Husband Wants to buy a 94 Bronco!! Any reason not to?? Will our Regent work it in???? Help!

[Momto1bigkiddo]

My husband wants to buy a 1994 Ford Bronco.

Does anyone know if the Regent will install properly in one? I would definitely try to install the Regent in the vehicle first to make sure before buying, but I wanted to ask you all first in case anyone here knew.

Can I get tether anchors retrofitted? The Regent must have a tether after 50 lbs., granted my son is far from that (38 lbs currently) I would still STRONGLY prefer his seat to be tethered anyway.

Any other reason NOT to get a Bronco???? I thought I had seen something once on here a while back about them not being safe for some reason I cannot remember???

I have been trying to get my husband off of this whole Bronco idea, but no luck. He loves them.


Here is the bronco he is wanting actually, 1994 Ford Bronco XLT 4x4:

 

[gwenvet]

I don't know when latch started but don't think it will have latch. For the Regent though you NEED a rear tether. That's all I can think of, sorry I'm not much help, but at least it's something to check on.

 

[southpawboston]

a mid-90s bronco is based on an "old-school" truck platform-- body on ladder frame chassis. so there are no crumple zones like there are in passenger cars of the same age. plus, it has no antilock brakes and no airbags. those SUVs from the early 90s typically scored very poorly compared with passenger cars of the same year.

 

[skaterbabs]

That's a pretty nice truck for an older vehicle. Your Regent should install just fine, and I believe you can have a top tether retrofitted.

 

[mominabigtruck]

I had one many years ago, I don't remeber the year but it was the same body style as the one you showed. I loved it, it was very easy to install carseats in and I don't see why you would have a problem having a rear tether put in. Ford does theirs free of charge. I personally feel little bitty cars aren't safe so I guess its all a matter of opinion but I think its a good vehicle if you want the size of a truck but still want a back seat.

 

[scatterbunny]

I don't know when latch started but don't think it will have latch. For the Regent though you NEED a rear tether. That's all I can think of, sorry I'm not much help, but at least it's something to check on.

The Regent only requires the tether after 50 pounds.

The Bronco should be fine, as long as ds still fits in harnessed seats or highback boosters. Once he outgrows those, though, he won't have vehicle head support, which is really necessary for safety.

That one does look VERY nice, though!

 

[Tara]

*sigh*

Now you have me missing our old Bronc Ours was, hmm, '90 maybe? 88 - 90 I'm thinking. Golly, it was forever ago hehe Only had one kid at the time hehe

I have no useful input on your questions, I just had to come see the truck

 

[Dreaming_of_Speed]

I think you'll find it has free sliding latchplates and ELR retractors so you'll need a locking clip. Not fun. Do you move the seat from car to car or just put it in and leave it in? If you dont move it i would say a one time locking clip install wouldnt be too bad but if you move it i would run away as fast as possible.

 

[scatterbunny]

I don't find locking clip installs to be terribly difficult, at least not enough that it would be the deciding factor in buying or not buying a vehicle.

 

[Splash]

You could just buy another car seat.
Locking clip installs aren't bad once you get the hang of them though.

Reasons not to buy it? Gas hog and unsafe (not only to you, to others). Other than that, it should fit your car seat fine.

 

[Victorious4]

a mid-90s bronco is based on an "old-school" truck platform-- body on ladder frame chassis. so there are no crumple zones like there are in passenger cars of the same age. plus, it has no antilock brakes and no airbags. those SUVs from the early 90s typically scored very poorly compared with passenger cars of the same year.

This is exactly what I was thinking -- kiddo would be very safe, but he'd be at risk of having seriously/fatally injured parents.... I'm so confident in how safe Leila is harnessed in the center most seat that I'm only paranoid now of what might happen to me & how that could effect her life

 

[joolsplus3]

I had one many years ago, I don't remeber the year but it was the same body style as the one you showed. I loved it, it was very easy to install carseats in and I don't see why you would have a problem having a rear tether put in. Ford does theirs free of charge. I personally feel little bitty cars aren't safe so I guess its all a matter of opinion but I think its a good vehicle if you want the size of a truck but still want a back seat.

Pick your poison... small cars do worse in crashes with big cars, but trucks like that make up for it by rolling over at a much higher frequency, so it turns out they have equivalent fatality rates, statistically speaking.

 

[Momto1bigkiddo]

Thank you all so much for your reponses!!!

We are going to buy the Bronco!

I am more excited about it now than I was before. My husband wants to have a lot done to it. He wants to have a full roll cage put in (yay! ) and wants to eventually get racing-seats professionally installed so all passengers can be harnessed! He wants bigger tires, and I am not really sure all what else but it's a lot.

We are going to just use it occasionally. We want to use it for camping and some light off-roading. It will be a recreation-vehicle. So installing the Regent shouldn't be too bad for very-occasional use, even with a locking clip if the belts don't lock.

I still haven't seen the Bronco in person (my husband did, he tried to check the seatbelts in the back seat but he didn't know what he was doing.. he only pulled the top part of the belt.. and he didn't notice if their were locking latchplates or not). But either way, we should be able to get the Regent installed correctly one way or another, or else our son will not be riding in it!

Thank you all again! I appreciate it so much, you guys are awesome.