threads but I am confused about the different types of cabs and their size!

I would probably be buying new seats for this truck, maybe 2 boosters for the 7 and 5 (almost 6) year old, and I'm not sure for the younger 2.

When I just looked into this, i found that basically,to get 6 poeople in,you need the truck to have a complete second row, not jumpseats, and the front has to be a bench,not buckets. That pretty much limited it to FULL size trucks, like the F150, and NOt the small trucks.....usually if it says "crew cab" that is a big truck with a full back row..the other get confusing..lol...just make sure it is a full size truck though...

My 1998 Dodge Ram 2500 can do that. Oh, and I can easily fit 3 regents in the back, if I wanted to.

Every manufacturer seems to have different meanings behind the names of their cabs.

All the Ford F trucks with the full bench and normally opening doors (not suicide doors) are the same size cab, regardless of the number that follows the F. The engine size goes up with the numbers.

You can easily fit the seats you have now into the Fords, and Ford has told me that the driver's side airbag does not intrude into the front center seat. There are lap-only belt in the center seats of both rows, so once your two youngest children no longer fit in harnessed seats you are going to have issues. There are tether anchors for all 3 rear seats. The F 350 is over the weight class limits and doesn't have lower anchors.

The Nissan Titan Crew cab has a front bench option, but I've never put car seats in it, so I don't know how the seats you have will fit. I do have an Armada, built on the same frame, and 3 in a row with 2-3 Regents is not a problem, so I don't anticipate any problems. The back center row does have a lap/shoulder belt (no head restraint) so it will last you guys longer. The front center is lap/only. I don't have my tether book handy so I can't tell you about tether locations and number.

ETA, My Armada will tow 9500#. Might be another option for you.

We have a Dodge Ram MegaCab and it has a BIG 2nd row bench (bigger than the front) and it has 3 sets of LATCH and 3 headrest. HTH

Thank you!! I'm continuing to research trucks, and I'll update if I find a good one! You guys are always so helpful.

FIL's Toyota Tundra seats 6, with lap-shoulder belts and adjustable headrests for all 6 seating positions. His is a pretty new one, so I don't know if that's true on older models.